Saturday, June 28, 2008

You may have heard that Italy plans to fingerprint Roma children...

[... my Mom called me, up in arms, the other day with the news. But, between you and me, isn't the UK already fingerprinting Roma children? In a perfect world, in my imagination, the Prime Minister of Canada would make a statement to the international community about the criminalization of children, and he would open the doors of Canadian immigration to any Roma people who want to fly here, to escape racist policies in Europe. Anyway, here's a link:]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/7476413.stm

Wednesday, June 18, 2008

To: tb-petitions@ohchr.org;

cidhoea@oas.org; felipe.calderon@presidencia.gob.mx; gestion@segob.gob.mx; oacnudh@hchr.org.mx
Cc: correo@cedhoax.org; quejas@cedhoax.org

I am contacting you to request your intervention to guarantee the safety of Geoff Horner and all members of the Santa Maria Yaviche community, in the Northern mountain range of Oaxaca. Today, it disappointed me to learn that the repressive practices of the government against the peoples and communities of Oaxaca have not ceased. I am very concerned for their collective safety and well being.

The government, along with paramilitaries from the Regional Council of Farmers and Urban Workers of Tuxtepec, and the National Action and the Democratic Revolution political parties, pretend to impose illegitimate authority through violence. This pretension is against the will of the people and the traditional customs of the community, under which Yaviche elects its authorities and representatives.

The people of Santa Maria Yaviche are expecting to be invaded by the police today, June 18th 2008. Fear weighs heavily in all inhabitants of Santa Maria Yaviche, who remember clearly how on October 16th 2003, the same paramilitaries of CROCUT murdered one person and injured nine other members and sympathizers of the Popular Indigenous Council of Oaxaca “Ricardo Flores Magon”.

I am concerned for members of the community, and for the physical well being and safety of Geoff Horner, who is a fellow Canadian citizen. Mr. Horner is a PhD candidate at the University of British Columbia. He is currently in Santa Maria Yaviche conducting research on the community’s traditional customs as part of an international seminar to be held in the last week of June in Oaxaca City, where he is the coordinator and scheduled to speak about traditional customs in rural Oaxaca.

Please take whatever actions you can to protect these people.

Sincerely and Respectfully,

Thursday, June 12, 2008

I refuse to carry out any action against my conscience and...

... will, forced on me by persons or institutions, may they be civilian or military, local or universal.

Cc: inshkkom@tbmm.gov.tr

Dear Minister,

I am contacting you with the hope that you will ensure that conscientious objector Mehmet Bal is not subjected to ill-treatment or torture. Please exert your power to protect Mr. Bal from attacks and intimidation by other prisoners. Please ensure that Mr. Bal has access to independent and appropriate medical examination and treatment.

You must instigate an impartial investigation into the claims that Mr. Bal was ill-treated by military personnel and imprisoned soldiers on the orders of a senior military officer at Hasdal Military Prison.

I believe that you must put an end to the prosecutions of conscientious objectors, and I hope that you will release Mr. Bal immediately.

Sincerely and Respectfully,

[me.]