[act-ma] Help needed, Wed 7/9: stand up for Amer Jubran - a quick bit of help [railroaded Palestinian, kidnapped in Jordan]

[pf soto]

[all images added]


-------- Original Message --------
Friends,

The recent news of another military assault on Gaza (18 killed and over 
100 wounded including children), the murder of Mohammed Abu Khdeir who 
was burned alive by Zionist settlers, the brutal beating of Tarek Khdeir 
while protesting the murder of his cousin Mohammed Abu Khdeir, and the 
vicious beating of Marlene Pinnock by a California Highway Patrolman 
brought to mind these words by Carolyn Forche:

*/"It is either the beginning or the end of the world, and the choice is 
ourselves or nothing."/*

I am writing to ask that in the days ahead, as you struggle to respond 
to these atrocities, that you also remember those who have fought 
against this type of oppression and racism and paid the ultimate price: 
their own freedom.

We cannot forget them. To fight for their liberation is an integral part 
of fighting for our own.

Yesterday, I sent you an e-mail about the case of Amer Jubran and human 
rights abuses in Jordan, asking you to send 4 e-mails today on his 
behalf and on behalf of those like him who have suffered at the hands of 
the kangaroo Security Court.

It is as simple as cutting and pasting some of the content of the Open 
Letter to Prince Zeid, signing your name and sending it to the 4 e-mails 
listed in the campaign-- a few minutes of your time, to draw attention 
to Amer's case and show that we demand justice for our prisoners-- that 
they do not stand alone.

Please remember to do this today and thanks,
Lana

PS Campaign and letter are below.

*Ramadan E-Mail Campaign *
*Justice for Amer Jubran*
*Wednesday July 9th*

Thank you for your continued support of Amer Jubran.

Amer Jubran has now been detained for over 2 months without charge. 
Until last week, he was being held incommunicado. Because Amer is a 
political dissident, we are gravely concerned that he may be tried with 
serious offenses based on his political speech under Jordan's legal 
framework. If so, he would be brought before the State Security Court in 
Jordan soon. The State Security Court is an institution that has been 
widely criticized by human rights advocates as a tribunal that lacks any 
real judicial independence from the Mukhabarat (Jordanian Secret Police).

On July 8th, we sent an open letter to the recently elected UN High 
Commissioner for Human Rights Prince Zeid Ra'ad Zeid Al Hussein of 
Jordan demanding that he address the atrocious human rights abuses in 
Jordan, citing Amer's case.

We are asking all supporters to take action on Wednesday July 9th.

Please *take a few minutes to do the following on July 9th*:

1) Please*forward the open letter to Prince Zeid to all your 
contacts*/lists and post to Facebook;

2) Please *write your own letter  reiterating the points in the open 
letter *(see below) and e-mail your letter  to:

***Prince Zeid Ra'ad Zeid Al Hussein, UN High Commissioner-Elect for 
Human Rights
     e-mail: *registry at ohchr.org <mailto:registry at ohchr.org> *

***Prime Minister Abdullah Ensour  e-mail: *info at pm.gov.jo* 
<mailto:info at pm.gov.jo>

***Minister of Interior, Hussein Majali  e-mail: *info at moi.gov.jo 
<mailto:info at moi.gov.jo>
*
***Minister of Justice, Bassam Talhouni   e-mail: *Feedback at moj.gov.jo 
<mailto:Feedback at moj.gov.jo>
*
3) Please encourage your contacts to sign the petition to free Amer 
Jubran if they have not signed it already 
http://freeamerpetition.wordpress.com/

Amer has always fought for justice. He needs your help now!

Please follow the action steps above on Wed July 9th and let us know if 
you receive any reply.
Thank you again for your continued support.

Sincerely,
Amer Jubran Defense Campaign
defense at amerjubrandefense.org <mailto:defense at amerjubrandefense.org>
_________________________________________________________________________________________

*[figure in illustration is /Hanthala/ 
<http://www.handala.org/handala/>, Naji Ali's cartoon character, created 
when he was inan Israel jail.
Hanthala is our UPandOUT mascot.*]


Amer Jubran Defense Campaign
freeamer.wordpress.com <http://freeamer.wordpress.com>
defense at amerjubrandefense.org <mailto:defense at amerjubrandefense.org>

  July 8, 2014

To UN High Commissioner-Elect for Human Rights, Prince Zeid Ra'ad Zeid 
Al Hussein:

In light of your recent confirmation as UN High Commissioner for Human 
Rights, we are writing now to urge you to turn your attention to your 
own country, the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, and its atrocious history 
of human rights abuses.

The current case of Amer Jubran highlights Jordan's ongoing contempt for 
the most basic international standards of civil and political rights. 
Mr. Jubran, a Jordanian citizen, was arrested at his home on May 5, 2014 
by agents of the General Intelligence Directorate (GID) and continues to 
be detained without charges. For the first seven weeks of his detention, 
he was held incommunicado, without access to a lawyer or family. The 
international human rights organization Alkarama recently filed his case 
with the UN as an instance of arbitrary detention 
(http://en.alkarama.org/jordan/24-communiqu/1251-jordan-arbitrary-detention-of-human-rights-defender-amer-jubran-since-may-2014 
).

Mr. Jubran is an internationally known activist, speaker, and writer on 
Palestinian human rights and a critic of US and Israeli policies in the 
Arab world. All who know him and are familiar with his history recognize 
his arrest as a politically motivated silencing. We are therefore 
concerned that the amendments to Jordan's "anti-terrorism" laws passed 
on June 1st criminalizing new categories of speech as "terrorism" may be 
applied in Mr. Jubran's case. The legislation itself demonstrates the 
willingness of the Jordanian regime to exploit the label "terrorism" to 
further limit free speech, especially speech that is critical of the 
existing system of cooperation between Jordan, Israel and the United 
States. (See statement from Reporters without 
Borders:http://en.rsf.org/jordan-king-urged-to-repeal-draconian-16-06-2014,46423.html 
)

We further call attention to the use of the State Security Court as an 
instrument for political repression. As a direct extension of the 
executive branch of government, the State Security Court violates all 
standards of judicial independence. It is a rubber stamp for arrests and 
detentions carried out by the GID, which has a well-documented history 
of arbitrary detention and torture to silence political opposition 
(http://www.amnesty.org/en/region/jordan/report-2013). The collaboration 
between the GID and the State Security Court in human rights abuses has 
been specifically cited by Alkarama: "The methods of torture most 
commonly employed by GID officers are beatings, beatings with cables, 
ropes, plastic pipes, whips etc all over the body including the soles of 
the feet (falaqa), stress positions, sleep deprivation, injections that 
cause states of extreme anxiety, humiliation, threats of rape against 
the victim and members of his family, electroshock, prolonged isolation, 
etc. Abuse is more prevalent in the GID due to its close collaboration 
with the judges of the State Security Court. Incommunicado detention, 
which is itself a form of mental torture, is routinely extended for 
undetermined amounts of time." 
(http://www2.ohchr.org/english/bodies/hrc/docs/ngos/Alkarama_Jordan_HRC100_en.pdf)

In your acceptance speech at your confirmation as the UN High 
Commissioner by the General Assembly in June, you spoke of the 
commitment to push forward the issue of human rights on the Asian 
continent. Such a commitment can only be taken seriously if you are 
willing to begin at home. We ask you to stand behind your words by 
demanding the release of Amer Jubran from his unjust imprisonment by 
unaccountable agencies within the state of Jordan, and to use your 
position to end extensive human rights violations carried out by the GID 
and the State Security Court.

Sincerely,

The Amer Jubran Defense Campaign
National Lawyers Guild, Palestine Subcommittee
Defending Dissent Foundation

cc:  Prime Minister Abdullah Ensour (Jordan)
        Minister of Interior Hussein Majali (Jordan)
        Minister of Justice Bassam Talhouni (Jordan)
        UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay