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Amnesty International Group 50 Actions:
Actions:
The purpose of this page is to introduce Group 50's current cases:
DETAINED AT GUANTANAMO-- Isa Ali Abdulla Ali al-Merbati
Full Name: Isa Ali Abdulla Ali al-Merbati
Nationality: Bahraini
Age: 39
Family status: Married with five children (oldest 15, youngest 5)
Occupation: Used to work as a soldier for the Bahraini Ministry of Defence, then became a grocer.
Information: Isa al-Merbati travelled to Pakistan in October 2001 and had no contact with his family after that. His wife learned that he had been arrested through a friend. At the beginning of 2002, they received a letter from the Red Cross stating that he was detained in Afghanistan. He was subsequently transferred to Guantanamo Bay. His family have received around 10 letters from him, the last was five months ago. They have heard nothing since. It does not say what crimes Mr. al-Merbati is accused of--for to date he has not publically been accused of any crime by the Americans, by the Pakistanis, or, come to that, by the Bahrainis. It does not say that he is innocent of any generally recognized criminal offenses or of being a terrorist for Amnesty has no way of knowing that. All we know is that here is a person who has been detained for over 3.5 years on no charges whatsoever. Meanwhile, there have been persistent charges that those detained have been ill-treated
Accordingly, we are asking people to contact the American authorities to have him either charged and given a fair trial or to have him released. We have included a fax number and an e-mail address (which seems to work) for those who wish to use those methods. In the months that follow, we are going to ask people to contact other American decision-makers. In addition, we will be writing that Bahraini government to ask that they intervene on behalf of their citizen but we should recognize that their power to do so is very limited. Please click here to download the letter to demand to have him either charged and given a fair trial or the immediate and unconditional release of Isa al-Merbati.
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Group 50's other action is regarding the protection of Organizacion Feminina Popular (OFP)
The OFP was founded in 1972 as a response to the social, cultural, and economical marginalization faced by women from poor communites in the Magdalena Medio Region. Today there are about 1200 women working with the organization in the region's principal city Barrancabermeja, and in the nearby towns and villages of San Pablo Cantagallo, Puerto Wilches and Yondo. OFP carries out it's work collectively through Casa de la Mujer centers where women, children and youth groups hold workshops, meetings and social events. There are currently nine Casa de la Mujer - five in different neighborhoods of Barrancabermeja, and one in each of the villages of San Pablo, Cantagallo, Puerto Wilches and Yondo. The Casas de la Mujer are open from 7am to 6pm every day of the week. During the week they are principally used by women and children and on the weekends by young people. OFP's main areas of work are:
- Providing advice services for women on legal, health and welfare issues;
- Organizing training workshops and adult education for women and youth;
- Producing reports, analyses, denuciations, and public statements on cases of human rights violations affecting women, youth, or displaced communities;
- Running soup kitchens which provide subsidized meals for displaced and poor communities;
- Running cooperatives where women produce and sell home-made products;
- Running an information, training and communication center for women and youth;
- Intergral health care and health education for women and their families, including gynecological, dental and psychological services;
- Cultural and social education for people to present alternatives to armed conflict.
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The death penalty is the ultimate cruel, inhuman and degrading punishment. It violates the right to life.
Violence against women is the greatest human rights scandal of our times.
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