당신이 앰네스티를 지지한다는 사실을 자랑스럽게 만들어 줄 7가지 성취

Your seven epic achievements this year will make you proud to support Amnesty

So far this year…

1. You’ve played a part in securing the release of at least 100 people who were falsely or unjustly imprisoned

In February, you got the result we’d all been waiting for for years: Teodora del Carmen Vasquez was finally freed from jail in El Salvador, when a court reduced her outrageous 30-year sentence. She had already been forced to spend a decade behind bars after having a stillbirth and being accused of abortion which is illegal in El Salvador. We had been campaigning for her to be freed since 2015.

In Mexico, Sergio Sánchez was released from prison after spending almost eight years accused of murder based on fabricated evidence and without a fair trial. His lawyers believe that the work of Amnesty supporters like you was fundamental to achieving his release.

In China, Li Wenzu, the wife of detained human rights lawyer Wang Quanzhang, was harassed and then escorted back to Beijing in April when she and her supporters were marching to Tianjin, 120km east of Beijing, to look for her husband who has been detained incommunicado for more than 1,000 days. Li’s freedom of movement continued to be restricted when she was back home as more than 30 people gathered outside, but they left later and Li was able to receive visitors and leave without harassment. Li was grateful for the international support and thought it helped protect her and her son.

In North Korea, we learnt that the government released Koo Jeong-hwa, who had been forcibly returned from China in November 2017 and was widely expected to be sentenced to life in a prison camp. Her husband in the South believes that international pressure, including from Amnesty, was a significant factor in securing her highly unlikely release.

We had some rare good news from Myanmar in April, with numerous prisoners of conscience among 8,000 people released in a prisoner amnesty announced by the new President Win Myint. We had been campaigning for the release of Kachin pastors Dumdaw Nawng Lat and Langjaw Gam Seng and Lahpai Gam.

In April we also saw the release of detained activists, journalists and bloggers in Ethiopia, including Amnesty International’s Prisoner of Conscience Eskinder Nega, who had been re-arrested just weeks after his release from more than seven years in prison.

In February in Sudan, 80 opposition supporters, human rights defenders and activists were released following intense campaigning by us and others, after at least 140 were arrested by the intelligence and security service. Then in April,
56 opposition members and human rights defenders detained since protests in January and February were released without charge. One of them, Amjed Farid El-Tayeb, wrote to us to say, “I am writing to you to express my sincere appreciation for your solidarity … I cannot thank you enough for the time, efforts and activities that surely helped not only in restoring our freedom but also in improving the conditions of our detention”.

In March in Turkey, two of the three remaining detained Cumhuriyet newspaper staff, editor-in-chief Murat Sabuncu and investigative journalist Ahmet Şık, were released after 494 and 435 days respectively. Our Free Turkey Media campaign had been pushing for their release, alongside many other journalists and media workers unjustly imprisoned in the aftermath of the failed coup attempt in July 2016. Ahmet has sent a heartfelt message of thanks to Amnesty: “I know that, with the efforts, above all, of my family and close friends, and with your great contribution from outside, you have pulled me out from prison. And for this I thank you very much.” And Murat Sabuncu added: “I watched with excitement how Amnesty International raised its voice across the world on our behalf through members of my family and lawyers. I want freedom not just for myself but for all journalists in my country and around the world. And the way to achieve it is solidarity. My greetings to all those who are with us.”

On 28 April, human rights defender Talgat Ayan was released from penal colony in Aktobe, northwestern Kazakhstan. He took an overnight train to his home city of Atyrau where he was met by his relatives, friends and other human rights defenders who greeted him with “Welcome home!” and “Talgat is our hero!”.

After being arrested and tortured by the Philippines police in 2012, bus driver Jerryme Corre was finally released in March. Jerryme had been part of our 2014 Write for Rights campaign, and our Stop Torture global campaign. One police officer was sentenced in March 2018 after pleading guilty to torturing Jerryme, while a second remains at large.

In Equatorial Guinea, cartoonist and activist Ramón Esono Ebalé was finally released after spending more than five months in pre-trial detention.

And in Iran, prisoner of conscience Mohammad Nazari was transferred to a hospital outside of prison to obtain specialised medical care after his case was highlighted by the UN Special Rapporteur on Iran – a reflection of our persistent work on detainees being denied medical care as a punishment.

In January, three human rights defenders in China were released after our campaigning. Independent writer Li Xuewen and Zhan Huidong were released on bail after being detained for participating in the memorial for Liu Xiaobo. And Bao Zhuoxuan, the 18-year-old son of human rights lawyer Wang Yu, arrived safely in Australia after multiple attempts to leave China – his first attempt was in July 2015.

And at the end of December last year, Tibetan filmmaker and former prisoner of conscience Dhondup Wangchen was reunited with his family in the USA, almost ten years after being detained in China for making a documentary film about Tibet.

2. You’ve made governments take responsibility for their actions
Congratulations to Amnesty Ireland, who are reaping the fruit of their long campaign on access to abortion services in Ireland. The amazing result of the Irish referendum which overturned the constitutional ban on abortions and marks a big victory for women’s rights. It was an outcome born from years of dedicated work by activists, and the crucial role of Amnesty Ireland can hardly be overstated. In total 1,429,981 people, or 66.4% of those who voted, voted Yes to that proposition. It sends an important message globally, that progressive change is possible even in societies which have traditionally been very conservative on such issues.

In April in Ethiopia, new Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed apologized for the deaths and detentions that took place during crackdowns against protesters.

There was a small but important step forward in our work on the US-led coalition’s conflict with so-called Islamic State (IS) in Mosul in April, with the Australian government publicly acknowledging that it may have killed civilians as part of the coalition and signaling their willingness to investigate.

Also in Iraq, we released a report which shed light on the collective punishment of women and children with perceived ties to IS. Following extensive media coverage, the Iraqi authorities reported to local media on the next day that the report had led them to seek information from their provincial offices about the cases.

In Mexico, a federal judge issued a constitutional protection sentence urging national authorities to conduct an exhaustive search for a victim of enforced disappearance. This positive step was unusual within the Mexican justice system, and put into practice one of the recommendations we had made in a 2017 report.

In Spain in March, we were trending on Twitter with our briefing, Tweet…if you dare, which focused on the way a law on “glorifying terrorism” is stifling free speech and artistic expression. The message clearly resonated, with extensive and in-depth coverage in Spain and internationally, and many people did dare to tweet. Three days later, a coalition of parties submitted a proposal to the Spanish parliament to repeal the law, quoting at length from our briefing.

In Africa in February, in response to our findings that the Nigeria Air Force dispatched fighter jets to fire rockets at villages as a “warning” to deter spiralling communal violence, the Ministry of Justice and Air Force both announced in January they would investigate the allegations.

In Chad, we received some hopeful news in February for another Write for Rights case. The Minister of Justice promised to transfer Tadjadine Mahamat Babouri, known as Mahadine, to the Ndjamena prison, and expedite his case. He has been detained since 30 September 2016.

On 8 February, the International Criminal Court announced it would open a preliminary examination into President Duterte’s so-called “war on drugs” in the Philippines. We have been pushing hard for justice and accountability, through research, campaigning, and lobbying the prosecutor to open an investigation. This development offers a glimmer of hope to victims of the atrocities committed during government-led operations, who mostly come from poor and marginalised communities.

Our October 2017 report on inhumane conditions of prisoner transportation in Russia has been instrumental in raising public concern and forcing authorities to acknowledge the need for reform. Earlier this year, it was reported that the Russian penitentiary service would no longer transport passengers who require wheelchairs in the “special” coaches whose use we condemned, which is an important step forward.

And we have heard good news from Ukraine, where the government approved a new primary curriculum, which for the first time includes a human rights component. This is a direct result of Amnesty Ukraine’s tireless advocacy and participation in the working group tasked with curriculum development.

Following sustained campaigning by Amnesty and partner NGOs calling on all states to stop supplying arms to the Saudi Arabia-led coalition in Yemen, Norway announced on 3 January that it had suspended arms transfers to the UAE over concerns they would be used in the Yemen conflict. On 19 January, Germany also announced it would “immediately” stop approving arms exports to any party involved in the conflict.

It was also great to see the release of Malaysian opposition leader and prisoner of conscience Anwar Ibrahim after the surprising election result, which saw Najib Razak defeated by his political mentor Mahathir Mohamad. His release is a landmark moment for human rights in the country and offers the prospect of more reforms.

Moldova’s Ministry of Education adopted a human rights education curriculum developed by Amnesty Moldova for primary and high schools. This success – a first in the region – follows a pilot initiative in the current academic year, in which close to 700 students from 22 schools participated.

And in response to forcible disruption of an Amnesty event on LGBTI rights in Ukraine, which included death threats, we held a public press conference about the attack and held the event again days later, despite protests from right-wing groups. Fortunately, the event was protected and resulted in a successful discussion with over 50 participants.

3. ..And corporates too
We launched the results of our project “Negligence in the Niger Delta” based on the findings of the “Decode Oil Spills” project, in which more than 3,500 people from 142 countries helped researchers analyse data published by oil companies Shell and Eni relating to oil spills. This ground-breaking project exposed evidence of serious negligence, and was widely picked up by the media, including in Nigeria, prompting denials from Shell and Eni.

In another encouraging step for our work on eradicating abuses including child labour from cobalt supply chains, in February Renault published a list of its cobalt smelters. This came as a direct result of our report Time to Recharge and follow-up work, only four months after we launched a campaign targeting Renault, who performed the worst among the electric vehicle companies named in our report. Renault’s new efforts mark a dramatic and welcome change in approach.

CNN broadcast an in-depth investigation into how cobalt mined by children and adults in hazardous conditions in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) is entering the supply chains of the world’s largest tech and electric vehicle brands. The investigation highlights Amnesty’s research, first published in 2016. In response, Daimler, owned by Mercedes Benz, announced it would investigate its supply chain.

4. You’ve taken more steps towards ending the death penalty
We had some good news on the death penalty from Africa in February, as the death sentences of the 14 prisoners in Benin were commuted after concerted advocacy efforts by Amnesty. This came after positive developments in Gambia, where a moratorium on executions was just announced, and Guinea, where the death penalty was abolished for all crimes.

We also received news that Saman Naseem, one of our Write for Rights cases in 2015, is no longer at risk of execution and may be released soon.

We also played a significant part in raising international pressure which led to a postponement of the execution of Abolfazl Chezani Sharahi, who was under the age of 18 at the time of the crime for which he was sentenced. The Iranian authorities have executed thousands of people for drugs offences in Iran, and we welcomed the amendment to the country’s Anti-Narcotics Law to remove capital punishment for some drug-related offences. Since the amendment, the authorities imposed a temporary moratorium on drug-related executions and indicated that about 15,000 individuals will have their death sentences for drug-related offences reviewed to assess their eligibility for commutation under the amended legislation. If implemented properly, the changes to the law could contribute to a drop in the number of executions.

And at the end of May, Burkina Faso’s parliament adopted a new penal code that effectively abolishes the death penalty.

5. You’ve stood up for those who need justice
In early April, Bosnia and Herzegovina’s Constitutional Court ruled that victims of wartime rape and other civilian victims of war should not be required to pay court fees in cases when their reparation claims are rejected. Together with TRIAL International, we have long been advocating for the abolition of fees, and this move may encourage other survivors to seek justice and reparation.

Our work on the exploitative recruitment of Nepalese migrant workers for Gulf labour markets is continuing to have an impact. At the end of February, the Supreme Court asked the government to explain its failure to regulate the employment agents who recruit workers. A successful ruling would positively impact migrant protection, especially by giving police the authority to act against unscrupulous agents. The local NGO who brought the case used our 2017 report Turning People into Profits as a key piece of evidence.

We saw the power of solidarity in Ukraine in March, after police pandered to right-wing violence in reaction to demonstrations for women’s rights. They falsely accused one of the organisers, Olena Shevchenko, of breaching rules of public assembly for a “provocative” banner carried by some of the demonstrators. By the time she went to court on 15 March, Amnesty Ukraine had issued a social media call which reached thousands of people, and the courtroom was packed with journalists and supporters, as well as foreign embassies. The court ruled she had committed no offence, and closed the case.

In Mexico, we uncovered a wave of enforced disappearances during the Christmas and New Year period in Guerrero state. Thanks to a rapid-response mission, an issue that had been overlooked by the press and other human rights observers soon picked up front page media coverage and the attention of the National Human Rights Commission after we obtained evidence which proved police involvement in five enforced disappearances of young men in Chilpancingo, one of Mexico’s most violent cities. We also uncovered solid evidence of collusion with organized crime in these enforced disappearances, a vital issue to highlight in an election year in Mexico.

6. You’ve added your voice where it was needed most
Following our #ToxicTwitter report that exposed Twitter’s failure to prevent online violence and abuse against women, we launched Troll Patrol, calling on our supporters for their help. Our digital volunteers are being asked to analyse 500,000 tweets sent to women politicians and journalists in 2017, to expose the scale and nature of abuse against women on Twitter. The response has been huge: in a few short weeks, we managed to analyse over 500,000 tweets with contributions from almost 6,000 dedicated volunteers.

And our 2017 edition of Write for Rights hit an amazing 5,500,650 actions, up by nearly a million from the previous year! You made this a massive success and were part of something truly amazing.

In May, Amnesty’s support to students at the Middle East Technical University in Ankara who wanted to celebrate pride meant they were able to hold their march on campus, despite a city-wide ban on all LGBTI events since last November. In the weeks preceding the march, the Turkey team at the IS and Amnesty Turkey co-ordinated closely with ODTU LGBTI Solidarity, the student group organizing the march, issuing an urgent action which was crucial in putting the necessary pressure on university authorities not to prevent the march that had been taking place over the last seven years. In their message to our activists and supporters, the students said: “We could not stay silent and resign ourselves to the ban. We had to oppose it, we had to march. The ban on our pride march was illegal and it was against our existence. The reason we could resist the ban and move forward was the international support and solidarity by Amnesty International activists around the world. We could not have gone further without your support”. In Turkey’s context of relentless crackdown on human rights defenders and civil society at large, this is no small success.

7. And you’ve joined us in rewarding those who stand up for others
In April, for the first time ever, we presented our Ambassador of Conscience Award to an athlete: American Football player Colin Kaepernick. He felt like the perfect person after he became widely recognised across the world for his “take-a-knee” protest in the US which sparked a fierce debate about racial discrimination, police use of lethal force, the right to protest, and free speech.

And in February, in Madagascar, a coalition of local NGOs launched “The Citizen Courage Award” to celebrate citizens who have made a difference for human rights. Three environmental activists who had been targeted for their work – including our Write for Rights case Clovis Razafimalala – received the award on 31 January. The leader of the coalition behind the award told us it was inspired by our campaign for Clovis. After collecting his award, Clovis told us, “I don’t know how many letters I received thanks to Amnesty, but it’s in the thousands. I have even received letters from school children from Canada, all the way to Amsterdam. It is incredibly touching, and really gives me courage. The Amnesty campaign has made a massive difference for me, because it has echoed my story worldwide. It makes me really proud, and it makes me want to continue the fight.”

So a huge thank you from everyone around the world whose life you’ve helped to change with your amazing support.

Here’s a special message of gratitude for you from Ibrahim Halawa, who was released from prison in Egypt last year.

“I was in a cell in Egypt and a lot of you helped me and you didn’t even know me. And I needed the support so much and that is what kept me going. And there’s a lot of people out there who still need that support so please continue your hard work.”

Thank you for everything you do.