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Islamic Human Rights Commission
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27 November 2008

Alert: Write letters of support to prisoners this Eid

Contents
1. Summary
2. Background
3. Action required; write to:
a) Afzal Guru – India
b) Imam Jamil Al-Amin – USA
c) Khairat Al-Shater – Egypt
d) Mat Sah Satray – Malaysia
e) Sheikh Omar Abdul Rahman – USA
f) The Morocco 12 – Morocco
g) 17 Uyghurs detained at Guantanamo – USA
I. Instructions for posting

1. Summary

This Eid, IHRC encourages all campaigners to write letters of support and encouragement to the prisoners of faith and political prisoners mentioned below. Instructions are now available for writing to Uyghurs detained at Guantanamo. Campaigners may also send them Eid cards to raise their spirits and show that they are remembered; IHRC Eid cards may be purchased here:
https://www.ihrc.org.uk/catalog/index.php?cPath=21&osCsid=8ea0167f62c70ce790c8501c31ebdfcc&sort=3a

2. Background

Prisoners of faith and political prisoners spend years languishing in prison, in deplorable conditions, being treated in the most inhumane manner. We need to raise their spirits and offer them warm words of encouragement so that they know that we have not forgotten them and that we remember them in our prayers.

Ramadan is a month of mercy and compassion and hence is an ideal time to write to these prisoners of faith and remind them that Allah’s mercy encompasses all and that they should never lose hope of His mercy. Ramadan is also a month wherein Allah looks at our competition with each other in good deeds and multiplies the reward for His slaves. Therefore we should grasp this opportunity to do good in this blessed month and should not underestimate the worth of the words we write to uplift and cheer up those in low spirits.

If you wish please let us know if you receive a reply to your letter or send us a copy of your letter and/or the reply you received.

3. Action Required

Write to the following prisoners this Ramadan:

a) Afzal Guru – India
Kashmiri born Mohammed Afzal Guru was accused of conspiring to attack the Indian Parliament on 13 December 2001 with three other Kashmiris. In a clear miscarriage of justice, in which he was tortured until he “confessed”, he alone was convicted and sentenced to face the death penalty. He is currently detained in Tihar jail, New Delhi, and awaits the President’s response to a Mercy Petition filed to prevent the death penalty. For more information, please visit https://www.ihrc.org.uk/show.php?id=2480

Please write to:
Mohammad. Afzal Guru
s/o Habibullah
Convict under Death Sentence
High Security Ward,
Jail No.3,
Tihar Jail,
Delhi-110018
India

Send/Email copies of letters to:
Ms Amrit Wilson,
Flat 6, 34-36 Cross St
London N12 2BQ
sasg@southasiasolidaritygroup.org

b) Imam Jamil Al-Amin – USA
Before becoming Muslim Imam Jamil was one of the leading spokespersons against the Jim Crow laws of the 1960s which served to legally segregate whites from blacks in America. After reverting to Islam, he became an outstanding Islamic leader and served his neighbourhood community tirelessly. On 16 March 2000, Imam Jamil was wrongly sentenced to life imprisonment at Georgia State Prison, in Reidsville, on charges of 13 counts of murder and felony murder for shooting two deputies, one of whom, Deputy Ricky Kinchen, died as a result of the shootings. For more information, please visit https://www.ihrc.org.uk/show.php?id=3063

Please write to him at:
Imam Jamil Abdullah Al-Amin
99974555
U.S. Penitentiary
P.O. Box 8500
Florence CO, 81226
USA

c) Khairat Al-Shater
Khairat Al-Shater, deputy to the supreme guide of Muslim Brotherhood – MB (Ikhwan Al Muslimeen), was arrested with many other influential MB leaders in December 2006 following a protest by student MB members against unfair government policies. Detained MB members were subsequently subjected to trumped-up charges of terrorism, money-laundering and financing a banned organization with little or no evidence to substantiate these claims. After spending over a year in prison, on 15 April 2008, Khairat Al-Shater was given a prison sentence of seven years – several other MB detainees were sentenced as well. For more information, please visit https://www.ihrc.org.uk/show.php?id=2652

Please write to him at:
Khairat Al-Shater
Turah Jail
Cairo – Turah
Egypt

d) Mat Sah Satray – Malaysia
Mat Sah bin Mohammed Satray has been held in Malaysia under the Internal Security Act (ISA) since 17 April 2002. He has been accused of terrorism; however the Malaysian authorities have no evidence to substantiate the charges against him. His case is representative of the plight of many other innocent Malaysians who have been detained under the ISA. For more information, please visit https://www.ihrc.org.uk/show.php?id=2839

Please write to him at:
Mat Sah Bin Mohammad Satray,
Tempat Tahanan Perlindungan,
Kamunting,
34009 Taiping,
Perak Darul Ridzuan
Malaysia

e) Sheikh Omar Abdul Rahman – USA
Sheikh Omar Abdul Rahman, is the elderly Egyptian sheikh, imprisoned in the US in 1995 under sedition laws last used during the American civil war. He is now 68 years of age and his health has deteriorated significantly; chances of his death are imminent. For more information please visit https://www.ihrc.org.uk/show.php?id=2910

Please write to him:
Sheikh Omar Abdel Rahman 34892-054
FMC Butner
Federal Medical Center
P.O. Box 1600
Butner, NC 27509
USA

You can also email/fax prison authorities to put pressure on them for Sheikh Omar’s immediate release (for sample letters, please refer to campaign pack at link above):
Facility’s Fax No: +1 919 575 4801
Facility’s Email: BUH/EXECASSISTANT@BOP.GOV

f) The Morocco 12 – Morocco
The 12 Moroccan students, members of popular Islamic organization, the Justice and Spirituality Movement – JSM (Al Adl wa Al Ihsan) were falsely accused of the murder of a student in November 1991 and as a result, were imprisoned to serve for twenty years. Their names are listed as follows: Yahya AlAbdalaoui, Mohammed Allilaoui, Ahmed Attaj, Belkasim Azikaki, Mostapha Housayni, Mohammed Belhadi, Noreddine Attaj, Mohammed Azzaoui, Mohammed Alghazali, Ali Hidaoui, Almoutawakil Belkhadir and Belkasim Altanouri. For more information, please visit https://www.ihrc.org.uk/show.php?id=2351

Please write to them at the following address:
[Prisoner Name]
Sjjn Boukayz
Fes
Morocco

g) 17 Uyghurs detained at Guantanamo – USA
The 17 Uyghurs detained at Guantanamo have been cleared for release since 2003. In spite of never having been convicted of a crime, they will have spent nearly seven years in detention. In October 2008, U.S. District Judge Richard Urbina ordered their release, which thereafter received an emergency stay by the Bush administration. Likewise, UN torture investigators Manfred Nowak and Martin Scheinin wrote in court filings that ‘the US is obliged under international law to immediately release the Uyghurs detained at Guantanamo’. The case for their release, which now lies in a federal appeals court, will most likely carry-over into the forthcoming Obama administration.

Write to the any or all of the following Uyghurs detained at Guantanamo:

Ahmad Tourson ISN 201
Abdul Razak ISN 219
Abdulghappar Abdulrahman ISN 281
Adel Noori ISN 584
Anwar Hassan ISN 250
Dawut Abdurehim ISN 289
Bahtiyar Mahnut ISN 277
Arkin Mahmud ISN 103
Abdul Nasser ISN 278
Abdul Sabour ISN 275
Abdul Semet ISN 295
Hammad Memet ISN 328
Huzaifa Parhat ISN 320
Jalal Jalaldin ISN 285
Khalid Ali ISN 280
Sabir Osman ISN 282
Edham Mamet ISN 102

I. Instructions for posting:
*Please note that you should send the letters to IHRC and not directly to Guantanamo Bay. IHRC will then send the all of the letters to the prisoners respectively.

Simply write on the outside of the envelope:

Detainee’s name, ISN Number
U.S. Naval Base at
Guantanamo Bay, Cuba

Then place that in another envelope addressed to IHRC:

Islamic Human Rights Commission
PO Box 598
Wembley
HA9 7XH
United Kingdom

Also, you are welcome to contribute toward the postage costs if you wish by making a small donation via our online store. Please visit: https://www.ihrc.org.uk/catalog , or call (+44) 20 8904 4222.

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“And what reason have you that you should not fight in the way of Allah and of the weak among the men and the women and the children, (of) those who say: Our Lord! Cause us to go forth from this town, whose people are oppressors, and give us from Thee a guardian and give us from Thee a helper.”
Holy Qur’an: Chapter 4, Verse 75

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Islamic Human Rights Commission
PO Box 598
Wembley
HA9 7XH
United Kingdom

Telephone (+44) 20 8904 4222
Fax (+44) 20 8904 5183
Email: info@ihrc.org
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