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Islamic Human Rights Commission
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15 August 2008
Campaign Alert: This Ramadan write letters of support to prisoners
Contents
1. Summary
2. Background
3. Action Required
1. Summary
This Ramadan IHRC encourages all campaigners to write letters of support and encouragement to prisoners of faith and political prisoners mentioned below. Campaigners can also send them cards on Eid to raise their spirits and to show them that we remember them.
2. Background
This Ramadan IHRC encourages all campaigners to write letters of support and encouragement to prisoners of faith and political prisoners mentioned below. Many of them have been languishing in prison for more than five years, 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 of doing 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.
Campaigners can also send Eid cards to these prisoners to raise their spirits. You can visit the IHRC website for a range of IHRC Eid cards: https://www.ihrc.org.uk/catalog/index.php?cPath=21&osCsid=0899c613f6d9de4ffd6f32848fe0b706&sort=3a
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) Sami Al-Arian
Dr. Sami Al-Arian is a Palestinian peace-activist and former University of South Florida professor who was convicted in 2003 on charges of funding terrorists, while his conviction has received much media attention, being called a ‘federal witch hunt’ by some. His lawyers had reached some deals with the federal prosecutors, thus dropping many his charges. Most recently on 29 August 2008, a trial for a contempt charge has been indefinitely postponed until the Supreme Court looks into the case. For more information, please visit http://www.freesamialarian.com/home.htm (Please note: IHRC is not responsible for the content of external websites, nor endorses them by providing their link)
Please write to him:
Dr Sami Al-Arian
Pamunkey Regional Jail
PO Box 485
Hanover, VA 23069
USA
c) 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
d) 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
e) 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
f) 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
g) The 12 Morocco Students – 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
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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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