Walid Yunis Ahmad, a Turkomen and father of three children who worked at a radio station, has been detained without charge in the Kurdistan region of Iraq since 2000. He was “disappeared” for three years and tortured. February 6th is the 11th anniversary of his detention.
His case may be familiar: he was included in Amnesty International’s Write for Rights letter writing marathon in December, featured in our report “New Order, Same Abuses: Unlawful Detention and Torture in Iraq ,” and we’ve distributed action postcards on his case at our Regional Conferences last fall.
Recently we learned that Walid Yunis Ahmad has been charged, nearly 11 years after his arrest, for terrorism-related crimes which, implausibly, he is alleged to have committed from his prison cell. His lawyer believes the charges have been fabricated.
Walid Yunis Ahmad now faces the possibility of an unfair trial that could result in the death penalty.
We need your help to flood the Kurdish Regional authorities with Tweets, emails and letters on or around February 6th, urging them to ensure that Walid Yunis Ahmad receives a fair trial, without recourse to the death penalty. Here’s what you can do:
• Send emails and letters to the Kurdish Regional authorities
• Tweet the accounts of the Kurdish Prime Minster, Barhim Salih, at @barhamsalih and the Kurdistan Regional Government Representative in the US, Qubad Talabani, at @qubadjt.
Include this information in your Tweets:
- @barhamsalih and @qubadjt so that the Kurdish Prime Minister and KRG Rep in the US receive them
- the tag #WalidYunis so that we can track all messages sent
Sample Tweets to copy and paste:
@barhamsalih @qubadjt Fair Trial for #WalidYunis Ahmad. Today marks his 11th year of his detention in Kurdistan #Iraq via @amnesty
@barhamsalih @qubadjt Guarantee a fair trial for #WalidYunis Ahmad! The world is watching. #Iraq via @amnesty
@barhamsalih @qubadjt What is being done to make sure #WalidYunis Ahmad gets a fair trial? #Iraq via @amnesty
@barhamsalih @qubadjt 11 years later. Why have charges been brought now against #WalidYunis Ahmad? #Iraq via @amnesty
@barhamsalih @qubadjt How are the investigations going into the allegations of torture of #WalidYunis Ahmad? #Iraq via @amnesty
@barhamsalih @qubadjt Information obtained under torture cannot be used as evidence in the trial of #WalidYunis Ahmad #Iraq via @amnesty
Human rights violations in the name of security—including torture, indefinite detention and unfair trials—are a crisis in Iraq. You can help end them by taking action for Walid Yunis Ahmad right now.
Walid Yunis Ahmad[z1] , a Turkomen and father of three children who worked at a radio station, has been detained without charge in the Kurdistan region of Iraq since 2000. He was “disappeared” for three years and tortured. February 6th is the 11th anniversary of his detention.
His case may be familiar: he was included in Amnesty International’s Write for Rights [z2] [H3] letter writing marathon in December, featured in our report ‘New Order, Same Abuses: Unlawful Detention and Torture in Iraq[z4] ,” and we’ve distributed action postcards on his case at our Regional Conferences last fall.
Recently we learned that Walid Yunis Ahmad has been charged, nearly 11 years after his arrest, for terrorism-related crimes which, implausibly, he is alleged to have committed from his prison cell. His lawyer believes the charges have been fabricated.
Walid Yunis Ahmad now faces the possibility of an unfair trial that could result in the death penalty.
We need your help to flood the Kurdish Regional authorities with Tweets, emails and letters on or around February 6th urging them to ensure that Walid Yunis Ahmad receives a fair trial, without recourse to the death penalty.
· Send emails and letters to the Kurdish Regional authorities
· Tweet the accounts of the Kurdish Prime Minster, Barhim Salih, at http://twitter.com/barhamsalih and the Kurdistan Regional Government Representative in the US, Mr Qubad Talabani, at http://twitter.com/qubadjt.
Include this information in your Tweets:
@barhamsalih and @qubadjt so that the Kurdish Prime Minister and KRG Rep in the US receive them
the tag #WalidYunis so that we can track all messages sent
Sample Tweets:
@barhamsalih @qubadjt Fair Trial for #WalidYunis Ahmad. Today marks his 11th year of his detention in Kurdistan #Iraq via @amnesty
@barhamsalih @qubadjt Guarantee a fair trial for #WalidYunis Ahmad! The world is watching. #Iraq via @amnesty
@barhamsalih @qubadjt What is being done to make sure #WalidYunis Ahmad gets a fair trial? #Iraq via @amnesty
@barhamsalih @qubadjt 11 years later. Why have charges been brought now against #WalidYunis Ahmad? #Iraq via @amnesty
@barhamsalih @qubadjt How are the investigations going into the allegations of torture of #WalidYunis Ahmad? #Iraq via @amnesty
@barhamsalih @qubadjt Information obtained under torture cannot be used as evidence in the trial of #WalidYunis Ahmad #Iraq via @amnesty
Human rights violations in the name of security—including torture, indefinite detention and unfair trials—are a crisis in Iraq. You can help end them by taking action for Walid Yunis Ahmad right now.
[z1]Link to online action on his case: www.amnestyusa.org/walid
[z2]Link to 2011 Writeathoin page?
[H3]Since this hasn’t been updated, I think linking off here would be confusing. The mention without a link should be just fine.
[z4]Link to www.amnestyusa.org/iraq
[H5]Is this tag necessary, seems outdated with Write-a-thon over, and isn’t included in the sample tweets below.