amnesty international works!!!!

Charges Dropped Against Border Aid Workers

Mexico, USA: On September 1, U.S. District Judge Raner Collins dismissed the case against humanitarian aid workers Shanti Sellz and Daniel Strauss. Sellz and Strauss had been charged with transporting undocumented migrants after providing assistance to three men found in apparently life-threatening condition in the Arizona desert last July. Thanks to all who took action on their behalf!Download the interview with Daniel and Shanti as featured on Law and Disorder radio. MP3 format 15MB. 2006-09-01

Guantánamo detainee, Murat Kurnaz has been released!

Murat Kurnaz © Private"He is now again in the circle of his family. Their joy at embracing their lost son again is indescribable" -- statement from Murat's lawyer Germany, Turkey, USA: Murat Kurnaz, a Turkish national born in Germany and featured in AIUSA's Holiday Card action, was released on August 24, 2006 from Guantánamo. He had been held for four years and eight months without charge or trial. In January 2005, a U.S. federal judge cited his case as illustrative of the inherent unfairness and fundamental flaws of the administrative review process in Guantánamo. 2006-08-24

Marcelino Miranda, Leonardo Miranda, and Feliciano Pineda Freed

Marcelino Miranda (top left), Leonardo Miranda (lower left), and Feliciano Pineda (right). © PrivateHonduras: Leonardo Miranda, the last of three Honduran prisoners of conscience on whose behalf AIUSA has campaigned for the past year through its Special Focus Case project, was freed on August 15, 2006. Leonardo's brother Marcelino was freed on July 12, 2006, following a decision by the Honduran Supreme Court in June that acquitted Marcelino and Leonardo of a 2001 murder for which they were wrongfully imprisoned. On August 15, a lower court commuted Leonardo's sentence on another charge, resulting in his release. Amnesty believed the two brothers and another indigenous rights activist, Feliciano Pineda, were jailed in connection with their efforts to secure communal land titles for their communities in Montaña Verde. Pineda was released from detention in February 2006. The Casework Office extends its thanks and congratulations to all AIUSA activists, especially those in the Western Region, who took action on behalf of these three indigenous leaders. 2006-08-15

peace out <3