Greetings Card Campaign 2008

= 2008 Greetings Card Campaign cases

 = Additional Long-term cases where we are supporting action throughout the year

AFRICA

ASTER FISSEHATSION - Eritrea
Aster Fissehatsion, former politician and critic of the Eritrean government, has been held incommunicado without charge or trial since September 2001. 

CHIEF EBRIMA B. MANNEH - Gambia
Journalist Chief Ebrima B. Manneh was arrested in July 2006 by plainclothes police at the offices of the pro-democracy newspaper, Daily Observer. He has been held incommunicado without trial ever since.

THE DEEP SEA SETTLEMENT - Kenya
The Deep Sea settlement, a shanty town in Nairobi, is home to an estimated 7,000 people who live under constant threat of illegal forcible eviction as private companies attempt to gain land for development. 

PATRICK OKOROAFOR - Nigeria
Patrick Okoroafor has spent half his life in detention. He was 14 when he was arrested in May 1995 - and just 16 when he was sentenced to death.

FRANÇOIS-XAVIER BYUMA - Rwanda
Human rights defender François-Xavier Byuma was sentenced to 19 years' imprisonment on 27 May 2007 after a grossly unfair trial.

WOMEN OF ZIMBABWE ARISE - Zimbabwe
Since February 2003, members of women's rights organization Women of Zimbabwe Arise have been repeatedly arrested while taking part in peaceful demonstrations against the worsening situation in Zimbabwe.

AMERICAS

SINALTRAINAL - Colombia
Amnesty International is concerned for the safety of leaders of the food workers' union SINALTRAINAL, and their families, following a series of death threats against them.

PABLO PACHECO AVILA - Cuba
Journalist Pablo Pacheco Avila was arrested in 2003 and sentenced to 20 years' imprisonment during a severe crackdown on the dissident movement in Cuba.

ERNESTINA & ERLINDA SERRANO CRUZ - El Salvador
Ernestina Serrano Cruz, and her sister Erlinda went missing in June 1982, when they were aged seven and three. They became separated from their family and were captured by soldiers from the Salvadorean army.

CLAUDINA VELÁSQUEZ - Guatemala
Law Student Claudia Velasquez, 19, was shot dead in August 2005. The initial investigation into her death was seriously deficient, but her family persisted in demanding justice. 

DIONISIO DÍAZ GARCÍA/ ASJ - Honduras
The Association for a More Just Society (ASJ) works to improve access to justice in Honduras. ASJ members have been threatened and intimidated, apparently as a result of their human rights work.

BÁRBARA ITALIA MÉNDEZ - Mexico
On 4 May 2006 Bárbara Italia Méndez, who volunteered for a children's charity, was detained in San Salvador Atenco, Mexico State. She was beaten, threatened and raped by police officers. 

BINYAM MOHAMED - USA/UK
Ethiopian national Binyam Mohamed, who lived in the UK for seven years, is a victim of rendition who has been unlawfully detained since April 2002. Since 2004, he has been held at Guantánamo Bay.

ASIA & PACIFIC

HU JIA & ZENG JINYAN - People's Republic of China
Hu Jia, one of China's most prominent human rights defenders, was sentenced to three and a half years in prison in April 2008 for speaking out about the Chinese authorities' human rights record.

BINAYAK SEN - India
Dr Binayak Sen, a medical doctor and human rights defender, was arrested on 12 May 2007. He is currently in prison awaiting a trial that has been repeatedly delayed.

FILEP KARMA AND YUSAK PAKAGE - Indonesia
Filep Karma and Yusak Pakage were arrested and charged with treason in 2004, after taking part in a peaceful political ceremony at which a Papuan independence flag was raised.  

HAKAMADA IWAO - Japan
Hakamada Iwao, 72, has spent the last 40 years on death row, convicted of murder in 1968, a crime he claims he did not commit. 28 of those years have been spent in solitary confinement.  

THE OCTOBER PROTESTERS - Laos
A group of protesters have spent nearly a decade in prison after holding a peaceful demonstration in the Laos capital of Vientiane. One man has since died in detention as a result of ill-treatment from the prison guards.

MIN KO NAING - Myanmar
Pro-democracy activist Min Ko Naing was one of the first protesters to be detained in the violent crackdown on anti-government demonstrations in Myanmar in 2007. He could face up to 20 years in prison. 

SANJIV KUMAR KARNA - Nepal
In 2003, Sanjiv Kumar Karna was arrested with friends while picnicking. They were badly beaten and interrogated. Six of them were subsequently released but Sanjiv Kumar Karna has not been heard from since.

MASOOD JANJUA AND FAISAL FARAZ - Pakistan
Masood Janjua and Faisal Faraz, 'disappeared' in 2005. Several people have testified to having seen both men in detention, but the authorities continue to deny any knowledge of their whereabouts.

EUROPE & CENTRAL ASIA

EYNULLA FATULLAYEV - Azerbaijan
In April 2007, after years of harassment by the Azerbaijani government, outspoken journalist Eynulla Fatullayev was arrested and sentenced to two and a half years in prison. 

SERGEI GURGUROV - Moldova
In 2005, Sergei Gurgurov, was detained on suspicion of stealing a mobile phone. He says, the police tortured him to force him to confess to further thefts. The torture left him disabled. 

IBRAGIM GAZDIEV - Russian Federation
In 2007, Ibragim Gazdiev, was reportedly seized by armed men in camouflage in his home town of Karabulak in the North Caucasus republic of Ingushetia. He has not been seen since. 

FERHAT GERÇEK - Turkey
In October 2007 Ferhat Gerçek was left permanently paralysed after being shot by police following a dispute over the sale of a legal left-wing magazine.  Apparent flaws in the investigation mean the officer responsible may evade justice.

MUKHAMETKULI AYMURADOV - Turkmenistan
Mukhametkuli Aymuradov, 62, is married with two children and at least two grandchildren. In 1995, following a reportedly unfair trial, he was convicted of anti-state crimes and sentenced to 15 years' imprisonment.

MIDDLE EAST & NORTH AFRICA

MOHAMED EL SHARKAWI - Egypt
Egyptian national Mohamed El Sharkawi was deported from Pakistan to Egypt in May 1995 following an extradition request. He was detained on arrival and has been in administrative detention ever since.

HADIDIYA AND HUMSA HAMLETS- Israel / OPT
The Palestinian villagers of Hadidiya and Humsa live in the Jordan Valley region of the West Bank. The Israeli Army has repeatedly demolished their family homes, most recently in February and March 2008.

CAMPAIGN FOR EQUALITY - Iran
The Campaign for Equality, launched in 2006, is an Iranian women's rights initiative. The Iranian authorities have impeded the Campaign for Equality's work and repressed its activists.

SEVEN PRISONERS OF CONSCIENCE - Syria
Seven men, aged between 23 and 32, have been jailed after an unfair trial. Their 'crimes' were to develop a youth discussion group and publish pro-democracy articles on the Internet. 

JUSTINE MASIKA BIHAMBA - DRC
Justine Masika Bihamba and her family have been attacked because of her work for a women's human rights organisation. In 2007, soldiers forced their way into her home and threatened and abused her children.

MARCELO FREIXO -  Brazil
Marcelo Freixo, human rights defender and politician, risks being attacked because of his role as president of a parliamentary commission investigating the activities of paramilitary militias in Rio's shanty towns.

ALI SALEH KAHLAH AL-MARRI - USA
Ali Saleh Kahlah al-Marri, has been detained without charge or trial, in a military prison in South Carolina, since June 2003. He is held in extreme isolation and his physical and mental health is deteriorating.

GROUP 78 - Cambodia
Nearly 150 families living on a plot of land in the centre of Phnom Penh, face the prospect of forced eviction to a squalid resettlement site on the edge of the city.