Appeal to US Secretary of State

Your Excellency Hillary Clinton

US Secretary of State

Washington DC, United States 

Dear Madam Secretary,

The verdict announced by the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia, rejecting the designation of the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI) as a terrorist group by the former Secretary of State, is a tremendous transition in the path of ending a great injustice which is harming the Iranian people and the residents of Camp Ashraf who are affiliated with the PMOI. We are confident that you will implement the Court of Appeals’ ruling and by delisting the PMOI from the List of FTO, make a great contribution to democracy in Iran and peace and stability in the region. 

The PMOI designation is not only used in the path of violating the rights of the members and supporters of the PMOI as the democratic opposition of the Iranian regime. It has also been exploited to justify the execution of their members and supporters inside Iran, and during the past seven years, this label has been a tool to suppress the residents of Camp Ashraf in Iraq. 

The recent US Court of Appeals’ ruling has paved the road for you to correct the mistakes made. 

There is no need to say that justice should not be conditioned to political considerations, and the interests of nations and free governments rests in observing democracy and the law. We hope that by ridding the injustice done to the PMOI, you will put an end to our grave worries. 

Yours Sincerely,

Adv. Shahanur Islam Saikot 

LL.B (Hon's); LL.M (Law & Justice)

JusticeMakers Fellow 2010 

Secretary General/Executive Director

Bangladesh Institute of Human Rights (BIHR)

Flat # B-17, 27, Bijoy Nagar, Dhaka-1000, Bangladesh 

Email: saikotbihr@gmail.com, bihr.bd@gmail.com 

Cell: + 88 017 20308080, Ph: +88 02 9349851 

Fax: + 88 028352166, www.bihr-bihr.blogspot.com

Letter to Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina Regarding the Harassment of Apparel Industry Demonstrators and Union Leaders

August 10, 2010

We are seeking your immediate intervention to stop the serious harassment of trade union leaders and other labor rights activists and workers in the ready-made garment (RMG) industry who have been pressing for the right of workers to organize in unions and seeking increases in Bangladesh's minimum wage regulations.

On July 29, 2010, after tripartite negotiations with government, workers, and employers, the government raised the daily minimum wage from 1662 taka to 3000 taka. However, the action angered workers who claimed the increase is less than the amount needed to meet the rising cost of living for urban-based workers and fell far short of the increase that the workers, trade unionists, and NGO activists were demanding. As has occurred numerous times in the history of Bangladesh's RMG industry, on July 30 and 31, worker anger and frustration boiled over into the streets, with roads being blocked, vandalism and attacks against factories and properties taking place, and use of force by police and security forces that resulted in scores of injuries among protesting workers. Human Rights Watch condemns instances of violence by the protesters as well as incidents where security forces may have used excessive force to quell the protests.

URGENT APPEAL: Take control of the camp Ashraf before the residents are transferred to an EU country

Hon. Ban Ki-moon

Secretary-General

United Nations

sgcentral@un.org

sg@un.org

Dear Secretary-General,

Camp Ashraf in Iraq is residence to 3,400 members of the People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI) who have built it during the last 23 years.  Following occupation of Iraq, in 2004, the residents of Ashraf were recognized as 'protected persons' under the Fourth Geneva Convention. The deadly attacks on defenseless Ashraf residents in July 2009 - carried out by the Iraqi forces - have made the situation in Ashraf into an international humanitarian issue.

URGENT APPEAL: Take action - or I will

To  Kevin Rudd, Barack Obama, José Manuel Barroso, Brian Mikkelsen

Subject  Take action - or I will

Barack Obama, President of the United States

Kevin Rudd, Prime Minister of Australia

José Manuel Barroso, President of the European Commission

CC: Brian Mikkelsen, Danish Minister of Justice

Faced with the unique opportunity to stop climate change in Copenhagen, world leaders offered instead an historic failure.  In sharp contrast, we and the world's environment, hunger, and justice groups are mobilizing the largest movement civil society has ever witnessed, to demand a fair, ambitious, legally binding climate treaty.