UK : Petition: Keep Fahim and Zubair in the UK‏

Hello  everyone

Zubair and Fahim are friends of ours, originally refugees from Afghanistan, now threatened with being deported back. They have made a massive contribution to their community in south Somerset, in all kinds of ways; it would be a great wrong if the Immigration authorities go ahead with their threat to force them to leave. Their appeal is in Newport in about a month's time. Please sign the petition, and spread the word.

Many thanks
http://www.change.org/en-GB/petitions/home-office-keep-fahim-and-zubair-in-the-uk

UGANDA : Facts on the new extreme ANTI -GAY LAW

157,824

GOAL: 175,000

157,824 people support this campaign. Help us get to 175,000

UPDATE - February 24: Uganda's anti-gay bill has been signed into law by President Museveni. Our friends in Uganda are calling for the whole world to make noise to not let this awful law go unnoticed. Sign and share to keep the pressure up!

February 19: Last chance to stop the law formerly known as the "Kill the Gays" bill in Uganda. If it becomes law, all lesbian, gay, bi and trans people could be sent to jail for life! President Museveni just said he's going to sign it, but there's still a chance to stop it.

If thousands and thousands of us speak out right now we can get the attention of the whole world. We could even get world leaders, major corporations, and religious institutions with sway in Uganda to use their influence.

Sign now to show Uganda's leaders that we will not stay silent while innocent people are being attacked and locked up forever.

THANKS - CAN YOU SPREAD THE WORD?

Help grow the campaign by sharing with friends on Facebook, Twitter or by email:

FACEBOOK

Extreme anti-gay bill signed into law in Uganda

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TWITTER

Uganda's anti-gay bill jailing #LGBT ppl was just signed into law. Sign &RT so global leaders speak out:

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EMAIL

EMAIL YOUR FRIENDS

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Petition launched calling for Clinton to stop US opposition to UN DU votes, please sign

 Dear friends, we need your help to help promote this petition calling for the US to stop its opposition to our UN resolutions on depleted uranium. We have been delighted to be joined by Veterans For Peace in making this call, along with the Women's International League For Peace and Freedom.
If you haven't already done so, please sign up today (it takes a few seconds) and then forward to your friends, colleagues and families. For too long the US has blocked international action on DU, we need your help to remind them that they can no longer go on acting with impunity.

Petition link: http://www.change.org/petitions/change-the-us-un-vote-on-depleted-uranium-weapons-this-fall

Depleted uranium (DU) weapons are chemically toxic and radioactive conventional weapons designed to pierce armor. They were used by the US in the 1991 Gulf War, in the Balkans in the mid and late 1990’s and again in Iraq in the 2003 occupation. Upon impact with hard targets, DU munitions burn generating a fine dust that may be inhaled by civilians and soldiers alike. Intact munitions or fragments slowly break down, contaminating soils and groundwater.

Animal and cellular studies have shown that DU damages DNA and has caused cancer in laboratory rodents. The US and other DU users have shown little interest in studying civilian populations but laboratory studies have demonstrated that DU is toxic to the body. Since 1991, reports have come from Iraq of increasing numbers of cases of childhood leukemia and birth defects which may be the result of DU exposure. DU contaminates the environment and is very expensive and difficult to clean up.

These weapons are inherently indiscriminate and need to be banned. Other countries are moving to prohibit the use of DU weapons but the US and other DU users are standing in the way of progress.

The United Nations will vote on a fourth resolution considering their acceptability in October. Even without comprehensive civilian health studies, the failure of states to clean-up contamination, their use against civilian infrastructure in built up areas and the lack of transparency from users over where the weapons have been used clearly demands action to ban these weapons on a precautionary basis.

The United States, Israel, the UK and France are the only four states opposing these resolutions. The International Coalition to Ban Uranium Weapons, the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom and Veterans for Peace are calling for people around the globe to write to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to ask her to reconsider the United States‘ voting position at the UN First Committee this October.

Will you join us?

To learn more about ICBUW and depleted uranium weapons, take five minutes and watch our animated short: When the Dust Settles

For more on ICBUW, WILPF or VfP please visit ICBUW or Reaching Critical Will or Veterans for Peace Or follow us on Twitter @ICBUW or @RCW_ @VFPNational

Bron : Ria Verjauw

24 hours to save my daughter‏

You joined this list by signing the campaign "RIGHTS, NOT DEATH, IN UGANDA" on 2010-02-17. But our records show that a technical problem prevented you from receiving our emails for a while. Hope you stick with us! Here's our latest campaign:

In 24 hours, my young daughter will appear before a court in Pakistan, under blasphemy laws that carry the death sentence. My innocent girl has struggled her whole life with mental disability -- and shouldn't be punished. I ask you to help save my daughter. Sign this petition to President Zardari to support my call for protection for religious minorities:


Last week an enraged crowd threatened to burn my daughter alive, and in 24 hours a judge will decide whether she goes free or stays in jail. Rimsha is a minor with mental disabilities and often isn't in control of her actions. Yet local police here in Pakistan have charged her with desecrating the Koran, and we are afraid for her life.

Right now she is being held in a maximum-security jail, and in hours, she will face the court under Pakistan's anti-blasphemy laws, which can carry the death sentence. We are a poor Christian family witnessing mob fury over my daughter's case, and many other families have faced similar intimidation forcing them to either flee or live in fear. But the international attention on Rimsha’s case has emboldened Pakistani Muslim leaders to speak out against this injustice and forced President Zardari's attention.

Please help me keep up the global outcry on my daughter's case. I urge you to sign my petition to President Zardari to save Rimsha and demand protection for us and other vulnerable minority families. Avaaz will share this campaign with local and international media, watched carefully by all the politicians here:

http://www.avaaz.org/en/pakistan_save_my_daughter/?bEESPab&v=17521

An angry mob demanded the arrest of my daughter after a local imam started inciting people against her, claiming she had desecrated the Koran. Some then threatened to kill her and burn down the houses of Christians in our community. I pray that at her hearing on Saturday, the case against her is dismissed and she can come back to live with us.

Our family is in grave danger, as even talking about the blasphemy laws in Pakistan can be deadly -- last year the Pakistani Minister for Minority Affairs was killed after asking for the removal of the death penalty for committing blasphemy. It's such a sensitive situation that many of our Christian neighbours from our Islamabad slum have had to flee their homes.

We respect the religious rights of others. We simply hope for the safety of our daughter and our community and wish this had never happened. We are happy that the Ulema Council, an umbrella group of Muslim clerics and scholars here in Pakistan, spoke out, saying: "We don't want to see injustice done with anyone. We will work to end this climate of fear." With your help, we can not only free Rimsha but make this incident the beginning of a greater understanding between communities in Pakistan. I ask you to sign this petition, and share it with your friends.

http://www.avaaz.org/en/pakistan_save_my_daughter/?bEESPab&v=17521

With hope and determination,

Misrek Masih with the Avaaz team

PS: This petition was started on Avaaz's new Community Petitions site, which lets anyone, anywhere, start a petition on issues that are important to them. To start your own, click here: http://www.avaaz.org/en/petition/start_a_petition/?bv17480


MORE INFORMATION

Pakistan court postpones bail decision for girl accused of burning Quran (CNN)
http://edition.cnn.com/2012/08/30/world/asia/pakistan-girl-blasphemy

Father of Pakistani Christian 'blasphemer' girl appeals to President (Telegraph)
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/pakistan/9503532/Father-of-Pakistani-Christian-blasphemer-girl-appeals-to-President-Asif-Ali-Zardari.html

Pakistan blasphemy case Christian girl 'is 14' (BBC)
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-19397884

Pakistani Muslim leaders support Christian girl accused of blasphemy (Guardian)
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/aug/27/pakistani-muslim-christian-girl-blasphemy

Pakistani Christians, fearing backlash, flee community after girl is accused of blasphemy (Washington Post)
http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/asia_pacific/pakistani-christians-fearing-backlash-flee-community-after-girl-accused-of-blasphemy/2012/08/20/d3b23c9a-eae3-11e1-866f-60a00f604425_story.html

Pakistani president wades into 'Down's Syndrome' blasphemy case (Christian Science Monitor)
http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Asia-South-Central/2012/0820/Pakistani-president-wades-into-Down-s-Syndrome-blasphemy-case/



Avaaz.org is a 15-million-person global campaign network that works to ensure that the views and values of the world's people shape global decision-making. ("Avaaz" means "voice" or "song" in many languages.) Avaaz members live in every nation of the world; our team is spread across 19 countries on 6 continents and operates in 14 languages. Learn about some of Avaaz's biggest campaigns here, or follow us on Facebook or Twitter.

You are getting this message because you signed "RIGHTS, NOT DEATH, IN UGANDA" on 2010-02-17 using the email address lucschrijvers@hotmail.com.
To ensure that Avaaz messages reach your inbox, please add avaaz@avaaz.org to your address book. To change your email address, language settings, or other personal information,

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Bron :

To contact Avaaz, please do not reply to this email. Instead, write to us at www.avaaz.org/en/contact or call us at +1-888-922-8229 (US).

Petitie/ Petition Pic Nic The Streets // SIGN AND SHARE‏

Zondag 9 september vindt een nieuwe mega-picnic plaats op het beursplein in Brussel. Het beursplein wordt gedurende enkele uren bezet om een statement te maken, te manifesteren voor een leefbare stad en een autovrij Beursplein. We picnicken om de politieke klasse te tonen hoe de gedurfde keuzes eruit zien, Brussel verdient een visie, en staat stil: laat het bewegen! Kom ook massaal naar de beurs deze zondag voor ons promotiefilmpje, tussen 12 en 13u. 

Heel erg bedankt bij voorbaat,

manifest en petitie:
http://www.picnicthestreets.eu/index.php/en/

'like & share' on facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/PicnicTheStreets

en join the group!
https://www.facebook.com/groups/avenuepicknik/

chers amis,
je vous invite pour notre prochain mega-picnic du 9 septembre sur la place de la Bourse à Bruxelles. On occupe la place pour faire un statement, on manifeste pour une ville vivable et une place de la Bourse sans voitures. C'est pour ça qu'on fait un picnic, pour montrer comment des choix osé pouraient changer la politique. Signez aussi la  petition, et suivez nous sur facebook pour rester au courant des prochaines activités. Si vous desirez nous aider, venez nombreux pour la tournage de notre film de promotion, ce dimanche entre 12 et 13h.
Merci d'avance,

manifest et petition:
http://www.picnicthestreets.eu/index.php/en/

'like & share' us on facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/PicnicTheStreets

en join the group!
https://www.facebook.com/groups/avenuepicknik/

dear friends,
You're kindly invited for the next mega-picnic the 9th of september at the square of the Bourse. We occupy the square to make a statement, and to manifest for a livable city without cars. We picnic to show how dared descisions looks like, and a city like brussels deserve better! Feel free to sign the petition, and join the upcoming picnics! Come also to the Beurs square this sunday, we need you allto make our promotional video, between 1 and 2 o'clock. Thaks a lot in advance,


the manifesto and petition:
http://www.picnicthestreets.eu/index.php/en/

'like & share' us on facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/PicnicTheStreets

en join the group!
https://www.facebook.com/groups/avenuepicknik/

Bron : Pic Nic The Street
           picnicthestreet@gmail.com

urgent petition/ UN next resolution on DU weapons‏

US campaigners need your help to lobby Clinton ahead of UN DU vote

US campaigners from ICBUW and WILPF have launched an online petition which calls for the US to stop opposing depleted uranium resolutions at the UN and are urging supporters to sign-up online.
10 August 2012 - ICBUW

US campaigners from the Womens International League for Peace and Freedom (WILPF) and ICBUW are calling for support for an online petition urging US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to stop the US from opposing UN resolutions on depleted uranium weapons.

This autumn a fourth resolution on DU weapons will be tabled at the United Nations. It won't ban the weapons but with good support it will get us closer to that goal. Just four states are voting against the resolutions, the US, UK, France and Israel. Of these, the US is by far the largest user of DU weapons.

"This year we'd like the US to hear the voices of those who oppose these chemically toxic, radioactive and unacceptable weapons," said US campaigner Isabel MacDonald. "We've launched a petition on Change.org with a letter addressed to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. What we need now is your support and the support of your friends and families.

"Please can you take a few moments to visit http://www.change.org/en-GB/petitions/change-the-us-un-vote-on-depleted-uranium-weapons-this-fall and add your signature to this important call."

Bron :

Ria Verjauw
Belgian and International Coalition ‘for a ban on uranium weapons’
0474 75 66 68

Help Baby Elephants!‏

MetroPCS is promoting the Ringling circus, despite receiving information from PETA about how elephants are abused and neglected behind the scenes.

PETA needs your help to make sure that MetroPCS stops promoting Ringling to its customers. Using the form below, please send a quick, polite note to MetroPCS and urge the company to make the compassionate decision to pull its promotion of Ringling.

To take action on this issue, click on the link below:
http://www2.peta.org/site/Advocacy?s_oo=NWfrWFmxOf4-ZxP9sLFiLw&id=4219
If the text above does not appear as a link or it wraps across multiple lines, then copy and paste it into the address area of your browser.

Bron : Marijke Schaf  / USA

The ravages of Belgian migration policies- petition

The father is deported in Teheran, the mother is in the hospital in Mechelen, and their son, 3 years and a half, is in a state of shock. The authorities continue to try to deport the mother ande the sun.

M. Muhamed Ali, his wife Shirin and their son Parsa fled Iran more than a year ago following persecutions. They had discovered that Shirin was on a list of wanted people in Iran with other people, in relation to militant activities.They fled Iran with other people and it was very hard. Some of their friends got to England where they got the asylum.

The family introduced an asylum request in Belgium which was very quickly refused in spite of blatant evidence of persecution in Iran. The family was placed in a return centre in Tubize in view of their deportation. Aware that their lives would be in danger in case of return to Iran, they fled from this house and continued living in hiding.

Mohamed got arrested on the 5th of June and brought to the closed centre of  Merksplas.

The Foreign Office tried to deport him for the second time on June 20th. He resisted (see the interview here) as he didn’t want to leave his wife and son alone, all the more since he knew what was expecting him in Iran.

They brought him there, hands and feet tied.” First they put him in an isolation cell, then on a van, and lastly on the plane. He shouted that he didn’t want to leave. They put toilet paper and tissues in his mouth so that he wouldn’t scream. They banged his head on the van seat. ”

The captain of the plane refused to keep him on board, seen his state. “The pilot refused that he stayed in the plane, he could obviously see that he was very bad, and that he could die on the plane”.

He was brought back to Merksplas in a very worrying state. All the testimonies attest the bad state in which he was after his deportation attempt: swollen face, red and swollen – if not broken- arms, difficulties to walk: a compilation of testimonies of his state are underway.

Several of his co-detainees, his lawyer, several associations and friends had foreseen to lodge complaints, but the necessary assessments and testimonies were vain since  Muhamed Ali was placed in an isolation cell the day after for a new deportation attempt on June 23rd.

It seems that everything was done to avoid these assessments and complaints. Some were put under pressure by the federal police (through phone calls), two doctors had asked for a visit at the centre, one of them got a phone call by the federal police, strongly advising him against that. The airport police made a report of the deportation attempts, it says that “they only “brought” Mohamed on to the plane to hand him to three Turkish police officers! “.

Third deportation attempt on June 23rd: return flight Brussels Teheran
New deportation attempt under escort and with violence to Istanbul then Iran on June 23rd. His hands and feet were tied and he was hooded. The Iranian authorities refused his entry on the territory since he did not have any let pass or passport, so he was brought back to Istanbul to Zaventem airport during the night.

Fourth deportation attempt on June 24th : imprisoned in Teheran
After the return flight Brussels-Teheran of June 23rd, they kept him at the airport waiting for another flight. He left again on June 24th to Teheran via Istanbul. Hewas allowed to contact his family on June 25th and warned them he was in prison.. Since then, he left the prison under strict control

Shirin the mother was arrested and then brought to the hospital
Following the barbaric acts inflicted on his husband, Shirin went to Zaventem police station on Sunday 24th of June following the advice of a juge in order to lodge a complaint against these exactions. She wrote a letter of complaint in Farsi (she never got the assistance of any interpreter) and then she got arrested and kept in an isolation cell. It seems that they wanted to put her under pressure to get hold of his son and deport both of them too. After four hours in the cell, Shirin finally got released and the police asked her to sign an order to leave the territory (in Flemish, still without an interpreter), which she refused. In this desperate situation, upon return Shirin tried to commit suicide and is currently in the hospital.

Parsa , the son of three years and a half was taken care of by friends and he is in a deep state of shock.  

The lawyer made an appeal to the Foreigners Lawsuit council against the refusal of Muhamed Ali and his wife Shirin’s asylum request and he lodged a complaint, with the elements she has in her posession.

It seems that they keep going at them. The Foreign Office rang the hospital to inquire about Shirin’s state and about the date she could leave the hospital.It seems that all the acquaintances of this family are being put under pressure by the Federal police. They feel that the Office absolutely want to get hold of the mother and his son in order to deport them.

It is obvious that the fate of this family if  deported to Iran is more than uncertain

We ask the authorities to put an end to this and to contact the Iranian authorities and to repatriate Muhamed Ali so that he can be with his wife and son in security in our country

Bron : Getting the Voice Out
http://11668.lapetition.be/