A letter from Samar Badawi to her imprisoned husband, the Saudi Arabian human rights lawyer, Waleed Abu al-Khair.

Samar is also the sister of imprisoned blogger Raif Badawi.

‘History will exalt those who fought for freedom’

Words are not enough for me to express how proud I am of my husband. How deeply proud I am of the man who believed in me and my cause when I was imprisoned. As my lawyer, he defended me and never left me alone to face those who unjustly attempted to impose their patriarchal authority over me just because I am a woman who dared to speak up. Everyone turned their backs on me except for my husband who remained by my side until he had helped achieve justice for my cause.

He has always been my rock whenever I felt weak, he was my strength and my source of motivation and inspiration.

He taught me that a person is born free and that it is up to him or her to live in freedom or die trying to achieve it. Slavery has no place in his life except when it comes to serving God, the one and only.

Now, he lives in freedom even though he is behind bars with his colleagues Abdullah al-Hamid, Mohammad al-Qahtani and many other activists imprisoned purely for exercising their right to freedom of expression.

My life with him can be described as a wonderful book; resilience is its title, strife and struggle fill its pages, and its conclusion is freedom.

And here I am, my beloved husband, applying what I have learned from the book of our life – for I shall forever be resilient, hanging on whilst you are behind bars. I shall continue my struggle as long as my heart beats, and I shall never give up until I have you back under our roof. I shall forever believe in our freedom which you have spent your whole life defending.

Know then, dear husband, that it is tyranny and oppression that have put you behind bars.

In Saudi Arabia those who chose to rule in the name of Islam and Shari’a law have treated such jurisprudence as mere ink on paper. Those who claim to use religion to protect me are the very people who took away my safety and security, for within the kingdom those meant to be serving justice have decided that oppression should be a cause for celebration.

So a word to them…

To all those rulers and judges who have unfairly imprisoned the free, and enslaved the people, beware of the judgement you will receive from the heavens above. Woe to you who have terrorized the aggrieved out of pride.

To my fellow Saudi Arabians I say that my husband has been imprisoned so that you could live free. He stood up to the tyrants to claim your rights; he faced up to his oppressors telling them he would not tolerate their repression. Remember that history does not forget, it will exalt those who have fought for freedom and cast aside the memory of those who succumbed to a life of humiliation and servitude.

My last words are to my baby daughter, Joud. Do not feel sad because you were born while your father was behind bars. Be proud instead and hold your head high, for the whole world envies you for the father you have – even if his homeland has turned against him.

The future awaits you to continue your father’s struggle so that you make him even more proud than he is now. You will grow up to be a role model yourself, soon to become known as Joud the free, Joud the defiant, Joud the resilient: Joud Waleed Abu al-Khair”,

Your wife,

Samar Badawi

Eighty-eight children are detained at Australia’s detention centre on Nauru. More than 60 asylum seeker children and their families are detained in Australia and are expected to be sent back to Nauru.

Media are denied access, but evidence shows that:

• the children live in swelteringly hot, cramped conditions with little privacy and poor sanitation
• crucial emergency health care for children is not available
• long-term detention damages the health and development of children – after two years in detention, children display a ten-fold increase in psychiatric disorders, including self-harm and suicidal behaviour
• lack of child protection on Nauru has resulted in children in detention being sexually and physically assaulted and the police on Nauru do not have the capacity to investigate these crimes.

Why is this happening?

On 23 March 2015, Prime Minister Tony Abbott said: “No one wants to see children in detention. No one wants to see children in detention.”

“No one wants to see children in detention. No one wants to see children in detention.” Prime Minister Tony Abbott

Children are locked up on Nauru as part of the Australian government’s Operation Sovereign Borders policy, which aims to stop asylum seekers arriving by boat to seek protection in Australia.

But the Australian government has admitted publicly that keeping children in detention is not an essential or effective deterrent to asylum seekers arriving by boat.

The Australian government also recognises the terrible damage done to children by detention. The Secretary of the Department of Immigration and Border Protection, Martin Bowles, said: “There is a reasonably solid literature base, which we’re not contesting at all, which associates length of detention with a whole range of adverse health conditions.”[1]

“There is a reasonably solid literature base, which we’re not contesting at all, which associates length of detention with a whole range of adverse health conditions.” Martin Bowles, Department of Immigration and Border Protection

In December 2014, the government even committed to releasing children from detention centres in Australia.

So why won’t the Australian government release children from its detention centre on Nauru?

What can you do?

The asylum seeker children locked up by Australia on Nauru don’t need money. They don’t need toys.

They need freedom to have a happy, safe childhood. Tell the government to give these kids a childhood, not take it away.

Tell the government to give these kids a childhood, not take it away.

Please #ShareaMemory of your childhood through our Lost Children campaign or post your memory on Twitter, Facebook or Tumblr with the hashtags #LostChildren and #ShareAMemory

We’ll show the government what their child detention policy is destroying when we deliver your memories to the Australian government, along with the call to release all asylum seeker children and their families on Nauru to Australia.

^{[1] Australian Human Rights Commission, “The Forgotten Children” p. 61}

Eight-eight children are detained on Nauru and more are detained in Australia, awaiting their return to Nauru.

How you can help

We’re asking people to share their favourite childhood memories by posting them on Twitter, Facebook or Tumblr with the hashtag #ShareAMemory.

Your memories will be delivered to the Australian government along with the call to release all children on Nauru from detention and give them back the happy childhood they deserve.

A selection of memories already shared

In less than 40 years, 124 countries have abolished the death penalty – and here’s why the rest should end it too.

Chan and Sukumaran

Marched in handcuffs across the tarmac by a group of heavily armed officers wearing balaclavas and thick helmets, the bare faces of Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran appeared even more tragic.

The blurry images showing them being taken onto the plane headed for Nusakambangan Island Prison highlighted the inhumanity of the fate that Indonesia’s President Joko Widodo is adamant they will face.

After more than 10 years in prison, they are among the next group whom Widodo says will be executed.

Chan, 31, and Sukumaran, 33, were convicted in Indonesia in 2006 for drug trafficking. Their highly-publicised plight represents all that is wrong with the death penalty.

Death penalty in Indonesia

Amnesty International has been campaigning to end the death penalty since 1977. When this campaign began, only 16 countries had ended capital punishment; now 140 countries have abolished the practice.

Despite Widodo’s claims that he’s carrying out executions to serve as a warning about drugs, there is in fact no evidence that the death penalty serves as a deterrent. Nor is it humane.

After a four-year moratorium on the death penalty, Indonesia resumed executions in March 2013.

In Indonesia, death sentences are carried out by firing squad with the prisoner in front of 12 gunmen, three of whose rifles are loaded with live ammunition, while the other nine are loaded with blanks. The squad fires from a distance of between five and 10 metres.

The prisoner has the choice of standing or sitting, and can decide whether to have their eyes covered by a blindfold or hood.

A single shot is fired from each rifle, aimed at the chest. If that does not kill the prisoner, the commander will fire a point-blank shot to the head. No witnesses or family are allowed to be present. According to a Catholic priest who witnessed the executions of two Nigerians in Indonesia in 2008, it took them up to eight minutes to die and they “were moaning in pain”.

Long, slow deaths

A drawn-out death is reflected in many of the stories about executions internationally. In Iran, it took 12 minutes of Alireza M hanging by his neck before he was pronounced dead.

The 37-year-old was hanged in Bojnourd prison in north-east Iran in October 2013 after being convicted of drug offences.

Alireza was found to be alive and breathing in the morgue when his family came to collect the body. The execution had failed. Alireza went on to have his sentence commuted by the Iranian justice system, and was handed a life sentence instead.

After 18-months of no executions, Vietnam resumed using the death penalty in August 2013.

Nguyen Anh Tuan, convicted for murder in 2010, was reportedly executed in the Ha Noi Police prison through lethal injection – the first execution in the country since around January 2012.

“In the last 40 years, more than 140 death row inmates have had their innocence proven. This margin of error alone should be enough to point out the flaws in the system if the method of execution hasn’t.”

Diana Sayed is a human rights lawyer and crisis campaigner for Amnesty International

The European Union export ban on the chemicals needed for lethal injections has meant that Vietnam faces a shortage of drugs needed to carry out executions.

Five Yemeni men in Saudi Arabia were beheaded and crucified publicly in May 2013, with pictures emerging on social media appearing to show five decapitated bodies hanging with their heads wrapped in bags.

Texas, the most-prolific death penalty state in the US, executed its 500th person in June 2013 – a worrying landmark in America’s capital punishment history since state-sanctioned killing resumed in 1977.

Kimberly McCarthy was administered a single, lethal dose of pentobarbital, a barbiturate. She was pronounced dead 20 minutes later.

To date, the US remains one of the top five countries carrying out executions globally.

Even more alarming is that death sentences can be wrong. Just last week the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals issued a stay of execution in the case of Rodney Reed after new scientific evidence came to light that established his probable innocence. He was due to be put to death on March 5.

In the last 40 years, more than 140 death row inmates have had their innocence proven. This margin of error alone should be enough to point out the flaws in the system if the method of execution hasn’t.

This article was first published on Business Insider Australia.

In the run up to the release of our death penalty report for 2014, Amnesty International Intern Samantha Bartlett dispels 10 myths surrounding executions worldwide.

Myth 1: Only evil people who have committed horrific crimes are executed

FACT: The death penalty applies to a number of different crimes worldwide, not all of which are horrific. In many countries, such as Iran and Sudan, authorities execute their political opponents. In North Korea, citizens have been publicly executed for communicating with individuals outside of their country.

Regardless of the crime committed, there is more to an individual than their worst offence. Many of the prisoners on death row in the US suffered horrific abuses prior to committing violent crimes; and are a product of their environments.

Research has also consistently shown that individuals are capable of change. Following the 1972 United States Supreme Court decision that the arbitrary application of the death penalty constituted cruel and unusual punishment, 322 death-row prisoners were released. Only 5 of those 322 prisoners murdered again. The vast majority were capable of rehabilitation; and most were incredibly remorseful for their crimes.

These figures strongly suggest the majority of individuals who commit violent crimes are not ‘evil’. It is also evidence that permanent incarceration is suitable punishment for violent crimes, rather than execution.

Myth 2: Only people who are truly guilty receive the death penalty

FACT: No justice system is free from error; and not all individuals who are sentenced to the death penalty are guilty of the crimes for which they have been convicted.

Since 1973, 144 death row prisoners have been exonerated in the US alone. As long as criminal justice systems remain fallible, there is a possibility of executing innocent people.

Myth 3: Death penalty trials are a fair process

FACT: Around the world, many people are still executed after grossly unfair trials and/or after being subjected to torture. The top three executing countries – Iraq, Iran and China – all issue death sentences in unclear circumstances.

In Pakistan, Shafqat Hussain was executed after ‘confessing’ to kidnapping and involuntary manslaughter after nine days of torture. He was arrested at the age of 14.

Myth 4: The death penalty applies to all individuals equally

FACT: People who are convicted of the same crimes are often given different sentences, both across the world and in the same country. Research has consistently shown that individuals are more likely to be given the death penalty if they are poor or belong to a racial, ethnic or religious minority. The reason for this is two-fold: individuals from poorer, marginalised groups have less access to the resources needed to defend themselves; and there is inherent discrimination present in the justice system.

Myth 5: Executions are humane

FACT: All types of execution risk causing the victim extreme pain. This is especially the case for execution by hanging, shooting, stoning and beheading. Even lethal injections, which are meant to be the most humane form of execution, still risk incredible pain, especially if the part of the injection process meant to knock the prisoner out is botched.

Myth 6: The death penalty is an effective deterrent to violent crimes

FACT: There is no convincing evidence that the death penalty is an effective deterrent to crime. Many murders take place when the perpetrators are under great emotional stress, or under the influence of drugs – times when they are not considering the consequences.

Research has consistently shown that the death penalty does not deter crime more effectively than other punishments.

A 1988 United Nations research report found:

“…it is not prudent to accept the hypothesis that capital punishment deters murder to a marginally greater extent than does the threat and application of the supposedly lesser punishment of life imprisonment”.

In Canada, the homicide rate actually fell by 40 per cent in the three decades following 1975, the year before the death penalty for murder was abolished. Research from other countries has failed to show that repealing the death penalty causes an increase in crime rates.

The use of the death penalty cannot be credited with making societies any safer.

Myth 7: The death penalty effectively prevents terrorist attacks

FACT: Individuals who are willing to kill or injure others for the sake of a cause or ideology are unlikely to be deterred by the prospect of execution. In fact, counter-terrorism officials have often pointed out that individuals who are executed may be perceived as martyrs, whose memory may become a rallying point for ideology or organisations. Armed opposition groups have also used the death penalty as justification for retaliation, thereby continuing the cycle of violence.

Myth 8: Execution is cheaper than imprisonment

FACT: At least in the US, enforcing the death penalty is more expensive than imprisoning individuals for life. The judicial process is much longer and more complicated. The California Commission on the Fair Administration of Justice estimated that, in California, death penalty trials cost approximately $1.1 million more than the average murder trial. The Commission estimated that the death penalty system cost California approximately $125 million more per year than the cost of permanent incarceration. This money could be diverted towards early prevention and intervention strategies, which would prevent crimes punishable by the death penalty from occurring and reduce the number of people on death row.

Myth 9: The death penalty offers justice and closure to the victims’ families

FACT: Not all victims’ families are in favour of the death penalty. The international movement against the death penalty involves many individuals who have lost loved ones to violent crime, but for ethical or religious reasons are not in favour of the death penalty. The New Hampshire-based organisation Murder Victims’ Families for Human Rights is helping lead the movement to abolish the death penalty in the US.

Myth 10: The death penalty is fine as long as the majority of the public supports it

FACT: History presents us with numerous examples of human rights abuses supported by the majority at the time – prominently including slavery, lynching and racial segregation. The death penalty is a violation of the right to life, as enshrined in the United Nations Declaration of Human Rights. It is also cruel, inhuman and degrading.

Amnesty opposes the death penalty at all times; regardless of who is accused, the crime, guilt or innocence or method of execution. Even if the majority of the public supports the death penalty, it should not be treated as an acceptable form of punishment under any circumstance.