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Fourteen year old Mohammed Saleem sits at this moment in a death cell in Karachi, Pakistan, cut off from his family, awaiting death for a crime even the government says he did not commit.
Thousands of people worldwide are making a last stand to save his life, and you he needs your help.
Mohammed has worked as a slave carpet weaver since he was six. In June 1998 he was arrested for murder even though there was no evidence against him. He was just a random kid they picked off the street. Then was taken to a prison and beaten constantly to make him confess. He did not even know what the charges against him were. He was tried and sentanced to death, then was acquitted because there was no evidence or motive. Returned to his family, Mohammed was arrested again and awaiting trial for death on the same charge. To quote an Amnesty International report "Mohammed Saleem has seen his fundamental rights systematically violated by the criminal justice system".
Mohammed is not alone in his suffering. Over fifty other children are currently on Death Row in Pakistan, an act of cruelty in clear violation of international law. Fortunately Mohammed's story has gotten out of the prison, and concerned people worldwide are fighting to save his life, and the lives of all all the other children on death row. The human rights organization Amnesty International is calling for a worldwide letter-writing campaign to save Mohammed's life. Please take a few moments to write a letter to the government of Pakistan calling for the liberation of Mohammed Saleem and all the other death row children. Perhaps if they are deluged with letters from concerned people all over the world they will end the execution and save his life.
Worldwide Appeal official page
For further information, read this rews release from the Amnesty International Secretariat Pakistan: Placing Children on Death Row - In the best interests of the child? Which was published in Issue #1 of Free Youth Internet
The Denver Rocky Mountain News has published and extensive and shocking expose of the "behavior modification" prison school industry. This three day series features interviews with survivors of "teen help" camps and disturbing photographs from within.
The youth right's zine Oblivion has finally released it's long-awaited eighth issue, with articles on censorship, prison camps, curfews, and more!
Box 1487, WNEC, 1215 Wilbraham Road, Springfield MA, 01119
jrussell@wnec.edu This issue Last Updated 9/15/99 Click here for the Current Issue.
