The death penalty gets personal

I got this from Amnesty International:

 http://e-activist.com/ea-action/action?ea.client.id=1770&ea.campaign.id=17326&utm_source=Informz&utm_medium=Email&utm_campaign=Informz

 http://www.amnesty.ca/our-work/issues/death-penalty-support-abolition/death-penalty-in-2012?utm_source=Informz&utm_medium=Email&utm_campaign=Informz

The death penalty gets personal

Dear Amnesty International supporter,
Today, Amnesty International is releasing a report on the state of the death penalty worldwide, showing some real progress in the past ten years towards our goal of a world free of state executions: 140 countries have now abolished the death penalty in law or practice!

Yet five countries stand out as dark exceptions to the global trend towards abolition: Iran, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, the USA, and - almost completely off the charts - China, who continues every year to execute more of its own citizens than the rest of the world combined.

These are the major trends, and we want you as an Amnesty International supporter to know that Amnesty International is committed to the achievement of our long-term goals and will continue to oppose the death penalty in all situations.

It's what we believe is right. It's what we do.

	Canadian Hamid Ghassemi-Shall faces imminent execution Read Aubrey's message

As we publicize this important report around the world, I'd like to invite you as a fellow Canadian and human rights supporter to look beyond the trends and statistics to a very personal story that affects us here at home.  Our  volunteer coordinator for the death penalty, Aubrey Harris, describes how his work for Amnesty on the death penalty has touched his community in Toronto where one of his neighbours, Hamid Ghassemi-Shall, went missing.

Hamid is missing because five years ago, he was wrongfully detained at the airport in Iran while visiting him mother. He's at risk of imminent execution.

Please read Aubrey's story and join Amnesty's campaign to save Hamid's life.

Sincerely,



Alex Neve
Secretary General
Amnesty International Canada
P.S. If you're one of the 13,000 who have already signed our petition to bring Hamid home, or written letters on his behalf, THANK YOU!  Please visit the new death penalty pages on our website to read our report, watch a video and learn more about our ongoing campaigning to abolish the death penalty, and follow this link to learn more about how you can take action for Hamid.