🚀 go-pugleaf

Please write to this prisoner of conscience who will
soon pass his 6th consecutive birthday in a space
just 6X12 ft.  

Feelings of abandonment, depression and 
suicide are ever present and can be overpowering
...understandably.

Send him an expression in support of fundamental Human 
Rights.  Let him know that there are persons who care
whether or not he is treated fairly.

Go to the Website below -- post your message
there, however short or long, and we will print it out and 
forward it to him at his prison address.  Or, send it
to the E-mail address provided below.

     Thank you !!


ps:  case details are found below and at the Justice
            Websites

_________________________



Human Rights
WorldWide Watch



H U M A N    R I G H T S 
________________________________________

...Letters with Wings   ///\_[_/\\\




    B a r r y   B R A I M A H


Still a young man, Barry would be nearly 50 years old
if he survived to be released in the year 2012.


New prison address:

     8674 B-Sud 227
     Centre Pen. de Clairvaux
     10310 Ville sous La Ferte
          FRANCE



The (Still) Forgotten Tourist



     Help SAVE a life for the price of a stamp.

     We are looking for concerned persons, and persons of
     conscience, to help with this effort.  If you can dispense
     with being judgmental and if you feel that ALL persons
     should be protected by fundamental Human Rights, we hope you
     will take part in this effort.


Issues:

*  Sentenced to 18 years in prison without the possibility of
         appeal
*  Non-respect of Vienna Convention consular agreements
*  Association avec malfaiteurs - guilt by association
*  Inquisitorial versus adversarial justice systems
*  Underlying racism & xenophobia
*  Excess of the State


    An African American tourist: prisoner of conscience in France

    Born and raised in Africa, Barry became an American
    citizen while studying in the United States.  In 1994,
    as an American tourist, he travelled to France for the first
    time.

    On July 2, Barry will pass his 6th consecutive birthday
    behind French bars, in a 6X12-ft cell -- providing not even
    enough room for him to stretch his 6'4" (1m95) frame.

Guilt by association

    On arriving in France for his first visit in 1994, he was
    arrested for what amounted to "association avec malfaiteurs"
    -- "knowing" someone whom French police had under
    surveillance for suspicion of trafficking.  Barry had been
    referred to this person for help with lodging during his
    brief stay in France.

Held 2 years

    He was held 2 years without trial, bail or opportunity
    to defend himself, even though a) nothing illegal was found
    in his possession, b) he has no arrest record, and c) he has
    no history of illicit involvement of any kind.

    No physical evidence of guilt was ever presented in French
    court, only that he "knew" a suspect.

18 years in prison without the possibility of appeal

    Even if Barry WERE guilty of something, an 18 year
    sentence without the possibility of appeal in a so-called
    civilized nation goes way beyond the pale.

    This is a virtual death sentence, in a country where persons
    convicted of heinous crimes (rape and murder) often serve
    less than 10 years. The absurdity and incongruity of what has
    happened to Barry boggles the mind, and must not be tolerated
    by the international community.

Prison conditions

    So deplorable are prison conditions, and so high
    is the rate of suicides, that they say of the Clairvaux
    prison (tantamount to the "Alcatraz" of France):

    "You check in, but you might not check out."

    French prisons are well known for their high rate of
    suicide.


At 6'4" (1m95), weight drops to 139 lbs (63 kilos)

    Before intervention by concerned persons in the international
    community, Barry -- who all his life has been both athlete
    and good student -- saw his weight drop to 139 lbs (63
    kilos).

    This state of malnutrition put him at additional risk for
    illness and depression.  Donations from concerned persons
    have enabled Barry to supplement his diet with food purchased
    from the prison canteen, and some of his weight has returned.

    Please help the effort to keep Barry alive; send him a card, 
    note or message of encouragement, to bolster his morale, 
    and lend support for his Human Rights.  Send him a message
    of goodwill.

    The more contact a prisoner has with the outside, generally
    the better he will be treated.

New Justice List

    At last, a new Justice list has been set up to keep us
    updated on this case, and so we can share ideas on how the
    international community might be able to help.  Also, receive
    informative, insightful reports from Paris-based Human Rights
    monitors following their prison visits with Barry, and receive
    translations of articles on Human Rights and prison issues
    appearing in the French press.

    To join, send a blank message, or any message, to both:

            Justice@comports.com
            Barry-SUBscribe@eGroups.com

    and reply to CONFIRM Request when it arrives.  You will
    then be added.


WE WILL PRINT OUT & AIRMAIL YOUR PERSONAL MSG TO BARRY

    Go to:   http://www.poboxes.com/justice

        to write/post a personal message for Barry,
        of any length.

    Or, E-mail your message to:

              FreeBarry1@aol.com
              BarrySupport@starmail.com

        and we will mail it to him at his prison address.

Beyond the reach of the US Government

    The numerous appeals to the American Embassy and US State
    Dept. have essentially fallen on deaf ears.  In pat responses
    to pleas for help from Barry and his family, the US
    Government states:


       The United States cannot interfere with the
       judicial system of a foreign power.

       Americans who choose to travel abroad, do so at
       their own risk.


Background / Updates

Go to:

  http://www.comports.com/JUSTICE  <- prison letters
  http://members.aol.com/FreeBarry1/index.html
  http://www.poboxes.com/droits


DONATIONS:  Barry and his family are indigent.
        To obtain the address where contributions
        may be sent to help Barry, please write to:

                 FreeBarry1@aol.com

Thank you.


______________________
______________________



MESSAGE FROM THE HUMAN RIGHTS COMMITTEE:

_________________________________________________


We learned about Barry's case one year after his arrest. At that
time he had lawyers, who were old acquaintances of a friend of
his.  Barry could not afford a regular criminal lawyer and his
family did not have the money to finance one. Roughly speaking it
would have cost in the order of 50,000 francs for starters and
the lawyers helped for close to nothing. However, they were not
criminal lawyers and seeing them in action indicated that they
were really not competent to handle this case. They also had
problems with Barry's English, they did not always understand
what he was saying. We later determined that they did not have
all the facts and missed some critical points in his case.

Anyway, Barry was convicted and got 18 years. This decision was
appealed before  the Cour de Cassation, which decides only
technical aspects of the case, not the facts. This cost a lot of
money and produced no results.

After Cassation we took all the information we had and went to a
Human Rights lawyer who looked over the information with regard
to an appeal to the European Court. The problem here was that
only issues brought up during the trial could be brought before
that court. Barry's original lawyers did not bring up issues we
later found to be important.

At that point we did get several members of the Observatoire
International des Prisons (OIP) interested in Barry's case, and
they still are. [The OIP is one of the Human Rights organizations
most active in France -- in trying to improve prison conditions
and in making appeals on behalf of abused prisoners.] They
decided that a direct appeal to the President of the Republic was
in order. This would ask for a Presidential pardon for Barry. An
appeal was made and many letters sent to President Chirac on
Barry's behalf.

This request for a pardon was refused.  We feel now that this
request was a bit premature and badly managed on our part. We
feel that the most important thing in France is to have a co-
sponsor who is an important person in French politics. We did not
have that.

With regard to what occurs in French prisons and the treatment of
prisoners, we feel that the Observatoire is a more effective group
than Amnesty International. The latter organization tends to deal
in high profile cases. Barry's case never attracted any attention
in the French or American press. Next, the abuses that we feel he
was subject to in his case were not grossly against his rights in
comparison with others accused and convicted in France. In fact,
from an abuse standpoint his case is not exceptional, probably
most of the accused in France are treated in the same fashion.

[Over recent years, France has received severe criticism from
international Human Rights organizations and the European Court
for its worsening record of Human Rights violations, especially
against persons of Arab and African descent.]

What makes Barry's case exceptional is that he is innocent. This
may occur in 1-5% of the cases in France. But the system here is
not geared to dealing with potentially innocent people, the
presumption of guilt is standard. We have repeatedly distributed
with Barry's newletters translated articles of people convicted or
held for a long time and then having their case annulled on
evidence or accusations that would not produce an indictment in
the USA. In fact, the European Humans Rights Commission, and
Amnesty, constantly bring up cases of abuse in France. Right now,
new laws are being proposed before the French Assembly.

Finally, a member of the Observatoire has brought Barry's case to
the European Court in spite of prior advice from a lawyer that we
have nothing to claim, since claims were not established at the
time of his trial.

We should also state that the French authorities did not respect
Barry's rights under the article on Consular Accords of the
Vienna Convention which required them to notify the American
Embassy of Barry's arrest without delay.

We have made two requests to the State Dept on this, one directly
to the Secretary of State, and have not yet received a response
as to their having even received Barry's dossier on this matter.
If the American Government would at least acknowledge a violation
on the part of the French we might have a chance before the
European Court on that issue at least, and it might permit us to
open others.

Human Rights Committee

_____________________________________


How to receive the Human Rights Report, bi-monthly

To receive the Human Rights Reports (newsletters) on prison visits
with Barry, and on HR and prison issues in France and worldwide,
please send your request to:

        101716.144@compuserve.com