🚀 go-pugleaf

...A very tall and handsome African American in his 20's -- a 
particularly warm, kind and caring person -- Barry would LOVE to 
find correspondents ca.gen with whom he can share his 
experiences...and his ordeal! 

It's his 2nd birthday passed behind French prison bars.  Barry 
is the victim of false arrest....and -- while some human rights
groups are at last moving to take on his case --  he NEEDS 
to communicate with others, in order to combat growing depression 
stemming from the blatant injustice of his situation.  

Due to severe prison conditions and mistreatment, suicide has
become a major problem among inmates, while self-interested
authorities struggle to keep suicides from the press.

Barry notes about his predicament, that what has happened to him 
"could well have happened to anybody." 

********************************************************
FRIENDS OF AMNESTY & HUMAN RIGHTS
Friends999@aol.com
********************************************************

WORLD SEARCH for PEN FRIENDS & "CORRESPONDENTS of Conscience"
On the occasion of the SECOND BIRTHDAY in prison
Of a young African American Muslim falsely arrested in Paris

(Please re-post where appropriate)

***********************************************************


RE:  Barry BRAIMAH, a young American falsely arrested over one year ago 
            for alleged "involvement in international drug trafficking" 
            on very day of arrival in Paris for his "dream" vacation

      NO plausible explanation of why he was arrested; NO bail; 
            NO trial; NO sentense; COMPLETE DENIAL of due process

      Barry's just spent his 2nd BIRTHDAY in prison (JULY 2) -- cards
            and notes of encouragement sent to him over the next weeks
            and months would be GREATLY APPRECIATED !!

      Understandably, he is very depressed, very despondent over
            his situation; his health has suffered badly due to the
            virtual absence in the prison of fruits and vegetables;
            his weight has dropped markedly due to poor nutrition

      In recent months, there has been a spate of suicides all around 
            Barry in his block; inmates who have independently tried to 
            contact the media about prison conditions have been severly 
            pusnished and mistreated by prison authorities
            
      Please send postcards, notes, and letters with brief messages 
            of encouragement to Barry so that these arrive during the
            next weeks and months following his birthday; Barry needs
            to communicate with others to maintain his sanity

NOTE:  Your writing Barry will put French authorities on notice that
            others DO CARE about human rights of Barry and others at a 
            time when int'l human rights watch orgnizations are giving 
            France poor marks for fostering increasing police 
            mistreatment of minorities and foreigners over recent years 
 

      Send NO parcels of reading material, as the prison has 
            whimsically decided that Barry cannot receive reading 
            material, and refuses to give him that which has been sent

      The problem of rampant HR violations in the French 
            penal/judicial system is well known especially in regards 
            to Africans, Arabs, Muslims and foreigners. 

      Many have suffered years of unjust imprisonment without trials, 
            and have been victims of violent assault, RAPE and even 
            "mysterious death"  
   Amnesty International recently released Country Report documents 
            years of flagrant HR violations in France against Africans,
            Arabs and foreigners  

      Since the envelopes of mail received are not given to the
            prisoners - only the contents, for some unknown 
            reason - please be sure to include your address 
            at the top of your note, so that Barry will be able 
            to respond to you

      Postcards, notes, letters are acceptable; parcels are not
            permitted

      Barry is very tall and athletic, has eclectic tastes in music
            and reading, and is loved by all who know him.  


PLEASE WRITE TO:

Barry BRAIMAH
25241 M B2 E214
M.A.V.O. - Chemin Vert
B.P. 32 - Osny
95524 Cergy Pontoise-CEDEX
France

..............................................................

(letter sent by Barry from MAVO-OSNY PRISON in France)



Hello,

My story is a long one ... 

I have literally been 'marooned' in France for more than a year 
under circumstances that I still find almost impossible to believe.  

What has happened to me is shocking.  It could well have happened to 
anybody.

I have always wanted to spend time in France - sort of a lifelong 
dream - but NOT under these circumstances.  

Yes, I am fuming with rage over the injustice I have suffered....and 
continue to suffer....

I was arrested within hours of arriving in France, not for anything I 
did or contemplated doing, but for being in the wrong place at the 
wrong time ... while trying to look up a friend.

To date, I have not received any formal explanation of charges.  
My attorney is still laboring with the 2000-plus page police dossier
to learn why I am here.

There is as yet no end in sight to my difficulties...and I would be 
very happy - DELIGHTED! -  to correspond with persons - whoever and
wherever in the world.  

My sincerest thanks go out to the one or two of you who have taken the
time to send me a note of encouragement.  Thanks for your show of 
caring.

Right now - after a year of virtually no human contact...after a year
of virtually no fruit or vegetables in my diet...after a year of no TV 
or media access...after a year of just rotting in my cell...after a 
year of not knowing what's going to happen next  - I feel very much 
alone ... my bones have begun to creak in pain ... and my
spirit feels weakened (...even though I know  intellectually that 
I must try to be strong).

I miss friendship.  I miss human contact ... I miss good home-
cooked meals.

Peace ! 

Barry

---------------------------------------------------
PLEASE send post cards and notes of encouragement 
directly to Barry in prison (write your address inside the 
envelope - not just on the outside - so he can write back):

Barry BRAIMAH
25241 M B2 E214
M.A.V.O. - Chemin Vert
B.P. 32 - Osny
95524 Cergy Pontoise-CEDEX
France
..................................................

NOTE: It appears that one of the problems contributing to Barry's
despondency and depression is his total lack of funds.  Prisoners are
expected to buy food (the prison serves them only the equivalent of a
small TV dinner).  They must also buy coffee, shaving supplies,
stamps, envelopes, entertainment, snacks, etc...Even TV privileges
cost $60 a month!

Barry's diet this past year has had virtually NO VEGETABLES OR FRUIT.
Inmates are expected to buy these from the prison commissary.  For
lack of funds and mounting legal costs that his family is struggling
to meet, this has been impossible for Barry.

**********************************

                  REUTER REPORT ON FRENCH PRISONS

The problem of rampant HR violations in the French penal/judicial 
system is well known especially in regards to Africans, Arabs, 
Muslims and foreigners. Many minority members have suffered 
years of unjust imprisonment without trials, and have been victims 
of violent assault, RAPE and even "mysterious death."  

Amnesty International recently released its Country Report
documenting years of flagrant HR violations in France against 
Africans, Arabs and foreigners in particular. 

    PARIS, April 26 (Reuter) - A Paris appeals court upheld on 
Wednesday a judge's order releasing 18 foreigners from a jail 
under fire from rights activists, and the Paris police chief promptly 
pledged to close the prison temporarily to clean it up. 
    Judge Francois Sottet freed the detainees last week after police
refused to let him and a lawyer inspect the cells under the Justice
Palace in central Paris to investigate the serious beating of an inmate 
by fellow prisoners.  
    The police, who had appealed against the release, said the decision
to close the jail, which has been denounced for years as inhumane by
human rights groups, was not linked to the sudden attention drawn 
by the detainees' freedom. 
    Several dozen foreigners have been held at any given time in the
jail in difficult conditions, most of them awaiting expulsion from
France.  
    The court ruled that the inmates' detention period had expired and
said ``the judiciary has a constitutional responsibility to safeguard
individual liberties.'' 
    Sottet had been asked to extend detention of a presumed Moroccan
citizen, Minou Rama, who appeared in court last week with a broken 
arm and a badly bruised face. He was unable to stand and asked to 
lie down in court during his hearing. 
    Among past controversies at the jail, a guard faces charges for
RAPING an Algerian transvestite inmate, a Moroccan recently hanged
himself in a cell and eight policemen were suspended this month for
beating another detainee.  
    Danielle Mitterrand, a human rights campaigner and the wife of
outgoing President Francois Mitterrand, has been among those 
criticising conditions at the jail and has called for its closure.

from the REUTER WIRE SERVICE

************************************************

PLEASE WRITE DIRECTLY TO:

Barry BRAIMAH
25241 M B2 E205
M.A.V.O. - Chemin Vert
B.P. 32 - Osny
95524 Cergy Pontoise-CEDEX
France
***********************************************

THANK YOU for your support for HUMAN RIGHTS !!

Inquiries or suggestions for Barry's family 
can be sent to:

Cecil (Barry's brother)
University of California
Tel/FAX:  310-632-1582

crw@kaiwan.com

...........................................
Subj:   Barry's letter to a French journalist
From:   Jean (French journalist)
To:     Cecil

   Paris

(letter from a French journalist to Cecil, Barry's brother)

   Dear Cecil,

   You probably remember me, I'm the French journalist with whom
you exchanged some emails ten days ago.
   I've just received a letter from your brother Barry. There are
two sheets of paper written in blue ink, with no margins.
   I'm ashamed, Cecil, and I would like to apologize. I knew that
our judiciary system is already far from good in theory, and much
worse in the practice. I knew that the conditions of life of the
prisoners are not even decent. I knew that our jails are full
with presumed innocent, and that it means that they contain some
100% innocent. I knew that the trials are much too slow. I knew
there is a lack of control of the juge d'instruction's decisions.
I knew everything that is bad for the French is a disaster for
the foreigners. I knew all that, I disliked every single element
of that, but I hadn't ever thought what was the result of the
addition of all that elements, despite the fact that the result
was totally obvious. The result is a disaster.
   That's what I read in your brother's letter... and I have no
words. It's a shame.
   It's so absolutely a shame I don't think any more that the
main question is to know whether your brother is guilty or
innocent. We - the French citizens - have to change the whole
system right now, period.
   I have to think about all that a little, I'm rather upset and
shocked after what I've read.
   I'm really sorry, Cecil. I hope you'll pardon me to have been
so cold before.
   I'll send you another email tomorrow. 

   Best regards.
****************************************************
         *             Jean             *
*****************************************************

Right now, Barry is being held in virtual solitary confinement
for 22 out of 24 hours a day -- he is allowed contact with other 
prisoners only for 1 or 2 hours a day, during a morning or 
afternoon walk.  

Post cards and notes of encouragement, on Barry's having spent 
a 2nd birthday in prison, would be GREATLY APPRECIATED, 
and -- as well as boost Barry's morale --  will serve 
to put French authorities on notice that they
cannot so cavalierly get away with disregarding Barry's Human 
Rights without international protest and repercussions.  


PLEASE write directly to Barry in prison...

Barry BRAIMAH
25241 M B2 E214
M.A.V.O. - Chemin Vert
B.P. 32 - Osny
95524 Cergy Pontoise-CEDEX
France

...........................................

Thank you,

Barry's family

crw@kaiwan.com
Los Angeles, California