Here is the text of the petition:
"First UA: 105/21 Index: AMR 51/4915/2021 Date: 25 October 2021
URGENT ACTION
ENVIRONMENTAL LAWYER ARBITRARILY DETAINED
On 1 October, Steven Donziger, a lawyer and environmental rights defender who successfully represented
victims of oil dumping in Ecuador, was sentenced to six months in prison on a politically motivated
‘contempt of court’ charge.
He has already spent more than two years under house arrest in a process that
United Nations experts found lacks any legal basis and is in violation of numerous fair trial standards.
The UN
Working Group on Arbitrary Detention found that his detention is in retaliation for his work as a lawyer for the
Indigenous communities in Ecuador.
He must be released immediately and unconditionally.
TAKE ACTION: WRITE AN APPEAL IN YOUR OWN WORDS OR USE THIS MODEL LETTER
Attorney General Merrick Garland
950 Pennsylvania Avenue NW
Washington, DC 20530
USA
Dear Attorney General Garland,
Steven Donziger is a US lawyer and environmental rights defender who has represented victims of oil
dumping in an emblematic case against Chevron Corporation in Ecuador, following accusations that the
corporation was responsible for what is widely considered one of the worst oil-related environmental
disasters in recent history.
He has been under pre-trial house arrest since August 2019 after he refused to
comply with a court order to hand over his electronic devices, arguing that such a disclosure could
compromise the confidentiality of the communications with his clients and put them at risk.
The detention
follows a long-running smear campaign of intimidation and harassment against Steven Donziger and other
human rights defenders by Chevron.
In September 2021, the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention found that Steven Donziger’s
deprivation of liberty is arbitrary because it lacks any legal basis and is in violation of several norms relating
to the right to a fair trial, including the apparent lack of impartiality of the courts.
Moreover, the Working
Group concluded that his detention appears to be in retaliation for his work as a legal representative of
Indigenous communities in Ecuador.
Despite serious concerns over the lack of independence, objectivity and impartiality of the judge who
ordered the pre-trial house arrest and who has overseen the trial over criminal contempt charges, Steven
Donziger was sentenced on 1 October to the maximum penalty of 6 months in prison and denied the
possibility to be released pending an appeal.
I urge the Department of Justice to assume jurisdiction over the case instead of the private prosecutor, and
promptly implement the UN Working Group’s decision by ensuring that Steven Donziger is released
immediately and unconditionally.
I also call on you to launch a full and independent investigation of the
circumstances surrounding Steven Donziger’s arbitrary deprivation of liberty and take the necessary
measures to ensure that corporations do not abuse the justice system to target and harass human rights
defenders.
Yours sincerely"
What is prominently lacking in the petition is an indication that Donziger was also DISBARRED by the same court that suspended Rudy Giuliani - disbarred in a summary fashion, too, without a hearing, FOR SCORING THE BIGGEST CIVIL RIGHTS ENVIRONMENTAL WIN IN HISTORY!!!
The omission is deliberate - "Amnesty International" is a product of ABA's "Rule of Law" (neocolonial capture of the world) initiative, and does not want to shoot itself in the foot showing to the public that its sponsors are COMPLICIT PARTICIPANTS in abuse of justice system and harassing of human rights defenders.
Now comes the question - WILL the United Nation or WILL IT NOT launch its own investigation into political prosecutions of human rights defenders in the United States, at least based on Steven Donziger's case, even though he is only one of many similarly persecuted, harassed and abused civil rights attorneys?
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