July 10, 2014 – RI Future

Amnesty International USA Group 49 in Rhode Island is the oldest AI group in the state. Each year they hold a massive write-a-thon at the First Unitarian Church in Providence, and the rest of the year the group works on prisoner-of-conscience cases on behalf of those imprisoned for non-violent political crimes around the world. This group in many ways represents all of Rhode Island to the outside world. It is very likely that the leaders of Belarus of Iran have never heard of our little state, until a letter arrives requesting the release of a prisoner.

Group 49 is Rhode Island’s ambassador to the world, and deserves our support. Now there is a small way in which you can help us with our important work.

Fully aware of the limitations of online petitions, but desperate to increase the visibilty of this forgotten case of human rights abuse, Group 49 has posted a petition on Change.org that we are asking all Rhode Islanders of good conscience to sign.

From the petition:

“Arzhang Davoodi is an author, poet, and Director of the Parto-e-Hekmat Cultural -Educational Centre in Tehran. He was arrested in October, 2003, after he assisted in the making of a TV documentary called “Forbidden Iran,” in which he spoke about the plight of political prisoners at the time. Arzhang Davoodi, a man whose principle is non-violence, has been severely punished for his exercise of his right to free, peaceful expression. Amnesty International has named him a prisoner of conscience. After his arrest, he was sentenced to 15 years and 70 lashes in prison. In 2011, an additional 14 months was added to his sentence, and new charges were brought against him. Now, his sentence has been lengthened yet again, this time to 20 years and eight months. Yet during all this time, he has been in prison, often in solitary confinement, incapable of any act of violence, without even the means of conveying his peaceful nonviolent thought to the public outside prison.

“The government of Iran is surely responsible for those whom it holds in custody. We ask you to bring to the attention of the prison authorities in the several prisons where has been held (Evin, Reja ‘I Shahr, and now Bandar Abbas) that this elderly man has been severely wounded while in their custody. While in detention, his shoulder and his jaw have been broken, several of his teeth have been broken, and he has been harshly and repeatedly beaten on the eyes and ears, as a result of which his hearing and his sight are impaired. He is in urgent need of medical attention.

“A new charge has been brought against him, despite the fact that having been in prison for all these years, he has been unable to commit any act of any kind. Not only has he never been allowed to see his original conviction order, or the official verdict, but now we understand that these new charges have been brought against him without having been specified.

“Amnesty International USA Group 49 in Providence has been working on Arzhang’s case for many years, sending letters and asking Iranian officials to release Arzhang Davoodi. This petition is an attempt to raise the profile of this sometimes forgotten and overlooked case, and hopefully get some action on this miscarriage of justice.”

Thank you for your help with this important work.

Governor Chafee signed the Just Cause bill, which requires banks and credit unions to allow tenants in foreclosed building to continue to pay rent and live there under the terms of the lease they had with their landlord. Further, the bill requires lenders who foreclose to maintain the building, effecting repairs and keeping the property from becoming a boarded up eyesore. This bill is good for tenants, good for communities throughout Rhode Island, and even good for the banks themselves, because maintaining the properties and the neighborhoods increases the chance that the property will retain its value and be purchased sometime.

Getting it passed was no easy task. DARE activists and other groups in the Just Cause coalition have worked for six years to get this bill to a place where the Governor could sign it. The battle is not done yet either, because after the bill is passed comes the difficulty of enforcing it: making sure the banks follow the law and bringing enough legal pressure to bear to make sure following this law becomes the standard, not the exception.

The press conference, held at DARE HQ in South Providence, was emceed by DARE activist Malcus Mills, who joyously announced, “We have finally made it with the Governor’s signature.”

Sergio Perez spoke next of the difficulties of dealing with a bank foreclosing on the house in which you are paying rent. Perez wants to stay in the house he’s living in, not pull his kids out of school, and keep getting to work on time. The Just Cause bill will allow him to do just that.

Senator Harold Metts sees the bills passage as an example of advocacy and persistence, adding, that bridges were built to create justice and meet the needs of the people.

“My landlord just up and left,” said Rawlene Burgess, “He came and got his rent and then he left us.” Burgess and her grandson were evicted, and she had trouble finding a two bedroom home in her price range. Had this law been in effect, she would have been able to pay her rent to the bank, and avoided this ridiculous and unexpected tumult in her life.

This issue is not just a problem for inner city communities. Representative Jay Edwards, who lives in Tiverton, had this happen to a family living two houses away from him. The family was thrown out of their home. As a result, Edwards became the chief advocate for this bill in the Rhode Island House. The bankers told Edwards that the Just cause law “flies in the face of six hundred years of common law.” If that’s the case, says Edwards, then “common law is wrong.”

“It shouldn’t take six years to do the right thing!” said the Reverend Don Anderson, “Every single person should have a safe, affordable place to call home.”

Steve Fischbach, the lawyer for DARE who has worked for years on this issue, was obviously very happy with the outcome. “Victory is sweet,” said Fischbach.

In a legislative season that seemed to favor the monied interests over the lives of working people, this bill stood out as one of the few positive highlights. More concentration of the lives of those who exist at the margins of society and less worry about what happens to a millionaire’s money after death would reap enormous dividends for our state, both socially and economically.

You can watch the entire Press Conference uninterrupted here: