RE: Help needed with a Human Rights case of an American tourist in France
Applying the Vienna Convention with regard to the right to speak
with a consular official BEFORE making a statement to the police
- Sentenced in France to 18 years in prison, no appeal possible
- All legal recourse, including the pourvoi en cassation,
exhausted
- Anyone willing to help, is encouraged
Hello,
We are seeking help with a Human Rights case in France. We are now
exploring the possibility of invoking specific parts of the Vienna
Convention that apply to one's right to speak with a consular official
BEFORE making a statement to the police.
If by chance anyone is able to shed any light or make helpful suggestions,
please do get in touch. We are seeking general help with this case, in
several areas and ways -- from communicating with the imprisoned
American by regular mail, to exchanging ideas informally with us about
this case by E-Mail.
We hope persons of goodwill as well as representatives of organizations,
will come forward and offer help. We are also seeking to develop contacts
in France, but to date have had little success.
Barry is an American who does not speak or read French and who was arrested
in France on trumped up, if not completely false, charges, and then denied
due process. He has been imprisoned since May 1994 and is seeking assistance
with a series of Human Rights violations against him.
The American Embassy was not notified properly of his arrest; Barry was not
allowed, in a timely manner, to contact an attorney or make a phone call;
and statements were taken by French police (who provided virtually no
translation) -- which Barry was then prevailed upon to sign. These
statements incorrectly represented Barry and were later used against
him in court, contributing to his receiving an astonishing 18 year sentence
.... essentially on the basis of associations and for being in the wrong
place at the wrong time, during a trafficking surveilance operation.
What causes us now to seek the exact wording of the Vienna Convention is the
recent death penalty case in Texas: the execution of a Mexican citizen,
Irineo Tristan Montoya.
In a recent communications it was stated:
"The US Supreme Court asked Texas prosecutors to clarify whether Tristan,
a Mexican citizen, was informed of his right to speak with an official
with the Mexican Consulate in Texas before making a statement to the
police."
This is supposedly a right accorded in the Vienna Convention.
The case of Barry may fall under this convention because, when he was
arrested, he requested that the American Embassy be informed of his arrest.
The French authorities never respected this request and the American Embassy
did not find out about his arrest until after his garde a vue period of four
days, and they were not informed of where Barry was being held until several
weeks after his arrest.
The 1966 Consular accord between France and the USA specifies that in the
case of arrest, if an arrested American requests it, the arresting
authorities are obligated to inform the arrested American's Embassy or
consulate. The US Supreme Court asked the question in even a more
restricted fashion, saying that the Texas authorities not only should have
informed the Mexican Government of Tristan`s arrest but not elicited any
statement from him until he had been visited by an official of his country.
If this is the wording of the Vienna Convention, then Barry has been badly
wronged. His case now has been under study by a representative of the
Observatoire Internationale des Prisons, and contact has been made with the
Human Rights organization in Strasbourg.
This new issue of the Vienna Convention was unknown to us, but it could be
an important element in freeing Barry.
Any help with developing inside contacts in legal aid or Human Rights or
prisoner assistance organizations in France, or elsewhere, would be
especially welcome. This is a case that merits international attention.
Efforts to get organizational or legal help in France have largely failed.
Mounting costs of this case have long ago exhausted resources of Barry, who
is African-American. Virtually all legal recourse, including the pourvoi en
cassation in France's Cour d'Assis Speciale, has been exhausted, without
positive results. We are concerned that the European Court may not find
adequate grounds to accept this case, partly due to failure of Barry's
attorney (who was sorely inexperienced) to present the Human Rights aspects
of this case when there were opportunities to do so.
Please refer this request to persons who you feel may be interested or able
to help; and write us for further details if you are possibly in a position
to avail yourself. It is not Barry's guilt or innocence that is at issue,
but respect for his, and our, basic Human Rights.
Respectfully,
Cecil & Earl
FAX: 310-631-1322
<Human_Rights@Juno.Com>,
<Law-and-Justice@Juno.Com>
cc:
Gerald Lemelle-Deputy Exec Dir for Action AIUSA
Phyllis Pautrat-Bd of Dirs of AIUSA
Civil Rights World Watch
.........................................................................
Below is a brief synopsis of Barry's situation
Barry's family wrote:
..Jailed for a period of nearly two years without trial, bail or
sentence..presumed to be guilty by association. Jurors, addressed
by French officials, were told that because Barry is of African
descent, nothing less than an extremely long sentence is called for;
Africans are NOT BOTHERED by prison, where conditions are better than
what they are accustomed to in their normal lives...
Barry was sentenced to 18 years without appeal - if he survives to be
released, he will be nearly 50 years old
- At 6'4" (1m93), he has seen his weight drop to 139 lbs (63 kilo) due
to an appalingly inadequate prison diet, which contains little or
no fresh fruit, vegetables or protein (family and friends have had
to send money to the American Embassy in Paris, so that Barry would
have funds to buy supplemental foods from the prison canteen)
_____________________________________________________________
C A S E O F B A R R Y B R A I M A H
_____________________________________________________________
"We are dealing with a grave situation of how best to keep Barry in a
positive, survivable frame of mind given the horribly adverse circumstances
he is in. Of particular concern is the reputation of the French prison
where he is incarcerated, as 'suicide motel' - with a stream of suicides
being triggered and sustained by intolerable prison conditions, and lack of
due process in the French judicial system.
"They say of the prison: You check in, but you might not check out!"
Barry, an African American -- who soon will pass his fourth consecutive
birthday (in July) behind French bars -- was arrested as a tourist in France
under highly questionable circumstances, denied due process, then held
almost two years without trial or bail, before being sentenced to 18 years
in
prison.
All this occurred during a time of heightened xenophobia and backlash
against Africans, minorities and foreigners in general in some segments of
French society, particularly among French police, as Amnesty has documented.
Our biggest job is trying to keep Barry alive. He has been suffering from
increasing depression as all legal efforts have failed. There have been
numerous suicides in his prison block since May 1994. Sending to Barry
messages of goodwill and birthday cards, and engaging him thru an exchange
of ideas, is one of the few ways we have to help him at this critical time.
Please write to:
Barry BRAIMAH
Ecrou 25241 M A2 N224
M.A.V.O. - Chemin Vert
B.P. 32 - Osny
95524 Cergy Pontoise, FRANCE
Contributions to Barry's fund would be especially welcome and can be sent to
Mr. Michel Furet, Consular Officer; American Embassy; 2, rue St. Florentin;
75382 Paris, FRANCE Tel: 011-331-43-12-22-22. Personal checks or money
orders in any currency or amount, made out to "The American Aid Society,"
are acceptable and would be greatly appreciated. Mr. Furet will properly
credit any donation.
There is a long list of Human Rights violations against Barry that we would
appreciate help with.
[ Barry's family: c/o <Braimah@hotmail.com> ]
****************************************
Law & Justice - World Watch
3697 Platt Ave, No. 2, Lynwood, CA 90262
FAX: 310-631-1322
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