http://www.amnesty.ch/fr/pays/moyen-...our-max-goeldi

Why is this petition only being posted on Amnesty International's Swiss web site? Wouldn't it be more effective if they could get more people OUTSIDE Switzerland to participate?

Yes, it only is on the German-language and the French-language WEBsite of them but not on the English-language one. A bit weird. I have signed through the German-language site.

...because with all due respect to Max Göldli, I assume that there are more urging cases of human rights infringement than one swiss business man in a North African jail.

They take care of ALL cases they get in hand. I don't believe that the higher urgency of other cases is the reason. The obvious reason however is that they do not really want a worldwide petition but clearly a petition primarily signed by Swiss residents (plus D+F neighbours).

I see, but wouldn't more people involved lead to a greater focus on the issue?

As an Amnesty volunteer I can tell you that each section gets a number of specific cases to deal with. Thus Swiss section, with the main office in Bern, gets cases from the headquarters in London and it's not really up to them to decide which cases they get. Each section of Amnesty gets different action files therefore AI in Canada, for example, will not get the same cases as Switzerland. Since Mr.Goldi is a Swiss citizen, it's normal that the Swiss section got his case.

@Marz

I referred to the petition in several German forums and was subsequently asked why Amnesty didn't say exactly what Göldi had been accused of and why. Of course, in Switzerland everyody knows who Göldi is but not necessarily abroad. Would it be worthwhile to drop a hint to them to clarify their statement so that non-Swiss can be convinced more easily to sign the petition ?

Fully agree. But ................... see below .........................


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The question is not about the sections, but why the petition is not around on the Amnesty WEBsite in English language. I did not check your Italian language WEBsite. But anything of relevance in Switzerland should be around in German, French, Italian, English, Spanish, Albanian and Turkish.

I volunteered with the Amnesty group in Geneva and I'm working on forming an English speaking group here. Even us, the only English speaking group in Switzerland, were getting files in German or French. We requested for them to be sent in English, since Bern was supposedly getting them from London, but they refused to do it. I can't explain why. Yes, the English version on the Swiss Amnesty website would be nice; it would definitely make things easier for those who want to volunteer etc, but since English is not an official language of Switzerland, that is why it's not available, I assume.
By the way, me and a friend are organising a meeting for the English speaking group tomorrow. Everyone's welcome. We're hoping for the Bern main section to support us if we get a few people who would be interested in volunteering in English:
The first meeting will take place on Thursday, Feb 25th at 8pm.
Address: University of Zurich, main building,Karl Schmid-Strasse 4, 8006 Zürich
http://www.plaene.uzh.ch/lageplaene/zentrum.html
Room 172
http://www.plaene.uzh.ch/lageplaene/KOLF.html#ankermap

Italian???
Btw, the reply to what you posted is above. I'm just a volunteer and not with the German speaking groups. Best to email Amnesty in Bern.

Yes, I would believe they should do it and I encourage you to write to them, especially if you write in French or German.
From my own experience, you get more detailed information on cases from
'
www.amnesty-ua.ch you'll get Urgent Actions in English although the rest of the site is either in french or german. '

When I used to volunteer we were getting detailed action files 3 pages long usually.
I guess the Swiss Amnesty section assumes that only Swiss people visit the Swiss Amnesty website (?)

I forgot to add that AI usually acts whenever human rights are violated and in the case of Mr. Goldi, they state that his trial 'did not meet international standards' ( when I google translated it) which means his right to a fair trial was violated.

I know who Goldi is now, but i dont know what really happened to them, i mean for what they were accused? and i am even more confused now, why one man is back and another one is still there? Pure politics?

A) Both were accused of Visa regulations violations. Mr Göldi only had Switzerland behind him, while Mr Hamdani as a Swiss-Tunisian double citizen also had the strong hand of Mr Abidine Ben-Ali, the President of Tunisia, in his favour. Mr Ben-Ali has since the start of the crisis supported Switzerland in the matter, and so may be of considerable importance for Switzerland also in the months to come.

I did !

Typically Swiss unfortunately - and not do they assume that only Swiss people visit their website; they also assume that everybody has a PC. I got my next door neighbour to sign on my computer but they didn' accept it because she has no email address. Really !!!

An update on Max Göldi for those following his imprisonment from Swiss info:

The Swiss section of Amnesty International says the health of businessman Max Göldi, jailed by Libya three weeks ago, has distinctly deteriorated.

Göldi, who had previously been staying at the Swiss embassy, handed himself over to the Libyan authorities after he’d earlier been handed a four-month sentence on visa violations.

His lawyer, Saleh Zahaf, has also spoken of his client’s poor physical condition, and has called on the Swiss authorities to put more pressure on Tripoli.

Amnesty spokesman Daniel Graf told the Swiss News Agency that Göldi’s health had deteriorated since his imprisonment, with uncertainty about his release a contributing factor.

Another Swiss, Rachid Hamdani, who had been staying at the embassy with Göldi, was cleared by Libya of similar charges against him and has since returned to Switzerland.

Göldi’s request for a pardon has not yet been handled and he is no longer permitted to contact Amnesty.

Meanwhile, Italy's foreign minister Franco Frattini says if the Swiss-Libyan dispute is not resolved by April 5, Italy will present a proposal to allow high-ranking Libyans to travel freely in Europe despite Switzerland's visa restrictions.

Frattini made the statement after a meeting in the Libyan capital with government officials there.

He said the proposal was supported by Spain, Portugal and Malta and would be presented to the European Union foreign ministers on March 22.

Switzerland and Libya have been at loggerheads since the middle of 2008 when a son of Libyan leader, Moammar Gaddafi, was arrested with his wife in Geneva on charges of abusing their staff - accusations that were later dropped.

swissinfo.ch and agencies

UPDATE