J.S. Tissainayagam (often referred to as "Tissa"), a Sri Lankan journalist, was arbitrarily detained by the police on March 7, 2008 and held without charge for about five months. He was then indicted under Sri Lanka's draconian Prevention of Terrorism Act for two articles written by him in a monthly magazine criticizing the government's conduct of the war against the opposition Tamil Tigers. This was the first time the PTA has been used by the government against a journalist. On August 31, 2009, he was convicted and sentenced to 20 years' hard labor. He is appealing his conviction. On January 13, 2010, he was released on bail while his appeal is pending.

Amnesty International considers Tissa to be a prisoner of conscience, imprisoned solely in connection with his journalistic activities. Last May, President Obama singled him out for praise as an example of journalists unjustly imprisoned for exercising their profession.

We are calling on the Sri Lankan government to strike down his conviction and grant him an unconditional release. We also are asking the Sri Lankan government to amend existing legislation so that it is not misused to arbitrarily restrict freedom of expression.

Human rights defenders working to end violence against women in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) do so in the face of grave threats of violence against themselves and their families. Justine Masika Bihamba is coordinator for Synergy of Women for the Victims of Sexual Violence (Synergie des femmes contre les violence sexuelles), a women's human rights organization working in the DRC. Synergy provides services to help victims of sexual violence and has drawn attention to the increasing incidence of rape in the North Kivu region of the country. As a result of their work, Synergy counselors have been threatened and attacked. Because of her work, Justine and her family have been targeted.

In the early evening of September 18, 2007, six men, reportedly army soldiers, broke into Justine's house in Goma when she wasn't there. They tied up her six children at gunpoint, and assaulted two of them. Justine's 21-year-old daughter pleaded with the soldiers to take what they wanted but not to hurt anyone. One of the soldiers replied that they had not come to steal anything, but rather were on a "well-defined mission." The men searched the house. One soldier kicked Justine's 24-year-old daughter in the face, breaking her tooth. He then sexually assaulted one of the daughters. When Justine returned home during the attack, the men fled. Justine and her children identified to the military police the soldiers involved in the attack, but the military police refused to arrest the men, claiming there was no evidence against them.

Nine days after the attack, Justine lodged a legal complaint against the soldiers. In the following weeks and months, senior military and civilian authorities promised that justice would be done, but more than a year later, the suspects have still not been arrested or brought to trial.

Justine and her children have reportedly been threatened repeatedly by the men, whom they see in the streets around their home. Justine's five-year-old son now fears he will be killed whenever he sees a soldier. Her two daughters have fled abroad for their safety.

Now is the time for us to take action and stand in solidarity as a voice for Justine and other women fighting to protect themselves in the DRC. As part of Get on the Bus, we will ask the Congolese government and the provincial government of North Kivu to take action to bring to justice those who attacked Justine Masika. We also will ask the Congolese government to take steps to retrain police and to reform the judicial system so that human rights of Congolese women and civilians in general are respected, and violators of the rights of citizens are tried and punished in a timely manner.