Spring '09
05.27.09 Please join Stanford Amnesty International, Sanskriti and a host of other organizations in welcoming the 25th Anniversary Bhopal Survivors Speaking Tour to campus on Wednesday, May 27th at 6:30pm in the Geo Corner of the Quad (320-105). Free and open to the public, and refreshments will be served - come hear the amazing survival stories of these 2nd-generation youth activists with regards to the Bhopal Dow-Union Carbide chemical disaster of 25 years ago.
05.11.09 To all ASSU Cabinet Members, Senators and Execs: please join Stanford Amnesty International and the leaders of several other human rights interest groups on campus for an evening dessert social on Thursday, May 14 at 8:30 in the Haas Center DK Room to discuss how human rights and service groups can collaborate with the ASSU in the upcoming school year to put on awareness and activism events and further human rights dialogue on campus. RSVP to Ariana, Haas Center Liaison, at achoyt@stanford.edu.
04.21.09 Our meeting time/location has changed for the quarter; we will be meeting Tuesdays from 9-10pm in the LGBT Center (on the 2nd floor of the Fire Truck House, above the Women's Center). All members of the campus and surrounding community are welcome to attend!
04.04.09 Stanford Service Summit, Saturday April 4, Y2E2 Building
Join Amnesty International as we cosponsor the campus-wide Stanford Service Summit, the goal of which is to build a shared vision for strengthening the role of service in the mission and identity of Stanford University by recognizing public service at Stanford, engaging the entire Stanford community in a collaborative discussion, and defining common goals and commitments for fostering service. To register for the various panels and speaker events hosted at the summit on Saturday afternoon, please visit the website for the ASSU Service Summit at http://servicesummit.stanford.edu.
Winter '08
03.02.09 Condi + Stanford Amnesty International in the Media: Stanford Amnesty's own Lindsey Hawley (Campus Pastor) was interviewed by NPR on campus regarding her thoughts about Condi's return - one of our own is famous! Click here to hear a segment of the Condi report!
02.27.09 "1 in 3:" Amnesty International Traveling Art Exhibit - Stop Violence Against Women, Friday, Feb 27, 7:00pm for Kick-Off at Women's Community Center in the Fire Truck House, featuring performances by STAMP and cast of the Vagina Monologues. Exhibit runs Feb 27-March 4 on the 2nd floor of Tressider.
Kickoff event free and open to all, refreshments will be served!
Stanford Amnesty International, as part of International Women’s Week 2009, is joining Amnesty chapters in 6 northern California locations in hosting a traveling art exhibit on women's rights called "1 in 3," reflecting the number of women who face violence in their lifetime. The focus of this exhibit is public education about violence against women both in the US and abroad. Co-sponsored by the Women’s Community Center and Promoting Women’s Health & Human Rights. Featuring art and photography by Bay Area artists and Stanford students!Join Stanford Amnesty International for a screeing of the new unreleased documentary American Faust: From Condi to Neo-Condi, documenting Condoleezza Rice's role in human rights violations committed under the Bush Administration, on Tuesday, February 3rd at 9pm in 260-113. Free and open to the public with light refreshments served. We will also be hosting an urgent-action letter petition and debate on Rice's upcoming role at Stanford after the film.
Autumn '08
11.03.08 Just a reminder for everyone to remember to VOTE or hand in your mail-in ballot to your polling place tomorrow!!! For most of the Stanford Campus, your polling place will be in the Havana Room of the GCC on Escondido (just past Mirrielees).
10.19.08 Stanford Amnesty International is one of the official co-sponsors of this year's 11th Annual United Nations Association Film Festival, coming to campus from Sunday, October 19 to Sunday, October 26! Please check out the official UNAFF website to see the schedule of documentaries that will be screened in campus auditoria (free for Stanford students!) throughout the week and take advantage of this amazing opportunity!
10.14.08 The first-ever REACH Film Festival on campus is happening on Tuesday, October 14 and Thursday, October 16, from 7-10 pm in Bldg. 420-041 each night. Join us and become aware of how you can empower the next generation of leaders in the world in a celebration of the relentless strife to education.
Don't miss out on meeting the following speakers:
Prof. Anjini Kochar, from the Center for International Development,
Prof. Joef Samoff, from the Center for African Studies,
Pamela Collett, one of the Filmmakers of KIBERA KID and a Stanford Graduate
7:00 – 10:00 pm, Bldg 420- 041
**Refreshments will be served**
***NO need to RSVP. Just come to watch whichever documentaries interest you most.***
Tuesday, October 14:
7:00 p.m. A School of their Own, 8:00 p.m. Facilitated Discussion by Professor Anjini Kochar, 8:45 p.m. Kibera KidThursday, October 16:
7:00 p.m. Testing Hope, 8:00 p.m. Facilitated Discussion by Professor Joel Samoff, 8:30 p.m. Back to SchoolA short description of each film follows:
Kibera Kid
Directed by Otieno, a twelve year old orphan living in Kibera, Kenya, Africa's largest slum, lives with the Razors gang, his substitute family. Otieno has to choose between a life of crime or redemption. KIBERA KID was shot entirely on location in Kibera, with a cast from Kibera. KIBERA KID has won seven international awards, including the prestigious student EMMY.
Testing Hope: Grade 12 in the new South Africa
Testing Hope: Grade 12 in the new South Africa chronicles the lives of young people facing their future in the evolving democracy of South Africa. The film follows four students at Oscar Mpetha High School in Nyanga township, just outside of Cape Town, as they work towards their crucial Matric exams which one student calls "the decider." Every grade 12 student in South Africa is required to take a series of Matric exams based on the subjects they study. These exams determine access to higher education, jobs, and future success. While this is the Nyanga of a new South Africa, many vestiges of apartheid remain – poverty is entrenched, many students live in shacks, and family structures are dramatically changed by the impact of HIV-AIDS. Despite a promise of opportunity, 52 percent of people aged 16 to 25 are unemployed. Testing Hope follows the students as they prepare for the exams, which they believe will determine their future.
Back to School
Back to School is the second installment of Time for School, the multi-year project launched in 2003 when Wide Angle profiled seven children in seven countries – Afghanistan, Benin, Brazil, India, Japan, Kenya, and Romania – starting their first year of school, often despite great odds. Returning in 2006, we find that some are already hanging onto their enrollment by a thread. Thirteen-year-old Neeraj attends a special night school so she can work during the day, but extended trips to graze the livestock have arrested her progress. In Benin, Nanavi is the first girl from her family to enroll in school, but her father's death has made it difficult to afford the chalk and supplies. With over 100 million children around the globe out of school, Back to School puts a human face on an issue with profound consequences for global development.
A School of Their Own: Reading, Writing and Revolution in Nepal
In remote Nepal, the Riverside School is a unique educational environment that educates low-caste and tribal children, half of whom are girls. There, children flourish in an environment free of the caste system, gender prejudice, and violence found in government schools - and in their society at large.
Follow the school's struggle to stay afloat during the bloody ten-year civil war in which children are caught in the middle. The police accuse them of being Maoist rebels while the rebels themselves forcibly draft children over twelve years old into their army. Though Nepal is currently enjoying a tenuous peace, the future is uncertain. Through in-depth interviews and stunning footage, A School of Their Own shows how children, even in the most extreme circumstances, can lead a nation to a better future.
10.13.08 After a brief website hiatus, Stanford Amnesty web updates are back on track! Please be sure to check the website for our weekly urgent action and upcoming events and meeting details. For this fall quarter, Stanford Amnesty will be meeting Mondays at 9pm in Old Union 113 - students, faculty, staff and community members are all encouraged to attend! This quarter, Stanford Amnesty's theme will be focused on Human Rights and the Environment as we work closely with the Green Living Council and Sustainability at Stanford. Hope to see you at some of our events!
Please welcome our new and returning group coordinators for the quarter and (hopefully) year!
Co-Presidents: Anita Verma & Emma Laughlin, Financial Officers: Noelle Pineda and Othman Ouenes, Urgent Action Coordinators: Yuhong Wang and Isabelle Wijangco, Community Group Liaison: Maria Barth, Haas Liaison: Andrew Linford, Secretary: Trisha Luu, Webmaster: Anita Verma, Blogmaster: Shadi Bushra. Congratulations to all and here's to a new year!
Winter '08
02.25.08 Stanford Amnesty International will be hosting an info session on possible jobs and summer internships available to students with Amnesty International and other human rights organizations. Please come to Old Union, Room 113 at 8pm on Monday, March 3rd if you would like to learn more about how to get involved and have a great experience this summer!
01.28.08 The thinkBIG conference for women's health and human rights starts this Friday, February 1st! The conference will continue until February 3rd - Stanford Amnesty will be tabling on the 3rd after the keynote speech and we'll have petitions and urgent actions on women's rights available for all to sign. Hope to see you there! For more information and/or to register for the conference, visit thinkbig.stanford.edu.
01.27.08 Stanford Amnesty will be meeting in Old Union, Room 216D on Monday, January 28 and Monday, February 4. Afterwards, we will resume our weekly meetings in Old Union Room 113.
Autumn '07
11.09.07 Stanford Amnesty members will be attending the Western Regional Conference for Amnesty International in San Francisco on Saturday, November 10th. For a list of the event details and workshops, speakers, etc., for the whole weekend (the conference runs from November 9-11), click here. Registration on-site is $40/person; all AIUSA members and non-members (students and the community) are encouraged to attend!
10.24.07 Join Stanford Amnesty as we kick off with our first event of the year! Paul Rudatsikira, founder and executive director of Global Africa Partnership, Inc., will be coming to campus as part of his Rwanda speaking tour. Rudatsikira, who is a native of Rwanda but managed to escape to the U.S. from neighboring Burundi during the 1994 Rwanda genocide, will be relaying his personal, regional, national, and international experiences in the aftermath of the 1994 genocide. He hopes to provide avenues for students and others across the U.S. to get involved and draw lessons from the Rwanda genocide in order to prevent the rise of current mass genocides, such as that in Darfur.
This event takes place both on United Nations Day, the one-month anniversary of the deadly protests against the government in Myanmar, and Amnesty International's Day of Action for Darfur. We will have actions and petitions available regarding Darfur at the event (and refreshments will be served!). Amnesty is also currently collecting signatures on a petition to curb the violence in Darfur, which they will deliver to the UN on October 24th. Sign the Global Petition for Darfur and take action now!
All students, faculty, staff, and community members are welcome to attend this event!
10.11.07 All of Stanford Amnesty's subsequent meetings this quarter will take place Mondays at 8pm in Old Union, Room 122. Hope to see you there!
09.05.07 SUCCESS STORY: Earlier this year in May, Stanford Amnesty wrote letters on behalf of Dr. Haleh Esfandiari, the Head of the Middle East Program at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars in Washington D.C. She was apprehended and detained in Iran when trying to return to the U.S., and was stripped of her belongings. Amnesty International has reported that as of September 2nd, Dr. Esfandiari has been released from Iran and allowed to return to the U.S.! For more information, please see the Amnesty International summary. Thanks to all who wrote on this Amnesty action!
Spring '07
04.18.07 On Wednesday April 18th, you are invited to attend the premiere of Stanford's biggest and most provocative student film!
The Strange Case of Salman abd al Haqq is a fictional short film based on the testimony of victims of Extraordinary Rendition, a government policy that has been dubbed 'the outsourcing of torture'. It tells the story of its fictional protagonist Salman, who finds himself jailed andinterrogated by the brutal Egyptian secret service in Cairo because of his alleged involvement with three suspected terrorists. In a nuanced and intriguing way, the film touches on issues such as the moralityof torture, the effectiveness of the War on Terror, the role of Arabs in American society and the struggle between traditionalism and progressiveness in the Muslim world.
This is a must-see event for movie fans, supporters of human rightsand foreign policy politicos. Finally, this is a film that deals withtruths that are of immence importance to 21st Century America and we have a duty and responsibility to be exposed to them, however inconvenient or horrifying they may be.
The producers of The Strange Case look forward to seeing you on Wednesday April 18th, 8pm at Cubberley Auditorium.Please visit www.thestrangecase.com for a teaser trailer for the film!
04.15.07 Join us on Sunday, April 15 at CommUNITY Day, a campus-wide event with a barbecue, games, etc. open to the entire local community, starting at 11am in the Oval. Stanford Amnesty is endorsing the Stanford Labor Action Coalition's campaign for a living wage for campus workers, so be sure to stop by the SLAC booth on Sunday and show them your support. For more information on SLAC's campaign and the students on campus fasting for a living wage, visit their group homepage at http://www.stanford.edu/group/slac.
04.03.07 Join us for the first Stanford Amnesty meeting of spring quarter, 8pm on Tuesday, April 3rd in the Women's Community Center (first floor of the Fire Truck House.) All are welcome to attend!
Winter '07
03.06.07 Join Stanford Amnesty for a free screening of what the New York Times calls "a film of staggering force":
The Road to Guantánamo
The terrifying first hand account of three British citizens who were held for two years without charges at Guantanámo Bay
Tuesday, March 6
7:30 pm
Language Corner (Bldg. 260-113)Snacks will be provided and all are welcome to attend! For more information about our Stanford Amnesty campaign to raise awareness of America's use of torture, please visit our blog at http://torture.stanford.edu.
02.25.07 The Palo Alto Group 19, the Stanford Chapter of Amnesty International and the Stanford Center on Ethics Invite you to a free screening of:
Robert Greenwald's film
Please join us on:
Sunday, February 25
3pm - 6:30 pmFairchild Auditorium
291 Campus Drive
Stanford University Medical CenterThere will also be a panel discussion on human rights following the film, featuring:
• Michelle Leighton, Director, Human Rights Programs, Center for Law
and Global Justice University of San Francisco School of Law• Deborah L. Rhode, Leading scholar in the fields of legal ethics and
professional responsibility. Founding Director of the Center on Ethics
at Stanford University• John Kamm, Recipient of the MacArthur Fellowship, founder and
chairman of the Dui Hua Foundation, early advocate of corporate
responsibilityFor more details and directions, visit: http://www.amnesty-volunteer.org/usa/group19
Group 19 of Amnesty International meets regularly on the 2nd Tuesday of each month at All Saints Church, corner of Hamilton and Waverly in Palo Alto ~ the next meeting is March 13 at 7:30 pm – we hope to see you soon!
02.01.07 For the rest of the quarter, Stanford Amnesty will be meeting in the 1st floor lounge of the Fire Truck House (i.e. the WCC). If there are any conflicts for a particular day, the new meeting location will be posted on the website.
01.28.07 We have a few group leadership positions available for next quarter/the 2007-2008 school year. Please email the appropriate group member ASAP if you are interested in a particular position.
Available positions :
Financial Officer – financial transfers, reimbursing group members, applying for funds from ASSU and various on-campus organizations. If you're interested, please email Kabir.
Webmaster – updating website, notifying members of events via e-mails, adding new members to e-mail list. Please email Anita if you're interested and/or have experience in web design/HTML.
Urgent Action Coordinator – bringing urgent actions to meetings, events; organizing tabling in White Plaza or at other group’s events; publicity (paper flyers, e-flyers, generating awareness about our events). Please email Tiffany if you're interested or have any questions!01.16.07 Join us for the first Stanford Amnesty meeting of winter quarter on Tuesday, January 16th at 9pm in the LGBT-CRC! We'll be discussing our plans for the quarter, meeting times, and the like. All are welcome!
Autumn '06
12.04.06 Stanford Amnesty and Stanford Against Torture will be hosting a campus Teach-In on America's Use of Torture. All are welcome to attend.
You are invited to join the Stanford chapter of Amnesty International for an informal, student-led teach-in on America's use of torture in the War on Terror and beyond.
What: Amnesty Student Teach-in on America's Use of Torture
When: Monday, December 4th, 9PM
Where: LGBT-CRC (Firetruck House, 2nd Floor)
Prepared Topics:
The Psychology of Torture
American Scandals
International Law and Torture Debate
American Law and Torture Policy
We hope to see you there! Feel free to bring anything you would like to share, or just come to listen and discuss.10.21.06 6 Degrees will be hosting a free concert for human rights on Saturday, October 21 in White Plaza. Featuring bands, NGO's, student groups, and guest speakers to raise awareness on human rights and environmental issues. Drop by White Plaza any time from 12-6 pm to check it out!
Spring '06
04.30.06 Stanford STAND (Students Taking Action Now: Darfur) is helping to organize a Day of Conscience for Darfur in San Francisco. They'd love as many people as possible to attend and participate in the day's silent vigil across Golden Gate Bridge and rally in the Presidio. Sign up to participate in the Day of Conscience and snag a seat on one of the buses taking participants from Stanford to San Francisco and back. Also, keep your eye out for a STAND e-mail soliciting volunteers to help the Day of Conscience run smoothly.
There is something you can do to help end genocide in Darfur, Sudan. Since 2003, 400,000 men, women, and children have been killed. More than 2.5 million have been displaced from their homes. Many thousands have been raped. Today, violence in Darfur continues unabated.
On Sunday, April 30th, STAND up for the people of Darfur at a Day of Conscience for Darfur. Call on our elected officials to help end the violence in Darfur by standing with thousands of concerned citizens in San Francisco at a Silent Vigil on Golden Gate Bridge and at a Rally in the Presidio.
Buses leaving from the Stanford campus Sunday morning. Register to participate and reserve your bus seat at www.OurPledge.org.Together, we can make a difference for the people of Darfur. Please, STAND with us on April 30th.
Questions?
Day of Conscience for Darfur sponsored by Stanford STAND (Students Taking Action Now: Darfur), American Friends Service Committee, American Jewish World Service, American Muslim Voices, Church World Service, Dear Sudan, Human Rights Watch, Jewish Community Relations Council, San Francisco Bay Area Darfur Coalition, United Church of Christ, Unitarian Universalist Service Committee, University of San Francisco.04.24.06 And on Monday, April 24, again in partnership with the LGBT-CRC, we'll be screening a film called Dangerous Living: Coming Out in the Developing World.
04.19.06 Friday, April 21 is Earth Day! We've been asked by Students for a Sustainable Stanford to have a table at their White Plaza celebration. More details forthcoming!
04.19.06 On Wednesday, April 19 and Thursday, April 20, in partnership with the LGBT-CRC, we're hoping to have a photo exhibit in White Plaza based on Amnesty International's recently released Stonewalled report concerning police misconduct and abuse against lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people in the United States.
04.15.06 Stanford's 5th Annual Conference on International Development hosted by the Stanford Association for International Development (SAID). Stanford Amnesty will be tabling at the event, located at the GSB.
STAND UP FOR WOMEN'S RIGHTS!
Join Stanford Amnesty on Tuesday for:
Iron Jawed Angels
the acclaimed HBO film
Tuesday, April 11, 8PM
60-61G"Iron Jawed Angels" focuses on two women, Alice Paul and Lucy Burns, who organized a radical wing of the women's-rights movement at the turn of the 20th century, in order to secure women's voting rights with the 1920 passage of the 19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.
Stanford Amnesty is screening "Iron Jawed Angels" as part of our National Week of Student Action, intended to build support for U.S. ratification of the Treaty for the Rights of Women - also referred to as the United Nations Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW). CEDAW was adopted by the UN General Assembly in 1979 and to date has been signed by 180 countries around the world. The United States is the only industrialized nation to refuse to ratify the treaty.
The film will be followed by letter writing and informal discussion.
All are welcome and invited to attend!Questions about the event? Please email Lily.
04.07.06 On Friday at noon, Dr. Ami Laws will be speaking about domestic violence in room 61A of building 60.
Join Stanford Amnesty this Friday for:
Dr. Ami Laws on the prevalence of domestic violence and its costs to society
Also: the cultural and interpersonal dynamics that lead to domestic partner violence
and the medical aspects of injuries caused by domestic violenceFriday, April 7, Noon
Building 60, Room 61ADr. Laws is an affiliated associate professor of medicine at Stanford and a member of the Santa Clara Valley Domestic Violence Council. Dr. Laws has been involved with the issue of domestic violence for more than ten years, and has treated many women with injuries caused by domestic violence.
Dr. Laws' talk is part of Amnesty's National Week of Student Action. The goal of the week is to build support for U.S. ratification of the Treaty for the Rights of Women (also referred to as the United Nations Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination Against Women - CEDAW). CEDAW was adopted by the UN General Assembly in 1979 and to date has been signed by 180 countries around the world. The United States is the only industrialized nation to refuse to ratify the treaty.
Everyone is welcome and invited to attend this special event!
Questions about the event? Please e-mail Lily.
04.06.06 On Thursday evening around 10:00 PM, we'll be hosting dorm/house write-a-thons around campus. The write-a-thons will be one or two of us sitting in a dorm/house lounge with paper, pens, stamps, envelopes, and snacks - again, asking folks to write letters to their Congressional Representatives about ratification of CEDAW. Right now, it looks like we'll be having write-a-thon's in Roble, Riconada, and Synergy/Columbae. We'd love to have one in Branner too, or wherever else you live. Please let me know if you'd like to help with a write-a-thon! We'll provide you with all the supplies you'll need.
04.03.06 This week and next is Amnesty International's National Week of Student Action (NWSA). The goal of the week is to build support for U.S. ratification of the Treaty for the Rights of Women (also known as the United Nations Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination Against Women--CEDAW). The treaty was adopted by the U.N. General Assembly in 1979 and to date has been signed by 180 countries around the world. The United States has the dubious distinction of being the only industrialized nation to refuse to ratify the treaty.
As part of the National Week of Student Action, Stanford Amnesty will be tabling Wednesday and Thursday of thise week and Monday and Tuesday of next week, asking students and community members to write letters and sign petitions concerning ratification of CEDAW, addressed to their Congressional Representatives.
Winter '06
03.10.06 Quarterly Dinner. Mark your calendars and start thinking about favorite types of food! We will be having a Stanford Amnesty end-of-quarter dinner on Friday, March 10.
03.08.06 Conference on Domestic Violence organized by the Amnesty SF office as part of the Stop Violence Against Women Campaign. Wednesday, March 8, 12 - 4pm at Cañada College in Redwood City. Check here for more information.
03.01.06 Looking ahead, we are also planning on tabling again in White Plaza next Wednesday (March 1) from 11:30am to 1:30pm so check on your availability. We will sign-up for times at our meeting next week.
02.28.06 Amnesty Area Meeting. A meeting held by the local Amnesty chapter to discuss upcoming area events. Let us know if you'd like to attend and a group of us will travel there together. Monday, February 28, 7:30pm - 10:00pm (probably won't last the whole time), at All Saints Episcopal Church in Palo Alto.
Hello Friends,
As you might have heard by now, the execution of Michael Morales has been postponed indefinitely. The execution was originally scheduled to take place on the Tuesday the 21st, but the execution was temporarily postponed due to the walk out of the two participating
anesthesiologists. The State then proposed to execute Morales by injecting him with a massive dose of the barbiturate sodium pentothal. However, on Tuesday afternoon more restrictions were placed upon the State's execution procedures, by U.S. District Judge
Jeremy Fogel, to lower the risk of a botched or painful execution. These restrictions say that the sodium pentothal needs to be administered by a licensed professional and injected directly into Morales' vein.U.S. District Judge Jeremy Fogel has now scheduled a hearing to take place on May 2 and 3 to discuss the constitutionality of the California death penalty. After the hearing, he will decide whether or not the death penalty in California needs changes.
For more detailed information, please check out the San Francisco Chronicle's article on this event.
We will continue to keep you posted on any new developments and actions.
As a reminder to all Bay Area residents: The Author of Dead Man Walking, Sister Helen Prejean, will be speaking in San Francisco on Friday February 24th. Please go to this website for more information.
Thank you for taking action.
02.21.06 Amnesty International LEADERSHIP APPLICATION, 2006-2007.
Due date: Monday, March 6
Available positions :
Financial Officer – financial transfers, reimbursing group members, applying for funds
Webmaster – updating website, weekly e-mails, adding new members to e-mail list
Group Coordinators – bringing urgent actions to meetings, events; organizing tabling in White Plaza or at other group’s events; publicity (paper flyers, e-flyers, generating awareness about our events); networking with other groups, co-sponsoring events, Human Rights Center. Group coordinators will split these responsibilities.Turn in applications at our meeting in the WCC (here's the Word document), or send them via email to Pete. Please include the following information:
1. Name
2. E-mail address
3. Year
4. Which responsibilities you would like to take on and why you think you would do a good job fulfilling them.You don't need significant leadership experience to apply, or even extensive experience working with Amnesty. What's most important is that you're interested in the work we do and willing to commit to the responsibility, which isn't demanding but is essential to Stanford Amnesty's ongoing success. We look forward to hearing what you have to say. Thanks!
02.21.06 If you get a chance before our next meeting, please look at the Stonewalled report on the Amnesty USA website to look for quotations that would be good to display as an exhibit in White Plaza in April.
02.15.06 We will be tabling in White Plaza from 11:30am to 1pm on Wednesday with two petitions and one urgent action, all about the death penalty. Please come out and sign a petition or an urgent action!
02.14.06 NO LUV 4 GOOGLE Day of Action - February 14
Google has launched a web search platform custom-built to the Chinese authorities' specifications that blocks access to information about Tibet, human rights, and other topics sensitive to Beijing. In doing so, Google isn't just helping the Chinese Government by censoring "sensitive topics." What Google is in fact doing is enabling the Chinese government's propaganda by returning search results tailored to Beijing's repressive policies.Tomorrow, Tibetans and their supporters, former Google users and lovers of freedom of information worldwide will take part in a mass public "breakup" of Google services by joining a one-day boycott and protesting outside Google's offces (16 cities planned to date). You can help make this day of action a resounding success by taking part in the 3 simple actions below:
1) If you haven't already pledged to boycott Google, please do so now by visiting: http://www.noluv4google.com/modinput4.php?modin=61. Also check out the Google breakup video!
2) Encourage everyone you know to pledge! Forward this email to friends, family members, co-workers and others.
3) If you live in the Bay area, join the Valentine's Day Protest and Public "Break-Up" at Google Headquarters in Mountain View:
Date: Tuesday, 2/14/06
Time: 9am - 5pm
Location: 1600 Amphitheatre ParkwayFor more information about our campaign, other sources, and recent media coverage, visit www.noluv4google.com
02.09.06 HUMAN RIGHTS FILM SCREENING:
Stanford International Human Rights Law Association
Presents
The Constant Gardener
(Recipient of Four Academy Award Nominations)
Thursday, February 9
6:30pm
Law Lounge
Food will be served (menu TBD)If you have an interest in the AIDS crisis in Africa and in the pharmaceutical industry’s interests in the field, please join us in watching one of the most popular, critically acclaimed, and thought-provoking films of the year…
Film Synopsis: In a remote area of Northern Kenya, the region's most dedicated activist, the brilliant and passionate Tessa Quayle (Rachel Weisz) has been found brutally murdered. Haunted by remorse and jarred by rumors of his wife's infidelities, Justin Quayle (Ralph Fiennes) surprises himself by plunging headlong into a dangerous odyssey. Determined to clear his wife's name and "finish what she started," Justin takes a crash course to learn about the pharmaceutical industry whose crimes Tessa was on the verge of uncovering, and journeys across two continents in search of the truth.
For further information about AIDs in Africa and the pharmaceutical industry’s role (both positive and negative) there is a wealth of articles on Westlaw or Lexis Nexis including…
Thomas Mirabile, Aids, Africa, and Access to Medicines, 11 MSU-DCL J. Int’l L. 175
Peggy Sherman and Ellwood Oakley, III, Pandemics and Panaceas: The World Trade Organization's Efforts to Balance Pharmaceutical Patents and Access to AIDS Drugs, 41 Am. Bus. L.J. 353
Tracy Collins, The Pharmaceutical Companies Versus AIDS Victims: A Classic Care of Bad Versus Good? A Look at the Struggle Between International Intellectual Property Rights and Access to Treatment, 29 Syracuse J. Int'l L. & Com. 159
Naomi Bass, Implications of the TRIPS Agreement for Developing Countries: Pharmaceutical Patent Laws in Brazil and South Africa in the 21ST Century, 34 Geo. Wash. Int’l L. Rev. 191
(SIRHLA does not necessarily endorse the views contained within the film or the abovementioned articles… we just hope you’ll enjoy thinking about them!)02.08.06 Amnesty Co-sponsored event:
SAVE THIS MAN'S LIFE!
Thursday, January 26 marks three years since Lobsang Dhondup was executed by Chinese authorities and Tenzin Delek Rinpoche's death sentence was upheld. Both men were wrongly arrested, convicted, and tortured for their alleged involvement in a series of unsolved bombings in Eastern Tibet. Following an intense international campaign Tenzin Delek's sentence was commuted to life imprisonment. Sadly, we were unable to save Lobsang Dhondup, but we can still do more for Tenzin Delek! More information.
HERE ARE 4 WAYS TO TAKE ACTION NOW!
1) Visit this website for more information, and send an e-mail to the Minister of Justice.
2) Help us table in White Plaza! Students for a Free Tibet is planning an on-campus awareness display. We want to table as well but need some volunteers to do it! We need people from 11am - 2pm on THURSDAY, Jan. 26. If you can contribute some time, even just an hour, please e-mail Jen.
3) Tell your friends! Encourage your friends to check out the website. Forward this e-mail to your dorm lists. Spread the word!
4) If that isn't enough for you ... Join the Tibetan Youth Congress (TYC), Students for a Free Tibet (SFT), and other Tibetans in the Bay Area in an International Day of Action outside the Chinese Consulate in San Francisco.Event: Release of Tenzin Delek Rinpoche
Venue: San Francisco Chinese Consulate (1450 Laguna St., near Japantown)
Date: January 26, 2006 (Thursday)
Time: 2pm - 5pm
Be ready for: political theater, shouting, speeches, prayers, and a candlelight vigil.If you're interested in going to SF on Thursday afternoon (probably sometime after 1pm), please email Yangchen if you need a ride from Stanford.
01.25.06 Looking ahead...
This conference will facilitate the largest gathering of California's exonerees ever.Friday April 7 to Sunday April 9, 2006, Hosted by UCLA School of Law, Los Angeles, CA
Schedule of events:
Fri. - Special VIP Event
Sat. - Conference Workshops and Seminars
Sat. - Stage Production of the Award-Winning Play "The Exonerated"
Sun. - Conference Workshops and Seminars
Sun. - Special Event - TBASpeakers include:
Barry Scheck and Peter Neufeld, co-directors of the Innocence Project
Michael Radelet, death penalty scholar and professor of sociology, University of Colorado
Stephen Bright, executive director, Southern Center for Human Rights
Lawrence Marshall, founder of the Center on Wrongful Conviction at Northwestern Law School and professor of law, Stanford University
Robert Weisberg, professor of law, Stanford University
Lis Semel, director, Boalt School of Law Death Penalty Clinic
Richard Leo, professor of criminology, law & society, UC Irvine
Richard Dieter, executive director, Death Penalty Information Center
Linda Starr, legal director, Northern California Innocence Project
Bryan Stevenson, executive director, Equal Justice Initiative of Alabama
Jeff Chinn, assitant director, California Innocence Project
Craig Haney, author of "Death by Design," professor of psychology, UC Santa Cruz
Sam Gross, professor of law, University of Michigan
Stuart Banner, author of "The Death Penalty: An American History," professor of law, UCLA
Dr. Lola Vollen, founder, Life After Exoneration Project, author of "Surviving Justice: America's Wrongfully Convicted and Exonerated"
Michael Schill, dean, UCLA School of Law
Rafael Perez-Torres, professor of Chicano Studies/English, UCLA, author of "Memories of an East L.A. Outlaw: To Alcatraz, Death Row, and Back"
Ellen Kreitzberg, director of the Death Penalty College, Santa Clara University School of Law
Diann Rust-Tierney, executive director, National Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty
California Exonerees
... and many moreConference Registration Pricing:
- $250 Registration with MCLE Credit for Attorneys
(Includes: Conference materials, MCLE materials, Saturday Lunch, Friday Night VIP Reception and Special Screening of a New Film)
- $125 Regular Registration
(Includes: Conference materials, Saturday Lunch, Friday Night VIP Reception and Special Screening of a New Film)
- $25 Student/Senior/Low Income Registration
(Includes: Conference Materials, Saturday Lunch)
- $35 Ticket to a theatrical production of "The Exonerated" on Saturday,
April 8, 2006 at 8:00pm at Northwest Campus Auditorium. Cast TBA.For program information or to register for the event, go here.
01.25.06 This week's write-a-thon will be WEDNESDAY, at Columbae, 10-11pm. If you have any questions, just ask JJ. Also, if you'd like to plan one for your dorm (someone suggested Donner?) just let JJ know which one, when you're thinking, and we'll get it done.
01.23.06 Good news and updates from Amnesty USA: Mamun Al-Humsi and Riad Seif, two former members of Syria's parliament, were freed on January 18 by the Syrian government after spending five years in prison. On January 9, 2006, the New Jersey Assembly passed S-709, a bill that would establish a moratorium on executions while a legislative commission conducts an in-depth study of the death penalty. On January 5, 2006, President Bush signed into law the reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act. Read more.
01.19.06 First Amnesty event of the quarter:
NEW LOCATION
HUMAN RIGHTS FILM SCREENING
"Persons of Interest"
Thursday, January 19, 7:30 p.m.
Building 60 (next to Memorial Church), Room 61A
Take action by writing letters after the film
SYNOPSIS
After the September 11 terrorist attacks, more than 5,000 people, mainly non-U.S. nationals of South Asian or Middle Eastern origin, were taken into custody by the U.S. Justice Department and held indefinitely on grounds of national security. Muslim immigrants were subject to arbitrary arrest, secret detention, solitary confinement, and deportation. Many were denied access to legal representation and communication with their families.
During a period when the U.S. government has made every effort to depersonalize these detentions, refusing to reveal the names or even the number of immigrants detained, the voices of those affected—their testimonials and experiences—become our only window into the human costs of post-September 11 immigration policies.
Following an unconventional format, "Persons of Interest" presents a series of encounters between former detainees and directors Alison Maclean (Jesus’ Son) and Tobias Perse in an empty room which serves both visually and symbolically as an interrogation room, home, and prison cell. Through interviews, family photographs, and letters from prison, the directors have fashioned a compelling and poignant film, allowing those affected a chance to tell their own stories.
“A beautiful, powerful, and moving interrogation that raises troubling questions about Attorney General John Ashcroft's post-attack roundup” - Ward Harkavy, The Village Voice, August 30, 2004
Autumn '0512.08.05 Response from Chevron to our letters regarding their activities in Ecuador:
Corporate Governance Department
Chevron Corporation
6001 Bollinger Canyon Road
San Ramon, CA 94583-2324Dear [Stanford Amnesty member]:
Thank you for your letter to the Chevron Board of Directors regarding Texaco Petroleum Company's former oil producing operations in Ecuador. As provided in our Corporate Governance Guidelines, all communications to the Board will be compiled, summarized and brought ot the attention of the Board.
Background and information on the Ecuador operations and litigation, as well as press releases and legal proceeding updates, can be found on our website at: http://www.texaco.com/sitelets/ecuador/en/. On behalf of the Board of Directors, I encourage you to visit that site often to learn more about the Company's activities in Ecuador and to keep apprised of any developments.
Thank you for taking the time to express your point of view on this important issue.
Sincerely,
Lydia I. Beebe (Corporate Secretary)12.07.05 Iran: The Inside Story, 7:30 pm, Ziff Center (565 Mayfield), Thursday, Dec. 8. (FREE PIZZA! IT MAY BE DEAD-WEEK, BUT YOU HAVE TO EAT, RIGHT?) Hear the personal stories of student resistance leaders Hossein Namdar and Akbar Atri. Mr. Atri has been imprisoned and fined several times by the Revolutionary Court for his political activities. He left Iran after co-authoring a petition in support of the National Referendum for a New Constitution under international supervision in accordance with the Declaration of Human
Rights and its associated covenants. (Flier below)TO TAKE ACTION RIGHT NOW ON IRAN, PLEASE PRINT, SIGN, AND SEND THIS FORM LETTER, OR GO TO THE FOLLOWING LINK:
URGE IRANIAN AUTHORITIES TO COMMUTE EXECUTION OF TWO BROTHERS:
Two brothers, Imad Bawi and Zamel Bawi, are at risk of imminent execution in Iran. The charges against them are unknown. Authorities are urged to commute their death sentences and release from detention other family members.
11.12.05 Amnesty USA Western Regional Conference. This is a three-day event (Nov. 11-13), and a bunch of us will be going for the day on Saturday. Anyone is welcome to join. Registration costs $20, and we'll pay when we get there. Get more inforation.
11.07.05 We are screening segments of "The Corporation" (about 90 minutes), and then we'll do two actions about corporate responsibility: one about oil companies in Ecuador, and one about a chemical spill in Bhopal, India. Please come join us! 7pm, History Corner (200-34).
10.27.05 We have a SUBSIDIZED group dinner coming up TOMORROW, Friday, Oct. 28! This is completely informal and open to anyone. It's just a great chance to meet other students who share an interest in human rights and, well, get a free meal (up to about $12, plus tax and tip). We're going to the Mango Cafe for JAMAICAN FOOD. Check out the menu. Meet at the Tresidder bollards for the 6:32pm Marguerite, or meet at the restaurant at 7pm (map).
10.27.05 Good news updates from Amnesty USA: Mexican environmental activist and prisoner of conscience Felipe Arreaga was released; five Libyan prisoners of conscience were released; former Guantanamo prisoners in Russia were freed. Read more.
10.05.05 Get information about STAND's (Students Taking Actions Now: Darfur) upcoming Stand Fast at stand.stanford.edu. For every student who fasts, $5 will be donated to feed refugees in Darfur, Sudan (that's enough for one person's meals for 10 days).
10.04.05 Thanks to everyone who came to our meeting Monday! It was great to see such a good turnout. We're really excited for the upcoming quarter, and we're already planning our first event (a film screening), so make sure to come to the next meeting if you have any ideas or want to get involved. Also, note that we are MEETING IN A NEW LOCATION next week: the second floor of the Fire Truck House, which is on Santa Teresa, across from the Humanities Center and basically midway between Storke (where The Daily offices are) and Old Union.
Spring '05
05.28.05 Join us this Saturday for Amnesty's quarterly dinner. It will be subsidized (maybe entirely). Details forthcoming.05.25.05 Today we tabled on a chemical spill in Bhopal, India that occurred in 1984, killing thousands. DOW Chemical--which owns Union Carbide, whose factory leaked the toxic gases--is responsible for cleaning up the toxins, which it has failed to for over two decades, resulting in ongoing destruction to the environment and harm to local inhabitants. Jackie Barton, a DOW Chemical board member, will speak on Thursday in an event hosted by the Chemistry Department. Click to read more about the issue and hear to view our petition.
05.25.05 Amnesty International released its annual report in which it was highly critical of the US's ongoing unlawful detainment of prisoners in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. The report also highlights continuing human rights violations in Darfur, Sudan, and the escalation of abuses in Haiti. According to the AP (courtesy of NYTimes.com):
May 25, 2005
Amnesty Takes Aim at 'Gulag' in Guantanamo
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Filed at 4:43 p.m. ET
LONDON (AP) -- Amnesty International castigated the U.S. prison camp in Guantanamo Bay as a failure Wednesday, calling it ''the gulag of our time'' in the human rights group's harshest rebuke yet of American detention policies.
Amnesty urged Washington to shut down the prison at the U.S. Navy's base in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, where some 540 men are held on suspicion of links to Afghanistan's ousted Taliban regime or the al-Qaida terror network. Some have been jailed for more than three years without charge.
White House spokesman Scott McClellan said Amnesty's complaints were ''ridiculous and unsupported by the facts.'' He said allegations of prisoner mistreatment are investigated.
''We hold people accountable when there's abuse. We take steps to prevent it from happening again. And we do so in a very public way for the world to see that we lead by example and that we do have values that we hold very dearly and believe in,'' McClellan told reporters.
In its annual report, Amnesty accused governments around the world of abandoning human rights protections. It said Sudan failed to protect its people from one of the world's worst humanitarian crises and charged Haiti promoted human rights abusers.
But one of the biggest disappointments in the human rights arena was with the United States, Amnesty said, ''after evidence came to light that the U.S. administration had sanctioned interrogation techniques that violated the U.N. Convention against Torture.''
''Guantanamo has become the gulag of our time,'' Amnesty Secretary General Irene Khan said as the London-based group issued a 308-page annual report that accused the United States of shirking its responsibility to set the bar for human rights protections.
The use of the term gulag refers to the extensive system of prison camps in the former Soviet Union, many in remote regions of Siberia and specifically designed to hold political prisoners. The Soviets took over the system from the czarist government and expanded it after the 1917 Bolshevik Revolution. Untold thousands of prisoners of the so-called gulags died from hunger, cold, harsh treatment and overwork.
The prison camp at Guantanamo has been in the spotlight over the past year since the FBI cited cases of aggressive interrogation techniques and detainee mistreatment. The U.S. government has also been criticized for not charging or trying prisoners who are classified as enemy combatants, a vague distinction with fewer legal protections than prisoners of war get under the Geneva Conventions.
Some prisoners have challenged their detentions in U.S. courts but their cases are stalled by appeals filed by the U.S. government and subsequent arguments.
''Not a single case from some 500 men has reached the courts,'' Khan said.
In a statement, the Defense Department said that ''the detention of enemy combatants is not criminal in nature, but to prevent them from continuing to fight against the United States in the War on Terrorism.''
It also said that it continued to evaluate whether detainees should be sent home and that review tribunals ''provided an appropriate venue for detainees to meaningfully challenge their enemy combatant designation.''
''This is an unprecedented level of process being provided to our enemies in a time of war,'' the statement said.
The Geneva-based International Committee of the Red Cross, which has also been critical of practices at Guantanamo, is the only independent group to have access to the detainees. Amnesty has been refused access to the prison, although it was allowed to watch pretrial hearings for 15 detainees who have been charged.
Amnesty has frequently criticized U.S. detention policies instituted after the Sept. 11 terror attacks, but its latest report takes a harsher tone. It accuses Washington of trying to ''sanitize'' abuse of detainees and failing to give prisoners legal recourse to challenge their detentions.
The report also takes aim at recent abuse allegations that have surfaced in FBI documents as well as prisoner testimonies, echoing concerns from the International Committee of the Red Cross.
The Red Cross said last week it had told U.S. authorities of detainee allegations that Qurans had been desecrated. It also offered a rare public rebuke in late 2003, calling the prisoners' prolonged detentions ''worrying.''
Declassified FBI records released Wednesday showed that prisoners at Guantanamo Bay told U.S. interrogators as early as April 2002, just four months after the first detainees arrived from Afghanistan, that U.S. military guards abused them and desecrated the Quran.
Another detainee stated he had been beaten unconscious at Guantanamo Bay early in 2002, a period in which U.S. interrogators were pressing hard for information on al-Qaida.
Amnesty singled out Sudan as one of the worst violators of human rights last year for the devastation caused by conflict in its Darfur region. At least 180,000 people have died -- many from hunger and disease -- and about 2 million have fled their homes to escape fighting among rebels, militias and government troops.
Sudan's government not only turned its back on its people, but the United Nations and African Union took too long to try to help those suffering in Darfur, Amnesty said.
Amnesty also criticized the African Union and the international community for not taking action on Zimbabwe, where President Robert Mugabe's party has been accused of rigging elections, repressing opponents and driving agriculture to the brink of collapse.
In Haiti, human rights violators who led the rebellion that ousted President Jean-Bertrand Aristide last year were able to retake key positions, while the government struggled to maintain control from armed groups, Amnesty said.
The group accused Israeli soldiers of operating outside international law by using torture, destroying property and obstructing medical assistance in the West Bank and Gaza. It also condemned the deliberate targeting of Israeli civilians by Palestinian militants.
In Asia, people were jailed indefinitely without trial in Malaysia and Singapore, religious minorities were persecuted in China and Vietnam and security forces committed extra-judicial killings in Nepal, Thailand and Indonesia, Amnesty said.05.16.05 On Monday we wrote Urgent Actions to authorities in China about the unlawful detention of Rebiya Kadeer's business associeties. Authorities in China have arrested business associates of Rebiya Kadeer in Xinjiang, in northwest China. Amnesty International is concerned that these individuals could be at risk of torture or ill-treatment. Rebiya Kadeer is a former prisoner of conscience, a prominent businesswoman, and human rights activist who was recently released in March and flown to the United States. Since her release she has been vocal about her experiences in prison and continuing abuses in Xinjiang.
03.29.05 We will hold a planning meeting for Amnesty International USA's 2005 National Week of Student Action. The Meeting will be Tuesday night at 8pm in the Haas Center kitchen. From April 1 through 8, 2005, hundreds of Amnesty student groups throughout the US will raise their voices and take action on the Patriot Act. During the week, students will call on Congress to preserve the "sunset" provisions, which were written into the original Patriot Act to limit intrusions into the lives of individual Americans.
Since the Patriot Act passed almost three years ago, law enforcement authorities in the US have continually intruded into the lives of individuals. In many instances, these laws expand government powers in ways that violate individuals' basic human rights to privacy, freedom of speech, and a fair trial.
The 2005 Congress will be considering various pieces of legislation that extend authority for immigration law enforcement to local law enforcement agencies, allow secret surveillance and searches of individuals without any evidence that they are connected to a foreign government or organization, and expand the use of secret evidence and secret surveillance in immigration proceedings. Meanwhile, some members of Congress will be advocating for the elimination of the expiration dates, or "sunsets," attached to some of the most egregious portions of the Patriot Act and to place sunsets on other provisions.
Winter '05
03.03.05 Darfur, Southern Sudan, and Northern Uganda: Resolving Interlocking Wars. John Prendergast, Presidential Advisor to the International Crisis Group, will speak on Thursday, March 3, at 8pm in the Geo Corner (Bldg. 320, Rm. 105). John Prendergast, a hard line critic of the Sudanese government, is the Special Adviser to the President of the International Crisis Group. He has appeared on Al-Jazeera, Nightline, 60 Minutes, and many other news channels. John has focused most of his 20-year career on conflict resolution in Africa and shaping US foreign policy toward the region. He worked for the Clinton administration from 1996-2001 and has worked for a variety of NGOs and think tanks in Africa and the US In addition to peace-making, John has also focused on human rights promotion and humanitarian action. He has authored or co-authored seven books on Africa. Sponsored by The Stanford African Student Association, The Muslim Student Awareness Network, Six Degrees: A Stanford Journal of Human Rights, and The Stanford Political Science Association.03.02.05 US, UN, Africa: Darfur and Beyond, featuring: David Devlin-Foltz, Director, Global Interdependence Initiative, Aspen Institute; Heather B. Hamilton, Vice President, Citizens for Global Solutions; Dr. David Abernethy, Professor Emeritus, Stanford University; Dr. Jeremy Weinstein, Assisstant Professor, Stanford Univerity. Wednesday, March 2, 7pm, Tresidder Oak Room. Questions to be addressed include: What are the most important conflicts taking place in Africa and how can they be addressed by the US and the international community? Is there a connection between these conflicts, the war on terror, and other issues such as HIV/AIDS and fair trade? Free Pizza will be served. Sponsored by Americans for Informed Democracy and the Stanford International Affairs Society.
03.01.05 SUPREME COURT OUTLAWS EXECUTION OF CHILD OFFENDERS.
Today’s decision by the US Supreme Court outlawing the execution of child offenders--those who were under 18 at the time of the crime--finally brings the USA into line with an unequivocal principle of international law, Amnesty International said today, welcoming the ruling."This landmark decision comes at a time when there is an urgent need for the USA to show that it will comply with international human rights standards," Amnesty International said. "Its good example will also help bring about final and total eradication of this internationally illegal practice worldwide."
In Roper v. Simmons, the Supreme Court found that executing child offenders violates the US Constitution, concluding that a national consensus against such executions had evolved since 1989 when it ruled that the execution of 16- and 17-year-old offenders was constitutional. The Court had considered national and international trends, scientific evidence, and appeals from religious, human rights, legal, and child advocacy organizations.
"The fact that the world’s main perpetrator of this international law violation has now ended the practice can only help to bring an end to any residual use of this punishment against children elsewhere," Amnesty International said. "Today’s ruling is one of the final milestones on the road to a remarkable human rights achievement--total global abolition of the death penalty against children."
In recent years, the USA had become the only country in the world to openly acknowledge executing child offenders and to claim for itself the right to do so. It accounts for almost half of the world’s known executions of child offenders carried out since 1990--19 out of 39. Today’s 5-4 ruling by the US Supreme Court noted the "stark reality" that the "United States now stands alone in a world that has turned its face against the juvenile death penalty."
The other executions have occurred in China, Democratic Republic of Congo, Iran, Nigeria, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, and Yemen. These countries--which unlike the USA have all ratified the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child which prohibits the execution of child offenders--have either now abolished such use of the death penalty, are in the process of doing so, or deny that they have executed people who were under 18 at the time of the crime.
The international prohibition on executing people for crimes committed when they were children reflects a common understanding that the lives of child offenders--due to a young person’s immaturity, impulsiveness, vulnerability, and capacity for rehabilitation--should never be simply written off, no matter how heinous the crime. Today, the US Supreme Court agreed. It found that the inherent differences between children and adults meant that child offenders "cannot with reliability be classified among the worst offenders" for which the USA supposedly reserves the death penalty.
Take action to stop executions of juveniles elsewhere in the world, to end executions of those with mental illnesses, to secure the abolition of capital punishment worldwide, and to learn more about the death penalty.
02.28.05 GOOD NEWS AND UPDATES. Amnesty International is happy to report that Father Nguyen Van Ly was released from prison in Viet Nam on February 1, 2005, as part of a general amnesty to mark the Lunar New Year. More than 8,000 other prisoners were reportedly included in the amnesty. In addition to Father Ly, Amnesty International has confirmed the release of three other prisoners of conscience--Dr. Nguyen Dan Que, Thich Thien Minh, and Nguyen Dinh Huy, each of whom had been the subject of action by Amnesty International. Following his arrest in 2001, individuals like you sent more than 94,000 appeals on Father Ly's behalf. At the urging of Amnesty International members across the country, more than 100 members of the US House of Representatives sent a joint letter to Viet Nam's Prime Minister in 2003 calling for Father Ly's release, and the House in 2004 overwhelmingly passed a resolution calling for his release as well. Two months after Congress sent the joint letter, Viet Nam reduced Father Ly's original sentence by five years. A month after the passage of the House resolution, authorities cut his sentence by another five years. A warm thank you goes out to all of you who helped to make this happen. Your efforts are making a difference. Click here to write your Representative to thank him or her for helping to secure the release of Father Ly.
02.21.05 Thanks for coming to the GENOCIDE IN DARFUR event; it was a huge success! For those who couldn't make it, there was a screening of "The New Killing Fields" and subsequent talk by Philip Cox, Founder and Director of Native Voice Films. In early 2004, Mr. Cox and his Sudanese guide Dawd Abute were the first filmmakers to smuggle themselves into the troubled state of Darfur in Western Sudan. Mr. Cox has testified before the UN Human Rights Commission, and the English and European Parliaments. Also, Silvestro Bakheit, Director of the Pageri Sudanese Organization, spoke. Mr. Bakheit is originally from southern Sudan. He runs a non-profit that assists Sudanese refugees living in the Bay Area. In June 2004, he testified before the Congressional Human Rights Caucus about the Sudanese government's human rights violations. Thanks to Six Degrees, Stanford Human Rights Forum, Stanford International Human Rights Law Association, and The Stanford Park Hotel. To get involved and help end the atrocities occurring in Darfur, look out for the new student group on campus, STAND.
02.07.05 On Monday we wrote urgent actions to authorities in Sudan on behalf of nine men, including Aderob Bakkash and Khalifa Omar Ohajj, as well as scores of others, who are reportedly being held at national security offices in the cities of Port Sudan and Kassala, Red Sea State, Eastern Sudan. Aderob Bakkash and Khalifa Omar Ohajj have reportedly been tortured while in detention in Kassala. Amnesty International is concerned for their safety and that of other detainees, who are all members of the Beja ethnic group. The arrests follow demonstrations on 26 and 29 January in Port Sudan predominantly by members of the Beja ethnic group, who were calling for equal opportunities and a share
of power in the region. Demonstrations on 26 January were peaceful and culminated in a list of demands being presented to the Governor of Red Sea State, who was given 72 hours to respond.01.31.05 GOOD NEWS AND UPDATES. Viet Nam: Amnesty International warmly welcomes reports that several prisoners of conscience will be released in the coming days, including Dr. Nguyen Dan Que, Nguyen Dinh Huy, Thich Thien Minh and Father Nguyen Van Ly. They are being released as part of a general amnesty for more than 8,000 prisoners to mark Tet, the Lunar New Year. Read more. China/Tibet: The suspended death sentence passed against religious leader Tenzin Deleg Rinpoche, a religious and community leader from the traditionally Tibetan area of Sichuan Province, China, has been commuted to life imprisonment. However, Amnesty International remains concerned that his conviction is a serious miscarriage of justice. Take action. USA: Attorney General John Ashcroft has declined to decide whether to grant asylum to Rodi Alvarado, a Guatemalan battered wife. It is still uncertain whether Ms. Alvarado will be allowed to remain in the United States or be deported to Guatemala. Still, Attorney General Ashcroft's decision not to deny her asylum represents an important victory, and was due in no small part to an estimated 50,000 letters and messages sent to him on her behalf by Amnesty International activists. Read more.
01.24.05 On January 24 we wrote urgent actions to authorities in Eritrea about Mahmoud Ahmed Chehem, Estifanos Solomon, and two army officers who were reportedly forcibly returned from Djibouti to Eritrea on December 28, 2004. They are being detained without charge at an unknown location and are at risk of torture and ill-treatment. Other Eritrean asylum-seekers, including many attempting to avoid or escape conscription, have previously been forcibly returned from Malta, Libya, and elsewhere in recent years. Several hundred are still detained incommunicado without charge or trial.
01.19.05 Last week's petition was on corporate accountability--a chemical spill in Bhopal, India in 1984 continues to devastate a local community. The spill killed 7,000 people immediately, and it caused the deaths of an additional 15,000 residents over the last 20 years. The company responsible for the spill and its parent company (as of 2001), Dow Chemical, have refused to take proper measures to clean up the area, mitigate the damage, or even acknowledge culpability. Join us in calling on Dow Chemical to admit to spilling toxins in this community's water supply and surrounding environment, and asking them to realize their duty to clean up the mess.
01.10.05 On January 10 we wrote urgent actions to authorities in China, asking them to release a prisoner of conscience named Mao Hengfeng. Her sentence was recently extended despite her being detained unlawfully in a "re-education through labor camp." Amnesty International receives numerous reports of torture and ill-treatment taking place in a wide variety of state institutions across China, including police stations, prisons, and ''re-education through labor'' camps. Common methods of torture include kicking, beating, electric shocks, suspension by the arms, shackling in painful positions, and deprivation of sleep and food. Torture and ill-treatment such as forced abortions and sterilizations have also been reported as a result of China's family-planning policies.
Thank You
Thanks to those who were able to attend our kickoff event for the "1 in 3: Stop Violence Against Women" traveling art exhibit!