Amnesty International, Eastern PA

The calendar on this website had listed the Chinatown Amnesty International group’s next meeting as May 13. In fact, their May meeting was held last night, May 6. I apologize to anyone who missed the meeting!

Also, please note that the Chinatown group is changing their meeting night to the third Tuesday of each month. So their next meeting will be held Tuesday, June 17, at 7:00 pm at 1032 Arch Street, Philadelphia.

Amnesty International Center City Philadelphia, Group 112, will be having a table at the symbolic Olympic Torch Relay from noon to 4pm at Independence Mall, near the Liberty Bell at 5th and Chestnut Streets, Philadelphia. The group will sell candles and will have letters and petitions for people to sign, as well as information about Amnesty International and Group 112.

The Olympic Torch Relay event will include a free concert, rally, and the torch run, all as a means of spotlighting the human rights situation in China. For more information about the symbolic torch relay, see humanrightstorch.org or email HRTR@comcast.net.

Amnesty International is pressing for substantial reforms in the human rights situation in China in four key areas: the death penalty; punitive detention without trial; treatment of human rights defenders; and unwarranted censorship of the internet. To learn more about Amnesty’s campaign, “China: Olympic Legacy,” please visit www.amnestyusa.org/chinaolympics

If Amnesty International has ever needed your help as a volunteer, it is NOW. All Amnesty members and supporters in the Philadelphia area are asked to contribute some of your time, however small, to help plan and staff this incredible event. Please see details below. Thanks in advance for your help.

Guantánamo Bay Cell Tour - Coming to Philly

The lack of human rights and the assaults on human dignity present in Guantánamo Bay must end. On May 8 in Miami, Amnesty International will launch its national tour of a life-size Guantánamo prison cell replica. The cell tour is a way to raise awareness about the torture and abuse that takes place and to demand an end to Guantánamo Bay. The event will give participants the opportunity to enter the cells, experience the conditions of isolation and then comment on your experience.

The cell will visit our region twice, first in Philly (May 30 – June 1) then in Washington DC (June 25 – 29).

See what the cell looks like

Volunteer to help with the Philadelphia Cell Tour Event

The cell will be on the ground in Philadelphia between May 30 - June 1. Volunteers are needed:

1. to help plan smaller events leading up to the cell tour stop in Philadelphia to help educate the community about this issue
2. to help with the actual cell tour stop in Philadelphia

As many volunteers as possible are needed. Please contribute any amount of time you can.

If you’re interested in volunteering either to help plan a pre-tour event or during the cell tour stop, please e-mail PAcelltour@gmail.com

Thanks to Kathleen Lucas and Jen Horwitz for this alert:

The Lancaster Intelligencer Journal’s “People Poll” asks, “Do you favor the death penalty?” Please call 1-866-346-7655, and press 2# for “no”. It literally takes 20 seconds. Voting ends Friday at 5pm, and the results will be published on Saturday.

This is a key area of the state for us. There is a significant Latino population, a diverse faith community, including strong Mennonite and Catholic communities, and a strong peace-and-justice crowd there. And there are key legislators in this county. Call now!

Amnesty International in the UK has produced another enlightening and disturbing short film about the use of torture, in this case waterboarding. The film was released today at unsubscribe-me.org, and will be shown at British cinemas. Unsubscribe-me.org encourages Amnesty UK supporters to reject, or unsubscribe from, the use of torture.

Amnesty UK Press Release

Amnesty International at Haverford College is co-sponsoring a solo theater performance by Judith Sloan, this Saturday, April 19th, at 8:00 pm in Stokes Auditorium.

Judith Sloan’s project solo multimedia performance portrays the struggles, humor, and pathos of new immigrants and refugees in Queens, NY, the most polyglot place on the planet.

“Immigrant life as told in the intimate, rich, comic, ironic, and sad stories so often seen but not heard in America’s big cities…” -The Washington Post

“Crossing the BLVD boldly carries the tradition of oral history into the 21th Century…” - Eve Ensler, Author of The Vagina Monologues.

“An offbeat ethnic tour of one of the country’s most ethnically diverse counties…Riveting Stories about a new wave of immigrants to America…”-The New York Times

“Oral history with a twist.” -The World, BBC/PRI, Public Radio International

The performance is sponsored by Haverford’s Amnesty International, Asian Students Association, Genocide Awareness Coalition, International Students Association, Office of Multicultural Affairs, and Re-Mix.

Facebook link (you must log into Facebook to view)

From Reuters:

“The Supreme Court on Wednesday rejected a challenge to the lethal three-drug cocktail used in most U.S. executions during the past 30 years. By a 7-2 vote, the high court rejected a challenge by two Kentucky death row inmates who argued the current lethal injection method violated the constitutional ban on cruel and unusual punishment by inflicting needless pain and suffering.”

Amnesty International USA responds:

Today’s decision by the U.S. Supreme Court to uphold Kentucky’s use of lethal injection, fails to address the costly, ineffective and inefficient system that places the United States at the fringes of the world community.

Figures from a new report, released by Amnesty International on Tuesday, show that more than two thirds of the countries in the world have now abolished the death penalty in law or practice.

As in previous years, the vast majority of executions worldwide were carried out in a small handful of countries. In 2007, 88 per cent of all known executions took place in five countries: China, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and the USA.

Statement by Larry Cox, Executive Director of AIUSA
Summary of AIUSA’s new report on the use of the death penalty worldwide

Thanks to Brendan, the death penalty abolition coordinator of Group 342, for alerting me to this news.

Volunteer to help with the Philadelphia Cell Tour Event

The lack of human rights and the assaults on human dignity present in Guantanamo Bay must end. This year Amnesty International’s Denounce Torture Campaign will be traveling the United States with a life size replica of a Guantanamo Bay prison cell to raise awareness about the torture and abuse that takes place and to demand an end to Guantanamo Bay. The event will give participants the opportunity to enter the cells experience the conditions of isolation and then comment on your experience.

The Philadelphia stop will be between May 27- June 2. Volunteers are needed to help plan smaller events leading up to the cell tour stop in Philadelphia to help educate the community about this issue and to help with the actual cell tour stop in Philadelphia (final location details coming soon).

If you’re interested in volunteering either to help plan a pre-tour event or during the cell tour stop, please e-mail Jen Horwitz at jhorwitz@aiusa.org

Here is a report about last weekend’s Global Day for Darfur from the Mid-Atlantic Regional Office staff.

Global Day for Darfur - This April marks 5 years of crisis in Darfur. Children have grown up knowing violence, displacement, and unrest as a normal way of life. On Sunday, April 13th, Amnesty International USA joined in a global day of action for Darfur.

Here are a few highlights from the day:

• More than 1,000 people walked through Displaced, Amnesty International’s human rights exhibition.
• Darfuris and activists came from all over the east coast to participate in the day of action.
• Approximately 500 people stopped what they were doing to hear the inspiring words of Larry Cox, Mohamed Yahya, and others Darfuris and activists.
• Over a thousand petition signatures were collected and hundreds of students and young people used their hand prints to call on the Bush Administration to use their authority to end the violence in Darfur.
• MARO Director, Folabi Olagbaju, got an op-ed printed in the Richmond Times.

Take action for Darfur in your community
See pictures from the day on Flickr

Turn flowers into power for Native American and Alaska Native women. Tell the incoming Indian Health Service (IHS) Director that we need to ensure that survivors of rape and sexual assault receive the proper healthcare they deserve.

Take Action!

1. Organic Bouquet
   For every ten emails sent, Amnesty International USA will send a flower to Robert G. McSwain, who any day now will step into the official role of IHS Director. Our goal is to fill the IHS office with so many flowers that IHS officials recognize that their actions (and lack thereof) to protect Native American women are being observed by hundreds of dedicated advocates around the country. Take meaningful action and ensure proper healthcare for Native American and Alaska Native women.
2. Get Crafty!
   A fun way to send a message for women’s human rights is to make paper and origami flowers! Get your friends together and get creative. Learn how to make flower-themed crafts and help women’s rights bloom.