Amnesty International, Eastern PA

AIUSA Mid-Atlantic Weekly Update
March 25th, 2009

1. Highlight: Death Penalty Abolished in New Mexico
2. Take Action: Not going to the AGM? You can still be a part of the action from home
3. Campaign Updates: Jailed Without Justice
4. Opportunities
- Seeking Candidates for AIUSA Board of Directors
- Get on the Bus for Human Rights
- Newsletter
- Make a Flag
5. National Events
- Annual General Meeting
- End of Hundred Days Action
6. Volunteer Opportunities
- Apply to be part of the RPG

Read more »

AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL GROUP 347: MONDAY 3/23 /09 7-9:00 PM!

April 14, Tuesday—Fundraiser –come to dinner at Friendly’s Family Restaurant between 5 and 8—we get 10 percent—we need 100 customers—3099 Wm. Penn Highway (Plaza). Bring friends!

Guests: Calvin Smiley—PA Death Penalty & Lara Boffey and Arlette Ngoubene of Lehigh “Women of Liberia: Fighting for Peace ” more of this DVD next meeting.

1. Dan Laxar called for members to join Dr. Mike Sinclair of the Allentown AI group ASAP (610-439-6150) to help lobby in early April local offices of US senators and Rep. Dent. The issues are the stemming improper methods for fighting terrorism.

2. Calvin Smiley, PA Death Abolition Coordinator has a major push this week with programs at Lehigh University—please support. PA has the 4th largest death row population. NM abolished it this month; now 15 states have no penalty. He expects a circuit court ruling on GA’s death penalty case Troy Davis soon.

3. A 100 days petition- closure of Guantanamo, ban on torture, independent inquiry into interrogation practices for President Obama was signed by all present and mailed on 3/24.

4. Letters went to Sec. of State Hillary Clinton on Gaza, (as in January) and to the Chinese Prime Minister on the imprisonment of Shi Tao, arrested in 2004 for e-mailing about Tiananmen Square anniversary. Tony Marino

5. Lara Boffy of Lehigh University asked members for interviews for her study of AI in her Social Movements Class. She will attend the AGM this weekend.

6. Richard LaDuke presented an urgent letter for a death penalty case in the Caribbean.

7. Sarah Snider, recently returned from presidential elections in El Salvador described how she and Joe DeRaymond saw voting as international observers in the elections where the FLMN won over the Arena party, it’s the first upset in the history of El Salvador. (Also call her at 997-3886 if you will need 94 cent stamps for the meeting. )

8. A letter from our Group 341 supporting US legislation for prevention International Violence Against Women mailed was sent to Sen. Specter recently. A letter was distributed for Democratic Republic of Congo’s Justine Masika Bihamba (coordinator for Synergy of Women for Victims of Sexual Violence).

9. Pam Bauman and Nancy Kelley accepted actions for Equatorial Guinea—for the group.

10. Darfur: Note the op-ed piece by Hans Wuerth published 3/22. The LV Darfur Coalition met Monday with Rep. Dent. April is Genocide Prevention Month, through the Genocide Prevention Network.

AIUSA Mid-Atlantic Weekly Update
March 18th, 2009

In this issue
1. Highlight: Georgetown Law Week of Human Rights Action
2. Take Action: Lead or Join a Delegation to Call For Accountability
3. Campaign Updates: Jailed Without Justice
4. Opportunities
- New Death Penalty Abolition Campaign materials
- Seeking Candidates for AIUSA Board of Directors
- Get on the Bus for Human Rights
- Newsletter - The Candle
- Host a Film Screening
- Make a Flag
5. National Events
- Annual General Meeting
6. Volunteer Opportunities
- Aliados
- Apply to be part of the RPG

Read more »

Thanks to Guy Ottewell from the Ready Made Human Rights Letters website for this suggestion:

New Mexico became the second US state since 1965 to abolish the death penalty. It hadn’t seemed certain that the governor would sign the bill passed by the state legislature, but a lot of people wrote, he signed it on March 18, 2009, and you could write to thank him:

Governor Bill Richardson
Office of the Governor
490 Old Santa Fe Trail, Room 400
Santa Fe, NM 87501

Here are some notes from the Villanova University AI group’s March 17 meeting about their upcoming plans.

• Urgent Action Appeals were handed out and letters written concerning the case of a Female Journalist detained in Iran.
• AI will be sponsoring a number of movie screenings in the coming weeks. This will tentatively include Race to Execution, a documentary examining the Death Penalty.
• AI is also co-sponsoring a screening of a new documentary from the makers of Invisible Children, which also focuses on the plight of children and Child Soldiers in Uganda.
• There will be no meeting next week. Instead, we encourage all of our members to attend the speech of Sister Helen Prejean on Tuesday at 7:00 PM in the Jake Nevin Fieldhouse. Prejean, who was made famous when she was portrayed by Susan Sarandon in Dead Man Walking, is an internationally famous Anti-Death Penalty activist, and will speak at Villanova about her work.

AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL GROUP 347: MONDAY 3/23 /09 7-9:00 PM!
Central Moravian Church, Christian Ed. Bldg., Basement Door, Bethlehem

Draft AGENDA
1. Welcome, Introductions, Pass the Hat, signatures for the Obama 100 days petition- closure of Guantanamo, ban on torture, independent inquiry into interrogation practices

2. Lobbying week in April with Dan Laxar—counter terrorism

3. Tony Marino—Gaza & China letters

4. Calvin Smiley—Death Penalty, Troy Davis and New Mexico’s Abolition of DP

5. Richard LaDuke: Death Penalty Haiti

6. Report on Elections in El Salvador and Joe DeRaymond—Sarah Snider (just back from El Salvador)

7. International Violence Against Women legislation—
a. Group 347 letter to Sen. Specter.
b. letter to Democratic Republic of Congo–Justine Masika Bihamba is coordinator for Synergy of Women for Victims of Sexual Violence (Synergie des femmes contre les violence sexuelles), a women’s human rights organization working in the DRC
c. DVD—“Women of Liberia: Fighting for Peace”

8. Lara Boffy, Social Movements Class, study of AI members

9. Darfur—Karen

10. Your vote on AGM resolutions (we’ll review 3 or 4 of these resolutions to get your opinions)

Local Dues–$10 annual—mail to Karen Berry at 3505 Dartmouth Drive, Bethlehem, PA 18020). Join AIUSA for $25 annually (AIUSA, PO Box 98234, Washington, DC, 20077-7015 )

UPCOMING EVENTS
March 25 (local poverty) and April 1 (creation—the environment). Dinner and discussion at Central Moravian Church—Start time is 6 p.m. Call Mike Pragheimer—610-867-4665

March 27-29: Annual General Meeting in Boston—Karen & Lara Boffey are attending

April 14—Fundraiser – just come to dinner at Friendly’s Family Restaurant between 5 and 8—we get 10 percent—we need 100 customers.—3099 Wm. Penn Highway (Plazas)

Mid-April—Gaza Talk, AI Group at Moravian College, Instructor Faramarz Farbad—more later

April 28—Allentown AI 531 Group—St. Timothy Evan. Church—140 S. Ott St.

May 4—Friendly’s Family Restaurant; 2952 Lehigh St., Allentown-across the street from the Brass Rail, near the intersection of Oxford Dr. (24th St. in Allentown) and Lehigh St. May 5—Moravian Academy AI Group, last meeting, 2: 45 p.m. presentation to their group of book on child soldiers. Call Karen if you would like to attend.

May 26 (TUESDAY) – 7 p.m. Next AI Group 347 meeting

Death Penalty Events at Lehigh University –Maginnes Hall, Room 101 comments, concerns about any of these events, particularly directions please do not hesitate to contact me, Calvin John Smiley, SDPAC-PA : cjs719@gmail.com

March 24, 7 p.m. Film “Juan Melendez-6446.” Mr. Melendez was on death row in Florida for seventeen years before being exonerated

March 26, 7 p.m- Jim Moreno- Legal Perspective. Mr. Moreno is a Federal Public Defender who strictly handles capital cases. His practice is based out of Philadelphia where he defends many people in the 3rd District Circuit courts.

April 2, 5 p.m.- Panel– The Religious Perspective with.Chaplain Dr. Lloyd Steffen, Director of Hillel Society Rabbi Seth Goren, and Catholic Chaplain Father Wayne Killian,

April 20, 4 p.m. Teach In featuring students perspectives of working on the death penalty. Students CalvinJohn Smiley, Luke Miller, Claire Sullivan and Jacqueline Scully will offer their perspectives of why they became involved in working on the death penalty, what they have gotten out of this experience and what they would like to see happen in the future with the death penalty and prison system in the U.S.

Group #531 (Allentown, PA) met on Feb. 24, with five members in attendance. Those present reported sending 38+ letters and postcards on behalf of AI during the last two months. In addition, the members came prepared with six different letters they had drafted, with copies to be sent out by everyone. The topics covered included: the “100 days” campaign (sent to the President), Darfur (to the brokerage houses who handle the portfolios of companies doing business in Sudan), human rights as a priority for the State Department (to Sec. Clinton), and women’s rights (to Sec. Clinton), to describe a few. Dan briefed the group on the upcoming Congressional lobbying week, beginning April 9, which will focus on the Counter Terror with Justice Campaign. Though events between now and then will determine the specific asks for our representatives, a likely topic will be the setting up of an independant, impartial investigation into the human rights abuses in the U.S.’ conduct of the “war on terror,” such as torture and illegal reditions. Dan also informed the group of the availability of the 90-minute DVD, “Torturing Democracy,” for a possible screening in our area. Bridgeworks, a local gathering spot that has the facilities to host such a screening, was suggested as a possible venue–it is also very nearby two of the local colleges. Dan will look into this. Finally, we discussed the May 5 fundraiser at Friendly’s Family Restaurant. Those who are unable to attend meetings of the group are encouraged to turn out for dinner and/or ice cream to support our group and our cause.