Amnesty International, Eastern PA

Agenda - Thursday November 19th
Amnesty International Philadelphia Chapter Meeting
7:00 pm at the Ethical Society, 1906 S. Rittenhouse Square

• A speaker from the ACLU – detention of illegal immigrants
• Reports about last month’s events:
• The Friday noon Human Rights Luncheon on October 23rd featuring Gladys Monterroso from Guatemala
• Lobbying Senator Casey on November 19 on closing the Guantánamo Bay detention center; ratifying the international women’s human rights treaty; and human rights of immigrant detainees
• Report on the Mid-Atlantic Regional Conference
• Planning for the Global Write-a-thon:
• We will participate during our December 17th meeting
• Ellal Aklilu will attend to talk on an Ethiopian prisoner of conscience, Birtukan Mideksa
• Write letters regarding human rights violations in Mexico; also some Amnesty International Urgent Action letters

Minutes from Amnesty International Group 112 Meeting, October 22 at Philadelphia Ethical Society

Report on last month’s events

The event “Dancing To the Edge of Darfur: Expression, Awareness Impact” at the Prince Theater last Saturday evening was discussed. This event which was well attended highlighted the work of Global Grassroots in Sudan and Rwanda. This was organized by the Rebecca Davis Dance Company. Bob Page and Ron Coburn showed an exhibit that highlights our activities.

Report on planned events

1. The Friday Noon Human Rights Luncheon, sponsored by our group was discussed. This event will take place at the Ethical Society 12 to 2PM. We are bringing Gladys Monterroso here to speak on violence, impunity and immigration reform. Ms Monterroso a Guatemalan human rights activist and torture survivor is on a US tour sponsored by the Guatemalan Human Rights Commission. This invite only luncheon is oversubscribed.

2 . Lobbying with other Amnesty International people. This will occur on November 11, 12 or 13 and we wlll lobby our senators on death penalty and immigration detention. This is an opportunity to learn how to effectively lobby. I am planning on leading a lobbying group and will distribute information. We need volunteers to participate.

3. Tabling at the Clark Parks market, perhaps late in November or early December. We have obtained permission to do this from the Farmers Coop. I need one volunteer to help with this.

Report: Key findings of Amnesty International’s report on immigration detention were summarized by David Loeb.

Treasury Report (not given at the meeting). $38 was deposited into the account giving a balance of $524.68.

18 letters were written and sent regarding human rights violations in the Dominican Republic and in Darfur.

Contributions totally $18 are noted.

NOTE: OUR NOVEMBER MEETING IS SCHEDULED FOR THE THIRD THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 19TH AT 7PM AT THE ETHICAL SOCIETY, RATHER THAN THE FOURTH THURSDAY (WHICH IS THANKSGIVING).

Submitted by Ronald Coburn, Coordinator

MINUTES GROUP 112 MEETING AUGUST 27, 2009

Nine people attended this meeting. One person was a first time attender who requested being put on the ListServe.

Tina Jia and Jason Wang talked on religious persecution of members of Falun Gong in China. Jason told of being imprisoned and tortured after he refused to give up Falun Gong. Tina movingly talked about her mother who was sent to a labor camp for an eighteen month term because of her belief in Falun Gong. In addition, her aunt, cousin and brother-in-law are also in custody. Tina’s talk related to the organ harvesting issue in that she described how inmates had blood drawn and how some inmates just disappeared. Many thanks to Cindy Wang who served as moderator and translator.

Letters were sent: protesting detention of immigrants in the US; an Amnesty International URGENT ACTION letter protesting an arrest of a human rights worker in China; letters protesting religious persecution of Falun Gong practitioners in China; letters protesting abuse of human rights in Mexico.

Because of lack of time the Coordinators report was not given. So I will outline the contents of this report.

1. At our retreat honoring Mark last summer, many suggestions were made about programs of Group 112. One was that we should present instruction on letter writing. I xeroxed such a document and will distribute it at the next meeting. It’s content will be discussed at that time.

2. The first Friday Noon Human Rights Discussion is organized for October 23 at the Ethical Society 12:00 noon to 2PM. The speaker is Gladys Monterroso from Guatemala. She is on a speaker tour organized by the Guatemala Human Rights Commission/USA. You can learn all about her at www.latinamericahaiti.com. This will be a light lunch (provided by us, but we will ask for donations) attended by about 15 invited people. Since this talk will stress human rights, Latin America and immigration we need a list of people to invite interested in these areas. So, I am requesting help in developing this list. E-mail me your suggestions, please. Or course all of our members will be invited. We write letters but rarely can see that there are real people out there suffering violations of their human rights. We hope that this event will be as good as our discussion with Tina and Jason where we could sense their desperation and how important our letter writing can be for individual people.

3. Construction of our web site is on hold.

4. Tabling? At our retreat it was emphasized that we must continue Tabling, as an educational and fund raising event. I am working on obtaining permission for us to have an AI table at some of the
Rittenhouse Square events, such as their market, art fair. Other suggestions for Tabling?

5. Our bank account. I suggest that we should require two signatures for each check. Is it OK to ask Dorothee and myself to be signees?

Next meeting: September 24.

Submitted by Ron Coburn

Members of Amnesty International Center City Group 112 will be meeting together with representatives from Darfur Alert Coalition to discuss the possibility of a joint fundraiser in June. The meeting will be next Monday, April 20, at 7:00 pm at the Philadelphia Ethical Society, on Rittenhouse Square near 19th Street, Philadelphia. Any Amnesty supporters who are interested in helping plan this joint fundraiser are encouraged to attend.

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

Saturday, May 3, 2008
12:00 pm to 4:00 pm

Independence Mall, near Liberty Bell (5th and Chestnut)
Philadelphia, PA

Amnesty International Center City Philadelphia, Group 112, will be having a table at the symbolic Olympic Torch Relay from noon to 4pm. 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 event, email HRTR@comcast.net.

Saturday, April 12, 2008
12:00 pm to 4:00 pm

Rittenhouse Square Park

Amnesty International Center City Group 112 will hold a table at Rittenhouse Square Park this Saturday, April 12 from noon to 4:00 pm. They will have information and a petition on the Violence Against Women Act and other information, as well as homemade candles for sale to benefit the work of the organization. Please stop by and support the work of this great Amnesty chapter.

Group 112 Monthly Meeting
October 25, 2007
AGENDA

1. Mission Statement & Introductions
2. Business
1. Discussion of November and December Meeting Times
2. Tabling Event for December 10—Leslie & Kevin
3. Darfur Now Advance Screenings
4. Treasurer’s Report—Joe Burke
5. Archivist’s Report—Erica Vendetti
6. Other Issues of Interest to Group Members
3. Letter Writing
1. Iraqi Kurdistan POCs: David Loeb
2. Indonesia Special Focus Case: Joe Burke
3. Maldives POCs: Joe Burke
4. Other Letters

From Center City group member Cindy

On October 4, NPR’s Diane Rehm Show hosted a show on “China and Diplomacy” talking about China’s role in Burma and Sudan, human rights and Olympics.

You could listen to the story at:
http://wamu.org/programs/dr/07/10/04.php#13748

Center City group member Cindy asks that we participate in this Urgent Action.

I would like to forward you a call for urgent action by the AI Australia on rescue Mr. Gao Zhisheng. Gao Zhisheng, a leading Chinese dissident and a human rights attorney, sent an open letter to the U.S. Congress recently and soon he was arrested and his whereabouts is unknown.

Known as “China’s conscience”, Mr. Gao Zhisheng is a Nobel Peace Prize nominee and American Board of Trial Advocates’ Courageous Advocacy award recipient. He recently sent a 15-page letter with first hand information, statistics and evidence to the US Congress expressing his deep concerns over the Beijing Olympics: the human rights in China have deteriorated even more ahead of the Olympic Games. This letter represents voices of many other Chinese in China.

• Gao Zhisheng’s letter to the U.S. Congress [pdf]

Background:

Mr. Gao Zhisheng has been featured on the cover of The New York Times. He authored China More Just: My Fight as a Rights Lawyer in the World in the Largest Communist State and was named as one of China’s top ten lawyers in 2001 and has worked for the gamut of China’s vulnerable groups, including coal miners, home-demolition victims, and house church members.

While facing surveillance, house arrest, detention, interrogations, threats, and even attempts on his life, Gao managed to rally China’s activists and legal community around the cause of human rights like no one before him. He has publicly renounced his Chinese Communist Party membership, along with 26 million other Chinese people.

Gao has dealt with many high-profile cases. He wrote open letters to the National People’s Congress, stating that the prison terms and fines imposed on Falun Gong practitioners are in complete violation of basic legal principles and contemporary legal norms. He revealed the suppression of Christian house churches, challenged corruption by local officials, and provided legal assistance to Chen Guangcheng, a blind rights advocate working on rural poverty, forced abortion, and forced sterilization.

Gao is widely regarded as the “conscience of China” and “the symbol of China.” He volunteered to be an investigator for CIPFG (the Coalition to Investigate the Persecution of Falun Gong) despite the danger of carrying out such missions in China.

Cindy

Here is Gao Zhisheng’s Urgent Action file from the AIUSA website. Please download it and write a letter on his behalf.