Amnesty International, Eastern PA

MINUTES OF THE JUNE 23 MEETING OF AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL – PHILADELPHIA CHAPTER.

• Bleziri Camille Krouba presented a great talk on politics, civil war, and human rights violation in the Ivory Coast.
• Ron Noble talked on our lobbying-discussion with Jim Fitzpatrick from Senator Toomey’s office which occurred on June 1.
• On-going planning for lobbying staff members of Mayor Nutter on the PARS-ICE contract. Still no response from Mayor Nutter.
• International Justice Day was discussed. See below. This looks like an opportunity to meet with people working with Human Rights Watch, the National Lawyers Guild and other organizations. There will be panel discussions on various topics.
• Letters to Gambia, India, Iraq and Mexico were sent.

NOTE; THERE WILL NOT BE A JULY MEETING, DUE TO THE INTERNATIONAL JUSTICE DAY CELEBRATION on July 17. NEXT MEETING: AUGUST 25

Our next meeting is this Thursday at 7 PM, May 26, at the Ethical Society in Philadelphia.  The speaker is from the National Service Center, a group that works with immigrants. Topic  “Human rights for detained immigrants.”  If interested in our Chapter E-mail me at rfcoburn@mail.med.upenn.edu

Group 112, located in Center City Philadelphia, is planning on initiating an Amnesty International group that is associated with our Chapter. This group is targeting people just leaving AI groups in their colleges. It would meet separately and function separately but Group 112 could offer help, space for a meeting, letters, etc.  The plan is:  if we find 6-8 interested people we would go forward with this plan.  If interested E-mail me, Ronald Coburn, at rfcoburn@mail.med.upenn.edu.   I am coordinator of Group 112.

Hello Fellow Amnesty Activists and Human Rights Defenders,

Amnesty International Philadelphia would like to kick off the summer by hosting our first night of networking and activism with fellow AIUSA activists. The work that all of Philadelphia’s student and local groups have done on various Amnesty campaigns is amazing. Moving forward, we would like to build an activist network where not only do we connect with ourselves and other AIUSA members, but also other organizations fighting for similar causes. So come meet us for coffee on May 4th at 7pm at Good Karma Cafe, 928 Pine Street, Philadelphia. Bring your friends, family, and people you meet. We will be using this time to write letters on important cases, talk about the future of Amnesty in Philly since this is all of our network, and most importantly sign petitions for Troy Davis whose appeal was denied and execution could be very soon. We hope this meeting will be the first of many and that we can grow our activist network into something visible, helpful, and accessible to all.

As always thank you for your continued support and hard work. We hope to see you May 4th at 7pm at Good Karma Cafe.

AGENDA
AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL – PHILADELPHIA CHAPTER
THURSDAY JANUARY 27 7:00 PM AT THE ETHICAL SOCIETY, 1906 S. RITTENHOUSE SQUARE, PHILADELPHIA.

Talk-Discussion
A United Nations – funded Study of Human Rights in the United States: – Ezgi Taboglu and some law students, from the Transnational Legal Clinic at the University of Pennsylvania Law School.<

Previous events
The “Wine and Cheese Party” held in December in conjunction with the Amnesty International Global Write-A-Thon.

On-going program
Human rights of detained immigrants. Leaflet distribution day next April. – 5 minutes

Announcements

There are travel grants available for our members to attend the National AI Meeting in San Francisco the week end of March 18.
The GO-BUS Amnesty International Rally in Washington DC, in May.

Treasurer’s Report

Letters protesting human rights violations:
Letters regarding our Prisoners of Conscience: The Women of Tenaco in Mexico, and Chekib El-Khiari from Morocco; and other letters. – 30 minutes

You are invited to attend the Amnesty International – Philadelphia Chapter Year End WINE AND CHEESE Party and WRITE – A- THON.

When. Thursday December 16, 7 -9 PM

Where:  At the Ethical Society Building, 1906 S. Rittenhouse square

Eat wine and drink cheese, or vice versa if you prefer, while networking with other Amnesty activists and people from other human right organizations in Philadelphia.   This “party” is coupled with signing letters in support of Amnesty International targeted cases “the Amnesty International’s Global Write-A-Thon”.. Please bring letters or information on special cases or causes that you would like to raise support for, in order to have them acted on that night. We hope that people from other human rights groups will make short presentations about their group’s programs.

 Come out and celebrate the year end with Amnesty in Rittenhouse Square!

Also sponsored by the Ethical Action Committee of the Ethical Society, and Pennsylvanias Against the Death Penalty.

October 28, 2010 Meeting of Amnesty International, Philadelphia Chapter

9 people attended.

Kathy S. from Witness to Innocence talked on “The exonerates working to abolish the death penalty.” Her central theme was about death-row and the racism involved in giving death sentences, and the errors in trials, particularly the inability of those accused to get expert legal assistance.

Ongoing Projects:

Tabling at a performance of “The Exonerates” to be given at the Adrienne Theater. This play which ran off Broadway for months was brought to Philadelphia for a 2 week run by Amnesty International. Ron and Dorothee will do this for the next Sunday performance.

Our project: “The human rights of immigrants detained in prisons”, and “the discrimination involved in the contract between ICE and the Philadelphia Police Department.”

Letters: 21 letters were sent. The letter that had been written to the Governor of Arizona regarding the scheduled execution of Jeffrey Landrigan was not sent because he was executed on October 27 even though there was new DNA evidence he did not perform the murder, and the presiding judge of his initial trial stated she would not have ordered the death penalty if she knew of all the evidence.

Letters to the US Ambassador of Morocco regarding the imprisonment of Chekib El-Khiarai who is the “Prisoner of Conscience” of our chapter.

Letters to Lic. Arturo Chavez Chavez, Procuraduria General de la Republica expressing concerned for the safety of Juan Manuel Martinez and his family following the ransacking of their home in the municipality of Santa Cruz XoXocatlan, Oaxaca State

Letters to Lic. Enrique Pena Nieto, Gobernador Constitutional del estado de Mexico to express deep concern for justice in the cases of Barbara Italia Mendez and more than 45 women arrested without explanation in San Salvador Atenco, Mexico during May 2006.

NEXT MEETING: THE THIRD THURSDAY (BECAUSE OF THE THANKSGIVING HOLIDAY) NOVEMBER 18 AT 7pm. The scheduled speaker is Jane Goldblum, from Goldblum and Hess, who represented immigrants and is concerned about their human rights.

Minutes for August 26, 2010
Philadelphia Chapter Meeting, Amnesty International

Report on the Mid-Atlantic Leaders Training Session, August 6 to 8. This report triggered a lively discussion about the organization of Amnesty International USA, its roles, current programs and its resources. In particular, we explored how the programs of our Chapter related to the stated programs of AI:USA.

Immigration Human Rights Campaign. This is stated by Amnesty International USA to be one of their primary programs. Our program that projects concern about the data linkages between our police department and the Federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency (ICE) fits in nicely with the decision of AI groups in Pennsylvania to emphasize this program in the coming year. The other part of this campaign involves human rights violations of detained immigrants in federal prisons.

Proposal to organize, or subdivide, a section of our chapter for young adults. There is clearly a need for people just graduating from college or high school who worked with their school’s AI Chapter and are looking for a chapter made up of young adults. The proposal is that this group would have its own leaders and programs and that we would meet with them every three months. Recruitment would occur by advertising the organization of this group on the web site and when ten people wanted to join, the group could be initiated. This proposal received a favorable nod from people present at this meeting. Organization of this subchapter will have to be approved by AI officials.

Letters were sent to Mexico regarding the Women of Atenco, to Morocco regarding Chekib El-Khiari, and to Mayor Nutter regarding the contract of ICE with our police department. These letters were also signed and sent by 7 members of the Ethical Society.

GROUP 112 PROGRAMS AS OF AUGUST 26, 2010

1. Prisoner of Conscience: Chekib El-Khiari
2. The Women of Atenco
3. Immigrant rights campaign
4. Friday noon human rights luncheon
5. Connect with other local human rights organizations
6. Letter writing protesting human rights violations
7. Educational talks at our meetings

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