Monday, September 26, 2016

Excerpts from "Keeping You Connected" - EMAIL/NEWSLETTER September 25, 2016

Angie Hougas
Member, AIUSA BD of Directors
Director & Co-Founder, Rhythm N' Rights

1  GOOD NEWS
        Includes link to personal thank you letter from PHYOE PHYOE AUNG, released earlier this year
2  AMNESTY & 15th ANNIVERSARY OF 9/11
3  AIUSA UPDATES
4  REFUGEE SUMMIT
5  MEDIA MENTIONS
6  REPORTS

GOOD NEWS (Keep writing your Urgent Action Letters!)
Two Cambodian
housing rights defenders were tried and convicted on 22 August for “insult of a public official”. While Bov Sophea has been released, Tep Vanny remains in detention, serving a six-month sentence for charges related to a 2011 protest, and under investigation for separate charges linked to a 2013 protest.
Thank You to all the people who used the petition Rhythm N' Rights made on this case, on concert tables in the last month!
Myanmar Phyoe Phyoe Aung released earlier this year, personal thank you letter https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/campaigns/2016/09/myanmar-letter-from-phyoe-phyoe-aung/

AMNESTY & 15th ANNIVERSARY OF 9/11
  • A panel event on Capitol Hill featured Amnesty section heads, other international experts, and 9/11 victim family members who discuss the past fifteen years and the continued global struggle for security and human rights.
An op-ed by Margaret Huang was published in the Hill, marking the fifteenth anniversary of the 2001 Authorization for the Use of Military Force and the human rights abuses it has been exploited to justify.
AIUSA UPDATES
GUANTANAMO/TORTURE
·         AIUSA signed this coalition letter in opposition of the bill: https://www.aclu.org/letter/coalition-letter-opposing-hr-5351-blanket-ban-guantanamo-transfers .  The House of Representatives passed the  bill sponsored by Rep. Walorski (R-IN) which would prevent any further transfers of individuals out of Guantanamo.  The vote count was encouraging: 244-174. This vote ensures that a presidential veto would be sustained, and was a better vote count than many expected.
·         Amnesty International USA members and activists mobilized to oppose the bill by utilizing this email action and this phone call action to their Representatives

4 REFUGEE SUMMIT
AIUSA hosted a delegation of heads of other Amnesty International sections and coalition partners for a series of events in Washington, DC, and New York in order to build support for concrete government action to address the global refugee crisis. This is part of our broader, Global Campaign for the rights of refugees and migrants called “I Welcome”, that AIUSA prioritized in our four-year Strategic Plan.

5 MEDIA MENTIONS
 

6 REPORTS
Title:  Gambia:
Opposition in Gambia - The danger of dissent
Website link: https://www.amnesty.org/en/documents/afr27/4705/2016/en/

Title:  Democratic Republic of the Congo: Dismantling dissent: Repression of expression amidst electoral delays
Website link: https://www.amnesty.org/en/documents/afr62/4761/2016/en/
Title:  Brazil: A legacy of violence: Killings by police and repression of protest at the Rio 2016 Olympics   
Website link: https://www.amnesty.org/en/documents/amr19/4780/2016/en/
Title:  Amnesty International Limited: Report and Financial Statements for the year ended 31 December 2015
Website link: https://www.amnesty.org/en/documents/fin40/4845/2016/en/

Title:  Amnesty International Limited: Report and Financial Statements for the year ended 31 December 2015
Website link: https://www.amnesty.org/en/documents/fin40/4846/2016/en/   
Title:  Bahrain: Letter from 22 organizations urging the Government of the United Kingdom to call publicly and privately on the Government of Bahrain to release human rights defender Nabeel Rajab
Website link: https://www.amnesty.org/en/documents/mde11/4841/2016/en/


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