Thursday, September 3, 2015

Madison, WI: Structural Inequalities and Poverty: Organizing for Economic Rights in India - LECTURE Sept 30, 2015

Thank you to Angie Hougas who has submitted this item for our members.

"Soffa lecture delivered by Renana Jhabvala of SEWA, India on September 30, 3015 at 4pm at the Pyle Center.

Title: “Structural Inequalities and Poverty: Organizing for Economic Rights in India”
Click here for more information. 
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Time for Europe to end the refugee shame - UPDATED 9/3/2015 and ONLINE PETITION

Amnesty International
By Gauri van Gulik, Deputy Europe Director at Amnesty International, @GaurivanGulik ,

     It has also been a common response to tragedies in Europe and off its shores which have ended the lives of thousands of refugees and migrants. Not killed by bombs in Syria, but killed while making terrifying journeys in search of safety and better lives in Europe.
"Not killed by bombs in Syria, but killed while making terrifying journeys in search of safety and better lives in Europe."


Gauri van Gulik, Deputy Europe Director at Amnesty International
     But the scale and rapid succession of these tragedies calls for breaking the silence.
In the space of a week, along with people across the world, I recoiled in horror as four new tragedies added to a growing list of events that have already brought a record number of refugees and migrants to untimely deaths this year. According to UNHCR, 2,500 have already perished en route to Europe since 1 January 2015.
Click here for entire article. 

Note: This has been and continues to be an evolving news story. Here is just a sampling of other related articles. 
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Wednesday, September 2, 2015

Good News USA, California: Amnesty International USA Response to California Solitary Confinement Settlement - PRESS RELEASE

Amnesty International USA
September 2, 2015

     "The state of California settled a federal lawsuit yesterday by agreeing to limit its use of solitary confinement. The state will no longer hold prisoners in solitary confinement indefinitely, nor will prisoners be placed in solitary solely for their connection to gangs. The practice will only be reserved for those who have committed major violations.
     “This momentous victory comes after years of struggle and organizing by the people most directly impacted by the prolonged nightmare of solitary confinement – isolated prisoners and their families,” said Jasmine Heiss, senior campaigner for Amnesty International USA. “It is testament to the resilience of the human spirit in the face of devastating cruelty.”
     In 2012, Amnesty International released a report detailing conditions in California’s isolated Security Housing Units, which found that the punishment endured by prisoners amounts to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment, in violation of international law."
Click here for entire PRESS RELEASE. 


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Amnesty International Australia: An activist looks back - PERSONAL REFLECTION

8/18/2015
     "Lifetime activist Peter Jones gives his own personal reflections on his life-journey in human rights, and some insights on the growth of Amnesty.
     I was a schoolboy in England when I saw the article in the (Sunday) Observer by Peter Benenson in 1961 that led to the founding of Amnesty. Two years later I joined the new Amnesty student group at Oxford University and by the end of the decade, I had started a school group at the high school where I started my teaching career.
     In those days, at the height of the Cold War, each group adopted three prisoners: one from the Western bloc, one from the soviet bloc and one from a non-aligned country. Examples might include a prisoner of conscience in South Vietnam, in Poland and in Indonesia."
Click here his complete article. 
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Amnesty International Midwest Regional Office: Regional Conference Workshop and Panel Applications - FRIDAY, Sept 4th DEADLINE

Happy Tuesday Activists!

Each year our regional conference features engaging, informative, and motivating panels and workshops run by members just like you! We love seeing the diverse topics that our members come up with and seeing the impact that these sessions have on the conference attendees.

If you have a great idea for a panel or workshop, now is the time to tell us! Submit our Session Application by Friday, September 4 to have the chance to directly influence the Midwest Regional Conference's 2015 program. We look forward to hearing your thoughts!

Note: If you are receiving this email, but are no longer the active coordinator for your student group, please take a moment to email me with your new group coordinator's e-mail address or ask your new coordinator to register your group. If your group has already re-registered for 2015-2016, please ignore this e-mail.

Thanks!


Best wishes,
Elizabeth Mucha

Midwest Regional Office Intern
Amnesty International USA
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Good News USA: Court Blocks Execution of Bernardo Abán Tercero - URGENT ACTION UPDATE

Amnesty International
    A Texas appeals court issued a stay of execution in the case of Bernardo Abán Tercero a day before he was due to be put to death. The stay has been granted so that the courts can consider the claim that the prosecution presented false testimony at the 2000 trial.
     On 25 August, the Texas Court of Criminal appeals issued a stay of execution in the case of Nicaraguan national Bernardo Abán Tercero, who was due to be put to death on 26 August for the murder in March 1997 of Robert Berger during a robbery of a Houston dry-cleaning business. The appeals court remanded the case to the trial level court to review the merits of the claim raised in a petition filed on 24 August that a key prosecution witness had lied at trial. She had testified that Bernardo Abán Tercero had told her that he had shot the victim after becoming angry that he did not have any money, because the man’s daughter had seen him, and because the victim himself “had seen his face” and therefore could identify him. She also said that Bernardo Abán Tercero had threatened her not to say anything to the authorities. Her testimony, the petition argues, “created a powerful ‘false impression’ about Mr. Tercero’s mental status during the offense, establishing intent and motives for the conviction of murder in the course of his robbery of the cleaners”.
Click here for more information about this case. 
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Egypt: Prisoner of Conscience, Mahmoud Hussein, to Remain in Detention - URGENT ACTION & ONLINE PETITION

Amnesty International
Mahmoud Hussein appeared in court again on 26 August due to an irregularity in his case, two days after his detention had been renewed for 45 days. He is a 19-year-old student who has spent over 18 months in pre-trial detention in Egypt after being arrested for wearing a T-shirt with the “Nation Without Torture Campaign” logo. 

Prisoner of conscience Mahmoud Mohamed Ahmed Hussein was taken to Cairo’s Abbassia Court on 26 August for an unexpected court proceeding, his lawyer told Amnesty International. He had appeared in court two days earlier, when his detention was renewed, so he was not expected in court for another six weeks.

Under Egyptian law, a person can be held in pre-trial detention for two years, if accused of crimes punishable by life imprisonment or the death penalty. The accusations against Mahmoud Hussein include offenses that carry the penalty of life imprisonment, but they relate solely to a videotaped “confession” that he was forced to give under torture after he was arrested on 25 January 2014. 
Click here for more information and addresses. 
Click here for more information from Amnesty International USA.  
Click here for ONLINE PETITION from Amnesty International. 
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