Month: January 2011

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Call the Egyptian embassy now!

Thirty years of repression is spilling out onto the streets of Egypt in the forms of tear-gas, blood and bitter demonstrations. For four days, Egyptian protestors have suffered at the hands of President Mubarak’s security forces. At least 14 protestors have been killed and scores more have been injured. The crackdown on freedoms is intensifying as authorities have cut all Internet and phone communications. There’s no telling how long the violence will continue or how many people will suffer in the end.

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Tunisia must act decisively to break with Ben Ali’s legacy of abuse

Amnesty International
24 January 2011

Tunisia must act decisively to break with Ben Ali’s legacy of abuse

Amnesty International has today called on the Tunisian authorities to fundamentally overhaul the country’s repressive security apparatus and justice system as part of a human rights action plan to be presented to the new government.

“This is a critical moment for Tunisia,” said Claudio Cordone, Amnesty International’s Senior Director for Research and Regional Programmes.

“Those now in power have an unprecedented opportunity to make fundamental and lasting reforms and to break with Ben Ali’s legacy of decades of abuse. Tunisians deserve real, not cosmetic change.”

The call came as unrest and political uncertainty continued to grip Tunisia and threaten its new caretaker government, formed following the flight of the former president and his family 10 days ago.

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Carl Wilkens speaks in Portland

Wednesday, February 9 at 7:00 PM
Portland First United Methodist Church
1838 Southwest Jefferson Street, Portland
Free admission (suggested donation $10)
Organized by Oregon Holocaust Resource Center

As a humanitarian aid worker, Carl Wilkens moved his young family to Rwanda in the spring of 1990. When the genocide was launched in April 1994, Carl refused to leave, even when urged to do so by close friends, his church and the United States government. Thousands of expatriates evacuated and the United Nations pulled out most of its troops. Carl was the only American to remain in the country. Venturing out each day into streets crackling with mortars and gunfire, he worked his way through roadblocks of angry, bloodstained soldiers and civilians armed with machetes and assault rifles in order to bring food, water and medicine to groups of orphans trapped around the city. His actions saved the lives of hundreds.

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Illinois to abolish the death penalty

This year, more states than ever before are poised to end the death penalty legislatively!

Illinois is the first to step up to the plate and all eyes are watching because abolition is imminent. It is only a governor’s signature away, and success there will give us momentum for abolition this year in other states, including Connecticut, Kansas, Maryland, and Montana.

As states struggle to find cost-saving measures, and as the death penalty’s errors and biases continue to be exposed, more and more states are stepping up to put an end to the inhumane, unjust and costly death penalty system.

In Illinois, death penalty abolition has won the support of both the Senate and the House of Representatives. The legislation is now sitting on Governor Pat Quinn’s desk and he could decide any day whether to sign or veto the bill.

Whether or not you live in Illinois, we need you to speak up now!

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Aung San Suu Kyi interviewed by students in Washington

The Amnesty International Club at Vashon High School in Vashon Island, Washington held a telephone conference with Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Aung San Suu Kyi on December 10, 2010. Aung San Suu Kyi was released on November 13, 2010 after spending more than 15 of the past 21 years under house arrest and is now able to communicate with people from around the world.

The telephone conference was organized by Alix Clarke along with students Brooke Kipling and Emma Lodes. Teacher Harris Levinson helped the students pose questions to Aung San Suu Kyi. The group in attendance felt very honored to be able to ask her questions and hear her brilliant and insightful answers.

Click the play button below to listen to the call:
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