Angie Hougas Quality Assurance Auditor, Pharmaceutical Industry Madison, WI Background and presentations "Every prisoner of conscience freed is one more person able to help bring change within their own country."

As one of The Concert Ladies, let me use some lyrics to state what I feel about Prisoners of Conscience (POCs) all around the world. Bruce Springsteen said it best:

We made a promise we swore we'd always defend
No retreat, Believe me, No Surrender.
Blood brothers in the stormy night with a vow to defend
No Retreat, Believe me, No Surrender

The individual is the cornerstone of Amnesty. The world knows AI for POCs. Perhaps the world even counts & depends on AI to stand up for the POCs. Amnesty fills a niche no other organization in the world does by focusing on the individual in prison that others have forgotten about (the forgotten prisoner, the Prisoner of Conscience).

Why do I care about human rights? When I was in Ireland September 2001 (returned on the 10th!!!). I talked to the Irish Human Rights Center (in Galway) students, facility and administrative workers about Aaron Patterson. I will always remember what the top administrative staff person to the Director of the Center said to me after the talk. She said, "I found it so interesting, your story of how you got involved in this issue. I now realize how easily I can get involved too."

My story of how I came to this resonates, I think, with the majority of the people here in the USA and perhaps the world over too. No, I have not had a family/relative/friend murdered, No, I have not had a family/relative/friend executed. I got an email message across my computer one day many years ago. It said during this season, (Christmas) please send a card to Aaron Patterson on death row in Illinois. I thought, "I can do that from the comfort and security of my home, behind closed doors, and still be anonymous." I did not have to stand out front on a controversial issue, it was something easy, it was something within my budget and it only took 1 minute of my time. It was something anyone can do, no matter where.Well, Aaron wrote back and said he was putting me on his visitors list. Reading that from him, I thought, "he is crazy! Pontiac Ilinois is a 3 to 4 hour drive each way, I'll never be going there." I was wrong about that!

Propelled by Aaron’s persuasive claims of innocence, I organized national and international campaigns on his behalf. I provided information for AI’s 1998 USA Campaign, participated in an international speaking tour, and generated international press coverage. In 2003, Aaron was pardoned. One more individual in now free to help others. Amnesty is greater than an “emblematic” face used here and there for selected countries or issues.

This story made me see how easy it was to jump in the middle of a complex issue and make a difference. If the Death Penalty Abolition movement (or any other movement for that matter) wants the everyday person to be involved, the everyday person must be out there talking about how and why they become involved. Their stories are not as dramatic or glamorous, but they resonate. Perhaps teaming up the more dramatic with the common is the way to go. The Death Penalty Information Center can give us statistics, but they do not reach people on the everyday level of how they live their lives, what they can do to make themselves feel better about their purpose in life. Powerful people stand before us and tell their stories: lawyers, directors of organizations, but it is intimidating to the everyday person. And the everyday person can use that as an excuse for not becoming involved.

What brings me to Amnesty instead of another human rights organization? It is the focus on the individual. Amnesty fills a niche no other organization in the world does by focusing on the individual in prison that anyone else would have forgotten about (the forgotten prisoner, the Prisoner of Conscience). We are an organization where the individual can make a difference. We, the individuals, can get those POC's released; we can change the world - for that individual. These freed individuals then are able to continue to initiate and carry out changes inside their own countries. That is why Amnesty is called (and I'm sure you have all heard this as many times as I have at conferences and in AI mailings) "the worlds largest grassroots organization."

If you elect Simon Billenness, Tram Nguyen, Jason Sengheiser and me, we will support AIUSA as a grassroots organization with transparency in decision-making. We will work towards a refocus on individual prisoners. Our full platform: http://www.amnesty-volunteer.org/usa/reform/platform.html.

I welcome your questions.Email: , Ph: (608) 838-6708

Amnesty Experience and Activities

• Co-Director, RHYTHM N’ RIGHTS, responsible for working with 50+ artists, 1500 volunteers, 1900 concerts, 1998-present
• Lobbyist, passed AIUSA Custodial Sexual Misconduct legislation in WI, 2002-Aug 2003
• Midwest Representative, Area Coordinator Steering Committee (ACSC), 2003-Present; AC for WI, 1996-present
• Midwest Regional Representative, AIUSA Special Initiative Fund, 1996-2004
• Coordinated with AI International Secretariat on mission to Wisconsin's supermax prison, 2000; banned juveniles 2000
• Developed K-12 curriculum collection on human rights for Madison Metropolitan School District, 1994-1995
• Group Leader, AIUSA Group 139, Madison, WI, 1986-1996; Member, AIUSA Group 139, 1984-present
• Selected to be a member of the Task Force on Staff/Volunteer relations, and draft an Operational Plan based on task force report to the Board, 1996-1998
• Helped structure a training program on staff/volunteer relations, 1988-99
  

Other Relevent Experience

• Developed national and international campaign, death row inmate Aaron Patterson, 1996-Aaron’s pardon 2003
• Board member and treasurer, Wisconsin Coalition Against the Death Penalty, 1999-2000
• Board member, Captive Daughters (non-profit working to end sex trafficking of children), 1996-1998
• Victim/Offender Facilitator, Restorative Justice, 1998-present
• Advisor and instructor, Eagle School Human Rights Club, grades 4-8, Madison, WI, 2000-2003
• Speaker on human rights issues and the death penalty as part of international speaking tour (Ireland), 2001
• Awarded scholarship and developed "Enemies or Friends", a K-12 lesson plan, “Ethics in International Relations,” Global Studies Project, University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, 1995
• Helped pass ballot referendum for approval of preservation of rural lands in my town, Town of Dunn, WI, 1996
• Attended University of Wisconsin Extension conference, "Making Diversity Work", 1995
• Participated in experimental computer communication network project linking K-12 students from the US and Australia to students in Somalia: The PLANet Project, (People Linking Across Networks), PLANet Somalia, 1992-93
• Sponsor with the US Tibet Resettlement Project--Madison, 1991-2