Amnesty International: Reform 2004

REFORM 2004 PLATFORM

The Board should ensure that all campaigns and pilot work on economic, social, and cultural rights include work on behalf of individual victims, while AI focuses on preventing and ending grave abuses of the right to physical and mental integrity, and the right to freedom of conscience and expression.
The Board should ensure that AI continues its priority on individual prisoners of conscience, "disappearances," and on abolition of torture and the death penalty.
The Board should carefully consider (a) the balance between work on domestic (USA) human rights abuses and work on international abuses and (b) the effect of AIUSA coalitions with other non-governmental organizations, to ensure that work on domestic abuses and coalitions does not inadvertently cloud AIUSA's credibility.

SUPPORT AIUSA AS A GRASSROOTS ORGANIZATION THAT SHARES LEADERSHIP BETWEEN STAFF AND VOLUNTEERS

AIUSA should implement the September 1995 Board decision for joint volunteer-staff planning and program review for volunteer programs, and such activities should take place at the AGM and at other venues as appropriate.
For example, students and other youth from across the country should have the opportunity to review with staff the effectiveness of earlier actions and suggest and/or plan future student/youth programs, while death penalty abolition coordinators should have the opportunity to review with staff past death penalty activities and plan future actions, etc.
Further, membership structures must participate in the development of the operational plan and budgets for their structures.
The Board should ensure a return to a membership structure that prioritizes and empowers grassroots activism such as meetings between AIUSA volunteers and Members of Congress, outreach by AIUSA volunteers to VIPs and other organizations, and contacts between AIUSA groups and the media.
The Board should ensure that reporting on grassroots activism other than direct action (letter-writing, e-mail messages, etc.) returns to a leading position in Amnesty Now and other Amnesty publications.
The Board should ensure that AIUSA's next Executive Director and his/her senior program staff (a) have experience working with grassroots organizations and (b) support AIUSA as a grassroots organization with shared decision-making between staff and volunteers.
The Board should facilitate shared decision-making between staff and volunteer leadership by issuing guidelines as to the types of decisions that should be shared and requiring training of volunteer leaders and staff on the role of volunteer leadership and conflict resolution.
The Board should ensure that relevant volunteer leaders continue to have input into the selection of staff members who will have substantial responsibilities vis-a-vis volunteers, including Deputy Executive Directors with program responsibilities, Regional or Field Directors, Program Directors, and Network Directors.
The Board should ensure that new staff and volunteer leaders receive training and information about AI's and AIUSA's traditions and methods of operating (such as limitations on work on domestic issues and coalitions with other organizations).
The Board should improve communication between its members and AIUSA staff members beyond the senior management team, especially by (a) welcoming such staff to Board meetings, and (b) encouraging program staff to attend regional conferences and the AGM.

Because (a) the Board's minutes have not included all Board decisions, notably those decisions not voted as a motion, and (b) Executive Committee minutes, motions and decisions have not been reported to the membership at all, the Board General Secretary should report to the activist membership all Board and Executive Committee decisions, including consensus decisions not voted in the form of a motion. Further, documents cited in Board motions should be appended to the minutes, so that, for example, when a Board motion refers to the Board approving a policy or report, the membership receives the text of the policy or report that has been approved.
To ensure Board accountability for reporting to the membership, the Board should require that the General Secretary and/or the Deputy Secretary take draft minutes. The General Secretary should provide final minutes per Board policy to appropriate staff within three weeks of the Board meeting, for posting on the AIUSA members-only website. Minutes should include the names of Board members who speak at Board meetings as well as their opinions.
Because the Board and Executive Committee have used executive session for issues that are controversial rather than confidential, the Board and Executive Committee should approve, by a recorded two-thirds vote, each movement into executive session, and the motion must explain the reason why executive session is required.
Following receipt of the report of the Lessons Learned Task Force, the Board should take decisive action to demand accountability of the International Secretariat, the 2002-2003 Board Chair and Board, and AIUSA staff for their actions relative to the Barb Bocek matter.
The Board should require that volunteer leadership bodies such as regional planning groups and steering committees regularly inform the membership of their activities, recommendations, and decisions.
The Board should ensure that the resolutions process considers major issues within Amnesty International and AIUSA, and the Board should introduce resolutions that address the major questions AIUSA faces.

The Board did not bring before the 2001 AGM a resolution relative to replacing the Amnesty International mandate with the Amnesty International mission, and the AGM failed (due to lack of time) to vote on an emergency resolution on the issue. Thus the AGM lost an opportunity to address the critical issue of AI's future mission, leaving the Board to decide AIUSA's position.
The Board should establish a system to ensure implementation of AGM resolutions.
Because some AIUSA activists cannot afford to stay at conference hotels, AIUSA should post information about hostels and other inexpensive accommodations on its website, with a citation in the Monthly Mailing, and this information about hostels, etc., should appear with information on how to register for regional conferences.


		Platform
	REFORM 2004 PLATFORM FOCUS ON THE INDIVIDUAL VICTIMS OF HUMAN RIGHTS ABUSES AND MAINTAIN AI'S STRENGTHS AND REPUTATION FOR IMPARTIALITY The Board should ensure that all campaigns and pilot work on economic, social, and cultural rights include work on behalf of individual victims, while AI focuses on preventing and ending grave abuses of the right to physical and mental integrity, and the right to freedom of conscience and expression. The Board should ensure that AI continues its priority on individual prisoners of conscience, "disappearances," and on abolition of torture and the death penalty. The Board should carefully consider (a) the balance between work on domestic (USA) human rights abuses and work on international abuses and (b) the effect of AIUSA coalitions with other non-governmental organizations, to ensure that work on domestic abuses and coalitions does not inadvertently cloud AIUSA's credibility. SUPPORT AIUSA AS A GRASSROOTS ORGANIZATION THAT SHARES LEADERSHIP BETWEEN STAFF AND VOLUNTEERS AIUSA should implement the September 1995 Board decision for joint volunteer-staff planning and program review for volunteer programs, and such activities should take place at the AGM and at other venues as appropriate. For example, students and other youth from across the country should have the opportunity to review with staff the effectiveness of earlier actions and suggest and/or plan future student/youth programs, while death penalty abolition coordinators should have the opportunity to review with staff past death penalty activities and plan future actions, etc. Further, membership structures must participate in the development of the operational plan and budgets for their structures. The Board should ensure a return to a membership structure that prioritizes and empowers grassroots activism such as meetings between AIUSA volunteers and Members of Congress, outreach by AIUSA volunteers to VIPs and other organizations, and contacts between AIUSA groups and the media. The Board should ensure that reporting on grassroots activism other than direct action (letter-writing, e-mail messages, etc.) returns to a leading position in Amnesty Now and other Amnesty publications. The Board should ensure that AIUSA's next Executive Director and his/her senior program staff (a) have experience working with grassroots organizations and (b) support AIUSA as a grassroots organization with shared decision-making between staff and volunteers. The Board should facilitate shared decision-making between staff and volunteer leadership by issuing guidelines as to the types of decisions that should be shared and requiring training of volunteer leaders and staff on the role of volunteer leadership and conflict resolution. The Board should ensure that relevant volunteer leaders continue to have input into the selection of staff members who will have substantial responsibilities vis-a-vis volunteers, including Deputy Executive Directors with program responsibilities, Regional or Field Directors, Program Directors, and Network Directors. The Board should ensure that new staff and volunteer leaders receive training and information about AI's and AIUSA's traditions and methods of operating (such as limitations on work on domestic issues and coalitions with other organizations). The Board should improve communication between its members and AIUSA staff members beyond the senior management team, especially by (a) welcoming such staff to Board meetings, and (b) encouraging program staff to attend regional conferences and the AGM. PROMOTE OPEN AND ACCOUNTABLE DECISION-MAKING Because (a) the Board's minutes have not included all Board decisions, notably those decisions not voted as a motion, and (b) Executive Committee minutes, motions and decisions have not been reported to the membership at all, the Board General Secretary should report to the activist membership all Board and Executive Committee decisions, including consensus decisions not voted in the form of a motion. Further, documents cited in Board motions should be appended to the minutes, so that, for example, when a Board motion refers to the Board approving a policy or report, the membership receives the text of the policy or report that has been approved. To ensure Board accountability for reporting to the membership, the Board should require that the General Secretary and/or the Deputy Secretary take draft minutes. The General Secretary should provide final minutes per Board policy to appropriate staff within three weeks of the Board meeting, for posting on the AIUSA members-only website. Minutes should include the names of Board members who speak at Board meetings as well as their opinions. Because the Board and Executive Committee have used executive session for issues that are controversial rather than confidential, the Board and Executive Committee should approve, by a recorded two-thirds vote, each movement into executive session, and the motion must explain the reason why executive session is required. Following receipt of the report of the Lessons Learned Task Force, the Board should take decisive action to demand accountability of the International Secretariat, the 2002-2003 Board Chair and Board, and AIUSA staff for their actions relative to the Barb Bocek matter. The Board should require that volunteer leadership bodies such as regional planning groups and steering committees regularly inform the membership of their activities, recommendations, and decisions. The Board should ensure that the resolutions process considers major issues within Amnesty International and AIUSA, and the Board should introduce resolutions that address the major questions AIUSA faces. The Board did not bring before the 2001 AGM a resolution relative to replacing the Amnesty International mandate with the Amnesty International mission, and the AGM failed (due to lack of time) to vote on an emergency resolution on the issue. Thus the AGM lost an opportunity to address the critical issue of AI's future mission, leaving the Board to decide AIUSA's position. The Board should establish a system to ensure implementation of AGM resolutions. Because some AIUSA activists cannot afford to stay at conference hotels, AIUSA should post information about hostels and other inexpensive accommodations on its website, with a citation in the Monthly Mailing, and this information about hostels, etc., should appear with information on how to register for regional conferences.