Amnesty International: Reform 2004

Candidates' Forum - Questions and Answers, page 2

This page last updated: April 26, 2004

Question:
I was disappointed by the last Amnesty Now newsletter because it looked like AIUSA is getting into domestic investigative journalism (i.e. investigating discrimination inside the U.S. military). My impression from this is that AIUSA has so much money that it is spending it on domestic issues already covered by other organizations such as ACLU (of which I am also a member). Are you going to do anything to change this state of affairs?

Magdaleno answers:
While Amnesty may weigh-in on certain issues such as discrimination in the military we in fact may not be the lead agency on this issue. Instead we might be a contributer to change. When we begin to raise the issue of abuse of power in terms of discrimination it also is tied to the abuse of women in the military. And eventually the abuse of prisoners held by the the USA military around the world.The US military is like a world power unto itself. Being the largest and most powerful in the world it is important that we take a careful look at all aspects of this aparatus. It is felt that what we do here will have effects in other military structures around the world.

Rick answers:
AIUSA has a long history of bringing domestic human rights issues, concerns and violations to the attention and awareness of the public.In the early 1990s AIUSA was among the first human rights organizations to investigate and call for action on behalf of gay men and lesbians who were clearly discriminated against and targeted as victims of hate crimes.In the mid/late 1980s, AIUSA similarly investigated and called for actions on behalf of asylum seekers in the Rio Grande Valley. Persons who were fleeing the violence of civil turmoil in both Guatemala and El Salvador (and other areas in the Americas) were victims of human rights violations in South Texas, many of which were being perpetrated by the INS.And throughoutt the 1990s, AIUSA has investigated and called for reform of several (specific) prisons and supermax facilities, to help end violations and inhuman, cruel and degrading treatment and punishment of prisoners.

In all these instances, AIUSA was supported by various other local and national organizations, whose focus was similar to ours. And in almost every case, major changes were ultimately effected, which helped end the violations upon which Amnesty had focused.

I think the call for awareness and action on behalf of problems in the US military is consistent with our past efforts. Clearly, other organizations should and do have similar concerns, but the clout that AI(USA) can bring to these issues should be seen as a catalyst and a benefit to help spur future actions by many different individuals and organizations.

Govind answers:
To some extent, I support Amnesty NOW's freedom of expression in terms of the magazine's content. While I note the question, I'm going to deviate slightly from the question and talk about my issues with Amnesty NOW. There needs to be a balance between AIUSA's international work and the aim of making it an interesting magazine. This, I feel, can be done by asking more volunteers to contribute work to the magazine. By doing so, we will give an opportunity to highlight work by volunteers all over the United States in defense of human rights, we will be able to recognize the significant amounts of work done by volunteers (without the initiative of staff, often), as well as provide an outlet for creative people beyond the local area. I would also like to see an occassional (maybe monthly) article by a volunteer in another section, writing about what they are doing. I remember being particularly inspired by an article from the Section Director of AI-Sierra Leone about his harrowing journey out of the country during the civil war. It was poignant to note that several AI members in the country died or had their limbs amputated. Thus, I believe these typesof articles will better connect us with the international movement.

Steve answers:
In previous years, AIUSA member publications reported on major events organized by volunteers, media mentions obtained by volunteers, legislative work performed by volunteers, the success of volunteer groups in seeing their adopted prisoners released, etc. Today, a reader of Amnesty Now is uninformed of these activities taken by volunteers. We on the reform slate wish to see reporting on volunteer successes return to the pages of AIUSA publications, so that more volunteers will be attracted to human rights work and therefore more human rights work will be accomplished. The reform slate supports the continued inclusion of letter-writing instructions in Amnesty Now.

Phyllis answers:
We have noticed a trend to mention volunteer activism primarily in the context of short actions like the letter writing actions. Of course we support this continuing. What we would like to see, are articles that highlight the fine work of AI activists who organize events, testify before congress, meet with legislators and the like. We are not suggesting that this type of work take priority over letter-writing. On the contrary we not only fully support both, but will push for these types of work to continue to be available to membership.

Question:
You state that you haven't forgotten the "forgotten" POCs. I've heard this term bandied about quite a bit. Can you provide us with a specific list of "forgotten" POCs?

Govind answers:
The concept of the forgotten prisoner was one that Amnesty International coined in its early years. This was an individual who was tossed into jail for speaking out, with the jailers hoping that these people could be silenced. By highlighting the fact that this person is a prisoner, we can embarrass the government into freeing them. It has happened thousands of times in the history of the organization. Now, there are plans underway to eliminate this part of AI's activities, this despite no clear evidence that AI's work in this area is ineffective. The argument is that AI must be able to address virtually any issue that could be put under the rubric of human rights because our allies with it to be the case. I disagree because such an organization will simply lose its focus. Yet, the prisoners will still be there.

As for a specific list, there are sadly too many prisoners of conscience to be mentioned. A few of them are Leyla Zana in Turkey, Rebiya Kadeer in China, Fathimath Nisreen in Maldives, Jennifer Latheef in Maldives, Moh'd Zaki in Maldives, Naushad Waheed in Maldives, U Aung Myint in Burma, U Aye Kyu in Burma, U Naing Naing in Burma, and Ruslan Sharipv in Uzbekistan. I can name hundreds more. But, just in that list, only some AIUSA local group members know of their fate; hence the "forgotten" prisoner.

Magdaleno answers:
Our staement about "forgotten prisoners" is the basis for our concern for HR Defenders and for other POCs: that by supporting them, we support all Human Rightss, including economic, social and cultural rights, all around the world. I would also like to say that is an important means of maximizing our effectiveness.

Paul answers:
The "forgotten" prisoner (or POC) started Amnesty International. Literally, "forgotten" in this context means that the government has imprisoned these individuals for peaceful expression of their beliefs, or solely for their religion, or because of their ethnic identity (and all the other parts of this definition). These prisoners all too often feel that no one in the world cares for them - frequently their families chose to survive in their respective country by disowning them. The beauty of Amnesty has been that we do not "forget" these people.

There are many "forgotten" POC's - an exact list is impossible to generate, as it would only be a snapshot in time. But, as examples, there are many POC's in Burma (Myanmar) and in North Korea. For most of these cases in North Korea, we do not have enough research to even identify the prisoners as individuals. (Nor likely would we want to, as harsher treatment would likely result.) And I have only listed two countries - there are countless others elsewhere in the world.

Read last week's questions ->

Acronyms explained:

IEC = International Executive Committee [in essence, the "International Board"]
UDHR = Universal Declaration of Human Rights, adopted by the UN General Assembly on Dec. 10, 1948 [forms the basis of our work]
CEDAW = Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women
FSA = Full Spectrum Approach [to our human rights work]
ICM = International Council Meeting [held every 2 years to make decisions for our movement]
ISP = Integrated Strategic Plan
NGO = Non-Governmental Organization [not just an AI acronym]


		Candidate Question Time
	Candidates' Forum - Questions and Answers, page 2 This page last updated: April 26, 2004 Question: I was disappointed by the last Amnesty Now newsletter because it looked like AIUSA is getting into domestic investigative journalism (i.e. investigating discrimination inside the U.S. military). My impression from this is that AIUSA has so much money that it is spending it on domestic issues already covered by other organizations such as ACLU (of which I am also a member). Are you going to do anything to change this state of affairs? Magdaleno answers: While Amnesty may weigh-in on certain issues such as discrimination in the military we in fact may not be the lead agency on this issue. Instead we might be a contributer to change. When we begin to raise the issue of abuse of power in terms of discrimination it also is tied to the abuse of women in the military. And eventually the abuse of prisoners held by the the USA military around the world.The US military is like a world power unto itself. Being the largest and most powerful in the world it is important that we take a careful look at all aspects of this aparatus. It is felt that what we do here will have effects in other military structures around the world. Rick answers: AIUSA has a long history of bringing domestic human rights issues, concerns and violations to the attention and awareness of the public.In the early 1990s AIUSA was among the first human rights organizations to investigate and call for action on behalf of gay men and lesbians who were clearly discriminated against and targeted as victims of hate crimes.In the mid/late 1980s, AIUSA similarly investigated and called for actions on behalf of asylum seekers in the Rio Grande Valley. Persons who were fleeing the violence of civil turmoil in both Guatemala and El Salvador (and other areas in the Americas) were victims of human rights violations in South Texas, many of which were being perpetrated by the INS.And throughoutt the 1990s, AIUSA has investigated and called for reform of several (specific) prisons and supermax facilities, to help end violations and inhuman, cruel and degrading treatment and punishment of prisoners. In all these instances, AIUSA was supported by various other local and national organizations, whose focus was similar to ours. And in almost every case, major changes were ultimately effected, which helped end the violations upon which Amnesty had focused. I think the call for awareness and action on behalf of problems in the US military is consistent with our past efforts. Clearly, other organizations should and do have similar concerns, but the clout that AI(USA) can bring to these issues should be seen as a catalyst and a benefit to help spur future actions by many different individuals and organizations. Govind answers: To some extent, I support Amnesty NOW's freedom of expression in terms of the magazine's content. While I note the question, I'm going to deviate slightly from the question and talk about my issues with Amnesty NOW. There needs to be a balance between AIUSA's international work and the aim of making it an interesting magazine. This, I feel, can be done by asking more volunteers to contribute work to the magazine. By doing so, we will give an opportunity to highlight work by volunteers all over the United States in defense of human rights, we will be able to recognize the significant amounts of work done by volunteers (without the initiative of staff, often), as well as provide an outlet for creative people beyond the local area. I would also like to see an occassional (maybe monthly) article by a volunteer in another section, writing about what they are doing. I remember being particularly inspired by an article from the Section Director of AI-Sierra Leone about his harrowing journey out of the country during the civil war. It was poignant to note that several AI members in the country died or had their limbs amputated. Thus, I believe these typesof articles will better connect us with the international movement. Steve answers: In previous years, AIUSA member publications reported on major events organized by volunteers, media mentions obtained by volunteers, legislative work performed by volunteers, the success of volunteer groups in seeing their adopted prisoners released, etc. Today, a reader of Amnesty Now is uninformed of these activities taken by volunteers. We on the reform slate wish to see reporting on volunteer successes return to the pages of AIUSA publications, so that more volunteers will be attracted to human rights work and therefore more human rights work will be accomplished. The reform slate supports the continued inclusion of letter-writing instructions in Amnesty Now. Phyllis answers: We have noticed a trend to mention volunteer activism primarily in the context of short actions like the letter writing actions. Of course we support this continuing. What we would like to see, are articles that highlight the fine work of AI activists who organize events, testify before congress, meet with legislators and the like. We are not suggesting that this type of work take priority over letter-writing. On the contrary we not only fully support both, but will push for these types of work to continue to be available to membership. Question: You state that you haven't forgotten the "forgotten" POCs. I've heard this term bandied about quite a bit. Can you provide us with a specific list of "forgotten" POCs? Govind answers: The concept of the forgotten prisoner was one that Amnesty International coined in its early years. This was an individual who was tossed into jail for speaking out, with the jailers hoping that these people could be silenced. By highlighting the fact that this person is a prisoner, we can embarrass the government into freeing them. It has happened thousands of times in the history of the organization. Now, there are plans underway to eliminate this part of AI's activities, this despite no clear evidence that AI's work in this area is ineffective. The argument is that AI must be able to address virtually any issue that could be put under the rubric of human rights because our allies with it to be the case. I disagree because such an organization will simply lose its focus. Yet, the prisoners will still be there. As for a specific list, there are sadly too many prisoners of conscience to be mentioned. A few of them are Leyla Zana in Turkey, Rebiya Kadeer in China, Fathimath Nisreen in Maldives, Jennifer Latheef in Maldives, Moh'd Zaki in Maldives, Naushad Waheed in Maldives, U Aung Myint in Burma, U Aye Kyu in Burma, U Naing Naing in Burma, and Ruslan Sharipv in Uzbekistan. I can name hundreds more. But, just in that list, only some AIUSA local group members know of their fate; hence the "forgotten" prisoner. Magdaleno answers: Our staement about "forgotten prisoners" is the basis for our concern for HR Defenders and for other POCs: that by supporting them, we support all Human Rightss, including economic, social and cultural rights, all around the world. I would also like to say that is an important means of maximizing our effectiveness. Paul answers: The "forgotten" prisoner (or POC) started Amnesty International. Literally, "forgotten" in this context means that the government has imprisoned these individuals for peaceful expression of their beliefs, or solely for their religion, or because of their ethnic identity (and all the other parts of this definition). These prisoners all too often feel that no one in the world cares for them - frequently their families chose to survive in their respective country by disowning them. The beauty of Amnesty has been that we do not "forget" these people. There are many "forgotten" POC's - an exact list is impossible to generate, as it would only be a snapshot in time. But, as examples, there are many POC's in Burma (Myanmar) and in North Korea. For most of these cases in North Korea, we do not have enough research to even identify the prisoners as individuals. (Nor likely would we want to, as harsher treatment would likely result.) And I have only listed two countries - there are countless others elsewhere in the world. Read last week's questions -> Acronyms explained: IEC = International Executive Committee [in essence, the "International Board"] UDHR = Universal Declaration of Human Rights, adopted by the UN General Assembly on Dec. 10, 1948 [forms the basis of our work] CEDAW = Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women FSA = Full Spectrum Approach [to our human rights work] ICM = International Council Meeting [held every 2 years to make decisions for our movement] ISP = Integrated Strategic Plan NGO = Non-Governmental Organization [not just an AI acronym]