Amnesty133's Blog

Stu — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 15:22:08 +0000

It was announced this morning by several newspapers that Royal Dutch Shell has agreed to settle out of court for complacency in various human rights violations in the Niger Delta, among them the execution of Ken Saro-Wiwa and several other Ogoni leaders. This is a huge victory for Ken Saro-Wiwa, Jr. and the people of the Niger Delta, but unfortunately, it does not come with any admission of guilt by Royal Dutch Shell. This was not an official Amnesty International action, but I’m certain there are plenty of people at AI (and certainly at Group 133) that are pleased with the settlement. I, for one, hope this sets a precedent for future corporate responsibility.

Ken Saro-Wiwa: The Legacy of an Environmental Defender

amnesty133 — Fri, 29 May 2009 18:06:11 +0000

Ken Saro-Wiwa: The Legacy of an Environmental Defender

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Wrong

Rick Roth — Sat, 16 May 2009 15:27:10 +0000

Troy Davis is on death row in Georgia, his execution imminent.
Everything wrong with this case is what is wrong about the death penalty in general.
There were nine “witnesses” but seven have recanted and one of the other two is the guy that most likely actually committed the murder.
The witnesses have spoken of police intimidation, another common thread in death penalty cases.
Even if the witnesses had not recanted, all research points to eyewitness testimony being unreliable, particularly the way most police including in this case, elicit the testimony.
There is no physical evidence in this case. Convict a person in such a case? Maybe convict them, but with the uncertainty it is madness to put such a person to death.
Do you think that it is a coincidence that Troy Davis is black and about to be executed? Think again. Blacks and whites are murder victims in nearly equal numbers of crimes, but 80% of people executed since the death penalty was reinstated have been executed for murders involving white victims. More than 20% of black defendants who have been executed were convicted by all-white juries.
Most people think that there are endless appeals and these cases “tie up the courts.” In fact, Troy Davis has never even had a day in court to bring up all the facts about the tainted evidence that convicted him.
This execution is wrong. The death penalty is wrong. Most of the world has abolished the death penalty and most of the world have lower murder rates than the United States. It is time to stop the execution of Troy Davis and it is time to end the death penalty.
Join Group 133 and people all around the world on May 19th protesting the death penalty of Troy Davis.
“There but for the grace of God go you or I”
I AM TROY DAVIS!

I AM TROY DAVIS

Despicable

Rick Roth — Wed, 13 May 2009 12:58:16 +0000

Yesterday the Sri Lanka government shelled a hospital and killed at least 49 people. The day before they shelled defenseless civilians and killed over a thousand men, women and children. The Sri Lanka government disputes this information. If the information is inaccurate that is just one more reason to criticize the Sri Lanka government because it is the Sri Lanka government that has waged a campaign of death, intimidation, and arrest of the independent journalists in their country.

Group 133 recently held a vigil in Harvard Square in behalf of J S Tissainayagam. He is considered a Prisoner of Conscience by Amnesty International, being held in detention by the Sri Lanka government for no reason apparently except to stifle the truth from being told about what is going on in Sri Lanka government.

Vigil led by Amnesty Group 133 for J S Tissainayagam

This vigil featured Priya Suntharalingam a high school student who recently staged a hunger strike to focus attention on the atrocities going on in Sri Lanka. You can read her statement here.
You can read more about J.S. Tissainayagam here and you can take action to stop Sri Lanka’s attack on civilians here.

Earth Day

Rick Roth — Thu, 23 Apr 2009 03:23:51 +0000

I had the privilege to meet Rodolfo Montiel once. He is a brave man and a wonderful man.

Mexican Environmentalist Rodolfo Montiel

Intense public pressure by Amnesty International freed him and protected him after he had been wrongfully imprisoned and tortured. He is in danger in Mexico because he is an environmentalist. It doesn’t seem like you should risk life and limb for trying to protect your land and your people?

He was released, but there has never been an investigation into his mistreatment. Other environmentalists are still at risk of mistreatment or death in Mexico. You can help by taking action at the Canadian section of Amnesty’s website.

I also remember Rodolfo said while visiting in the states, “Maybe we wouldn’t have all the problems we have in Mexico with the environment if you didn’t have such giant houses in the US.”

Happy Earth Day.

Never Giving Up/Having Fun

Rick Roth — Fri, 10 Apr 2009 11:35:59 +0000

Our local group recently participated in the Annual General Meeting (AGM) of Amnesty International USA. This is a big pow wow of human rights activists from around the country. There is training, inspiration, and decision making that goes on for three days. The meeting moves to a different region every year, so it won’t be back in New England for five years.
During this year’s AGM we hosted a “Get on the Bus” (www.gotb.org) party. In honor of one of our actions that will happen at this year’s Get on the Bus, we invited some Tibetan performers.

Tibetan Performers at "Get on the Bus" party

The performers played music from various regions of Tibet and also sang and danced.
Then they invited the audience to get up and learn a Tibetan dance if they wanted to. There was none of the usual looking around and hesitancy, instead three quarters of the audience immediately got up and joined in.

There was then a lively and very fun dance session, with a couple of Group 133 dancer/activists leading the charge. I later found out that some Irish dancing and Tibetan dancing are similar and that is why they picked it up so fast.

AI Activists Learn Tibetan Dance Steps

The AI Tibetan Dance Party

I had a couple of thoughts after this session. Human Rights will prevail because we have more fun than the forces of evil. Human Rights will prevail because just like these Tibetan cultural representatives, we are all never going to give up.

20% goes a long way…

amnesty133 — Thu, 26 Mar 2009 04:01:33 +0000

When I dine out, I typically leave a 20% tip. I’ve got a lot of friends in the service industry.

Starting today through Sunday, March 29th if you and your friends dine at Fajitas and ‘Ritas at 25 West Street in Boston (near Downtown Crossing; map) and bring along this brochure, 20% of your tab will be donated to Amnesty 133 and Get on the Bus.

Get on the Bus for Human Rights (GOTB) is an annual day of human rights activism and education organized by Group 133 of Somerville, MA and a small team of volunteer community organizers. Now in its fourteenth year, GOTB brings together upwards of 1,200 students and activists from throughout the Northeast to New York City to take peaceful action in support of human rights. GOTB embodies a keystone of Amnesty International’s (AI) mission to undertake research and action focused on preventing and ending grave human rights abuses.

To me, GOTB represents the spirit of Do-It-Yourself (DIY) grassroots activism; it’s the largest volunteer-run AI event in the country. The event also fosters a great sense of civic engagement among its mainly high school and college-aged participants.

GOTB participants gather on the third Friday of each April to learn from a speakers panel comprised of experts, survivors, and people immediately impacted by human rights violations. Following the panel and letter writing activities, participants rally outside embassies, consulates, corporate headquarters and other locations related to the issues discussed in the panel, while a small delegation typically meets with diplomatic representatives.

You can find out about us and this year’s campaigns on http://www.gotb.org or follow our progress on the GOTB blog. Wanna experience GOTB yourself? Register and join us on the bus April 17th!

So come on down to Fajitas & ‘Ritas this week. What better way to celebrate a night out?! Good food, good friends, and guaranteeing a 20% tip to some dedicated volunteers.

Why we do what we do.

Rick Roth — Sat, 21 Mar 2009 20:33:32 +0000

Yesterday the Tibetan Government in Exile released new disturbing video footage of Tibetans being tortured by the Chinese government.

View the footage here.

There were reports of torture following last year’s mostly peaceful protests in Tibet one year ago. However, this is appalling video record of it. Of course many things happen that are this bad or worse and they are never recorded and sometimes not even known.

I had the privilege to meet with Phuntsok Nyidron a few years ago. She is a Tibetan nun who was imprisoned under truly brutal conditions almost all of her life from age 14 to age 30. We spoke to her and told her of many of efforts that had been made to try and secure her release. She said in all seriousness, “Hearing stories about what people do for the Tibetan people makes my entire imprisonment worth it.”

I don’t know if many of us can even imagine what some horrible hours of her imprisonment were like, never mind over ten years, or what this poor young man in the video experienced for just trying to stop a monk from being beaten.

He was brutally beaten and tortured, and died at the hand of the Chinese government. HIs "crime" was just trying to stop the beating of a Tibetan monk.

As busy as any of us are, compared to this we have to find the time to write a letter, join a protest, or even send twenty bucks to some human rights organization working on it. Check out the Get on the Bus website for some things we all can do.

Rick Roth — Sun, 15 Mar 2009 18:44:30 +0000

Fathi El Jahmi is what Amnesty International calls a “Prisoner of Conscience.” The original definition being “anyone imprisoned because of their race, religion, color, language, sexual orientation, belief, or lifestyle so long as they have not used or advocated violence.”

Fathi El Jahmi, imprisoned in Libya for his peaceful political beliefs

Fathi’s is one of many cases we have worked on over the years, that have included individuals in Tibet, Chile, Turkey and the United States just to name a few countries. These cases help to personalize the work and to remind us that our efforts to stop systemic human rights violations involve real live human beings who are fundamentally just like us.

I have not met Fathi El Jahmi but I have met his brother who is a wonderful man and who derives great hope from Amnesty’s efforts.

We uses all kinds of methods to work on freeing prisoners, including public demonstrations, the traditional letter writing to government officials, and really anything that we can come up with. A new method is to create a cause on Facebook and one of our group members took the initiative to do so this week. Join Fathi’s Facebook Cause.

You can find out the latest news on Fathi’s health, his cases, and how you can take action on his behalf by subscribing to AIUSA’s Northeast Special Focus Case yahoo group.

Protect Journalists in Sri Lanka

Rick Roth — Mon, 09 Mar 2009 11:14:28 +0000

Amnesty Group 133 members had a demonstration on March 6 in Davis Square in Somerville as part of a global vigil for the detained Sri Lankan journalist, J.S. Tissainayagam.

Journalist JS Tissainayagam who has been imprisoned without a charge

He has been detained now for a full year. There were demonstrations around the world and our local chapter, with help from the Boston Firefly Project (Group #709), did our part as well. The biggest demonstrations were in London and can be read about on the BBC news.

JS Tissainayagam has been held without trial. The Sri Lankan government’s treatment of journalist has been heinous. Recently one of the top journalists in Sri Lanka Lasantha Wickrematunge was murdered in cold blood, presumably by the government.

These abuses are the equivalent of the US Government arresting Tom Brokaw without cause and murdering Morley Safer. Join us for calling for the release of J.S. Tissainayagam. Take action now at AIUSA’s website.

Amnesty 133 Members Demonstrating Support for Protection of Journalists in Sri Lanka