Amnesty International

1
Amnesty International
2
Amnesty International Aotearoa New Zealand

• The global voice of human rights

3
What is Amnesty International?

• Amnesty International Aotearoa New Zealand
  (AIANZ) is part of a worldwide movement of more
  than 2.2 million people who contribute their
  time, money and expertise to the promotion of
  human rights.

• Amnesty members campaign against some of the most
  horrific violations of those rights, such as
  torture, killings, and imprisonment for who
  people are or what they believe.

• Amnesty has over 10,000 supporters in New
  Zealand, including over 100 school groups, 5
  University groups and 14 Youth groups

4
What is Amnesty International?

• Amnestys vision is of a world in which every
  person enjoys all of the human rights enshrined
  in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and
  other international human rights standards.

Amnesty Members from Auckland University
5
How Does Amnesty Work?

• Amnesty's international network of volunteer
  members and professional staff generate thousands
  of appeals on behalf of individuals and
  communities at risk. These appeals often take
  the form of letters, faxes and e-mails sent to
  governments and political groups responsible for
  abusing these individuals and communities human
  rights.
• Amnesty also holds protests and vigils in support
  of human rights

•  We also feed a constant stream of information to
  the media, governments, the United Nations and
  others, urging them to take action where human
  rights abuses are occurring.

6
Does Amnesty Work?
Yes!

• In over 30-40 of Urgent Action cases Amnesty
  undertakes a difference is made.
• This can be as dramatic as preventing an
  individual from being stoned to death, to the
  conditions for a prisoner-of-conscience
  improving.
• We know we make a difference because the people
  we have been trying to help tell us that our
  pressure has had an effect.

• Many people say that support from AI members
  gives them hope and strength.

7
Good News Stories
NIGERIA - Amina Lawal

• Amina is a Nigerian woman who was sentenced to be
  stoned to death under Sharia law for having a
  baby out of wedlock
• Amnesty members campaigned on her behalf by
  writing letters and emails, signing petitions and
  lobbying the Nigerian government
• Due to public pressure, Aminas conviction was
  overturned by the Sharia Court of Appeal

• She was released from custody on the 25th
  September 2003, and now lives in Nigeria with her
  daughter.

8
Good News Stories
GERMANY/GUANTANAMO - Murat Kurnaz released

• Thank God, I am well, but only God who created
  us knows when I will come back.
• Murat Kurnaz wrote these words to his family from
  Guantánamo in March 2002. His dreams of returning
  home to Germany took more than four years to
  realise.

• Released from Guantánamo on 24 August 2006, Murat
  Kurnaz had been held for four years and eight
  months without charge or trial.

• In a statement, his lawyer said "He is now again
  in the circle of his family. Their joy at
  embracing their lost son again is indescribable.

• Murat's mother, Rabiye Kurnaz, dedicated these
  past years to campaigning for her eldest sons
  release. It was only after intense lobbying from
  his family, lawyers and AI members around the
  world, that the German authorities began to act
  on his behalf, finally paving the way for his
  return.

9
Amnesty Internationals Beginnings
10
How did Amnesty begin?

• In 1960, two Portuguese students raised their
  glasses to freedom in a Lisbon café.

• Because of this innocent act they were arrested
  and sentenced to seven years in jail.

11
How did Amnesty begin?

• A British lawyer named Peter Benenson read about
  this in his morning paper and decided to take
  action.

• On 28 May 1961, in an article in the British
  newspaper The Observer, he asked members of the
  public to demand the release of prisoners of
  conscience.

• Thousands of people, from London to Uruguay,
  offered their help and the human rights
  campaigning movement Amnesty International was
  born!

12
Peter Benenson

• Mr Benenson started as a student described by his
  college school principal as having revolutionary
  tendencies.

• He was a student activist who began his activism
  days protesting about the poor quality of food at
  his school.

"The candle burns not for us, but for all those
whom we failed to rescue from prisons, who were
shot on the way to prison, who were tortured, who
were kidnapped, who disappeared. Thats what
the candle is for."

• He continued to support human rights throughout
  his life, especially the human rights of student
  activists.

• Peter died on 25 February 2005

13
Amnestys Work
14
Prisoners of Conscience
Amnesty works on behalf of prisoners of
conscience people who are imprisoned for their
beliefs, who they are and what they say
General Gallardo, reunited with his family after
8 years imprisonment in Mexico
They are often human rights defenders
They have never advocated or practiced violence
15
The Death Penalty
The death penalty is the ultimate cruel, inhuman
and degrading punishment.

• It violates the right to life.

• It is irreversible.

• It can be inflicted on the innocent.

• It does not deter crime more effectively than
  other punishments.

Today over half the countries in the world have
abolished the death penalty in law or practice
However places like China, Iran, Viet Nam and the
USA still practice the death penalty.
Amnesty calls for the abolition of the death
penalty in all cases
16
Torture

• Torture or any other treatment that is cruel,
  inhuman or degrading, is both immoral and illegal

• Torture is widely condemned and prohibited by the
  UN Convention Against Torture, but is still
  widespread

• In the War on Terror, governments are not only
  using torture and ill-treatment, they are making
  the case that this is justifiable and necessary

Amnesty International opposes torture under all
circumstances
17
AIANZs Campaigns
18
Stop Violence Against Women
Violence Against Women is the greatest human
rights scandal of our times.
Up to 70 of female murder victims are killed
by their male partners.
1 in 3 women have been beaten, coerced or
otherwise abused in their lifetime.
In New Zealand one woman is killed by her
partner or ex-partner every 5 weeks.
About 120 million girls worldwide are genitally
mutilated.
19
Stop Violence Against Women
In the home and in the community, in times of war
and peace, millions of women and girls, every
year, are beaten, raped, mutilated and killed
with their perpetrators going unpunished.
In 2006 thousands of women and girls all over New
Zealand were subjected to severe physical,
emotional and sexual abuse. Violence against
women should never be tolerated. Until we as New
Zealanders realize the extent of this problem,
thousands more women and girls will be subjected
to violence in our country.
20
Stop Violence Against Women
How can I take action?

• Visit www.standbyme.org.nz Amnestys Stop
  Violence Against Women webpage, and click on the
  Take Action link.

• Support the numerous New Zealand organizations
  working to end domestic violence against women.

• Organise an event to mark International Womens
  Day on 8 March, or take part in Amnestys 16
  Days of Activism beginning on 25 November.

21
Crisis campaigning in Sudan
"The Janjawid entered the school and caught some
girls and raped them in the classrooms. I was
raped by four men inside the school. When they
left they told us they would take care of all of
us black people and clean Darfur for
good." Testimony of a schoolgirl from Tawila,
North Darfur, Sudan, February 2004. Today, she is
looking after the baby she had as a result of the
attack.
22
Crisis campaigning in Sudan
In 2003, Amnesty International alerted the world
to the human rights crisis unfolding in the
Darfur region of Sudan. The response of the
international community was silence.
We continued to speak out. In 2005 the UN
Security Council finally recognized that war
crimes and crimes against humanity were being
committed in Darfur. Yet the killings, rapes and
forced displacements continue today, and have
spread to neighbouring Chad.
An injured Sudanese refugee
23
Crisis campaigning in Sudan

• Since 2003
• Thousands of women and girls have been raped
• 2 million people have been forced to flee from
  their homes
• 200,000 refugees are camped in Chad
• An unknown number of civilians have been killed
• The vast majority of these abuses have been
  committed by Janjawid militia groups armed and
  funded by the Sudanese government

AIUK members demonstrate in support of sending UN
Peacekeepers to Darfur
24
Child Soldiers
Amnesty is a member of the Coalition Against the
Use of Child Soldiers
This coalition works to

• prevent the recruitment of child soldiers

• secure their demobilisation

• ensure their rehabilitation and reintegration
  into society

Despite progress achieved over the last decade,
large numbers of children continue to be
exploited in war and placed in the line of fire.
Amnesty continues to campaign on behalf of child
soldiers, providing our student groups with
information and actions in ACTIVE, our termly
student newsletter, and giving them the
opportunity to join the Childrens Rights Network.
25
Child Soldiers

• There are 250,000 child soldiers in the world
  today

• As part of their initiation, children are often
  required to kill a member of their family or
  community

• These children are forced to fight in armed
  conflict

• They can be as young as 5 years old

• They often live in harsh conditions and are
  frequently beaten and tortured

• Girl soldiers are frequently raped and abused at
  the hands of their male captors

26
How can we make a difference?
27
Making a Difference
1. Stay informed!
- Keep up to date about social injustices
occurring in New Zealand and around the world.
- Check Amnestys website for up to date and
accurate information about human rights abuses
happening across the globe.
2. Take action!
- Sign an online petition on our website
- Write a letter using the Flame or Active for
cases
- Join Amnesty with a 20 annual membership
- Start a school group or a Freedom Challenge
team at your school!
28
What do Amnesty school groups do?

• Amnesty NZ has over 100 school groups, from
  Auckland to Invercargill!
• Our school groups usually meet weekly or
  fortnightly, often getting together more
  frequently before events such as Freedom
  Challenge
• They take action for human rights often by
  facilitating group letter writing, petition
  signing, or taking action on the Amnesty
  International website

29
What do Amnesty school groups do?

• School groups can also become part of the Urgent
  Action Network, Freedom Writers Network, and
  Childrens Rights Network by ticking the
  appropriate boxes on their registration form.
• Groups organise fundraising events such as
  debates, guest speakers and movie showings.
• Amnesty also requests a 20 minimum annual
  membership fee, or funds from participation in
  Freedom Challenge

30
FREEDOM CHALLENGE
AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL NEW ZEALAND
www.freedomchallenge.org.nz

• What is the Freedom Challenge?
• Freedom Challenge is a team challenge for Amnesty
  school and youth groups in New Zealand to take
  action for human rights around the world. It
  takes place every year in early August.
• How does it work?
• Each team stages an event or events to highlight
  a pressing human rights issue. The aims are to
• Raise awareness of the issue in your school or
  community
• Inspire others to take direct action of some kind
  (such as signing a petition)
• Raise money for Amnesty's work.

31
AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL NEW ZEALAND
FREEDOM CHALLENGE 05
www.freedomchallenge.org.nz

• In 2005 our Freedom Challenge teams took part in
  Amnestys Control Arms campaign by collecting
  photographs and signatures for the Million Faces
  Petition.
• The petition called for the creation of an Arms
  Trade Treaty to better regulate the international
  legal trade of small arms, which are responsible
  for the death of one person every minute (see
  www.controlarms.org for more information).
• Our schools collected over 4000 faces more than
  half of NZs total at that time.
• In November 2006, 139 governments voted in favour
  of a UN resolution to start work towards an Arms
  Trade Treaty!!

32
AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL NEW ZEALAND
FREEDOM CHALLENGE 06
www.freedomchallenge.org.nz

• In 2006 our Freedom Challenge teams campaigned on
  behalf of Human Rights Defenders The Real
  Superheroes.

• They held events ranging from speed-dating to
  superhero fun runs in support of Amnestys three
  defenders, got HEAPS of media coverage, and
  raised over 29,000 in the process!

Human Rights Defenders
The Real Superheroes
Aorere College students gagged and blindfolded
Superheroes at Roncalli College
33
FREEDOM CHALLENGE 07
AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL NEW ZEALAND
www.freedomchallenge.org.nz

• In 2007 Freedom Challenge focused on the
  Irrepressible Internet Repression campaign.
• Our teams worked on behalf of two prisoners of
  conscience a Chinese journalist imprisoned for
  10 years for sending an e-mail and an Egyptian
  student imprisoned for writing a blog criticising
  his government.
• They also collected over 50 signed gumboots to
  send to Yahoo! in California as part of the Boo
  Yahoo! campaign, asking it to reboot its
  policies on repression of freedom of speech on
  the internet.

34
FREEDOM CHALLENGE 08
Dont play games with human rights

• Last years FC theme was human rights in China
  and the Beijing Olympics.
• This campaign was part of a global campaign run
  by Amnesty before and during the Olympics to
  highlight the human rights abuses occurring in
  China.
• Amnesty International has broad human rights
  concerns in China, but the Beijing Olympics
  campaign focused on four clear issues
• - the death penalty
• - detention, torture and the lack of fair
  trials in China
• - repression of human rights defenders
• - censorship of the internet, media and
  journalists

35
What can Amnesty do for you?

• Amnesty International provides you with the
  opportunity to take part in real human rights
  campaigning. Whether you become a member of an
  Amnesty school group, Freedom Challenge team, or
  take action online, you will be making a real
  difference in ensuring that all human rights are
  enjoyed by all people.

McAuley High School Students
36
Amnesty International It is better to light a
candle than to curse the darkness.
37
Contacts Page
Margaret Taylor Activism Support Manager Ph 09
303 3519 margaret.taylor_at_amnesty.org.nz
Youth Intern Freedom Challenge Coordinator Ph 09
303 4520 youthintern_at_amnesty.org.nz
Amnesty International Box 5300 Wellesley
St Auckland Ph 0800 AMNESTY Fax [phone]
www.amnesty.org.nz