Group 133's Electronic Newsletter for January 2008 =============================================== Next Meeting: Tuesday, January 8, 2008 =============================================== THE STATUTE OF AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL Adopted by the 25th International Council Meeting, Dakar, Senegal, August 17-25, 2001 VISION AND MISSION Amnesty International's 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. In pursuit of this vision, Amnesty International's mission is to undertake research and action focused on preventing and ending grave abuses of the rights to physical and mental integrity, freedom of conscience and expression, and freedom from discrimination, within the context of its work to promote all human rights. CORE VALUES Amnesty International forms a global community of human rights defenders with the principles of international solidarity, effective action for the individual victim, global coverage, the universality and indivisibility of human rights, impartiality and independence, and democracy and mutual respect. =============================================== CALENDAR *Tuesday, January 8th: Monthly Meeting, 7pm LOCATION: 339 Summer Street. It's just outside of Davis Square between Willow and Russell Street/Cutter Ave., less than a block from the Rosebud Diner =============================================== GROUP CONTACTS (NOTE: To avoid potential spamming, your newsletter editor has replaced searchable parts of email addresses with words.) Group Co-Coordinators: Kelly Turley, kellyturley-AT-excite-DOT-com Rick Roth, roth-AT-igc.apc-DOT-org Newsletter Editor: Tamara Jenkins, 617-267-7262, tamara_ann_jenkins-AT-yahoo-DOT-com Refugee Action Team Coordinator: Eric Aronson, 617-512-7526, earonson-AT-earthlink-DOT-net Urgent Action Letter Coordinator: Kirsten Burt, kirsten.burt-AT-comcast-dot-net Tabling Coordinator and New Member Coordinator: Becky Ticotsky, rticotsky-AT-wesleyan-DOT-edu Treasurer: Tina Huang, tinalhuang-AT-gmail-DOT-com Secretary: Tamara Jenkins, 617-267-7262, tamara_ann_jenkins-AT-yahoo-DOT-com For questions about the following issues, please contact these individuals: Tibet Actions: Rick Roth, roth-AT-igc.apc-DOT-org Death Penalty Actions: Molly Johnson,mollykj-AT-email-DOT-com or dp-AT-amnesty133-DOT-org Stop Violence Against Women Campaign Kelly Turley, kellyturley-AT-excite-DOT-com Amnesty International USA Northeast Regional Office 58 Day St, Davis Square Somerville, MA 02144 617-623-0202 aiusane@aiusa.org www.amnesty133.org Available Positions: * Tibet Action Team Coordinator * Death Penalty Abolition Team Coordinator * Human Rights & the Environment Coordinator * Media Coordinator * Communications Coordinator * Tabling Coordinator * Web Site Coordinator =============================================== Please join us for the January meeting of Amnesty International Group 133 ! Tuesday, January 8, 2008 7 p.m. - 9 p.m. ** Special Location: 339 Summer Street, Apt. 3 Somerville, MA 02144 **   Agenda •    Letter Writing* •    Introductions and Amnesty Mandate •   Grant Update: New Funding and Opportunities to Help Group 133 Expand and Retain Membership- Rick Roth •   Get on the Bus for Human Rights 2008 Updates •  Leadership Elections According to the Amnesty 133 bylaws (http://www.amnesty133.org/about/bylaws.html), this January is the time for the group to elect/re-elect group leaders for the following positions: Group Coordinators, Secretary, and Treasurer. If you are interested in volunteering for one of these positions, please e-mail Kelly for more information. At the meeting, we will talk about the positions available, see who is interested in volunteering for these positions, and vote. •   Developing the Group's 2008 Budget- Tina Huang •   Brief Action Team/Campaign Updates •   Past and Future Events   The Amnesty Northeast Regional Office still is undergoing renovations, so we are tremendously grateful to Anna and Patrick for hosting our meeting at 339 Summer Street. It's just outside of Davis Square between Willow and Russell Street/Cutter Ave., less than a block from the Rosebud Diner.   Thank you also to all those who signed up to take on responsibilities for this meeting (advertising, hospitality, gathering urgent action letters, welcoming new members, etc.)  ============================================== QUOTES ============================================== GROUP 133 ANNOUNCEMENTS AI133 LEAVING TOPICA LISTSERV FOR GOOGLEGROUPS!!! It was decided at the last Group 133 meeting to switch our listserv over to GoogleGroups from Topica. Nate Stell added everyone from the Topica mailing list to Google Groups. It was also decided to consolidate the email lists, so instead of 4 different listservs, we'll just use one. Please join! In a few weeks, this will become the exclusive Group 133 listserv. To those who switch over early, please bear with the double messages for a little while. Here is the group's description: “This is the listserv for Amnesty International Group 133 of Somerville, to be used for notifying group members of meeting dates, events, urgent actions and other 133-related communications.” DIRECTIONS: 1. Go to http://groups.google.com/group/amnesty133 2. Go to the “Join This Group” link on the right of the page 3. Create a Google account, and then join the group 4. When you are sent an email, click on the link to start your membership, and that’s it! GROUP 133 ELECTIONS This January is the time for the group to elect/re-elect group leaders for all of our Group 133 positions. At our meeting next week, we will take time to talk about the positions, and to vote. =============================================== REFUGEE ACTION TEAM For information on participating in human rights work concerning refugees and immigrants, contact Eric at 617-512-7526. URGENT ACTION: END ILLEGAL U.S. RENDITION AND DETENTION: This month’s action calls on Senators Kerry and Kennedy to sign up to an AI framework that would close Guantánamo and end enforced disappearances, rendition and secret detention. Please make your voice heard on this issue. INTELLIGENCE AUTHORIZATION WOULD BAN TORTURE: On December 13, the US House of Representatives passed (by 222-199) a conference intelligence authorization bill that would prohibit the CIA from using waterboarding, mock executions and other harsh interrogation methods. The legislation, H.R. 2082, would require CIA compliance with military regulations that outlaw waterboarding; mock executions; beating, shocking, or burning detainees; exposing them to extreme heat or cold; threatening them with military dogs; placing hoods or sacks over detainees' heads or duct tape over their eyes; forcing detainees to be naked, perform sexual acts, or pose in a sexual manner; and depriving them of food, water, or medical care. It would mandate reporting to House and Senate intelligence committees on whether or not intelligence agency employees are complying with protections from cruel, inhumane and degrading treatment (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071213/ap_on_go_co/intelligence_bill). The legislation would have to be approved by the Senate before being sent to President Bush, who has threatened a veto. FLAWED ENFORCEMENT POLICY AGAINST UNDOCUMENTED WORKERS BLOCKED; EMPLOYER SANCTIONS BEGIN IN ARIZONA: A federal judge in San Francisco, on October 10, issued a preliminary injunction that blocks the US government from enforcing a new rule that would use social security records for immigration enforcement (http://www.aclu.org/immigrants/workplace/32137prs20071010.html?s_src=RSS). The Department of Homeland Security rule would punish employers if they do not take action after receiving "no-match" letters regarding reported social security numbers. U.S. District Court Judge Charles R. Breyer found the proposed sanctions concerning “no-match” letters on over eight million workers would lead to the unnecessary loss of jobs for legally employed workers, because of many reported errors in the Social Security Administration database. (For example, discrepancies may be due to name changes or multiple surnames listed by Latino workers.) He stated that the policy “would result in irreparable harm to innocent workers and employers.” The injunction resulted from a lawsuit filed in August by the AFL-CIO, the ACLU, the National Immigration Law Center and the Central Labor Council of Alameda County along with other local labor movements. It blocks implementation of the policy until a final ruling is issued after trial. Meanwhile, on December 21, a federal judge in Arizona refused to block a law that allows the state to suspend and even revoke a business license if the employer is found to have knowingly hired an undocumented immigrant. The law will take effect on January 1. However, the same judge will hold a hearing on January 16 regarding a request for an injunction filed by a number of business groups, including the US Chamber of Commerce (http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/news/localnews/stories/DNimmigreview_24met.ART.State.Edition1.36bf812.html#). A year-end DHS report cited arrests of nearly 4,900 people in immigration raids in FY 2007 (or nearly four times the number arrested two years ago), but only two percent involved prosecuting employers (http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2007/12/26/immigration_arrests_still_target_workers_not_employers/?page=2). BORDER PATROL USES PEPPER SPRAY AND TEAR GAS, AS SMUGGLERS ALLEGEDLY BECOME MORE VIOLENT: According to witnesses, Mexican authorities and human rights groups, US Border Patrol agents have begun launching pepper spray and tear gas into densely populated Mexican border neighborhoods (http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-pepper14dec14,0,3109070,full.story?coll=la-home-center). The agency cited smugglers’ rock-throwing as the rationale for their increased use of force in the Tijuana neighborhood of Colonia Libertad. The new Border Patrol tactics involve saturating large residential areas with gas. They have reportedly forced dozens of temporary evacuations and sent some residents to hospitals. An official protest was delivered by the acting Mexican consul general in San Diego, Ricardo Pineda. Although the Border Patrol initially denied using tear gas, local residents posed for press photographers with canisters of tear gas that agents had lobbed at them. Agency spokesmen say they have taken to saturating residential areas with large quantities of gas because many smugglers now protect themselves with shields, which deflect balls of pepper spray when shot directly at them. =============================================== URGENT ACTION