Write for Rights

We'd like to send out a big thank you to everybody who came out to our AmnesTEA event last Thursday. It was a great success - over 30 of our members and others in our community wrote a total of 120 letters to the governments of six focus cases from AIUSA's Write for Rights campaign. In the true spirit of this organization, we pled amnesty for each of these six cases, and demanded that their individual human rights be "respected, protected and fulfilled."

Amnesty International's Write for Rights campaign celebrates International Human Rights Day on December 10. As a wonderful example of why we campaign for the rights of these individuals, Amnesty recently released a story about two Iranian doctors Arash and Kamiar Alaei who said that Amnesty International gave them hope when they were imprisoned for their internationally renowned work with HIV/AIDS. In their words, "As a result of your support, we are now free and we are safe." Check out the full story:

http://www.amnesty.org/en/news/freed-iranian-doctors-say-amnesty-international-campaign-gave-them-hope-2011-11-18

And for more information on this year's Write for Rights campaign, check out: http://www.amnestyusa.org/writeathon/cases.php. It's not too late to help us shine a light on human rights abuses around the world!

AmnesTEA is Next Week

November 17th - 7-9PM - Peet's Coffee and Tea

Use the power of the pen to express your concern for individual's at risk! We hope to see everyone at our AmnesTEA coming up next week - it will be an excellent opportunity to participate in Amnesty's International's Write For Rights campaign - turn in a letter and receive a Buy One Get One Free coupon for Peet's Coffee. We will be writing for these cases:

Majid Tavakkoli: Youth leader imprisoned in Iran for speaking out

Liu Xiaobo: Nobel Peace Prize laureate imprisoned in China

Inés Fernández Ortega & Valentina Rosendo Cantú: Indigenous women raped by soldiers in Mexico

Shin Sook-ja & others at Yokok Political Prison Camp: Families imprisoned for life in North Korea

Reggie Clemons: US Citizen facing execution in Missouri

Residents of Port Harcourt Settlements: Forced evictions of communities in Nigeria

For more information, go to: http://www.amnestyusa.org/writeathon/cases.php

Western Regional Conference 2011

Just this past weekend, Amnesty at UCLA went to the Western Regional Conference near LAX! 21 of our members were able to make it to this amazing conference, featuring human rights activists and experts from around the world.

We were able to participate in workshops and panels dealing with the movement to end the death penalty, uprisings in the Middle East and North Africa, accountability for torture, migrant rights, corporate wrongs in the Niger Delta and elsewhere, and so much more. We attended a film screening about the Baha'i Institute for Higher Education with a panel that included none other than Rainn Wilson (who is an active member of the Baha'i Faith), and we heard from extraordinary speakers like Palden Gyatso, a Tibeten monk who was imprisoned and brutally tortured for 33 years after taking part in the 1959 Tibetan uprisings, and Sarah Shourd, Shane Bauer, and Josh Fattal, the three American hikers detained in Iran.

We were honored to accept to award for "Best College Group of the West," and we're incredibly excited to bring back to UCLA the knowledge we've gained at the WRC about human rights worldwide. We have some fantastic events planned for this year, so keep posted!

Solidarity for Troy

Hey friends,

This is an URGENT ACTION for death row inmate Troy Davis. He has strong innocence claims and serves as an illustration of the flaw in our system of Capital Punishment. Troy Davis was convicted of murdering a Georgia police officer in 1991. Nearly two decades later, Davis remains on death row — even though the case against him has fallen apart.

With his Execution Date threatening to reveal itself at any time, we'd like to gather as much support (in the form of petition signings, letters and phone calls to the Georgia Board of Pardons and Paroles), to advocate for clemency for Troy.
----
WHERE: Amnesty International booth at the Enormous Activities Fair
WHEN: Monday, September 19 · 10:00am - 1:00pm
WHAT: Sign a petition or make a phone call

RSVP to FB event page here

Click here to sign the AI USA Petition


----
IT TAKES ONE MINUTE, AND MIGHT SAVE A LIFE.
---

Also, Fall quarter is soon approaching!

The Amnesty team at UCLA is very inspired by the Ireland team's Die-In idea:

Watch this!

Please share your thoughts with us; we think this would be a great way of spreading awareness about the death penalty on campus (Bruin Plaza on 10/10/11).

Let us know what you think.

Best,

AI at UCLA

In LA this summer?!

Well then come down to this cool film festival, for a good cause.

Our friend Mihoko from the Sherman Oaks chapter of AI has been kind enough to let us in on this awesome series of FREE film screenings!

Amnesty International is a part sponsor. Please please please check it out, here:

http://festival.artivist.com/

Have an awesome summer, guys!

Hello members and dear friends. I imagine the summer is coming along wonderfully for each and every one of you! We, here at 'Amnesty International at UCLA', want to keep you updated with upcoming events. The Young Professionals of Amnesty International have put on a wonderful event, poolside, for this Sunday, August 14th. If you are looking for a way to spend your Sunday afternoon, then please RSVP at the following link:

http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1278319168#!/event.php?eid=233218166717897

Hope to see you there!

Sincerely yours,
AI at UCLA Executive Board

Join us for a screening of the incredible documentary "After Innocence," produced and directed by Jessica Sanders. The film explores the horrors of capital punishment and features 7 death row exonerees who were freed on the basis of DNA evidence. A question and answer session to follow, facilitated by guest Jessica Farley - the Amnesty International State Death Penalty Abolition Coordinator for California. Snacks and refreshments will be served. Don't miss it!!

http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=164198136974629&ref=mf

Mother's Day Letter-Writing

Every day, 1500 women die from pregnancy- or childbirth-related complications. A woman’s lifetime risk of maternal death is 1 in 7300 in developed countries versus 1 in 75 in developing countries. The vast majority of these deaths are preventable.

In order to raise awareness about this issue and to pay respect to the victims of maternal mortality, we will be hosting an event in which both members & nonmembers are welcome to join us in writing mother's day letters and sending them to individuals and governments around the world. Envelopes, construction paper, and snacks will be provided. Don't miss this opportunity to send out a personalized message in celebration of all mothers! We look forwarding to seeing you there!!

Where? Moore 1003
When? 7 p.m. on May 3rd

Around the world, one woman dies every 90 seconds in pregnancy or childbirth -- that's more than 350,000 women every year. The vast majority of these deaths are preventable. Mother's Day is the perfect time to spread the word help woman and infants worldwide.

We want to celebrate mothers and help protect them, so please join us for a night of wine, music and action to help women here in the USA and around the globe.

http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=142734082463518

Call + Response: Documentary Screening & Panel Discussion. Co-sponsored by AI @ UCLA!!

Watch this amazing documentary with AI at UCLA members. Join Mighty Mic, Relief International, and AI at UCLA for a FREE SCREENING of the acclaimed documentary, CALL + RESPONSE, followed by a discussion with a panel of experts on the sex slave trade. Come out to DE NEVE AUDITORIUM at 7pm, TUESDAY the 19th! Hope to see you there!! Check out the facebook page for more information.

http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=113309955417250

More Info As Promised!

For tickets and student discount email amnestyucla@gmail.com w/ subject line "Discount for Dalai" & rides to venue will be provided by AI @ UCLA

(worthwhile, ESPECIALLY if you missed out on the May 2nd UCLA appearance because those sold out so quickly!!) Hurry before these sell out too!

Much love,
AI at UCLA.

Up to Date

NEW POSTS COMING SOON GUYS:

AI at UCLA will be starting off the Spring Quarter with the Death Penalty on Trial event (more details in previous post)

+ SOON TO COME:

* AN EVENT WITH THE DALAI LAMA, FIRST WEEK OF MAY, and many more awesome events

Note: ALL EVENTS WILL BE SYNCED TO OUR CALENDAR, SO BEST WAY TO STAY UPDATED IS TO SYNC YOUR CALENDAR WITH OURS:]

Amnesty International Presents Death Penalty On Trial: A Panel on Abolition

Tuesday, March 29 · 7:00pm - 9:00pm
ULCA Campus: Humanities A51

This month, Illinois Governor Pat Quinn wiped away injustice and signed into law the abolition of the state's death penalty after years of attempts at fixing this broken system. His signature made Illinois the 16th state to abolish the death penalty and the third one to do so in the last four years (after New Jersey, New York and New Mexico). In the light of this progress and following the Death Penalty Awareness Weeks, Amnesty ...International at UCLA and California's Coordinator for the Death Penalty Abolition Campaign, Jessica Farley, bring you an informative documentary (Interview with an Executioner) and a remarkable panel of speakers to effectively illustrate the flaws of capital punishment. The panel will feature Aqeela Sherrills, the Southern California Victim Outreach Coordinator for California Crime Victims for Alternatives to the Death Penalty and an incredible anti-death penalty activist from Watts. Although his son was murdered in 2004, he has always been an advocate for change and been active to reduce gang violence in LA.
Additionally, it will feature Gloria Killian, a former law school student who was wrongfully accused of robbery and murder in Sacramento and consequently served 16 years in state prison. Her exoneration serves to highlight the irreversible nature of this human rights violation and its broken structure.
In collaboration with ACLU (American Civil Liberties Union) and Bruin Democrats, we hope to shine a light on the benefits of abolition and provide both economic and politic perspectives to defend this stance.

RSVP: http://www.facebook.com/home.php#!/event.php?eid=172684076112322