Volume 1 | Issue 1

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October 2016
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UAIS Amnesty
International: October
Edition
Hello Everyone and welcome to the first edition of UAIS Amnesty
Internationals monthly newsletter! Amnesty International is an

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organization of people, like us, that campaign for a world where

human rights are enjoyed by all. Our first meeting of the year was
September 30th. It was an informational meeting that covers all the

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Amnesty International Campaigns. As mentioned during this meeting

we will be opening up positions: Heads of Campaigns and also
another board position! This month we will also be selling Halloween
themed waffles to raise funds! We hope to see you participate for a
yummy treat and a good cause!

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Meet Our Board!

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Magda Wojtara, Junior, Vice President, Newsletter

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Elina Arbo, Junior, President

Dina Qiryaqoz, Junior, Secretary

Recent Accomplishments
Recent Successes

Phyoe Phyoe Aung is a student activist from Myanmar/Burma who was jailed for
organizing a peaceful student protest. Our school, along with others, participated
in the Write for Rights campaign that is run by Amnesty International each
December. Phyoe Phyoe was one of the prisoners of conscience that Amnestys
Write for Rights focused on. After nearly 400,000 tweets, emails and letters she
was finally freed this April!
Other Recent Accomplishments Include:
*USA: Albert Woodfox who was in solitary confinement for 40 years was
released February 19th
* Bangladesh: 81 year old Journalist, Shafik Rehman, was released September 6th
*Cambodia: Housing Right Defender, Bov Sophea has been released September
22nd
*Ukraine: Disappeared Man, Dmytro Koroliov, was released August 2nd after
being kept in secret detention for a year.
*Oman: Prisoner of Conscience for writing a blog post, Saeed Jaddad was
released August 22nd.

The Refugee Crisis: Stats

A year ago, Europe Promised to take 66,400 Refugees from Greece.

Only 4,000 have been relocated.

The Refugee Crisis:

It is not happening
here, but it is
happening now.

1 in 113 people were displaced from their homes by conflict and

persecution in 2015.
24 people every minute were forced to flee their homes and become
refugees.
According to the UN refugee association this is the first time that the
number of refugees have been over 60 million. - To put this in context,
that is larger than the population of the UK, Canada, Australia, and New
Zealand combined.
3 countries produce the majority of refugees: Syria at 4.9 million,
Afghanistan at 2.7 million and Somalia at 1.1 million together accounted
for more than half the refugees under UNHCRs mandate worldwide.
Colombia at 6.9 million, Syria at 6.6 million and Iraq at 4.4 million had
the largest numbers of internally displaced people. (UNHCR)
Children were over 50% of the worlds refugees. (based on stats from
2015)
Refugees often crowd onto ships (see below) that are way beyond capacity
and often sink before reaching their destination. Refugees often sell all
their personal belongs so that they can get on these boats for what they
hope is a better life. The reality is that a majority dont even make it alive.

Art 4 Amnesty
Many times, a picture is worth a thousand words and art is a universal form of
communication that transcends borders and cultures. These artists bring people
together by portraying powerful messages through their artwork.

So Cal artist, Patrick Martinez, uses Pee-Chee style to document police use of
force.

ART FOR AMNESTY Pee- Chee is a vintage art style that has been on stationary since the 1960s. Patrick
Featured Artist: Martinez uses this style to create pieces that draw attention to controversial
Patrick Martinez
Medium: Pee-Chee
Panels

incidents of use of force by police officers. He chose this style because it was
often used on stationary that K-12 students used and the fact of the matter is that
so many kids are becoming victims of gang violence and lethal force. In his
words, We tend to learn different cultures through their art, so this is what I'm
presenting in terms of our culture this is what's happening right now in the
time that we're living in. He uses his art to draw attention to these events and to
document them.

Art 4 Amnesty
The exhibition People on the Move is the first volunteer-led show for Art for
Amnesty. It runs from August to the End of September in Miami, Florida. The
theme of the exhibition is the refugee crisis.

People on the Move

Exhibition in Miami,
Florida.

These Rubber Duckys by

artist Dayana Ruiz reflects the the theme of the exhibition. People are forced to flee from what
they know, the place they call home, and if they are lucky they make it to a completely foreign
place and have to adapt to that.

The America I Believe In

The America I
Believe In
Campaign

A climate of fear and hate is sweeping the United States. By stirring up societys
worst instincts of prejudice and bigotry, some media and public figures are
exploiting the publics genuine need for security in ways that could have
disastrous consequences for human rights.
The evidence: a wave of anti-refugee legislation, harassment of American
Muslims, and calls to respond to terrorism by committing torture and war crimes.
Dont let fear win. (via amnesty internationals website).

A recent campaign that Amnesty

has just added to their website is the The America I Believe in Campaign.
Amnesty asks the question: What does the America you believe in look like?.
People have responded over all social media platforms using the hashtag
#AmericaIBelieveIn. There is a template on their website if you also wish to
participate in this social media campaign.

Free Leonard Peltier

Free Leonard Peltier,

member of American This is an urgent case that Amnesty has shed light on. Leonard Peltier was part of
the American Indian Movement, a movement which promotes the rights of Native
Indian Movement Americans. In 1975, during a confrontation between members of the American
Indian Movement, two FBI officers were shot dead, Peltier was convicted of their
murders but has maintained that he has not killed the agents. Peltier has
maintained his innocence throughout the 40 years he has been in jail. He is
currently in very poor health and therefore Amnesty is asking President Obama to
grant clemency in this humanitarian situation. Clemency is an extension of mercy
to a convicted individual that is granted by an executive member of the
government.

Amnesty is currently over halfway to their Action Goal of 75,000. Time is of the
essence; If you wish to take an action here is the link to the page:
http://act.amnestyusa.org/ea-action/action?
ea.client.id=1839&ea.campaign.id=27118 .

Upcoming Events: Amnesty Internationals Midwest

Regional Conference
Amnesty International is hosting a regional (Midwest) conference! It is a great
opportunity to become more involved in Amnesty and to meet new like-minded
people. Through workshops and activities student activists from across the
Midwest will be able to come together to fight for human rights.
When: Friday, October 7th - Sunday, October 9th
Location: Detroit, Michigan
Doubletree by Hilton Hotel Detroit- Dearborn
5801 Southfield Expressway, Detroit, Michigan 48228

Upcoming Amnesty
International Events
in our Area!