4/1/09: Film Festival Planning + Liberian Truth Commission

Hey everybody,

Tomorrow we're doing a letter of support on behalf of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission being conducted by Liberia and its citizens. This continues our series of actions focused on issues featured in our upcoming Human Rights Film Festival. For more info:

http://liberiatrc.mnadvocates.org/
https://www.trcofliberia.org/

If you'd like to write a letter yourself, here is the address (thanks Eli):

Here's the address:
Minnesota Advocates for Human Rights
650 Third Avenue South
Suite 550
Minneapolis, MN 55402

We will also be completing much more planning for the festival. We will have films screening Friday April 24th - Tuesday April 28th. Opening night will feature a speaker and food, closing night will feature music. Discounts will be available all weekend to those purchasing a $15 Amnesty International annual membership.

***This is a great event, but it will take a lot of time and energy to pull it off! We need as much help as possible, so please join us tomorrow night to chip in and give some advice. All officers, both outgoing and incoming are expected to attend! This is an important part of being an officer.***

A list of films we're screening at Cine:

Favela Rising
Letter to Anna
Trouble the Water
Were the World Mine
Pray the Devil Back to Hell
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Another news:

ISL World Fest: We'll be there this Saturday, April 4th, from 12-5pm downtown on College Avenue (between Broad and Clayton Streets). Join the international community of the University to celebrate diversity. We'll have petitions and more info on the film festival, too!

Updates from Georgians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty (GFADP): SB 42 and 151 continue to pose threats to the integrity of Georgia's criminal justice system. Please take a moment to read up on these bills pending before the State Legislature and make an informed call to your legislator.

Visit:
www.vote-smart.org (for your rep's contact)
http://zip4.usps.com/zip4/welcome.jsp

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Meetings 6:30pm Wednesdays in SLC 277. Contact zach.l.fox@gmail.com or elitedesco@gmail.com with questions.

3/24/09: Film Festival Actions + Planning

Hey everybody!

We are nearing the end of the semester, and our big project for the year is coming along great. In one month we'll be hosting a human rights film festival downtown at Cine. Over the next month we will be providing a set of actions, available each week, that directly correspond with the movies. We will also be going into high gear for the festival itself, so come join us to take part in this exciting event.

Our current roster of movies are all relatively new releases, some are very new. Almost all have won major awards at festivals like Tribeca, Sundance, and Cannes:

Trouble the Water - Powerful documentary about Katrina survivors from New Orleans...very well done, and not to be missed! Winner of the Grand Jury Prize for Best Documentary at 2008 Sundance Film Festival.

Pray the Devil Back to Hell - Multiple award-wining documentary about a peaceful women's protest movement in Liberia. Winner of Best Documentary 2008 Tribeca Film Festival.

Letter to Anna - Very moving documentary about the prominent Russian human rights journalist Anna Politkovskaya, the recipient the Amnesty International's 2001 Global Award for Human Rights Journalism. Politkovskaya, who was often at the forefront of recording human rights abuses by the Russian military in Chechnya, was assassinated in 2006 in the elevator of her apartment building; her murder(s) remain at large.

Were the World Mine - Musical comedy take on Shakespeare's A Midsummer's Night Dream that is funny, but also touches on many of the issues facing the LGBT community today. Another multiple award winner. [waiting on confirmation]

Favela Rising - Winner of 36 international awards, including Best Documentary at the Sydney, Leeds, Rio de Janeiro, Vancouver, and Sao Paolo International Film Festivals. FR follows the story of Anderson Sá, a former drug gang member, who turned to music to turn his community around. [waiting on confirmation]

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More announcements:

- Thursday March 24th the Roosevelt Institution is hosting an exceptional event. Lieutenant Colonel Stuart Couch, a former Guantanamo Bay military prosecutor, will be in Athens to describe his experience at the military base in Cuba. This is a rare opportunity to hear first-hand about a topic that Amnesty has worked hard on for years. 7pm in Journalism 106.

- The Indian Student Association is hosting a week of events. The list is in the picture below:

3/18/09: Indigent Defense Slashed in Georgia! + Death Penalty in New Mexico

Hey Everyone!

Hope Spring Break was restful, or at the very least fun. We're gearing up for our big film festival less than two months away now! But first...

Tomorrow we will be doing two actions.

First, Senate Bill 42 in the Georgia Legislature is currently undergoing debate before seeing the Senate floor. This bill would drastically reduce already chronically underfunded indigent defense resources for public defenders. This is totally unacceptable, especially in light of the Troy Davis case. Help us take a stand to ensure that our justice system is not undermined!

Second, the House of the State of New Mexico recently legislatively abolished the death penalty. Gov. Richardson, a staunch supporter of the death penalty himself, has publicly voiced concern about the high costs of imposing the death penalty and the potential to execute an innocent person. Help us help New Mexico become the latest state to abolish the death penalty!

*Dinner afterward for those interested, too!

More announcements:
- The Center for International Trade and Security is celebrating its 20th Anniversary with a series of lectures this week (starting tomorrow). Participants will include the 2005 Nobel Peace Prize winner, Dr. Mohamed ElBaradei, Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency and General Eugene Habiger, former U.S. Commander in Chief of STRATCOM (Commander of all American strategic nuclear weapons). Visit http://www.uga.edu/cits/ for more information.

- On Thursday, March 19 at 12:30pm on the 4th Floor, Dean Rusk Hall, North Campus "The Conduct of Foreign Policy under the Obama Administration: A lecture (with a Q&A on careers in foreign affairs) by former U.S. career diplomats Earle and Barbara Scarlett. Refreshments provided ;).

- On Wednesday, March 25 at 6 p.m. in the Miller Learning Center Room 101, representatives from Invisible Children will be coming to UGA to show a short documentary entitled "The Rescue".

- On Monday, April 6 at 6:30 p.m. in the Miller Learning Center Room 101, representatives from LiNK will be at UGA to show the award winning film "The Crossing". LiNK, or Liberty in North Korea, is a non-profit organization that educates, protects, advocates, provides, and empowers the North Korean people so that one day they will have the opportunity to live in true freedom.

3/4/09: AIUSA Priority Cases

Hello everyone,

This week will be an informal meeting. We'll be providing several different letters for priority action cases. These are high profile individuals who are being detained, or whose whereabouts are not known, simply because of peacefully exercising their right to freely express themselves. We will have one case each from: the Democratic Republic of Congo, Libya, Turkey, China, Gambia, and Myanmar. In addition, we'll also be continuing our special focus case on the Women of Zimbabwe Arise (WOZA) movement.

For anyone interested, or anyone who needs a break from midterm studying, we'll also be doing dinner and sign painting (maybe) after the meeting.

Reminder: Next Wednesday, from 5:00-7:00pm, we'll be participating in a rally for accountability for abuses in the War on Terror. It's being held in Atlanta, at the intersection of 14th and Peachtree Streets in the heart of Midtown -- should be a lot of fun (we'll be in jumpsuits and business suits) and get the chance to meet some other Amnesty activists from the Atlanta area. We can grab dinner afterward, too!