September Meeting!

The September Monthly Group 4 Amnesty Meeting will be held on September 17th (today!) at the at the University Friends Service Committee U District offices at 4001 9th Avenue NE from 7:00 – 8:00PM. We’d love to see you. For a map and street view go to: https://goo.gl/maps/ZjhAes5zWgE2

We will also have a hybrid virtual option for those who cannot make it in person! For information on attending the meeting via zoom, please email amnestygroup4@gmail.com.

On the agenda:

  • Urgent Actions updates
  • Our new case commitment
  • Banned Books Week
  • Death Penalty updates
  • Fall Regional Conference

All are welcome! We hope to see you there!

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Meeting Time Changes! (For next three months)

Due to varying schedule conflicts, for the next three months Amnesty Group 4 will be meeting on the third Tuesday of the month (as opposed to the typical first Tuesday of the month). This means that our September meeting will be held on September 17th!

Meetings will still be held at 7pm. We are still waiting to hear if the University Friends Meeting House is still available for in-person meetings at this time; if not, the meetings will be on zoom only for the next three months. Stay tuned for more details about this, and as always, contact amnestygroup4@gmail.com for more information about on attending the meeting via zoom. We hope to see you there!

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Group 4 Picnic August 17th!

The annual Group 4 picnic will be held this upcoming Saturday, August 17, starting around 1 pm. We’ll meet at our usual spot on the NW side of Green Lake park, between the Bathhouse Theater and the tennis courts. If you’re driving, there’s a parking lot at W Green Lake Dr N and Stone Ave N. Click here for the Google Maps view!

Please bring some food to share (plates and utensils will be provided). Camp chairs or picnic blankets would also be more than welcome!

In the case of inclement weather, the picnic will be canceled. Feel free to email amnestygroup4@gmail.com if you have any questions!

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No August Meeting

This is just a reminder that we will NOT have our usual monthly meeting on Tuesday, August 6th. In lieu of a meeting, we’ll instead be having our mostly-annual picnic at Green Lake Park on August 17th. Stay tuned for more details!

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Voices Across the Divide Screening–with Director Q&A!

Our Amnesty International neighbors to the north hosted an online screening of Voices Across the Divide, a documentary that explores the Israeli occupation of Palestine, last week! You can watch the full video of the documentary here, as well as the Q&A with the director, Alice Rothchild, that followed the screening.

“Voices Across the Divide is a powerful documentary and oral history project exploring the Israeli/Palestinian conflict through rarely heard personal stories. Narrated by Alice Rothchild, an American Jew raised on the tragedies of the Holocaust and the dream of a Jewish homeland in Israel, the film follows my personal journey as I begin to understand the Palestinian narrative, while exploring the Palestinian experience of loss, occupation, statelessness, and immigration to the US.”–Alice Rothchild

Interested in learning more about the current human rights abuses taking place in the Occupied Palestinian Territories? Visit AIUSA’s webpage dedicated to these issues for educational resources as well as tools for taking action!

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July Meeting!

Come to our next meeting on Tuesday, July 2nd, at the University Friends Service Committee U District offices at 4001 9th Avenue NE from 7:00 – 8:00PM. We’d love to see you. For a map and street view go to: https://goo.gl/maps/ZjhAes5zWgE2

For information on attending the meeting via zoom, please email amnestygroup4@gmail.com.

On this month’s agenda:

  • Updates on our case commitment application
  • Summer postcard action
  • Documentary film screening hosting by our friends in the Bellingham Amnesty International group
  • Fall Western Regional Conference
  • Figuring out a date for our annual summer picnic in lieu of an August meeting

All are welcome!

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Virtual Write for Rights December 10 2021 6pm to 8pm

We’ll be hosting a virtual Write for Rights event on December 10, Human Rights Day. Click here to learn more about Write for Rights and to sign petitions on behalf of this year’s 10 cases. You can register here to join us. This is a free event.


Demand a fair trial for Mikita
Mikita was just 16 when he was arrested after being caught up in crowds leaving a protest in Homel, Belarus. The teenager was held in solitary confinement and has reportedly been tortured. Join his parents and call for his release.


Demand protection for Janna
15-year-old Janna Jihad faces death threats and intimidation for her work speaking up for human rights in the Occupied Palestinian Territories. Take action and demand her protection.


Demand Justice for Wendy Galarza
Wendy Galarza was shot after attending a protest in Cancún, Mexico. She almost lost her life speaking out for women’s rights in her country. Take action and demand justice.


Free Bernardo Caal Xol
Bernardo Caal Xol is in prison for speaking out against the destruction of the river Cahabón in north central Guatemala. Join us to demand his release.


Free Zhang Zhan
Zhang Zhan is in prison in China because of her work reporting on the Covid-19 outbreak. Take action to demand her freedom.


Protect Rung from prison
‘Rung’ is facing life in prison for speaking out for freedom and democracy in Thailand. Take action to demand her freedom.


Free Imoleayo Michael
Imoleayo is facing prison for taking part in the #EndSARs movement in Nigeria. Take action to demand the charges against him be dropped.


Demand protection for LGBTI group in Ukraine
Anna and Vera run an organization that provides support for LGBTI people in Ukraine. But they and their colleagues have been attacked and abused – and the authorities are not protecting them. Take action to demand justice.


Free Mohamed Baker
After dedicating his life to human rights work in Egypt and representing people whose rights have been taken away, Mohamed Baker has now found himself locked up. Take action to demand his immediate release.


Free Ciham Ali
Ciham Ali has been missing for over 8 years. When she was just 15 years old, she was taken by the Eritrean authorities while trying to leave the country. She has not been seen since. Help us find Ciham and get her released.

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September 14 and September 28 events hosted by Holocaust Center for Humanity

Hey, everyone. I just wanted to spread the word regarding a couple of upcoming events being hosted by our friends at the Holocaust Center for Humanity in Seattle. Here’s information from the center regarding each event:

On Tuesday, September 14, 2021, we will be hosting a virtual talk at 12pm PT entitled, “More Than Any Child Should Know: Holocaust Center Graphic Novel launches new graphic novel“, which serves as the launch of our new graphic novel based upon the life of beloved Seattle Holocaust survivor, Steve Adler. Through this event, novel co-authors Paul Regelbrugge and Julia Thompson, both team members with the Education department at the Holocaust Center, artist Sean Dougherty, and special guest, Barbara West, Steve Adler’s daughter, will explore the process it took to bring Steve’s story from concept to reality.

Steve Adler personified the remarkable strength and resilience of so many of our local Holocaust survivors, dedicating much of his life to telling his story to inspire students to confront bigotry and indifference and take action. In 2021, we began developing this graphic novel based on Steve’s experience during the Kindertransport, which delivered thousands of Jewish children out of Nazi-controlled areas and into safety.

Additionally, on Tuesday, September 28, 2021, we will be hosting a virtual talk at 12pm PT entitled, “Ordinary Men Revisited Three Decades Later” with author Christopher Browning. Written almost 30 years ago, this talk will look at the origins and initial arguments of the book, the critiques it faced in the 1990s, and subsequent developments in Perpetrator Studies.

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Amnesty International Seattle Virtual Write for Rights event on September 25 (6pm-8pm PDT)

Amnesty International Seattle will be hosting its second quarterly virtual Write for Rights event on September 25th. It’ll start at 6pm Seattle time. Please join us as we write letters from home (or wherever you’re attending the event from) in support of human rights. To learn more about Write for Rights, please click here. To register to join us on September 25th, please click here.

There’ll be seven cases in total:

GUN VIOLENCE LEGISLATION
We’ll be writing letters to urge lawmakers to support the Break the Cycle of Violence Act (BCVA). The act allocates $150 million annually to community-based violence-intervention groups. Research has shown that this community-based approach is effective in reducing gun violence.

TOFFIQ AL-BIHANI
Toffiq has been a prisoner in Guantanamo Bay since February 7, 2003. He was never charged with a crime and was cleared for transfer in 2010. However, he’s still imprisoned in Guantanamo Bay.

ROCKY MYERS
Rocky has been on death row in Alabama for almost 3 decades. He was sentenced by an all-White jury to life without parole for the murder of his neighbor; however, the trial judge overrode this decision and imposed the death sentence – a practice that is now illegal. There was no physical evidence tying Rocky to the murder; and his appeals lawyer quit the case without warning. Rocky also suffers from an intellectual disability.

HOSAM KHALAF AND OLA AL-QARADAWI
Hosam and Ola are a married couple who have been imprisoned in Egypt for more than four years on unfounded charges. Their imprisonment may be retaliation against Ola’s father, a well-known Egyptian sheikh now living in Qatar, who was once connected with the Muslim Brotherhood, but is no longer involved with that group. This case was included in our June 26 virtual Write for Rights event, as well. Photo from freeolaandhosam.org


AHMED KABIR KISHORE
CARTOONIST, BANGLADESH
Ahmed Kabir Kishore was arrested and detained, along with writer Mushtaq Ahmed, for posting satirical cartoons on Facebook, as well as comments about the Bangladeshi government’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Mushtaq Ahmed died in custody and Kishore was tortured and is still facing charges. Hundreds of people, including musicians, students, photojournalists, and others are facing charges for what they have posted online under the Digital Securities Act.


GOLROKH EBRAHIMI IRAEE
FICTION WRITER, IRAN

In 2015 Golrokh Ebrahimi Iraee was sentenced to six years in prison for writing a fictional story about the practice of stoning. Her sentence was reduced and she was subsequently released, only to be convicted again in 2019 and sentenced to an additional three years, seven months.


URGENT ACTION: PROTECT AFGHANS STRANDED AT POLISH BORDER (POLAND: UA 95.21)
September 2, 2021
32 Afghans are stuck at the Polish-Belarus border following pushbacks by Polish authorities to Belarus in August. They have been stranded for weeks without adequate shelter, food, water, and medical care. Polish and Belarusian border guards have kept them in a strip of land at the border, limiting their access to lawyers, humanitarian aid, and healthcare workers. While the European Court of Human Rights has ordered Poland to provide the group with food, water, clothing and adequate medical care, Polish authorities have so far failed to comply with this request. Instead of denying asylum-seekers entry and pushing them back to Belarus, Poland must immediately admit them into its territory, allow them to seek protection and urgently provide them with adequate shelter, food, water, and medical assistance.


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Amnesty International Seattle Virtual Write for Rights event on June 26 (6pm-8pm PDT)

Amnesty International Seattle will be hosting a virtual Write for Rights event on June 26th. It’ll start at 6pm Seattle time. Please join us as we write letters from home (or wherever you’re attending the event from) in support of human rights. To learn more about Write for Rights, please click here. To register for our event, please click here.

There’ll be seven cases in total:

Senator Leila De Lima is a prisoner of conscience in the Philippines. She was imprisoned on suspect charges after criticizing extra-judicial killings that occurred as part of President Duterte’s war on drugs.


Ciham Ali Ahmed disappeared in Eritrea at age 15 after trying to cross into Sudan and has been detained for over 8 years.


Prageeth Eknaligoda is a Sri Lankan journalist who disappeared in 2010 just before the presidential election.

Maura fled to the US from Mexico to escape relentless transgender-based violence and abuse. She’s been detained by ICE for more than two years in the Otay Mesa Detention Center in California, where she faces abuse and inadequate medical care.

Hossam Khalaf and Ola al-Qaradawi are a married couple who have been imprisoned in Egypt for nearly four years on unfounded charges. Their imprisonment may be retaliation against Ola’s father, a well-known Egyptian sheikh now living in Qatar, who was once connected with the Muslim Brotherhood, but is no longer involved with that group.

Photo from freeolaandhosam.org

Exiled Belarusian journalist and government critic, Raman Pratasevich, was unlawfully arrested on May 23rd, 2021 by Belarusian authorities along with his partner Sofia Sapega, a Russian national. Their Athens-Vilnius flight was diverted and forced to land in Minsk under false pretext. Raman Pratasevich was wanted by Belarusian authorities on trumped-up “terrorism” charges solely for his journalistic work. If convicted, Raman Pratasevich is facing up to 20 years’ imprisonment. A televised “confession” may indicate torture and other ill-treatment.

Human rights activist Alaa Abdel Fattah and human rights lawyer Mohamed el-Baqer have been arbitrarily detained by Egyptian authorities for more than 20 months without trial over unfounded terrorism-related accusations. They are held in a maximum-security prison in inhumane conditions and subjected to discriminatory and punitive treatment.

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