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ResolutionNumber:
4
Year: 2006 Title: WORKING FOR THE RELEASE OF PRISONERS OF CONSCIENCE Resolved:
WHEREAS Amnesty International defined the terms "Prisoner of Conscience" and "POC" for the world as anyone imprisoned because of their race, religion, color, language, sexual orientation, or belief, so long as they have not used or advocated violence.
WHEREAS long-term POC casework is an effective, meaningful, and powerful way of engaging individuals in human rights work; and
WHEREAS the number of action files produced by the IS has dropped dramatically and AI is starting to label POC cases as "emblematic"; and
NOTING that, if we lose sight of the individual, we perpetuate the climate of anonymity in which violations flourish. That is why, at its very essence, Amnesty International is about Individuals; and
WHEREAS long-term POC casework is an effective, meaningful, and powerful way for individual activists to engage in human rights work; and
WHEREAS the 2005 AIUSA Annual General Meeting voted to "support a full spectrum approach to Amnesty International's mission and its human rights advocacy"; and
WHEREAS the 2005 AIUSA AGM also approved the following statement: "AI owes its reputation largely to its work on individual cases. While we support the thematic work we are engaged in, we are concerned that in the move towards this work we are abandoning individual cases, including long-term work on them. We call on Amnesty International to reaffirm its commitment to individual cases, both short and long-term. We believe this step is crucial for AI to preserve its reputation and influence as a human rights advocacy organization. Thus, we strongly recommend that the IS and AIUSA support sustained work on individuals for as long as their circumstances require."
THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that AIUSA will continue to support a "full-spectrum" approach to Amnesty International's mission and its human rights advocacy. AIUSA will strongly advocate to AI decision-making bodies to ensure that:
(1) All Integrated Strategic Plans (ISP) [the strategic plan for the whole AI movement] will:
(a) Place a high priority on the release of Prisoners of Conscience (POCs), including Human Rights defenders, as an end in and of itself, as well as part of campaigning for the end of systems that create POCs.
(b) Maintain enough research and action capacity to ensure that individual victims of grave human rights abuses can receive help regardless of where they live.
(c) Place a high priority on creating opportunities for action (such as Action Files) for AI activists and groups to work for the release of individual prisoners on a long-term sustained basis.
(2) The decision-making process for Amnesty International’s entry into new areas of work is democratic (meaning that it will include involvement by the sections), transparent, and accountable.
(3) That resources are available to maintain AI's historic focus on helping individual victims of human rights abuses (e.g. POCs, extra-judicial execution and torture), as well as to campaign to end systems of oppression. In particular, there must be sufficient resources to rebuild international long-term work on individuals as a viable and respected campaigning tool among the membership.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the AIUSA Strategic Plan will include the integration of POC and long-term casework into AIUSA’s new National Youth Program, allowing students to adopt prisoners of conscience with actions in their new Youth Action Packs/calendars, and other options for long-term POC work.
Action File Production 1993-2004:
1993 – 860 1994 – 463 1995 – 386 1996 – 455 1997 – 248 1998 – 106 1999 – 185 2000 – 108 2001 – 73 2002 – 65 2003 – 45 2004 – 11 |