Contact: Suzanne Trimel, [email protected], 212-633-4150, @AIUSAmedia
(NEW YORK) – Amnesty International will launch an eight-city "Game of Drones" campus tour starting Friday, Oct. 4-5 in Ithaca, N.Y. and heading west to State College, PA., Cincinnati, OH., Madison, WI., Twin Cities, MN., Los Angeles, and Austin, TX. with the final stop in Salt Lake City, UT. on Nov. 13-15. At each stop, youth activists will participate in trainings, rallies, film screenings and "die-ins" to add thousands of new voices in protest against the U.S. government's secretive "targeted killing" policy, which appears to allow unlawful killings.
The seven-week "Game of Drones" tour is being organized in response to a growing chorus among young people who are concerned about the Obama administration's killer drones, said Kalaya'an Mendoza, National Youth Program coordinator.
"We are building a movement of young people committed to raising their voices against the drones policy," said Mendoza. "Students have historically been the driving force for social change and we want them to join us as we stand up and say: 'End the U.S. Game of Drones.' We're taking this message to campuses across the county: real security comes from respecting human rights and the rule of law."
Drone strikes have been shrouded in secrecy, despite allegations that reportedly 4,700 people have been killed so far, according to Senator Lindsey Graham. U.S. drone strikes will be the focus of a groundbreaking investigation to be released by Amnesty International later in October.
Taking a thematic cue from the shadowy figures in the popular "Game of Thrones" television show, the tour will creatively engage activists at each two-day stop with hands on leadership and organizing trainings, mobilizations and non-violent direct actions, including the "die-ins," designed to increase youth participation in the human rights movement and on the drones issue.(The tour has no affiliation with the show).
"Game of Drones" is one piece of Amnesty's campaign of engagement against U.S. drone strike policy. The organization is calling on President Obama to release the names of every single victim of the U.S. drone strikes program and to follow international law governing the use of lethal force.
Read a blog by Kalaya'an Mendoza, National Youth Program coordinator, about the tour here.
Take action on drones here.
Visit AmnestyGameOfDrones.Tumblr.com
Each tour stop will begin with an evening screening of Jeremy Scahill's Dirty Wars, which tells the story of the U.S. government's "global war" theory that treats the whole world as a battlefield, sidelines international human rights law, and puts the lives of untold many at risk.
Over the course of the tour, Amnesty will be collecting stories of new activists, sharing photos and videos, and blogging about the tour across the country.
Games of Drones Tour Dates and Locations are as follows (some TBA):
Ithaca College- Ithaca, NY
October 4: Dirty Wars Film Screening
Location- Health Science and Performance Building (Hill 104)
Time 7:00p.m
October 5: Non-violent Direct Action training
Location: Hill 104
Time: 11:00 a.m.
Penn State University- State College, PA
October 7: Film Screening
Location: Agricultural Science & Industries Building 016
Time 5:30p.m
October 8: Training
Location: Wartik Laboratory 107
Time 9-11a.m
For more information contact PSU Amnesty- [email protected]
University of Cincinnati- Cincinnati, OH
Oct. 10: Film Screening:
Location: OLCHEM 525
Oct. 11: Training
Location: 60 West Charlton, Room 135
Time: 3 p.m.
Contact: Anwar Mahajne- [email protected]
University of Wisconsin- Madison
October 14: Film Screening
Location/Time: TBA
October 15: Training
Location/Time TBA
Twin Cities, MN
October 23, 24: Film /Training
Location/Time: (TBA)
Amnesty USA Regional Conference, Los Angeles
November 1: Film Screening
Location: Four Points Sheraton Hotel
Time: TBA
November 2: Training
Location: Four Points Sheraton Hotel
Time: TBA
University of Texas at Austin- Austin, TX
November 6: Film Screening
Location/Time: TBA
November 7: Training
Location/Time: TBA
University of Utah- Salt Lake City, UT
November 13-15
Location/Time: TBA
Amnesty International is a Nobel Peace Prize-winning grassroots activist organization with more than 3 million supporters, activists and volunteers in more than 150 countries campaigning for human rights worldwide. The organization investigates and exposes abuses, educates and mobilizes the public, and works to protect people wherever justice, freedom, truth and dignity are denied.