Group History

The local St. Louis Amnesty International Group #105 has been active in St. Louis for many years. Here are some of the things we have done recently. Please click on the links to more information on a certain issue, and to take action online and be a human rights defender!

Writing for Human Rights

January 2, 2008

In December, our local group generated 226 letters and cards for human rights!! In celebration of International Human Rights Day (Dec 10), our local group set up a table at Schlafly's Bottleworks in Maplewood on Dec 8 where we wrote and collected 148 letters for human rights!  We joined Amensty groups from around the world for this global-write-a-thon and wrote on behalf of people around the globe who have been imprisoned for exercising their basic human rights.

On Dec 11, we celebrated with a year-end-party at Duff's Restuarant in the Central West End where we enjoyed delicious food and wrote 78 cards of support and hope to prisoners of conscience who are imprisoned solely for the peaceful expression of their beliefs.

Big thanks to Kate Moriarty for helping organize our write-a-thon and to Schlafly's and Duff's for their continued support of human rights!  And thank you to everyone who wrote a letter to make a difference. 

 

St. Louis Group is "Outstanding Group of the Year" !!

November 15, 2007

Our local group was recently honored with TWO awards at this year's Midwest Regional Conference, held in Omaha, Nebraska.

Amnesty St. Louis Group #105 was named the Outstanding Group of the Year.  Regional Amnesty Director Dori Dinsmore read the following about our group:

Group 105 deserves to be nominated for the sheer amount of events they put on representing a very wide variety of the priority issues of Amnesty. For a complete listing of their activities, successes and history please check out their website www.amnestystlouis.org.  They have also proven to be very reactive and quick to organize urgent actions, but also dedicated in their long history of support for Amnesty.  The continued success and motivation this small group of people has contributed deserves to be awarded. Without groups such as this one, whose members are so clearly committed not just to human rights, but the work that Amnesty does the organization would not have achieved the level of success it has today.

We were also honored with an award for Most Creative Event or Action for our Reggae for Women's Rights event in May 2007.

Way to go Amnesty St. Louis!

Our group took seven members to the conference in Omaha (all the way in a mini-van!) and had an amazing time learning about human rights issues and activism opportunities.  We're looking forward to attending the National Amnesty Annual General Meeting in D.C. April 25-27, 2008.

Iraq for Sale- Learn more about how the U.S. contracts human rights abuses

October 20, 2007

No one can forget the horrifying images: photos of Iraqis kept at Abu Ghraib prison naked, bleeding, humiliated, and some dead. Since the first reports of abuse at Abu Ghraib became public in 2004, subsequent military investigations have found that contractors and employees of private companies contracted by the U.S. government were involved, along with US soldiers, in the torture and abuse of the detainees.

What you may not know is that the use of these private military contractors (PMCs) in the "war on terror" is expanding, as they fulfill even sensitive military functions, like interrogation and translation services, in addition to logistical support and security services in conflict zones in Iraq, Afghanistan, and elsewhere.

The movie Iraq for Sale documents the history of contracting in Iraq, Afghanistan, and other conflict zones and the contractors role in various human rights abuses.  Special thanks to Kate and Paul Moriarty who hosted our local group as we watched this film together.

Join us and take action to end torture and other human rights abuses done by U.S. contractors.

Camilo Mejia Event Success!

August 21, 2007

On Tuesday, August 14, over 60 people gathered at Left Bank Books in St. Louis to join with Amnesty International St. Louis and Veterans for Peace in welcoming Camilo Mejía, Iraq War vet, read and discuss his book Road from Ar Ramadi: The Private Rebellion of Staff Sargeant Mejía.  The event was followed by a book-signing and a happy hour following at local resturaunt and Amnesty supporter Duff's.

Mejia became an Amnesty Int’l prisoner of conscience after he was imprisoned for desertion when he refused to return to Iraq after a furlough because he didn’t want to continue participating in what he considered to be war crimes.  Many Amnesty members from around the world, including our local St. Louis Amnesty activists, wrote on his behalf to help secure his release from prison.

To order Road from Ar Ramadi visit www.left-bank.com.

Music for Human Rights Success!

July 28, 2007

Friday, July 27th, Amnesty International St. Louis Group teamed up with Special Musical Guest Slow Riot and with Panama Red's to bring Music for Human Rights!

Guests enjoyed great music from Slow Riot and a dance party that followed featuring Amnesty local St. Louis group's very own Kevin.

Check out more artists like Slow Riot whose music is making a difference for Human Rights

Happy Birthday International Criminal Court!

July 17, 2007

Amnesty International St. Louis Group recently celebrated the birthday of the International Criminal Court on International Justice Day, July 17, 2007 in Tower Grove Park. Amnesty's International Justice and Accountability program works to ensure that justice is brought where grave human rights abuses are committed. The International Criminal Court as established in 2002 at its seat in The Hauge, and is the only court with international jurisdiction to prosecute human rights abuses no matter where they are from! This is a major human rights victory! Thanks to all who celebrated with us!

For more information about the International Justice and Accountability Program, email Liza Lara at lizalara74@gmail.com.

Women's Rights Victory in Missouri

July 2007

In April, the Amnesty International Stop Violence Against Women Campaign in Missouri launched an action regarding Missouri's Senate Bill 429, a bill which would bring Missouri in compliance with the Violence Against Women Act and would further protect sexual assault survivors. Hundreds of Missouri Amnesty activists took action and called their Missouri Senators and Representatives, and SB 429 passed in both the Senate and House (as HB 583), and was signed into law July 12. Way to go Missouri!

Human Rights Defenders!

September 2007

At this month's letter-writing meeting, our local group generated FIFTY-ONE cards, letters, and postcards of hope and encouragement to prisoners of conscience around the world as part of the summer post-card action. We join with thousands upon thousands of other human rights defenders in writing these cards of hope to people who have been imprisoned solely for the peaceful expression of their beliefs. These letters and cards of support bring hope to those whose human rights are threatened and abused. You can still take action! Visit this link to learn about 5 people who you can help today! Thanks always to Hartford Coffee Company for their continued support. We meet at Hartford every fourth Tuesday of the month at 7pm to write letters. (We also meet every second Tuesday of the month. See the sidebar to the right.)

Reggae For Women's Rights Success!

May 2007

A confluence of St. Louis reggae talent came together Thursday, May 3, 2007, at Club La Onda in an event to raise consciousness and funds for Amnesty International's Stop Violence Against Women campaign.

Over 90 people attended the event, and 45 letters were sent to Jamaica's Prime Minister to encourage legal reform that would help stop the violence against women in Jamaica.

The Murder City Players, a perennially popular St. Louis-based reggae band, were joined by locally renowned DJ Erica Lewis of KDHX for a night of socially conscious reggae entertainment. Special thanks to the Murder City Players, KDHX Local Community Radio Station, Erica Lewis, Club La Onda, and especially Amnesty International Jamaica Country Specialist Michael Kuelker.

You can still take action to help Stop Violence Against Women in Jamaica where women and girls face continued violence because of their gender. Follow this link to our action page and help Stop Violence Against Women!

AI St. Louis meets Larry Cox, AIUSA Executive Director at Midwest Regional

October 2007

Four members from our local St. Louis Amnesty group attended the Regional Conference October 28-30, where we attended workshops and learned more about our human rights work. We also met Amnesty International Executive Director Larry Cox (pictured above) and hundreds of other activists from the midwest! We enjoyed speakers on the campaign against torture as well as speakers who spoke on the crisis in Darfur. We also enjoyed cultural programming including Afro-Cubano dancers (to left).

Justice for victims of Human Rights abuses in Guatemala!

April 2007

On Tuesday, April 24th, photographer and Amnesty activist Jonathan Moller joined us at Left Bank books to talk about his book, Our Culture is Our Resistance: Repression, Refuge and Healing in Guatemala. Moller shared photographs and stories about his experiences as a staff photographer on a Guatemalan forensic anthropology team that documented exhumations of clandestine cemeteries. He discussed his current activism with Amnesty International's campaign to bring to justice former General Ríos Montt, who headed the Guatemalan military government during the most brutal period of Guatemala's long internal armed conflict.

The event was followed by a meet and greet happy hour for all Amnesty activists. You can see Moller's work here. Learn more about AIUSA's campaign to bring former General Ríos Montt to justice.

Concert Tabling

Fall 2006

This fall we have tabled at such concerts as Crosby, Stills, and Nash, Ani DiFranco, and The Indigo Girls. At these concerts we have collected hundreds of signatures on behalf of prisoners of conscience, and to fight such human rights abuses as torture and illegal detainment in Guantanamo, and the murdering of thousands of women in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico and Guatemala.

Festival of Nations

July 21-22, 2006

This July we participated in St. Louis's annual Festival of Nations where we had an Amnesty International booth. We handed out information about Amnesty and various human rights issues, and collected 371 signatures on behalf of prisoner of conscience Ma Kin-Kin Lay, murdered and persecuted women in Guatemala, children "night commuters" in Uganda, and other human rights scandals.

Pride

June 25, 2006

We participated in St. Louis Pride 2006 marching in the parade and passing out information about Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgendered Human Rights as well as actions from Amnesty's OUTfront campaign to help fight Human Rights abuses against LGBT persons.

Amnesty Midwest Slamming for Human Rights

April 2006

Our local group hosted the immensely successful Amnesty Slamming for Human Rights tour in conjunction with St. Louis's Word in Motion, a local spoken word group. Our MC was HBO Def Poetry featured Big Poppa E, and local St. Louis poets slammed in competition for the title of "St. Louis Poet of Conscience," which local Slam Poet Momma Blue was awarded after the competition. At this event we registered new Amnesty members, and collected signatures to encourage our Senators to ratify the Treaty for the Rights of Women (CEDAW).

U2 Concert Tabling

December 2005

Amnesty International was invited by U2 to table at their concerts and collect signatures for various human rights issues. Our group was invited to send six people to table the concert at Savvis Center. We collected hundreds of signatures on behalf of prisoner of conscience Mah Kin-Kin Lay, as well as signatures to combat other human rights abuses.

International Human Rights Day

December 2005

To celebrate International Human Rights Day, we held a letter-write-a-thon at Schlafly's Bottleworks in Maplewood. We invited people coming into the restaurant to write and sign a letter for human rights. Our goal was to get 114 letters written and signed; we exceeded our goal!

Stop the Slaughter in Darfur

June 2005

In June, our local group hosted Stop the Slaughter in Darfur. Scott Edwards, Amnesty International's Sudan Country Specialist spoke on the current crisis in Darfur, Amnesty Stop Violence Against Women Campaign Coordinator for Missouri Tarah Demant spoke about gender violence in Darfur and rape as a tool of war, and a representative from US Representative W. Lacy Clay's office spoke about current legislation; the event finished with a Q & A time and time and everyone present was given more information about how to get involved and take action to end the slaughter in Darfur.