Bob's notes on the AIUSA 2018 Annual General Meeting

The AIUSA 2018 Annual General Conference was held during February 23–25 in Rockville, MD.  

Bob Rodini, a member of AIUSA Group 342, attended the first two days of the meeting and wrote these notes.

Friday, 5:40 p.m. to 6:45 p.m.

Session: "Human Rights and Climate Change"

What's at stake from climate change? Right to life, health, adequate food, water and sanitation, healthy environment. Who's in danger? One billion people in urban slums, 330 million will be displaced by flooding, 600 million will face hunger by 2080. There will be a severe reduction in water resources.

Amnesty International supports efforts to combat climate change and is currently drafting a policy regarding it.

Saturday, 8 a.m. to 9:20 a.m.

Session: "Local Group Caucuses"

What are some of the things that local groups have done in 2017?

• Chicago group made a video about the immigrant experience and took it to local high schools for viewing.
• Amherst group used middle-school drawings of the UN Declarations Rights to form a mosaic that was displayed in the local library.
• Bronx group was cited for being brand new, yet very active.
• Cincinnati group held "Savoring Syria" restaurant event for a refugee restauranteur.
• Grand Rapids group held a live discussion on social media about the Write for Rights campaign.
• Sacramento group got city and county to pass resolution to support of refugees and immigration.
• Brooklyn group held a Human Rights film festival.
• North New Jersey group (new) held a bowling fundraiser and raised $1,200.

Notes:

• There is a Special Initiatives Fund (SIF) that provides money to local groups who need funds to hold special events.
• The Hironaka Award is given to recognize the most active local group. It was jointly awarded to the Bronx and Amherst groups.

Cynthia Gabriel Walsh and Edwin Gor are AIUSA staff whose jobs are to support local groups. They were asked specifically about access to AIUSA member information in local group areas. Current policy is they will communicate (how was not specified) with AIUSA members on behalf of a local group upon request. They also are open to proposals for sharing the member list.

Notes:

• Technically local groups are required to pay an assessment fee of $50 per year to AIUSA.
• There are 105 local groups in the USA.

Saturday, 9:30 a.m. to 11 a.m.

Panel: "Hope for Humanity: America's Refugee Stories"

Margaret Huang cited these victories for AIUSA in 2017:

• U.S. Senate passed a resolution to support LBGT rights in Chechnya.
• 82 prisoners of conscience released.
• Washington state senate abolished the death penalty.
• AIUSA dues-paying members rose to over 200,000 (after falling the previous year).

Next a panel discussion (very similar to panel discussion at Mid-Atlantic region meeting last November) took place. Discussion was led by Denise Bell and included three refugees (two of whom were held at the Berks Family Detention Center), a translator, and an immigration lawyer (Bridget Cambria). The refugees told their stories of navigating the asylum process.

Saturday, 11:15 a.m. to 12:50 p.m.

Panel: "How You Can Help Free Prisoners of Conscience around the World"

AIUSA groups have these mechanisms:

• Urgent Action Network (but only 12,000 of AIUSA members belong)
• Case commitment (there are 270 unclaimed cases—contact iar@aisua.org for one)
• Annual Write for Rights campaign

The currently celebrated Human Rights Defenders (HRD) case is that of Taner Kiliç and the Istanbul 10. The Istanbul 10 have been released but still face charges (many are not Turkish citizens but some are). Taner was to be released, but the court reversed its decision and never released him.

AIUSA will push the HRD case for Leila De Lima. She was judge in the Philippines who assailed Duterte for extrajudicial killings. Subsequently, she ran for the Pilipino Senate and won. Trumped-up charges have been brought against her, and she has been in prison for one year.

Saturday, 1 p.m. to 2:30 p.m.

Keynote address by Philip Alston and AIUSA awards

(I did not take detailed notes, but I was impressed by Philip Alston's remarks. He is an academic who works on human rights issues and has written many reports for various UN agencies. He has coauthored several academic textbooks on human rights.)

Saturday, 2:40 p.m. to 3:55 p.m.

Session: "Working Party on Resolutions"

(There are two resolutions to be voted on at the AGM. Both relate to the abolition of regional conferences and voting on resolutions at the AGM.  The entire time was spent on the wording of the first resolution. The real voting was to take place on Sunday, but it wasn't clear if there would be enough agreement whether to have a vote or not.)

Saturday, 4:05 p.m. to 5:45 p.m.

Panel: :Decolonize NOW: Indigenous Rights Are Human Rights"

This turned out to be a panel discussion led by an AIUSA moderator and four panelists. The panelists were all Native American activists: Jenni Monet (journalist), Simon Moya-Smith (journalist), Sarah Deer (law professor), and Tara Houska (attorney). Deer had authored a report on sexual violence against Native American women. Monet and Moya-Smith documented prejudice against Native Americans in stories in the press. Houska was at Standing Rock during the pipeline protests.