Minutes for May 2021 Meeting

Wednesday, 19 May 2021 (via Zoom)

In attendance: Jeff, Barbara, Bob, Bill, Frank, Heather, Marksen

Welcome and Introductions

Updates

• Jeff and Marksen reported on their ongoing work with attorneys and AIUSA area experts on behalf of prisoners of conscience from Kabylia (historical region in what is today the northern area of Algeria).
• Barbara gave a brief presentation on the history of AI with biographical information on AIUSA's new executive director, Paul O’Brien. In his book Power Switch: How We Can Reverse Extreme Inequality (Winchester, UK; Washington, D.C.: Changemaker Books, 2021), O’Brien notes that international nongovernmental organizations (INGOs) “no longer sit exclusively in Europe and the U.S., but all over the world. Even the globally networked organizations [such as Oxfam] with deep roots in the North, increasingly have their headquarters in the South (p. 17).” Countries of the global South have been steadily taking charge of their own development. This “power shift” can also be noted in the priorities and leadership of AI during the last 10 to 15 years.
• Jeff recommended the podcast Throughline (www.npr.org/podcasts/510333/throughline), which provides historical perspectives on current events.

Actions

• "Family Members Detained on Fabricated Charges" (Russia: UA 20/21)
• "Farmers Face Trial Amid Environmental Work" (Indonesia: UA 23/21)
• "Critical Chance to Decriminalize Abortion" (Dominican Republic: UA 36/21)
• "Indigenous Peoples Face Dispossession" (Malaysia: UA 23/20)
• "Activists May Face 100+ Years in Prison" (Thailand: UA 134/20)

Next meeting (online): Wednesday, 16 June 2021, 7:30 p.m.