Minutes for August 2021 meeting

Wednesday, 18 August 2021 (via Zoom)

In attendance: Jeff, Barbara, Bob, Frank, Bill, Tilo, Brendan, Heather

Greetings and Personal Updates

Discussion of format and venues of future meetings. Public meetings will be announced on social media.

Discussion of convictions based on false confessions (Brendan)

• See the Innocence Project regarding large number of innocent persons convicted because they gave wrongful confessions (e.g., the Central Park Five): https://innocenceproject.org/what-is-cognitive-bias-how-it-contributes-to-wrongful-conviction/
• Video by Professor James Duane, Regent University School of Law: During police interrogation, suspects very often confess to crimes they did not commit (Don’t Talk to the Police, https://youtu.be/d-7o9xYp7eE)

Actions

• Urgent online petition on behalf of Sri Lankan lawyer Hejaaz Hizbullah ("Release Muslim Lawyer in Sri Lanka")
• "Twelve Men Risk Execution After Unfair Trial" (Egypt: UA 77.21)
• "Human Rights Defender Abducted without Trace" (Pakistan: UA 79.21)
• "Women Influencers Jailed for 'Indecency'" (Egypt: UA 78.21)
• "Three Moluccans Arbitrarily Arrested and Detained" (Indonesia: UA 82.21)
• Comments regarding AIUSA Executive Director Paul O’Brien’s email of 8/16 urging members to contact President Biden demanding that he take immediate action to ensure the evacuation of thousands of Afghans facing Taliban reprisals ("Tell Biden: Evacuate Afghans Now")

Next meeting (online): Wednesday, 15 September 2021, 7:30 p.m.