UCB Amnesty International: Fall 2012 Events

UCB Amnesty International has been keeping busy this semester. This fall we have been focusing on raising awareness for Proposition 34. Prop. 34, the SAFE California Act, will replace California’s death penalty with a sentence of life in prison with no chance of parole as the maximum punishment for murder. This means convicted killers will remain behind bars forever – with no risk of executing an innocent person. California taxpayers will save $130 million each year without releasing a single prisoner. We went to a movie screening called After Innocence about men on death row who were wrongly imprisoned and found to be innocent, and also have been tabling and phone banking for Prop 34.

            Along with our work for Prop 34 we also hosted an amazing event, which was the Ginetta Sagan Women Human Rights Defenders Tour. There was a discussion panel with two amazing speakers and human rights activists, Jenni Williams and Beatrice Mukansinga, who reminded us that, “Defending your rights is tough, you need to defend your rights even in stable places.” They gave us motivation to continue fighting for human rights and bringing awareness to the Berkeley community about current event issues. Just recently we also hosted a film screening of the Coathanger Project about reproductive justice. As a group we will also be volunteering at the Berkeley Project together in November.

            As Election Day approaches we are putting all our efforts into raising awareness of Prop 34, yet we are also beginning to brainstorm new ideas for film screenings and any other events to help raise advocacy and awareness for worldwide human rights issues. 

Feel free to come to our weekly meetings Wednesdays 8-9pm in 101 Wheeler if you want to meet Berkeley students, have any ideas for events, are passionate about a human rights issues, or just want to learn more about Amnesty! Hope to see you there!