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`On Tuesday, March 10, a small group of students gathered in a circle at the SMC MPR to discuss several upcoming campaigns that will be happening in Pennsylvania as well as all over the country.
The Amnesty International club welcomed Jen Horwitz, the mid Atlantic field organizer for Amnesty to lead the group of less than 15 members of the club and student walk-ins.
The club held an ideas fair prior to the speaker where pizza and soda were offered to students that were interested in learning about amnesty and the Millersville chapter of the club.
“Have some pizza, save a life!” joked Dori Kenyon, senior and founder of the Amnesty club.
Horwitz began the discussion with informing the group of students on background of Amnesty International.
She interacted with the audience by asking for a raise of hands for anyone who knew how Amnesty was founded. Several hands were raised, and Horwitz allowed Kenyon to explain the story behind Amnesty.
Kenyon gave a knowledgeable explanation on the background of Amnesty stating that it is an international rights organization founded by lawyer Peter Benenson In 1961.
Benenson read in a newspaper article about two Portuguese students who were sentenced to seven years in prison for toasting to liberty at a bar. Kenyon explicated Benenson’s belief, “that there was something he needed to do so he wrote a letter to the paper, and he called on some friends to get other individuals active to free these Portuguese students and it worked, and amnesty was born.”
Horwitz speech was informative. She touched on many issues that amnesty is working with in Pennsylvania.
“One of the things we are going to do is have lobby days in April. Horwitz said, “We are asking people in different states to consider leading a delegation of people to visit a particular member of office about a particular issue.”
This April, the issue Amnesty is aspiring for is accountability, by examining alleged wrongdoing during the Bush administration.
“In terms of what we are doing about accountability, Senator Leahy has been calling for the United States to have a commission to investigate what is happening,” said Horwitz.
“Amnesty wants to find out what happened, what we need to learn about it, and what we need to do to move forward.”
Students participate in conversation about international rights on Amnesty International Day. Photo by Christian Shuts.
Horwitz stressed the importance of having students of a high school and college age join the delegation; “Having students participate resonates with members of Congress because they are the new voting generation.”
The topic then turned to International Women’s Day, which was Sunday, March 8.
Women’s Day recognizes the achievements of women.
The day also recognizes that women are much more at risk to experience sexual violence in their lifetime and be affected by those issues.
In regards to the issue of women’s violence, Amnesty will be having a nationwide call in week.
“We are asking people across the country to call their senators to ask them to co-sponsor The Maze of Injustice” Horwitz explained.
The Maze of Injustice is a critical human rights problem. More than one in three Native American or Alaska Native women are raped at some point in their life.
Amnesty is trying to take action against sexual violence of native women.
However, it is difficult because federal laws and policies undermine the ability of tribal governments, police and courts to respond to crimes of sexual violence against these women.
The room fell silent after Horwitz’s explanation of the injustices that Amnesty is trying to overcome until a student spoke up to ask how he could target people into caring about these issues. “It is being able to tell your own personal story,” Horwitz said.
“It is to create a personal connection. To hear a story from one of the rape victims was life changing. After hearing her story, I cannot, not do something.”
“These stories create a human face to the regions of the world that these problems are real and to help one person, that’s a victory” Kenyon said.
Students responded to the information that was presented by Horwitz. “I feel a sense of global citizenship, bigger than the county I am a part of, I feel so connected how can I not help?” said senior Kelly Mader.
The Millersville chapter of Amnesty international is always looking for supporters and students to join their organization.
The club meets in McComsey room 303 on Wednesday at 9 p.m. Visit www.amnesty.org to find out more information on human rights issues.