Amnesty Week begins

Genocide in Darfur, extreme poverty, Israeli-Palestine violence and banned books in the United States are only a few of the topics the Weber State University chapter of Amnesty International (AI) has brought to campus in their 20-year history as a club. Once a year the club organizes and sponsors a Human Rights Week with events and guest speakers to promote human rights issues across the globe.
This week, events are held Monday through Thursday, beginning with WSU professor Kay Gillespie speaking on the death penalty. The lecture begins Monday morning at 10:30 a.m. in the Wildcat Theater. Wednesday’s event will be a free screening of the film, “Pray the Devil Back to Hell,” about a group of Liberian women who brought about political change in their country though peaceful activism.
The main feature of Human Rights Week on campus focuses on healthcare and healthcare reform in America.
“We’ve never done any kind of healthcare as far as a human rights campaign,” said the president of WSU’s AI, Ryan Jessen. “Due to the national pressure and publicity plus internationally … healthcare has become a huge focus.”
On Tuesday, WSU’s AI will have a table outside the Shepherd Union Building from 9 to 11 a.m. to inform students on the healthcare issue and promote their final event Thursday, which will feature Dr. Scott Leckman, who will speak on health care issues in America. He is a general surgeon in the Salt Lake City, president-elect of the Utah Medical Association and lead physician for the Health Access Project, speak in Lindquist Auditorium in the Kimball Arts Building.
“Before, when we talked about the death penalty or something it was like, ‘OK, that’s kind of the social science people,’” Jessen said. “But now its like … the business school cares because of insurance executives, hospital administration program would obviously care. It seems to cover much more on campus and different colleges than some of the issues we may have covered in the past.”
Originally started in 1961, AI started as a non-profit organization that worked to free political prisoners and prisoners of conscience. Today, they define themselves on their Web site as a “worldwide movement of people who campaign for internationally recognized human rights to be respected and protected for everyone.” Since its inception, the non-profit has grown into an internationally recognized non-governmental organization working in dozens of countries to promote human rights globally.
The organization draws from from the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, a document originally based on the U.S. Bill of Rights, as a basis for the issues AI works on with issues ranging from stemming violence against women to abolishing the death penalty to regulating arms trade. The newest initiative by Amnesty International USA (AIUSA), the American-based arm of the organization, demands political action to create a universal healthcare system. Healthcare is officially recognized by AIUSA as a human right and began pushing a new campaign, “Demand Dignity,” to promote their perspective as change in healthcare began to dominate in domestic issues.
“Amnesty has expanded its mission,” said political science chair and AI advisor, Nancy Haanstad. “And it’s looking more at economic and social rights.” She added that AI was looking towards social and economic rights on top of their efforts with civil rights.
Unlike past years, WSU’s AI is taking notice of AIUSA’s campaign and focusing efforts on a different kind of human right, healthcare.
“I hope this doesn’t get completely captured by partisan politics and the particular healthcare bill that’s being talked about right now,” Haanstad said, “but rather a broader moral ethical question. Is healthcare a human right? We feel it is and we want to make that argument.”
Even with a track record of two decades on campus many students don’t know what AI is or even that there is a club on campus that promotes the non-profit’s mission.
“Are they making a difference? That is to be determined,” said English major Brandon Funk. “Weber State is a commuter school. A lot of people just don’t have the time to be part of clubs.”
Student activism groups like AI hope to gain more student interest with events like the ones in the coming week, but even Haanstad and Jessen admitted the unlikelihood of any dramatic increase in student involvement. Jessen defended the work the WSU’s AI accomplishes and why clubs that promote student activism matter.
“We matter because there are a lot of students who will speak about things and who will be very opinionated,” Jessen said, “and who believe they have some sort of knowledge and passion for the things they speak about, but amnesty international is the place where your talk kind of becomes cheap.
“We provide this group and this avenue to students who care and claim to care to actually step up and cause some change, to actually be a part of a group that can pressure government, who can educate others about rights, who can really have this influence and have this opportunity to make a difference in whatever issue they want.”
Excluding this upcoming Friday, the WSU chapter of AI holds its meetings every Friday at noon in room SS235. For more information on the club or future events, contact Jessen at ryanjessen@weber.edu.