The range of human rights issues that Amnesty does work on is immense. As a student group we are forced to pick certain issues and campaigns to work on. The campaigns that we work on fall into three categories:

Permanent Campaigns

As a group, there are two campaigns that we work on throughout the school year. For the 2005-2006 school year these will be:

     • Local ESCR work: applying Amnesty’s new focus on economic, social, and cultural rights to the Austin community. We are still in the planning stages here, but we hope to work with local groups on issues like gentrification and environmental racism.

     • AIDS pandemic

Individual Specializations

Some members choose to specialize on campaigns. As campaign specialists these members stay informed and periodically update the group on the campaign, network with other groups working on the campaign, and initiate action. The specializations for the 2005-2006 school year include:

     • Access to Education

     • People Trafficking/Sex Slave Trade

     • Palestinian Authority

     • Corporate Accountability/Government Development Policies

     • Death Penalty

     • Women's Rights

     • Latin America

     • Labor Rights

Other Campaigns

Human rights activism is intricately tied to current new developments in the community and world. We are committed to responding to and working on new, unforeseen human rights issues that arise during the school year. In the past school year, for instance, this meant adopting campaigns like stopping violence in Darfur, Sudan and calling for accountability for the chemical spill that happened in Bhopal, India on its 20th anniversary. Also, we are always open to working on any new campaigns that a member or other group is interested in.

Resources

Handout on Tabling