Progress in Burma

Yesterday, from NPR:

The United States announced Friday that it will exchange ambassadors with Myanmar, also known as Burma, partly in response to the release of hundreds of political prisoners there. This is the latest development in what appears to be a dramatic turnaround for the repressive government in that Southeast Asian nation. President Obama calls the prisoner release "a substantial step forward for democratic reform." Currently, the U.S. Embassy is headed by a charge d'affaires rather than an ambassador.

The rest of the story here.

Case Update: Sri Lanka

From the Christian Science Monitor:

UN report faults Sri Lanka, Tamil Tigers over war conduct

A UN panel has found 'credible allegations' of war crimes committed by both sides as the long-running civil war drew to a close in May 2009.

April 19, 2011
Bangkok, Thailand

Sri Lanka’s civil war, which ended nearly two years ago with the battlefield defeat of the Tamil Tigers.
  The panel’s findings contradict many of Sri Lanka’s assertions about the conduct of its troops, who are accused of deliberately shelling civilians caught in the war zone. The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), whose leadership was wiped out at the end of the war in May 2009, is also cited for violations such as child recruitment and using civilians as human shields. Tens of thousands of Tamil civilians trapped behind enemy lines may have died during the fighting.
  Sri Lanka’s government, which refused to cooperate with the panel, has already criticized its findings as “fundamentally flawed” and based on unverified claims. An executive summary of the report was leaked last week to a Sri Lankan newspaper after the UN sent a copy to the government.The panel’s findings contradict many of Sri Lanka’s assertions about the conduct of its troops, who are accused of deliberately shelling civilians caught in the war zone. The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), whose leadership was wiped out at the end of the war in May 2009, is also cited for violations such as child recruitment and using civilians as human shields. Tens of thousands of Tamil civilians trapped behind enemy lines may have died during the fighting.

Read the rest of the story here.

GOTB Celebrates Sweet 16! Part 2

After the morning speaker's panel, we broke for lunch and then reconvened outside of the Chad Mission to the United Nations to call on the Chadian government to protect Darfur refugees and IDPs living within their borders. The energy that students brought to the demonstrations was striking.

Photo: Scott Langley Photography.

From there, we moved to the Sri Lankan Mission to the UN to call for independent investigation of war crimes committed by both sides during the Sri Lankan Civil War. A number of passers-by seemed intrigued by the goings-on, and our student activists handed out flyers and information.

Photo: Kelly Turley.

Our Filep Karma action was an interesting one, as Dag Hammarskjold Plaza is apparently a popular demonstration spot on a Friday afternoon.

From Demotix.com:

New York -- three separate rallies, for three separate causes, came together at Dag Hammarskjöld Plaza on Friday afternoon. 

Dozens of supporters showed up at 3pm for the Yemen/Libya rally, to show solidarity with the uprisings in those countries. An hour later, more than a hundred high school and college students marched in, part of Amnesty International's "Get on the Bus For Human Rights" program, supporting Filep Karma, a prisoner of conscience in Indonesia. These younger protesters had been bussed in from New England. 

Mixed in with the crowd, were 4 protesters who comprised a 'flash mob', rallying in support of the Goldstone Report, against Shimon Peres appearance at the UN. 

All three causes stood side by side, shared the space and the microphone and the media attention. There must be something in the air this spring.

The day concluded at the Chinese Mission to the UN, and through the rain, our demonstrators kept up their tireless energy, calling for the immediate and unconditional release of Tibetan filmmaker Dhondup Wangchen.

This was my first Get On The Bus, I've been looking forward to the event since November when I started working with Group 133. And although I woke up terribly sick on Saturday morning, I can say now (after a few days of antibiotics), that the experience was well worth all the work and even the maladies. The coordination team is an amazing group of people, taking time out of busy personal lives to pull this event together. The students and participants are equally inspiring with their creativity and energy during the event. And of course, the expert speakers and the success stories make the event well worth all the work.

Thanks to everyone who worked and participated to make Get On The Bus's Sweet Sixteen a smashing success!

GOTB Celebrates Sweet 16! Part 1

Last Friday, April 8 students and activists from throughout the Northeast region collected in New York City for Get On The Bus for Human Rights' Sweet 16th. Although the weather was soupy and unpleasant, the energy the activists brought to the day's demonstrations was inspiring.

Photo: Scott Langley Photography.

We began at the Great Hall at the Cooper Union with our speaker's panel. We were delighted to have Josh Rubinstein, director of the AI-USA Northeast Office, discuss recent uprisings in North Africa and the Middle East. We also welcomed Sarah Milburn, AI-USA Chad country specialist, Jim McDonald, Sri Lanka country specialist, Tenzin Dolkar of Students for a Free Tibet, and John M. Miller of the East Timor and Indonesia Action Network (ETAN) to speak on the issues of the day. We also watched a brief video message from Lhamo Tso, wife of imprisoned Tibetan filmmaker, Dhondup Wangchen. (You can watch the full interview, conducted by Group 133 members and interns Lisa and Megan, on YouTube here.)

Tenzin Dolkar speaking in front of Lhamo Tso's image at Get On The Bus 2011. Photo: Kelly Turley.

Revised Chad "asks"

The revised list of "asks" for the Get On The Bus 2011 Chad action as recommended by Amnesty International Chad country specialist Sarah Milburn:

• to provide greater protection to women and girls in refugee camps in eastern Chad, including refugees from Darfur and internally displaced persons from Chad, now that they have lost the protection that MINURCAT provided;
• to make every effort to prevent the recruiting of underage combatants in the refugee camps and other insecure areas of eastern Chad, either by the Chadian security services or by armed opposition forces, and to better facilitate the rehabilitation and reintegration of child soldiers;
• to ensure that Chadian soldiers and security personnel cease all violations of the human rights of refugees and other displaced persons in the camps; and
• to ensure that all who have committed such violations are brought to justice, whether they are in Chadian government forces or those of the opposition.

March Group 133 Meeting and International Women's Day

On Tuesday, Group 133 had a very eventful March meeting. The evening began with a vigil and petition-signing outside the Davis Square T stop, in honor of International Women's Day.

Thank you, Gualitiero, for organizing the vigil!

We also enjoyed a delicious home-cooked Sri Lankan meal, in "taste-bud solidarity"for our Get On The Bus 2011 Sri Lanka action. The meal was a wonderful (and vegan-friendly) treat.

Focus on: Tibet

We also discussed the case of Dhondup Wangchen, who will be the focus of a GOTB 2011 action. Dhondup Wangchen is a Tibetan filmmaker who was detained on March 26, 2008, shortly after completing his documentary Leaving Fear Behind. Police held him at Gongshan Hotel, an unofficial place of detention or "black jail," for part of his detention period.  Police tied him to a chair, beat and punched him in the head and frequently deprived him of food and sleep during interrogations. Dhondup Wangchen suffers from Hepatitis B, for which he has not received any medical treatment.

The documentary features ordinary Tibetans talking about the Beijing Olympics, the current situation in Tibet and the Dalai Lama. Wangchen was formally arrested in July 2008 under suspicion of "inciting separatism and stealing, secretly gathering, purchasing, and illegally providing intelligence for an organisation, institution, or personnel outside the country."

After a secret trial, he was sentenced on December 28, 2009 to six years at Xichuan Labor Camp in Qinghai Province. Amnesty International considers Dhondup Wangchen a prisoner of conscience.

For Get On The Bus 2011, Danielle and Megan - local high school students who have become actively involved in the GOTB action team - will be interviewing Lhamo Tso, Dhondup Wangchen's wife who lives in exile in India, via Skype. This interview will be shown during the speaker's panel portion of Get On The Bus 2011 in April.

Leaving Fear Behind
Google Video (Filming for Tibet)





Lhamo Tso: Behind the Sea
Vimeo (FreeTibet.org uploaded by Jon Lister)



Lhamo Tso: Behind the Sea from Jon Lister on Vimeo.

More information:

• Filming for Tibet
• Amnesty International: China must release Tibetan filmmaker
• Human Rights Watch: China: Ensure fair trial for Tibetan filmmaker
• Reporters without Borders: Dhondup Wangchen
• International Campaign for Tibet: Dhondup Wangchen faces trial
• FreeTibet.org: Free Dhondup Wangchen
• Students for a Free Tibet: Spotlight Film: Leaving Fear Behind

GOTB 2011 registration is open!

Registration is now open on the revamped Get On The Bus website, www.gotb.org! Val, a longtime supporter of GOTB recently redesigned and relaunched the GOTB website. The new site looks great, and we owe Val a great deal of thanks for her hard work.

If you're planning on attending GOTB and traveling with us, registration is now open (for individuals and groups). You can find the registration page at: http://www.gotb.org/register-online.html.

Meanwhile, the March GOTB planning meeting was this Tuesday, and with Get On The Bus for Human Rights just about a month away, the rest of the GOTB action committee has had their hands full with finalizing plans and logistics for the event. I've been inspired by all the time and effort all the GOTB coordinators have put into planning this event -- from the Action Coordinators, our bus coordinator, high school student coordinators, coordinators working on the route and permits, and everyone else -- the effort has been outstanding!

At next week's general Group 133 meeting, we'll be learning more about the case of Tibetan filmmaker and prisoner-of-conscience Dhondup Wangchen. The March Group 133 meeting will be on Tuesday, March 8 at 7p.m. at the Amnesty International Northeast Regional Office at 58 Day Street, Suite 409 in Davis Square, Somerville.

Focus on Refugees and IDPs living in Eastern Chad

At the February Group 133 meeting, the Group 133 Refugee Action Team and Larry Rich of the Massachusetts Coalition to Save Darfur presented information about the GOTB 2011 Action calling for the protection of Darfuri refugees and Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) living in eastern Chad.

Some History:
The Republic of Sudan is a large country in northeastern Africa. The people of Sudan have a long history reaching back into antiquity, which is intertwined with the history of its neighbor, Egypt. The Darfur region of eastern Sudan existed as an independent sultanate for several hundred years, and was incorporated into Sudan by Anglo-Egyptian forces in 1916. The modern country of Suden achieved independence from Egypt and the U.K. in 1956, and was overtaken with decades of civil war. The First Sudanese Civil War (1955-1972) followed ethnic, religious and economic lines between Northern Sudan and Southern Sudan. The war was reignited in 1983, leading to the Second Sudanese Civil War. The Colonel Omar al-Bashir gained control of the country in 1989 in a bloodless cout d'etat and named himself President of Sudan.

Conflict in Darfur:
The Darfur Conflict is an ongoing guerilla war which began in 2003, when the militant groups in Darfur took up arms, accusing the Sudanese government of oppressing non-Arab Sudanese. On the other side of the conflict are the official Sudanese military and police and the Janjaweed, a Sudanese militia group, recruited mostly from Arab tribes from northern regions of Sudan.

The ongoing conflict has led to some of the worst human rights abuses imaginable. The United States Congress declared the conflict in Darfur a genocide in June 2004, and President George W. Bush did the same in September of the same year. Hundreds of thousands of civilians have died as a result of both deliberate and indiscriminate attacks, and more than 2 million civilians have been forced to flee from their homes. The situation on the ground has been plagued with renewed violence, Janjawid attacks, and aerial bombing by the Government of Sudan's military. Currently, the Government of Sudan is resisting the UN Security Council-mandated peacekeeping operation that is desperately needed.

Amnesty representatives have met with UN, U.S. and European officials to call for their vigorous action and have pressed the governments of Chad and Sudan directly. Amnesty's global membership has also organized letter-writing campaigns and demonstrations to draw attention to the crisis.

Get On The Bus 2011 Action:
With the withdrawal of MICURCAT peacekeepers at the end of last year, Amnesty International has expressed serious concern for the safety of refugees and IDPs in camps near Chad's border with Darfur. According to AI USA's Chad country specialist, Chad military personnel have already been implicated in a growing number of sexual assaults against women and girls in the camps, and have failed to protect them from the outside attacks. The threat to refugees and IDPs is expected to increase in 2011.

The 2011 Darfur/Chad GOTB action will call on the government of Chad to protect refugees from Darfur and IDPs in camps in eastern Chad, and in particular to ensure the safety of women and girls in the camps. Specifically, we will ask the government of Chad -

• to permit MINURCAT peacekeepers to return to eastern Chad,
• to provide greater protection to women and girls in refugee camps in eastern Chad, including refugees from Darfur and IDPs from Chad,
• to ensure that Chadian soldiers and security personnel cease all violations of the human rights of refugees and other displaces persons in the camps, and
• to ensure that all who have committed such violations are brought to justice.

The Conflict in Darfur has been a long and complex war, so the information I've provided here is certainly not exhaustive. I encourage readers to follow the links below to gain a wider perspective.  The multimedia resources - photo galleries, documentaries and video footage, and satellite imagery - are much more powerful than any numbers I can write here.

Further Information:

• Amnesty International USA - Eyes On Darfur
• Amnesty International USA - Country Concerns: Chad
• Amnesty International USA - Testimony: Darfuri Refugees in Chad
• The Devil Came on Horseback (film)
• Darfur Diaries (film)
• Save Darfur
• On Our Watch: PBS Frontline Documentary
• UNHCR - Chad
• Refugees International - Chad
• Human Rights Watch - Chad
• Human Rights Watch - Report: The Risk of Return

** Meeting Postponed **

Tonight's GOTB planning meeting has been postponed due to the declared snow emergency in Somerville. The meeting is tentatively planned for Monday, February 7.

GOTB Actions '11: Refugees and IDPs in eastern Chad

At tomorrow's February GOTB planning meeting, the Group 133 Refugee Action team will be presenting information about Darfuri refugees and internally displaced persons (IDPs) currently living in eastern Chad, as well as details about the planned GOTB 2011 action, which will call on the government of Chad to protect those refugees and IDPs living in camps in eastern Chad and, in particular, to ensure the safety of women and girls living in the camps.

In the meantime, I've collected a bit of background information on the issue.

Internally Displaced in Chad - Violence crosses the border
from UNHCR on Flickr:




The UN office of the High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) estimates that there are currently 285,500 Sudanese refugees and 157,200 internally displaced persons (IDPs) living in camps along the eastern border of Chad.

With the withdrawal of all MINURCAT peacekeepers at the end of last year, Amnesty International has expressed serious concern for the safety of refugees and IDPs in camps near Chad's border with Sudan. According to AI USA's Chad country specialist, Chad military personnel have already been implicated in a growing number of sexual assaults against women and girls in the camps, and have failed to protect them from outside attacks. The threat to refugees and IDPs is expected to increase in 2011.

Violence in eastern Chad
from UNHCR on YouTube:




The planned GOTB action will call on the government of Chad to protect refugees from Darfur and IDPs in camps in eastern Chad, and in particular to ensure the safety of women and girls in the camps. Specifically, we will ask the government of Chad -

• to permit MINURCAT peacekeepers to return to eastern Chad,
• to provide greater protection to women and girls in refugee camps in eastern Chad, including refugees from Darfur and IDPs from Chad,
• to ensure that Chadian soldiers and security personnel cease all violations of the human rights of refugees and other displaces persons in the camps, and
• to ensure that all who have committed such violations are brought to justice.

Further information:

• UNHCR - Chad
• Amnesty International USA - Country Concerns: Chad
• Amnesty International USA - Testimony: Darfuri Refugees in Chad
• Refugees International - Chad
• Human Rights Watch - Chad
• Human Rights Watch - Report: The Risk of Return

For information or to become involved with GOTB, join us at tomorrow night's planning meeting at 7 o'clock at the Amnesty International Northeast Regional Office in Davis Square at 58 Day Street, Suite 409, Somerville, MA.

Case Update: Sri Lanka

From amnestyusa.org:

US should investigate alleged war crimes by Sri Lankan President

20 January 2011

The United States should investigate Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa, on a surprise visit to the US this week, for his alleged role in perpetrating torture and war crimes, Amnesty International said on Wednesday.

Mahinda Rajapaksa reportedly left Sri Lanka early Wednesday morning with a delegation of 20 bound for the US.

"The US has an obligation under international law to investigate and prosecute people who perpetrated war crimes and grave human rights violations such as extrajudicial executions, torture and enforced disappearances," said Sam Zarifi, Amnesty International's Asia-Pacific director.

Mahinda Rajapaksa is commander in chief of Sri Lanka's armed forces, which face numerous allegations of war crimes, enforced disappearances, and torture.

Under international law, military commanders may face criminal responsibility if they knew, or should have known, of such crimes being committed by their subordinates.

The President's visit comes as a Panel of Experts appointed by UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon works on a report advising him on accountability issues in Sri Lanka.

Both Sri Lankan government forces and members of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam are accused of having committed war crimes in the final phase of the decades-long conflict.

Amnesty International has called for the UN to initiate an international investigation.

"Thousands of victims in Sri Lanka demand accountability for the abuses they've suffered from the Sri Lankan security forces as well as armed groups such as the LTTE," Sam Zarifi said.

In December Wikileaks exposed a secret US Embassy cable sent by Ambassador Patricia Butenis from Colombo in which she noted the difficulty of bring perpetrators of alleged crimes to justice when "responsibility for many of the alleged crimes rests with the country's senior civilian and military leadership, including President Rajapaksa and his brothers ...."

Amnesty International said the US should further investigate these allegations and support calls for an international investigation into Sri Lanka's role in war crimes.

Case Update: Filep Karma

The Free West Papua Campaign shared this image on their Facebook page today:

Shocking image showing political prisoner Filep Karma's detention cell at the Jayapura police station where he is being held with fellow prisoner Buchtar Tabuni. The shed is attached to the back of the police station. Filep is forced to sleep on a bench as there are many rats carrying typhoid scuttling around on the floor every night

Filep Karma is a West Papuan activist and prisoner of conscience. We plan to demonstrate on Filep's behalf at this year's GOTB event and call for his immediate and unconditional release. Soon, I'll post more detailed information here about Filep Karma's case and the human rights situation in the West Papua region of Indonesia. In the meantime, you can find links to the relevant Amnesty International USA pages below.

• Individuals at Risk: Filep Karma on Amnesty International USA
• Country Concerns: Indonesia on AI USA

The next GOTB planning meeting will be on Tuesday, February 1 at 7 o'clock at the AI-USA Northeast Regional Office in Davis Square. During this meeting, the Group 133 Refugee Action Team will present detailed information on the GOTB 2011 action on behalf of Darfuri refugees and IDPs in eastern Chad.

Focus on Sri Lanka Action

At last night's Group 133 meeting a Group 133 member and GOTB coordinator gave a presentation detailing the GOTB 2011 Sri Lanka action, including the actions "asks," the current situation in Sri Lanka and background and history regarding the 30 year civil war.

Some History:

Sri Lanka is an island nation off the southeastern coast of India. The island was occupied for some 2,000 years by the neighboring Sinhalese and Tamil kingdoms, but like many of the island's neighbors, Sri Lanka (or Ceylon, as it was then known), eventually came under the influence of European colonial powers. The Portuguese arrived in the early 1500s, then the Dutch in the 17th Century, and eventually the British annexed the territory in the 1800s. After World War II, during the decline of colonialism, Sri Lanka gained independence in 1948, however, the island which had traditionally been ruled by separate kingdoms, was now under one government, the majority of which was Sinhalese.

Independence:
A pattern of Sinhalese discrimination against the Tamil majority began early in the newly independent nation. In 1949, Sinhalese began colonization of Tamil territories in the north and east of the island, in 1956, the government named Sinhalese the sole, official language of the country. In 1970, the government began a policy of "ethnic standardization," severely limiting access to higher education for Tamil students. By this time, peaceful protests and demonstrations of Tamil people were met with violence by the government. During the 1970s and 80s, Tamil militant groups began forming, most notably, the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) or "Tamil Tigers." While the Tamil Tigers primarily targeted Sinhalese military targets, they also conducted targeted political killings, even killing Tamil government officials or academics they considered to be "traitors" to the Tamil cause.

Civil War:
Between 1983 and 2009, the Tamil Tigers and the Sri Lankan government battled while civilians were often caught in the crossfire. Both sides are accused of committed war crimes, particularly during the final stages of the war in 2009. These include the use of child soldiers and attacks on civilians by the Tamil Tigers, and extra-judicial executions, carpet bombing and indiscriminate massacres of civilians and Tamil fighters by the Sri Lankan government. Ultimately, the war left up to 40,000 civilians dead and some 300,000 people displaced.

"The war has ended - not the conflict."
Although the Sri Lankan government militarily defeated the Tamil Tigers in 2009, troubles continue for the Sri Lankan people.  A climate of repression continues in the country, particularly for journalists; politically motivated killings continue with no investigations. Humanitarian NGOs are very restricted in their work: the Red Cross is restricted from working in the north, and other NGOs are allowed only to deliver material goods and restricted from provided psychological support, community rebuilding, addressing women's needs or searching for missing persons.

GOTB 2011 Sri Lanka Action:
The 2011 Get On The Bus Sri Lanka Action will call on the UN to launch an investigation into war crimes committed during the civil war by both the Sri Lankan government and the Tamil Tigers (LTTE).

The pressure for an investigation into war crimes is high right now, making a GOTB action on this issue all the more relevant. Pressure is especially high after the release of an execution video in November of last year.

As I posted in my December 28 post, there is currently a three-person panel investigating alleged violations of international human rights and humanitarian law during the final stages of the war. This panel will report back to UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon with their recommendations for possible future actions.

For more information:

• International Crisi Group - Sri Lanka
• Amnesty International USA - Sri Lanka (lots of resources and action information)
• Human Rights Watch - Sri Lanka (news and downloadable PDF reports)
• UNHCR - Sri Lanka country profile
• UN Human Rights Commission - Sri Lanka
• The ICRC in Sri Lanka
• WFP - Sri Lanka
• BBC News - Country Profile: Sri Lanka
• CBC News - The History of Sri Lanka 
• Reporters without Borders | Reporters Sans Frontières - Sri Lanka
• Committee to Protect Journalists - Sri Lanka

GOTB Action 2011: Sri Lanka

At our upcoming Group 133 meeting, one of our members will be providing more information about our Get On The Bus 2011 Sri Lanka action. The planned action will have activists demonstrating outside the UN building in New York, calling on the United Nations and Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to conduct an independent investigation into war crimes committed during the Sri Lankan civil war by both the Sri Lankan security forces and the Tamil Tigers.

If you saw my December 28 post, or follow this issue closely, you know that there is a possibility the UN may decide to conduct an investigation on their own, before the April 8 event. Naturally, we'll be very pleased if this happens, but it will also mean that we'll have to shift our focus for Get On The Bus. Should this be the case, we will demonstrate outside the Sri Lankan Mission to the UN and call on the government of Sri Lanka to protect the freedom of expression of journalists working in the country.

From the AI USA Sri Lanka country page:

In recent years, outside the conflict zone, journalists and other media workers have been attacked. At least 14 media workers have been the victims of unlawful killings since the beginning of 2006; one has allegedly disappeared in the custody of the security forces, while others have been tortured and arbitrarily detained. Emergency regulations issued by the Sri Lankan President have been used to silence critical media and generally violate freedom of expression in Sri Lanka, including through detention without charge or trial for periods lasting up to 18 months.

One of 2010's GOTB actions - and subsequent successes! - included calling for the immediate and unconditional release of J.S. Tissainayagam, or "Tissa," a Sri Lankan journalist who was arrested in 2008 for writing two articles which criticized the Sri Lankan governments conduct during the war with the Tamil Tigers.

Sri Lanka's Ghosts
from Human Rights Watch on YouTube:
(a bit dated, but gives a good sense of the human rights situation in Sri Lanka)




Refugees flee Sri Lanka "safe zone" - May 2009
Al Jazeera English on YouTube




More information:

• AI USA - Sri Lanka (lots of great resources and introductory information)
• Human Rights Watch - Sri Lanka (several downloadable PDF reports and other resources)
• International Crisis Group - Sri Lanka (information about war crimes committed in Sri Lanka)
• Reporters without Borders | Reporters Sans Frontières - Sri Lanka

The next AI Local Group 133 meeting will be Tuesday, January 11 at 7p.m. at the AI Northeast Regional Office in Davis Square at 58 Day Street, Suite 409.

E:60 - The Children of Bhopal

GOTB organizers hope to include a side action on behalf of the victims and survivors of the 1984 chemical disaster in Bhopal, India. Below is a great piece from ESPN's E:60 series, which provides the history of the disaster, the lingering effects and dangers to the children and people of Bhopal.

GOTB January Meeting

Group 133 members and other GOTB coordinators were delighted to have more students and other newcomers at our January GOTB planning meeting last night.

At last night's meeting, members of the GOTB Action Team discussed next steps and logistics for the April 8th New York City event. The actions planned for the 2011 event are: calling for the immediate release of Tibetan filmmaker Dhondep Wangchen, calling for the immediate and unconditional release of West Papuan prisoner of conscience Filep Karma, calling on the government of Chad to protect Darfuri refugees and internally displaced persons within Chad, and calling on the UN to launch an independent investigation into war crimes committed during the civil war in Sri Lanka, with a possible "side action" at Dow Chemical (formerly Union Carbide) corporate headquarters regarding the industrial disaster in Bhopal, India.

This year's event will also include a solidarity event in Washington, D.C. on Friday, April 15 organized by Amnesty International groups in the D.C. Metro area and Mid-Atlantic region. GOTB organizers also plan to reach out to AI groups across the country and internationally to plan similar solidarity actions in support of this year's issues.

AI Student Area Coordinators, 133 members and high school students involved with GOTB also plan to continue to reach out to high school and college AI group and similar organizations.

Next month's meeting will be Tuesday, February 1 at 7p.m. at the AI Northeast Regional Office in Davis Square. In addition to planning and logistics, the Group 133 Refugee Action Team will present detailed information regarding the planned action calling for the protection of Darfuri refugees and internally displaced persons - particularly women and girls - in eastern Chad.

Case Update

From BBC News:

18 December 2010 Last updated at 09:40 ET

Sri Lanka ends ban on UN war crimes probe team

Sri Lanka's government says it will now allow a team of UN investigators to visit the island, reversing an earlier refusal to grant visas.

The three-man panel was appointed in June by the UN secretary general to look into alleged war crimes in the final stage of the government's war with Tamil Tiger rebels in 2009.

Sri Lanka angrily opposed the move and set up its own internal commission.

Colombo now says the panel may visit and share evidence with its inquiry.

Sri Lanka consistently denies its forces violated international humanitarian law during the long conflict, maintaining that only the Tamil Tigers did.

People suggesting otherwise are often labelled as traitors in Sri Lanka.

The fact that Colombo has changed its mind and will now admit to the country the panel is something of a concession, says the BBC's Charles Haviland, in Sri Lanka.

'Enemy objectives'

Announcing the relaxation of the ban, Sri Lanka's foreign ministry confirmed on Saturday what UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon told reporters a day earlier: that his panel - an Indonesian, and American and a South African - would visit the island.

The ministry said they would be admitted so that they could make a presentation to Sri Lanka's own domestic commission investigating the war's final years. No date has been set.

However, our correspondent says it is unlikely that the UN experts will be given free rein to go around making investigations.

Six months ago the Sri Lankan foreign minister said the members of the UN panel would not be granted visas and described the initiative as "unwarranted interference".

In July another government minister, Wimal Weerawansa, led a cabinet-backed hunger strike and protest against the panel outside the UN's local compound.

Our correspondent says that same minister - a maverick, ardently nationalist lawmaker - is still insisting that the panel be "given no space" to visit Sri Lanka.

The panel's visit would help "accomplish enemy objectives", Mr Weerawansa recently said, urging all Sri Lankan people to protest against their presence in the country.

The UN estimates that Sri Lanka's conflict killed up to 100,000 people, displaced hundreds of thousands more and held back the island's growth and economic development.

Case Update

The picture below shows Filep Karma looking merry and healthy yesterday, the day after Christmas, after having traveled to Jakarta for much-needed medical care in August of this year. The picture appeared on the Free West Papua Campaign's Facebook page yesterday.

(Filep Karma and Buchtar Tabuni in Polda Prison, Jayapura, December 26, 2010. Photo by Ricky Dajoh)

Check back here for more detailed case information about all the planned 2011 actions, including actions in support of Filep Karma, Dhondup Wangchen, Darfur refugees in Chad and internally displaces persons within Chad, and calling for an independent investigation into war crimes in Sri Lanka.

All of us of Group 133 are very excited this year that our friends in the Mid-Atlantic and Washington, D.C. region will be holding solidarity actions at embassies in D.C.! Right now, New York City events are tentatively scheduled for Friday, April 8, 2011 and the D.C. events for Friday, April 15, 2011. Check here often for updates.

The next GOTB planning meeting will be Tuesday, January 4, 2011, students and activists, GOTB veterans and newcomers who are interested in helping organize this year's GOTB events are encouraged to attend. (We're currently looking for someone to help update and maintain the GOTB web site, www.gotb.org.) Contact Group 133 for more info.

Note: Amnesty International takes no official stance regarding the independence movements in West Papua or Tibet, but rather is concerned for the human rights of the people living in those areas as well as those of prisoners of conscience and human rights defenders acting on behalf of their people.