Rep. Holt Leads Efforts to Protect the People of Sri Lanka

It’s always great to see someone from New Jersey providing leadership on important human rights issues! Congressman Rush Holt has written a letter urging the administration to appoint a special envoy to Sri Lanka to help bring about a peaceful solution to conflict and prevent further human rights violations. Last year, the war between the government and opposition groups claimed 3,400 and displaced 200,000 civilians. There has also been a troubling increase in the number of “disappearances” in northern Sri Lanka.

New Jersey Congressmen Pallone and Payne have already agreed to sign Holt’s letter. So have several representatives from other states. Hopefully, more of our state's congressmen will join them before the letter is officially sent in the middle of next week.

Online Action to Congress in Response to State of the Union Address

Tonight, Congress is listening to President Bush’s State of the Union Address.

Please join Amnesty International and activists across the country in sending a strong message to our Members of Congress that they must act to correct the dismal state of human rights in our nation. CLICK HERE to send email messages calling upon your congressman and senators to:
· Close Guantanamo
· Ban torture or other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment
· Close Secret Prisons
· Restore the Writ of Habeas Corpus
· End Extraordinary Renditions (Outsourcing Torture)

You can find out more about what AIUSA has planned for the upcoming year by reading our Human Rights Agenda for the 110th U.S. Congress.

Congressman Sires Joins Human Rights Caucus!

Thanks to Congressman Albio Sires (NJ-13) for joining the House Human Rights Caucus! As you may know, Sires is New Jersey’s only newly-elected member of the House for the 110th Congress. He joins the following nine Jersey congressmen who are already members of this important group:

Robert E. Andrews
Rush D. Holt
Frank LoBiondo
Frank Pallone, Jr.
Bill Pascrell, Jr.
Donald Payne
Steve Rothman
Jim Saxton
Christopher H. Smith

Online Action on Darfur!

This isn’t a legislative action, but I wanted to make sure everyone sees this. As you know, we all put in a lot of work into getting our Senators and Representatives to sign the Dear Colleague letter on Darfur in September. We need to follow up with some additional action to keep the pressure on the Sudanese government to allow UN peacekeepers in to protect civilians!

Thanks,
Larry Ladutke
NJ Legislative Coordinator, AIUSA



Dear friends,

We're days away from a Jan 22-30th summit where Africa's leaders will decide if the Government of Sudan will assume leadership of the African Union Assembly. Make sure the human-rights-violating government of Sudan doesn't chair the African Union putting them in a position to impede international peacekeepers from reaching Darfur. International peacekeepers are needed in Darfur to protect civilians.

Please click here to send an email today to ensure that Sudan doesn't chair the African Union and put civilians at risk!

Keep Up the Pressure Against Capital Punishment!

Thanks to everyone who has helped out in the latest push to end the death penalty in New Jersey! If you haven't done so already, please write and/or call your Assembly Members and your State Senators and urge them to support legislation to replace the capital punishment with life without parole.

We also need to keep this issue visible. Lots of people around the state have written letters or op-ed pieces for their local papers. Please keep them coming!

Both the Jersey Journal and the Bergen Record published letters I wrote in today's issues. (Click on the name of the paper to go to each letter).

Larry Ladutke
NJ Legislative Coordinator

Statement from AIUSA Executive Director Larry Cox on NJ Death Penalty Study Comission

[Please also see the post below!]

AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL USA
PRESS RELEASE

January 3 , 2007


Amnesty International Urges New Jersey Legislature to Heed State Commission's Recommendation to Abolish Death Penalty


(Washington, DC) Larry Cox, executive director of Amnesty International USA, issued the following statement in response to the New Jersey Death Penalty Study Commission report: "The commission's recommendation to abolish the death penalty is a welcome development. The arc of justice is bending toward eliminating this inherently flawed system. We now urge the New Jersey legislature to end the death penalty once and for all. "Amnesty International endorses the report's finding that the death penalty does not help victims' families. We strongly agree with its statement that 'sufficient funds should be dedicated to ensure adequate services and advocacy for the families of murder victims.' "The commission's work confirms a growing trend: the more people learn about the death penalty, the more opposed to it they are." For more information on Amnesty International USA's work on the death penalty, please see http://amnestyusa.org/abolish/.

Contact: Jason Opeña Disterhoft at 202-544-0200 x302 or jdisterhoft@aiusa.org

Important action on capital punishment in NJ!

I just received the following message from our friends at New Jerseyans for Alternatives to the Death Penalty. Please conact your Assembly members and State Senator ASAP! (See the links to the right for more information identifying and contacting them.)

Thanks,
Larry Ladutke
NJ Legislative Coordinator, AIUSA

Dear Friends,

Today, New Jersey made history.

For the first time
in the modern era, a state-sponsored death penalty study commission has officially recommended that the Legislature end the death penalty for good.

You helped make this historic day happen by coming out to hearings, testifying, writing letters to the editor, talking to your coworkers about the death penalty, hosting events at your church, contacting your legislators, sending us donations, and attending membership meetings. You did it with your steadfast commitment and your unwavering belief that change was possible. You changed the climate on the death penalty in New Jersey, driving down support and showing decision makers that the right decision is also the safe one. You did it!

Now, we need you and everyone who opposes the death penalty to speak up loudly, clearly, and consistently until the abolition bill is signed. You know the drill and you're so good at it!

There are five more steps to final victory - the Assembly and Senate committees, the Assembly and Senate floor votes, and the Governor's signature.

The first action in this final phase is to contact your state legislators about the report. Please do this as soon as possible. The New Jersey Legislature created the study commission and now it should heed its recommendations.

To find your state legislators, go to: http://www.njleg.state.nj.us/districts/municipalities.asp.

Tell them: "I oppose the death penalty. Now that the New Jersey Death Penalty Study Commission, which was created by the State Legislature, has recommended replacing the death penalty with life without parole, I strongly urge you to sponsor and actively support S-171 (A-795), bills that would accomplish that worthy and just goal."

Then, please look for coverage in your local daily paper and respond with a letter to the editor, praising the commission's recommendation that the death penalty be abolished.

This step is critical as legislators will be watching for the public response.

Finally, please take time to celebrate. Rejoice. And, most importantly, rejuvenate. Because we need you for this last round and it's the most critical round of all.

THANK YOU! The nation will be watching New Jersey in the coming days and weeks. With your help, our State will be a beacon of hope for all the world.*

In peace,
Celeste Fitzgerald
Director, New Jerseyans for Alternatives to the Death

*To access the commission's report, go to http://www.njleg.state.nj.us/committees/njdeath_penalty.asp