http://peaceoneday.org/global-truce/

Video and information Source: http://peaceoneday.org/global-truce/

Peace is built person by person, group by group, nation by nation. In commemoration of the United Nations International Day of Peace, the Joan B. Kroc Institute for Peace and Justice invites University of San Diego students, faculty, staff, as well as the San Diego community, to join in celebrating this day of nonviolence and reconciliation.

The event will feature live music, food vendors and a march for peace. Local and campus organizations working for peace and social justice will provide information and ways to get involved. Participants in this celebration of peace will observe a moment of silence followed by a dove release.

Tuesday, September 20, 2012

Joan B. Kroc Institute for Peace and Justice, Garden of the Sky

12:15-2:15pm

Cost: Free

Source: https://www.sandiego.edu/about/news_center/events/events_detail.php?_focus=39327

Photo credits: sandiego.edu

Please join the University Of San Diego Trans-Border Institute for a reception to welcome the academic year, the new dean of the Peace Studies School and to celebrate Mexico’s independence. Come learn about Trans-Border Institute’s new projects and upcoming event programming.

Thursday, September 20, 2012

Joan B. Kroc Institute for Peace and Justice, Room G & Terrace

5:00-7:00pm

Cost: Free and open to the public

Source: https://www.sandiego.edu/peacestudies/tbi/news/events/eventlist.php?_focus=42072

Jane Ellen Bergman Memorial Lecture Series Presents Cherie Blair

Cherie Blair—human rights barrister, part-time judge and wife of former Prime Minister Tony Blair—gives her perspectives on life, learning and the law. She discusses highlights from her own career and explains the critical role of lawyers in promoting human rights and rule of law to create a more equitable and sustainable future.

Wednesday, September 19, 2012

University of San Diego, Warren Auditorium, Mother Rosalie Hill Hall

Schedule

5:30 p.m. — Doors open
6:00 p.m. — Presentation in Warren Auditorium
7:00 p.m. — Reception in Hilton Loggia

Admission is free, but reservations are required to attend the lecture. Reserve by Monday, September 17, 2012.

Presented by the University of San Diego School of Law and Joan B. Kroc School of Peace Studies.

Source: http://www.sandiego.edu/law/news/calendar_of_events/event_details.php?_focus=42208

Photo credits: theolivepress.es

Saturday, September 8th

WHERE: Institute of the Americas (University of California, San Diego

4:00pm— Screening of Reportero/Reporter (Directed by Bernardo Ruiz) preceded by Silencio  Forzado/Forced Silence

5:30pm— Panel Libertad De Expresión y Persecución a Periodistas/ Freedom of Expression and Persecution of                                        Journalists [With: Lynne Walker, Adela Navarro, Bernardo Ruíz, Carlos Dada, Mariclaire Acosta (as Moderator)]

                   Trans-Border Institute (University of San Diego)

8:00pm— Screening of Al Otro Lado/To The Other Side (Directed by Natalia Almada)

Saturday, September 8, 2012

WHERE: Centro Cultural Tijuana (CECUT)

4:00pm— Screening of Vol Special/Special Flight (Directed by Fernand Melgar)

5:30pm— Panel Migración y Centros de Detención/ Child Migration and Detention Centers [With: Fabienne Venet, Gisele Bonnici, Michelle Brané, Uriel González (as Moderator)]

                   El Faro, Playas de Tijuana

8:00pm— Screening of Una Frontera, Todas Las Fronteras/ One Frontier, All Frontiers (Directed by David Pablos)

Sunday, September 9, 2012

WHERE: Institute of the Americas (University of California, San Diego)

4:00pm— Screening of Vol Special/ Special Flight (Directed by Fernand Melgar)

 5:30pm— Panel Migracion y Centros de detention/ Child Migration and Detention Centers [With: Fabienne Venet, Gisele Bonnici, Michelle Brané, Kevin M. Keenan (as Moderator)]

                  Centro Cultural La Raza, Balboa Park

 8:00pm— Screening of Una Frontera, Todas Las Fronteras/ One Frontier, All Frontiers (Directed by David Pablos)

Source: Trans-Border Institute, Ambulante, Ford Foundation

Photo: ambulante.com.mx

Where:  UC Riverside, University Theater

When: 10:00 am- 5:00pm , May 25, 2012

In light of the recent protests across UC campuses including Berkeley, Davis, and UC Riverside on January 19th, 2012, many feel the imperative to publicly respond and engage in a dialogue about the state and future of protest and policing on UC campuses. It is hoped as well that the symposium will address the function of policing and explore alternatives models for dealing with violence, maintaining social order and creating a system of community accountability.

Continuing the discussion from part I of this event, come listen, learn and engage with a variety of UCR student activists, faculty, and guest speakers as they discuss these topics; addressing the ways in which police have functioned in the past and how they currently interact with the UCR student and faculty body as well as the greater outside community. Several speakers will be presenting on current issues pertaining to protesting and activism here on campus and how the police and administration have responded in the past to such actions. The keynote speaker for the day will be political activist, scholar, and author, Angela Davis.

The event is free and open to all.

**Early arrival is advised to obtain your seats**

Public parking is available on campus for $8 for a day pass

Program for the Event:

10:00 – 11:45
Speakers:
Pat Morton, Chair of the Art History, UCR
Jennifer Doyle, Professor of English, UCR
Shaheen Nasser, UCR undergraduate student
Taher Herzallah, student activist & Alumni, UCR
Dylan Rodriguez, Chair of Ethnic Studies, UCR

break for one hour

1:00-2:45
Greeting by Dean Stephen Cullenberg of the College of Humanities, Arts and Social Science
Speakers:
Farah Godrej, Associate Professor, UCR
Ken Ehrlich, Artist/Lecturer, Art Department, UCR
Randall Williams, independent scholar and author of Divided World: Human Rights & its Violence
Mike Davis, Professor of Creative Writing, UCR
Gina Dent, Associate Professor, Feminist Studies, UCSC

Question & Answer period followed by coffee, tea & refreshment break

3:00- 5:00
Live Performance by Faze Lucciano – hip hop artist/producer
Speakers:
Vorris Nunley, Associate Professor, English, UCR
Brittnay Proctor, Alumni, UCR
Martha Escobar, Assistant Professor of Chican@ Studies, Cal State Northridge & UCR Alumni
Rachel Herzing, Development Director, Critical Resistance
Angela Davis, Professor Emerita, History of Consciousness and Feminist Studies, UCSC
Question & Answer

Guiding Questions for Panels 1 & 2:
What has been the history and function of policing in our communities and on our campuses?
Should the university campus be a sanctuary free of administrative and police repression and surveillance?
What is the relationship between administrative power and policing? How has the administration
functioned to enhance or delimit dissent on our campus?

Guiding Questions for Panel 3:
How can we create safer and more secure communities and campuses that are free from police and economic violence?
What alternative forms of accountability and justice can we implement and practice to better serve all members of our communities?

Organized by Setsu Shigematsu

Co-sponsored by: CHASS Dean’s Office, Center for Ideas & Society, Ethnic Studies and the Media & Cultural Studies Department

Contacts: geoff.cohen@ucr.edu, setsus@ucr.edu, laura.lozon@ucr.edu

Photo source: occupyeverything.org

The aims of the project:

After corresponding with the Initiative Middle and Eastern Europe  for the Speak Up for Human Rights! New Media! campaign, independent film makers Johannes Franke and Sebastion Hasse decided to form a documentary team to follow the project. The documentary follows a human rights seminar uniting 30 young adults from Germany, Ukraine and Belarus for three one-week seminars, in which they discuss the state of human rights in general and in their countries. During this time participants learn about the past and current state of human rights, and importantly how they can help advocate for those rights. All the participants come from very different political and social backgrounds, and it is hoped through the project that the participants will not only learn from one another but find a way to unite in the struggle and fight for human rights.

At the end of the project, Johannes and Sebastian plan to release a 30-45 minute documentary which chronicles the project and portrays diverse group of participants, their interests, goals and their lives in Central and Eastern Europe, and the limitations they must face.

The film intents to follow the project and its participants; How do they see their joint future, what are their desires, hopes and visions for their countries? What kind of external powers are they facing in their daily struggle to maintain their grounds and their human rights? And how do they relate to each other?

The filmmakers hope to create a very informative and innovative documentary that will be available to many around the world. However, these efforts are costly and the crew need every penny they can get to contribute to the project. To find out more about the project or to donate select the following link:

To meet other fans and supporters of this project visit their facebook page. Take part in the development of this film.
http://www.facebook.com/speakup4humanrights

Who are the filmmakers:

Sebastian Hasse studied computer science and drama. He ended up in the film business over producing interactive DVDs. While he works as an computer scientist half of the time, he devotes the rest of his time to making film projects. Among others he produces the intercultural web-comedy-series „Points Of You“: www.pointsofyou.eu. In the board of the non-profit organisation “Kunstwandel e.V.i.G.” he engages in the support of the free filmmakers and art scene in Berlin: www.kunstwandel-berlin.de.

Johannes Franke is cameraman, cutter, and director as well as an actor, which makes him a film maker all through. His most recent movie EWE successfully ran at the “up-and-coming” film festival in Hanover and at the „Youki“ in Wels (Austria). In the past years he mostly worked on documentaries such as a short documentary on a gestures singing workshop for deaf children with Rolf Zuckowski and a long-playing documentary on the generation of “young entrepreneurs”. More information on his work as a filmmaker on: www.gone-astray-films.de – and on his work as an actor on: www.johannesfranke.de

Lara Sielmann studies Creative Writing and Cultural Journalism. She is working as a freelance journalist, production manager and as assistant for miscellaneous cultural projects such as: litradio, Edition Pächterhaus,100 Wort!, documentary “Gründerbus” and is the co-editor of Landpartie 2010, Kein Katalog.

They are lent support by Sophia Gross (second camera in Ukraine and camera assistance www.lights-n-arts.de) and Elisabeth Wolf (second camera in Germany).

The organizers and supporters wrote the following letter regarding the demonstration:

Dear Students, Faculty, Staff, and Community Members,

We are writing to have our voices heard and call people to action to defend public education. Our futures are being mortgaged in order to maintain bloated administrative salaries and further privatize critical social services across this state, country, and around the world.

In the past decade alone the UC has seen a 342.2% increase in tuition and fees. This trend directly corresponds with a period of exorbitant administrative growth and devastating cuts to instruction, support services and staff, and other critical UC programs. On December 13, 2011 Governor Jerry Brown announced another $100 million in cuts to the UC system, which brings the total to $750 million this fiscal year alone.

The annual fees for attending a UC were $3,859 in 2001-2002; now they are $13,218, and estimated to increase substantially within the next four years. This trend runs completely contradictory to the 1960 CA Master Plan which calls for tuition-free public higher education in this state. Quality, accessible public higher education is a cornerstone for establishing social and economic equality on local to global levels and as such demands our active support and protection.

Our public institutions of higher education are being actively privatized and glutted by regents, trustees and administrators who are deeply invested in large private business interests. These people and the interests they represent want to continue profiting from a drive to remake our public institutions in the image of private-for-profit models.

We are asking that all of us continue to take a stand and fight back to defend our public institutions against the betrayal of many of those charged with their protection. As the students, faculty, and staff who run California’s public colleges and universities, it is our responsibility to assert every day that these are OUR SCHOOLS and that we are not powerless to further the mission of maintaining affordable, accessible and quality public higher education not only in this state, but around the world. An accessible educational experience is important for people everywhere to be able to obtain if they so choose that we might construct a more equitable, just and peaceful world for everyone.

The UC regents are invested with the responsibility of “managing” the UC system. They have insistently refused to engage in constructive dialogue with students, faculty and staff on critical issues that have been repeatedly brought to their attention. Some of them are personal friends and/or business partners of former Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger or other influential politicians and that is precisely how they obtained their initial appointment as regents. A vast majority of the current regents have no professional background in public education and a corresponding majority of them maintain direct ties to business interests that seek to develop financially profitable relationships with the UC and other public institutions.

Banks and other corporations get bailed out and we get sold out, time and again. The regents’ silence in Sacramento fits the destructive model of privatization that they have in mind for the UC. As part of this agenda, it also fits their interests to raise the salaries of administrators even as they tell the rest of us that we need to “continue making sacrifices.”

We are the instruments of change and the power to create it lies in our hands. Enough is enough. We will let our voices be heard and continue to demand that the UC regents and administrators be held accountable. Please join us for a day of non-violent protest at the regents’ next meeting, which is scheduled to take place at UC Riverside on January 17-19, 2012. A day of mass mobilization to defend public education is being called for Thursday, January 19, 2012 at UC Riverside. Come join us as we continue the fight to defend and maintain quality and accessible public education not only in this state but around the world.
Sincerely,

Concerned Students, Faculty, Staff and Community Members of UC Riverside

Please click the link & sign the Regent Reform petition: http://www.change.org/petitions/uc-regent-reform

Toolkits and Guides

The Mobile Media Toolkit present the tools and techniques that will enable reporters and citizen journalists to create content on their mobile phones. This is for anyone who wants to report news and information with their mobile phone.

http://mobilemediatoolkit.org/create-overview-en#&panel1-1

Activists, rights defenders, and journalists use mobile devices and communications for reporting, organizing, mobilizing, and documenting.  Mobiles provide countless benefits — relatively low cost, increased efficiencies, vast reach — but they also present specific risks to rights defenders and activists. Use this guide to protect yourself against mobile security threats.

http://mobileactive.org/howtos/mobile-security-risks

College students play a major role in the activist network. We continue to see students organizing student led demonstrations and talks on issues of contention. This Activist Toolkit by PIRG provides any student with the basic tools and strategies necessary to run strong campaigns and initiate local projects.

http://cdn.publicinterestnetwork.org/assets/T3hh3r6X4uRl8NvXwI9_Sw/Student_PIRGs_Activist_Toolkit.pdf

Inspired by the life of Dan Eldon, a young Reuters photojournalist killed in Somalia in 1993, Creative Visions Foundation ignites the creative spark within all of us to make a positive difference. CVF provides tools and resources to help everyone use the power of media and arts to build social movements and impact the world.

Check out their activist toolkits!

http://www.creativevisions.org/category/education-2/toolkits/

This toolkit was inspired by the workshops held in Asia and Africa for the partners and members of the Violence is not our Culture (VNC) campaign. This toolkit is for human rights activists who are keen to develop their online activism and want to know where and how to to start.

http://www.violenceisnotourculture.org/files/Strategising%20Online%20Activism.pdf

Petitions & Campaigns

Take Action: Death Threats Against Human Rights Defender Lilya Shibanova

On 11 December 2011, the words “Shibanova, die” were discovered daubed on the apartment door of Ms Lilya Shibanova, head of election monitoring organisation NGO for Democratic Rights and Liberties named Golos. Front Line further believes that the death threats against Lilya Shibanova are directly related to her legitimate work in the defence of human rights and is seriously concerned for her physical and psychological integrity and security.

Take Action! http://www.frontlinedefenders.org/node/16892/action

Petition: End Breast Ironing in Cameroon

To prevent sexual assault and teen pregnancy, Cameroonian mothers are ironing their daughters’ breasts with hot stones in an attempt to make them less physically attractive. The possible damage of this practice can be severe, including bruises, deformities, abscesses, and even the disappearance of one or both breasts. Urge UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon to speak out against breast ironing and to advocate for adequate sex education in Cameroon.

Sign the petition: http://www.thepetitionsite.com/takeaction/154/051/021/?z00m=19963072

Nobel Women’s Initiative: International Campaign To Stop Rape And Gender Violence In Conflict

“Because we envision a world without war, rape and gender violence where women and men are equal; because rape and gender violence destroy individuals and families, entire communities and the fabric of society;…We invite organizations and individuals to actively join the International Campaign to Stop Rape and Gender Violence in Conflict.”

Join the Campaign! http://nwi.cdn.hstd.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/stop-rape-in-conflict-campaign-call-final_formPDF.pdf

The event will include fundraising for the Irvine 11, all donations help with legal fees and campaign costs. The Irvine 11 is a group of students who peacefully and publicly voiced dissent during a talk by Israeli Ambassador Michael Oren.

The event is free to the public.

WHERE: Pacific Ballroom, UCI

WHEN: June 18th at 6:30pm

RSVP ONLINE: http://www.mlfa.org/rsvp

WHERE: Robinson Building Complex, IR/PS Room 3201

WHEN: Thursday, May 27th from 4pm.-5p.m.

José Luis Méndez Martínez holds  a B.A. in International Relations from El Colegio de México as well as a Ph.D. in Political Science from the University of Pittsburgh. He was a Fulbright Scholar in 1987-1989. From 2004 to 2005 he was General Director for Research at the Presidential Office for Governmental Innovation. He was Executive Director of the Professional Electoral Service and member of the General Executive Board of the Federal Electoral Institute.  He has served as an advisor to several Secretaries of the Mexican Federal Government and consultant to the World Bank, and the United Nations Development Program.

WHERE: Institute of the Americas Building, Deutz Conference Room

WHEN: Wednesday, May 25th from 3:30p.m.- 5:30p.m.

David Makovsky is the Director of the Washington Institute’s Project on the Middle East Peace Process, and Ghaith al-Omari is the former advisor to Fatah/PLO leader Mahmoud Abbas and current head of the American Task Force in Palestine.

WHERE: Humanities Building – Room A51

WHEN: Wednesday May 25th from 7p.m.- 9p.m.

CABANAS, El Salvador.– Amnesty International has issued several Urgent Action with regards to human rights defenders and media journalists in the Cabanas department of El Salvador between 2009 and 2011.

Pablo Ayala and Manuel Navarrte are journalists at Radio Victoria, a community radio station that reports on social and human rights.

On April 30, 2011 at 4a.m. Pablo Ayala (who had spent the night in the office due to rain) discovered a letter had been delivered to the office. The letter contained death threats to both himself and Manuel Navarrte, stating that the journalists had three days to leave the area or they would suffer the consequences. The letter stated “Those rubbish news bulletins [where] you broadcast only negative criticism [...] you don’t know what is waiting for you, we have photos and video of you”( “Esa porqueria del noticiero que asen [sic] solo de criticas destrutivas [...] no saben los que les espera les tenemos en fotos y videos“), the author said the threat came from a death squad (“grupo de extermino“).

On May 2, 2011 at 20:00 Pablo received to text messages signed by the “death squad” sent via internet to his mobile phone. One of the messages stated “from Wednesday onwards if you are at the radio station you will regret it. You have made us lose our patience, let’s see what it will take you to stop talking” (“del miercoles para alla si estas en la radio te lamentaras ya nos rompieron la placencia vamos a ver que ganas tu por que no paras de hablar“).

News producer at Radio Victoria, Marixela Ramos received two text messages on the same day at around 20:00. One of the messages read, “Look fool, we already know where you live [...] stop that news bulletin you are the coordinator you also have a daugther” (“Mira mage ya sabemos donde vives [...] ponle paro a ese noticiero tu que eres la coordinadora tu tambien tienes a tu hija“).

On May 4, 2011 the staff of Radio Victoria held a press conference in San Salvador regarding the threatening messages they had received. Just a few hours later both Pablo Ayala and Marixela Ramos received two text messages threats. One of messages Pablo Ayala received read ” Today you should have left like we ordered you, if you haven’t done so it is not a problem we will finish our work” (“Hoy diviste aver salido como te lo ordenamos si no lo as echo no es problema nosotros terminaremos nuetro trabajo“).

The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights has deemed the threat to Radio Victoria to be very great and has issued Precautionary Measures which requires the state of El Salvador to ensure the staff’s safety.

Amnesty International has issued an Urgent Action on behalf of the Radio Victoria staff. They call on the public to send appeals immediately to urge authorities to protect the staff and for an “independent, thorough and impartial investigation” into the death threats, with the results made available to the public and bring those responsible to justice.

SEND APPEALS TO:

Attorney General
Romeo Benjamín Barahona Meléndez
Fiscalía General de la República
Final 4ª Calle Oriente y 19ª Av. Sur,
Residencial Primavera, Santa Tecla,
La Libertad, San Salvador,
EL SALVADOR
Fax:  011 503 2523 7421
Salutation: Estimado Sr. Fiscal/Dear Attorney General

Head of National Police
Carlos Antonio Ascencio Giron
6ta. Calle Oriente entre 8va y 10ma Ave. Sur # 42
Barrio La Vega, San Salvador,
EL SALVADOR
Fax:  011 503 2527 1145
Salutation: Estimado Sr. Comisionado/ Dear Commissioner

 The aim of Brunstetter’s talk is to analyze some of the ethical issues raised by the use of drones using the just war tradition as a basis. He argues that drones offer the capacity to extend the threshold of last resort for large scale wars by allowing a leader to act more proportionately on just cause.  However, while being capable of improving adherence to jus in bello principles of discrimination and proportionality, concerns regarding transparency and indiscriminate strikes (especially with CIA operated drones), may undermine the probability of success in the war on terror.

When: May 20th from 12:30p.m.- 2p.m.

Where: Social Science Plaza B, Room 5250

The lecture will discuss: what should rules for international nonintervention and intervention be if they are to reflect the modern conscience? Three principles will be addressed. The commitment to humanitarian assistance without regard to international borders; respect for the significance of national self-determination; and the reality of  international anarchy and the absence of reliable world government.

When: May 19th from 5:30p.m.- 8p.m.

Where: Social and Behavioral Sciences Gateway (SBSG), Room 1517

Speakers include: Paul Amar, Associate Professor of Global and International Studies at UC Santa Barbara, and author of The Radical Parahuman Subjects of Egypt’s Revolution: New Perspectives on the Youth Movements, Police-Military Contentions and Sexualized Labor Behind the Arab Spring. Beshara Doumani, Professor of History at UC Berkeley, will be speaking on his book, The People Want’: Historical Reflection on the Slogan of the Arab Revolutions. Susan Miller author of Libya: Failed Revolution? and Associate Professor of History at UC Davis will also be present on the panel.

When: May11th from 5p.m.-8p.m.

Where: UC Davis, Technocultural Studies Building

The presentation focuses on the appearance and disappearance of bodies in the public sphere. Particularly, the disappearance of the corpses of victims of current narco-violence; the presence of corpses in public space and in the media as a communicative strategy in narco-violence; and the disappearance and re-integration of bodies of undocumented migrants and border-crossers.

When: May 11th, 2011 at 12p.m.

Where: Humanities Instructional Building (HIB) 135

Melody is a United Nations Global Expert with the UN Alliance of Civilizations. She has also worked with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security reporting to the U.S. Congressional Commission on International Religious Freedom.

She has written for the Washington Post, CNN.com, Parabola, The Huffington Post, NPR, Ms. Magazine, and many others.

Where: UCSD, Peterson Hall Rm 104

When: May 12th, 2011 from 11a.m.- 12:30p.m.

On Sept. 26, 2002, as he was returning to Canada from a vacation in Tunisia, U.S. officials detained Arar, claiming he had links to al-Qaeda.

 He was held without charges in solitary confinement in the United States for nearly two weeks, questioned, and denied meaningful access to a lawyer.

Soon after Arar was shackled and deported to Syria, where he was held in a tiny cell for approximately ten months. In Syria, he was beaten, tortured and forced to make a false confession.

During his imprisonment Arar’s wife, Monia Mazigh, campaigned relentlessly on his behalf until he was returned to Canada in October 2003.

When Arar returned to Canada after over a year, he claimed  to have been tortured during his incarceration.

On Jan. 28, 2004, under intense pressure from several Canadian human rights organizations and a large number of individuals, the Government of Canada announced a Commission of Inquiry into the actions of Canadian officials regarding Maher Arar.

 The United States refused to participate in the inquiry and until January 2007, refused to share its own evidence with Canadian officials.

On September 18, 2006, the Commissioner of the Inquiry, Justice Dennis O’Connor, cleared Arar of all terrorism allegations, declaring that he was “able to say categorically that there is no evidence to indicate that Mr. Arar has committed any offence or that his activities constitute a threat to the security of Canada.”

 On January 26, 2007,  Prime Minister Stephen Harper issued a formal apology to Arar on behalf of the Canadian government and awarded him a $10.5 million settlement.

Despite the Canadian court ruling, the United States government has not exonerated Arar. In fact,  the U.S. has made public statements of their belief that Arar is affiliated with members of terrorist organizations. Arar and his family remain on a watchlist.

Center for Constitutional Rights, has fought in and out of the courts on behalf of Maher Arar since filing Arar v. Ashcroft in 2004. The Supreme Court denied the appeal in 2010, thereby ending the legal case.

Amnesty International in communication with CCR continue to seek compensatory damages on Arar’s behalf and also formal apology declaring that the actions of the US government were illegal and violated Arar’s constitutional, civil, and international human rights.

Maher Arar has since continued to be a  human rights activist. Last year Maher launched PRISM, an online non-profit magazine focusing on human rights and national security issues. Maher participates in speaking events, writes articles and blog posts on human rights issues, including the demonstrations against the regime in Syria. 

Years later however, Maher continues to be affected by the refusal of the U.S. to issue a formal apology, which prevents him from being able to enter the United States as well as many other countries .

TAKE ACTION ON BEHALF OF MAHER: http://takeaction.amnestyusa.org/siteapps/advocacy/index.aspx?c=jhKPIXPCIoE&b=2590179&template=x.ascx&action=15496