Human rights take center stage Wednesday
By Jack Loftus
jloftus@seacoastonline.com
PORTSMOUTH - At the request of the Seacoast Group 550 of Amnesty International, Mayor Evelyn Sirrell has declared Dec. 10 "Human Rights Day 2003."
This is the second such proclamation by the mayor's office, with the first-ever Human Rights Day having been declared Dec. 6, 2002.
The request for the proclamation was brought about by Peter Somissch, coordinator for Group 550, at a Portsmouth City Council meeting on Monday.
The day is an international event that stems from the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights that was proclaimed and signed by the United Nations, Somissch said.
Portsmouth Human Rights Day 2002 was the result of Group 550's desire to recognize the Nobel Peace Prize awarded to former President Jimmy Carter for his decades of humanitarian efforts, Somissch said.
The Dec. 10 date also recognizes the efforts of then-chairman of the U.N. Human Rights Commission, Eleanor Roosevelt in 1948.
This year, there will be a Human Rights Day celebration at the North Church Parish Hall at 7 p.m. Wednesday. The event will be open to the public, Somissch said, and refreshments will be served.
During the celebration, special recognition will be given to the most recent Nobel Peace Prize winner, Shirin Ebadi, a Muslim woman who has been an active member for civil rights in her native Iran.
Amnesty International members will also be giving out information on two Iranian prisoners and one Turkish prisoner, each of whom Amnesty has said is being held in violation of the guidelines of the 1948 declaration.
Ahmad Batebi and Akbar Mohammadi were arrested in Iran in July 1999 as they protested a government closure of the reformist newspaper, Salam.
Leyla Zana, a former member of the Turkish Parliament, was jailed 10 years ago for refusing to denounce her Kurdish ethnicity after becoming a member of Parliament.
Somissch said he hopes that Human Rights Day 2003 will serve to educate the public about these cases, as well as the more recent cases of Guantanamo Bay and the al-Qaida members being held without legal representation as part of the U.S. war on terrorism.
"We want to educate people on why these rights are so important to people everywhere," he said.
By Jack Loftus
jloftus@seacoastonline.com
PORTSMOUTH - At the request of the Seacoast Group 550 of Amnesty International, Mayor Evelyn Sirrell has declared Dec. 10 "Human Rights Day 2003."
This is the second such proclamation by the mayor's office, with the first-ever Human Rights Day having been declared Dec. 6, 2002.
The request for the proclamation was brought about by Peter Somissch, coordinator for Group 550, at a Portsmouth City Council meeting on Monday.
The day is an international event that stems from the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights that was proclaimed and signed by the United Nations, Somissch said.
Portsmouth Human Rights Day 2002 was the result of Group 550's desire to recognize the Nobel Peace Prize awarded to former President Jimmy Carter for his decades of humanitarian efforts, Somissch said.
The Dec. 10 date also recognizes the efforts of then-chairman of the U.N. Human Rights Commission, Eleanor Roosevelt in 1948.
This year, there will be a Human Rights Day celebration at the North Church Parish Hall at 7 p.m. Wednesday. The event will be open to the public, Somissch said, and refreshments will be served.
During the celebration, special recognition will be given to the most recent Nobel Peace Prize winner, Shirin Ebadi, a Muslim woman who has been an active member for civil rights in her native Iran.
Amnesty International members will also be giving out information on two Iranian prisoners and one Turkish prisoner, each of whom Amnesty has said is being held in violation of the guidelines of the 1948 declaration.
Ahmad Batebi and Akbar Mohammadi were arrested in Iran in July 1999 as they protested a government closure of the reformist newspaper, Salam.
Leyla Zana, a former member of the Turkish Parliament, was jailed 10 years ago for refusing to denounce her Kurdish ethnicity after becoming a member of Parliament.
Somissch said he hopes that Human Rights Day 2003 will serve to educate the public about these cases, as well as the more recent cases of Guantanamo Bay and the al-Qaida members being held without legal representation as part of the U.S. war on terrorism.
"We want to educate people on why these rights are so important to people everywhere," he said.
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