October 15, 2000
Jose Gallardo is a prisoner of conscience, a man put away solely for his beliefs. For the past six years he has been imprisoned in Mexico after suggesting the armed forces look into human rights crimes. Most people would probably regard this as a injustice and forget about it, but not the members of Amnesty International.
Sixteen concerned people, consisting of students, faculty, and the press, gathered in a small room in Harris Hall at Marshall University, Friday, to discuss what Amnesty International is and what they do to help victims of civil injustice both at home and abroad.
The meeting, conducted by Jonathan Hutto and Mona Cadena, both members of the Mid-Atlantic Region of Amnesty International USA, discussed the organization and how to get involved.
Amnesty International was established 46 years ago in London by Peter Brenensen and now is the largest international human rights group that relies solely on ‘people power’. Now, with over 4,000 student groups in the US, Amnesty International has made significant strides in the fight for human rights.
One of the main points discussed Friday was the civil injustices going on in Wayne County correctional facilities. A civil suit was recently filed against Sheriff Toby Shy, unknown correctional officers, the Wayne County Commission, and in some cases Correctional officers Harry Hale, Gary Thacker, Scott Weaver, and Frank Pelfrey. The suit filed on behalf of 12 individuals involves an incident on the 14th of January 2000 where women were allegedly ‘volunteered’ to parade topless through a male cellblock. More recently, however, four new lawsuits were filed September 16th, with allegations of sexual harassment by Weaver and Thacker. One plaintiff alleges she was forced to have sexual relations with Thacker and was given a controlled substance, believed to be morphine, which was not prescribed to her. Other suits have recently been filed in neighboring counties including Mason County, where three women filed a suit with similar allegations.
Amnesty International believes a step toward a solution calls for a restriction to employing male guards in female prisons, considering nearly all allegations of sexual abuse in prisons involve male guards who are allowed unsupervised access to their female prisoners. IAUSA helped pass a law in June of 2000 that made such conduct a felony offense. West Virginia is now one of 44 states to have instituted such a law.
Amnesty International also explained how you can make a difference. Being a non-violent group, they call upon concerned citizens to write letters, organize demonstrations, hold vigils, and marches. To find out how you can make a difference, you can visit the Amnesty international website at www.amnestyusa.org or email Jonathan Hutto at jhutto@iausa.org or Mona Cadena at mcadena@iausa.org .
The lawsuits mentioned outline the grievances of one party against another. It doesn’t establish guilt or innocence.
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Jessica Dunphy, HNN Reporter