Amnesty holds annual conference

While the USA Patriot Act passed immediately following Sept. 11, 2001 increased the… While the USA Patriot Act passed immediately following Sept. 11, 2001 increased the government’s powers to keep an eye on religious and political organizations, William Shulz believes Amnesty International’s commitment to serving as a watchdog itself has only increased.

“Most people connected with Amnesty International already have a big thick file with the government, or they would like to have one,” Shulz joked.

As the executive director of Amnesty International USA, Shulz is especially wary of governments becoming too oppressive and taking away basic human rights. Shulz said that partly in response to the restrictive law the United States has passed in the War on Terror, Amnesty International’s membership has risen from 300,000 to 320,000 since Sept. 11, 2001.

Shulz, 53, is the son of a former Pitt law professor and grew up near Pittsburgh. He returned to Pittsburgh from April 4 to April 6 for the human rights organization’s annual conference, which was held in the Omni William Penn Hotel Downtown. The conference also included a speech at the Warhol Museum against the death penalty by Bianca Jaggar.

In addition to seeking a moratorium on the death penalty, Shulz said Amnesty International USA’s main priorities right now include monitoring both police behavior and American foreign policy.

“Clearly the U.S. is in violation or supports governments that are in violation of human rights,” Shulz said.

Shulz said Amnesty International is currently monitoring the war with Iraq, but does not take a political position on wars. Instead, the group works to monitor human rights violations by both sides. He said he is concerned with the United States’ use of cluster bombs in civilian areas and the Iraqis’ treatment of prisoners of war.

Amnesty International’s efforts have also freed approximately 40,000 people from jail and prevented many others from being tortured. Shulz estimated that nearly 40 percent of the cases Amnesty takes on are successful. Amnesty International’s strategies include letter writing, petitioning and lobbying government officials.

There are also almost 1,600 high school and college branches of Amnesty International, including one at Pitt. President Lindsay Liprando said Pitt’s Amnesty International has recently focused on AIDS awareness and sponsored an AIDS benefit concert.

Shulz, 53, grew up during the Civil Rights movement and was an anti-war activist during the Vietnam War. He said one of the defining moments in his life was the Kent State campus riot, when the National Guard killed four student protesters.

According to Shulz, the Kent State riot was an example of “a government using its full weight and power of oppression.” He added that the incident reinforced his “dislike of bullies and governments that bully.”

At the time, Shulz attended school near Kent State and served as a student minister in Kent. Shulz is an ordained Unitarian Universalist minister and formerly served as president of the Unitarian Universalist Association.

Shulz said his religion has strengthened his commitment to social justice. According to Shulz, one of the main tenets of Unitarianism is that “we need to transform the world, not just our own souls.”

Although Amnesty International membership is growing, Shulz said the group is currently trying to improve public relations and gain more media attention. The Pittsburgh conference last weekend is part of Amnesty International’s yearlong “Imagine” campaign. Yoko Ono granted Amnesty the rights to John Lennon’s song for their campaign.

Shulz hopes that the public relations campaign is successful, because “it’s always hard to make the connection between our fate and the fates of people thousands of miles away.”