Finding Ways To Support Afghan Youth
Afghanistan Committee:
We are pleased to hear of the successful resettlement of close to twenty of our Afghan friends in Portugal. Here is a video which explains a bit about the Mertola Project and will give you a chance to hear from some of our friends who are happily starting their new lives in safety and with purpose. Fortunately the Portugal program has been fully funded and now the focus is on finding additional programs in other welcoming countries for the seventeen Afghan friends who have made it to Islamabad. We will have an update about progress in finding safe havens for them shortly. In the meantime the costs for housing, visas and plane fares (to a third country) and support for a year once they get there are real and present concerns. In case you missed seeing the letter last month, here it is again.
Rule of Law Committee:
Peaceful Tomorrows (PT) at the UN in Geneva Leila Murphy, PT Steering Committee member, represented PT at the UN Human Rights Council: "Addressing the Human Rights of Women and Children as Victims and Survivors of Terrorism," in Geneva, Switzerland on March 15. The session was organized in parallel with the ongoing UN mission concerning the detention facility and military commissions at Guantánamo, currently being conducted by Ms. Fionnuala Ní Aoláin, the UN Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms while countering terrorism. Leila spoke on a panel with two victims of terrorism in other nations, and two UN officials. An excerpt from her remarks: Too often, states adopt counterproductive policies that seek to punish and deter terrorism but undermine fundamental human rights… Because of the U.S. government’s torture, real justice for 9/11 is now unattainable. However, with September 11th Families for Peaceful Tomorrows, I have worked with other family members of 9/11 victims to attempt to move the U.S. government toward plea deals which could bring, if not justice, some form of finality and accountability to victims.
Daily News:
Elizabeth Miller and Barry Amundson saw their opinion piece published in the New York Daily News:
"As a brother and a daughter of those killed on 9/11, we are forced to wonder: Will judicial finality ever come, or will it be left to our children’s children? "
APRIL 5: Peaceful Tomorrows members living in and around NYC will attend a vigil organized by Witness Against Torture in front of the New York Public Library at 42nd Street and 5th Avenue from 5-6pm. Contact Debra Sweet at 718.809.3803 for details.