[NYTr] 2007 Letelier-Moffitt Human Rights Awards 10/17 - Wash, DC

[All the News That Doesn't Fit]

Institute for Policy Studies - Sep 18, 2007
http://www.ips-dc.org/lm-awards/2007



The 2007 Letelier-Moffitt Human Rights Awards
honoring DC Vote, Gustavo Petro, and Appeal for Redress

THIRTY-ONE YEARS

This year's program will mark the 31st anniversary of the September 21,
1976 car bombing that killed Chilean diplomat Orlando Letelier and
American Ronni Karpen Moffitt. Until 9/11, it was the most infamous act
of international terrorism ever to take place in our nation's capital.
Letelier and Moffitt were colleagues at the Institute for Policy
Studies, where Letelier had become one of the most outspoken critics of
Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet. Moffitt was a 25-year-old
fundraiser who ran a "Music Carryout" that made musical instruments
accessible to all. A massive FBI investigation traced the crime to the
highest levels of Pinochet's regime.

The Institute for Policy Studies has continued to host the annual human
rights award in the names of Letelier and Moffitt to honor these fallen
colleagues while celebrating new heroes of the human rights movement
from the United States and elsewhere in the Americas. 

                               * * *

Wednesday, October 17, 2007

National Press Club Ballroom
529 14th Street NW, Washington, DC

5:30pm - Reception and light fare
7-8:15pm - Human Rights Program

RSVP & Reservations:
https://salsa.democracyinaction.org/o/357/t/3136/shop/shop.jsp?storefront_KEY=292

                              * * *

2007 AWARD RECIPIENTS

Senator Gustavo Petro

Gustavo Petro is at the forefront of challenging the paramilitary
infiltration of Colombian society. Elected to the Colombian Senate
after 12 years in Congress, Petro has focused his investigations on the
influence of far-right narco-militaries and death squads on the justice
system, Congress, the military, and the president's inner circle. His
courageous efforts have exposed more than a dozen Colombian
legislators, several governors, and other top-ranking political and
military figures. Petro has been a leading voice in Colombian human
rights and democracy movements since his involvement in the peace
process of the 1990s and the re-writing of the country's constitution.
Although he is the most threatened person in the country, he is also
one of the most popular, receiving the second most votes in the 2006
elections and winning "person of the year" honors for 2006 from the
country's most widely circulated magazine.

Appeal for Redress

The Appeal for Redress from the War in Iraq has rapidly become the most
influential force within the U.S. armed services to challenge the U.S.
occupation of Iraq. The Appeal calls for an immediate military
withdrawal from Iraq as a proud, proactive, and patriotic act. Started
in January 2007 by Navy Seaman Jonathan Hutto and Marine Corps Sergeant
Liam Madden, the Appeal for Redress brings together nearly 2,000
active-duty U.S. military personnel, most of them veterans of the Iraq
War. Because of their risk-taking for peace, they have quickly gained
the support of both veteran organizations and anti-war organizations.
The Appeal, part of a growing surge of support for ending the Iraq War,
is also a critically important effort to exercise and guarantee the
freedom of speech within the armed services.

DC Vote

DC Vote has been advocating on behalf of full political representation
for the residents of Washington, DC for nearly a decade. Under the
banner of "no taxation without representation," DC Vote has called
attention to the equal rights denied to the more than half a million DC
citizens. In 2006, after bringing over 5,000 people into the streets of
the nation's capital, DC Vote was instrumental in gaining passage of
the DC House Voting Rights Act, the most promising step toward
political representation in decades.

LETELIER-MOFFITT SELECTION COMMITTEE

Sarah Anderson, Institute for Policy Studies
Fred Azcarate, AFL-CIO
Marie Dennis, Maryknoll Office for Global Concerns 
Joe Eldridge, Chaplain, American University 
Jill Gay, Activist 
Adam Isacson, Center for International Policy 
Peter Kornbluh, National Security Archive 
Erik Leaver, Institute for Policy Studies
Isabel Morel de Letelier 
E. Ethelbert Miller, Howard University 
Joy Olson, Washington Office on Latin America
Barbara Shailor, AFL-CIO 
Sanho Tree, Institute for Policy Studies 

For more than four decades, IPS has transformed ideas into action for
peace, justice, and the environment. It is a progressive multi-issue
think tank. http://www.ips-dc.org.

(c)2007 Institute for Policy Studies
1112 16th Street NW, Suite 600, Washington, DC 20036
Tel (202) 234-9382 Fax (202) 387-7915