Academic English for Tertiary Studies: EAP 5 WEEK 8 THUR FILE 15 TEACHER NOTES AND ANSWERS LISTENING: AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL Author: R. Lebaurer (2010) Learn to Listen, Listen to Learn Third Eeltion: Prentice Hall Teachers refer to Learner Manual: Listening: Amnesty International. However, there are also additional pre and post listening activities in plastic sleeves. Students complete student worksheets: Tasks 1-4 Answers to student handbook materi Amnesty International founded in_[1961] one of largest & most active human rights organizations in [2008]___- [2,200,000] members & supporters in [150] countries in [1977] - received the [Nobel Peace Prize], in [1978] - given an award by UN for outstanding achievement in human rights concerned strictly with ___[prisoners]. seeks release of “prisoners of conscience” who are [held for non-violent expression of religious/political beliefs or related to colour, race, ethnicity or gender (sex) ] works for fair trials within reasonable time periods for all political prisoners acts for protection of all persons against torture works for abolition of death penalty. Eight Principles Underlying Amnesty International's Activities 1. limited mandate - not all rights - only religious/political 2. focus on individual + specific information/AI adoption groups eR reD © UWsSCollege Pty LtdAcademic English for Tertiary Studies: EAP 5 3. action grounded in fact/research > reliable information . based on member participation, non government . impartiality-all people, no ranking of countries, no work in own country . independence in policy and finances/members subscriptions/no conflict of 4. 5. moral persuasion with govts - dialogue, not isolation of govts 6 7 interest/ no work in own country 8. human rights are the right and responsibility of all -not "None of my business.” Use your notes to answer questions: True or False ex.1 aT b.F oF dF eF rea ex. 2 aT bT cP d.F eF _ g.T 3.What is an Amnesty International “adoption group”? [Local group working on a particular prisoner's case in another country — raising money/staying in contact with family] 4.How does Amnesty International ensure its impartiality? Describe at least two ways. [Principle 7 - No AI member in government can be a leader in AI (policy) ~- all finances come from subscriptions (finances)] Task 3: Vocabulary contexts- Read sentences to students. WORD MEANING abolition In the 19" century, many young children worked long hours in factories. Many people joined forces to demand the abolition of this type of “child slavery”. Eventually laws were passed to limit child work hours. death penalty | People question the ethics of the death penalty. They ask "Should we murder someone because he murdered someone else? Aren't we still committing murder?” mandate The union members voted to give their representatives a limited mandate. Therefore, the representatives could negotiate salary but bepreread) © UWSCollege Pty Ltd‘Academic English for Tertiary Studies: EAP 5 they could not negotiate working conditions. This mandate definitely restricted their power. to take action on’ behalf of someone The prisoner was in prison and so could not go to a meeting. The prisoner's husband, therefore, went on behalf of his wife. appeal ‘The mother of the guilty murderer made an appeal to the judge for mercy. She begged the judge not to sentence him to death. to be grounded in fact The police department does not take action unless that action is grounded in fact, that is, they make sure that their information is accurate and complete before they do anything. credibility That newspaper has lost credibility ever since it was found guilty of making up two newspaper articles. concerted effort They made a concerted effort to get this job done. It was not always easy working together but they did it. ‘economic sanctions Sometimes when one country has violated international law, other countries will place economic sanctions on that country. They may place a heavy tax on all imports from that country, refuse to import or export to that country etc. suasion/ persuasion ‘Some people believe that the best way to teach children how to behave is to punish them when they behave poorly; I, on the other hand, think persuasion works better than punishment. I'd rather talk to my child and convince her of my way of thinking. impartiality/ lity It’s not easy to be a good parent. One quality that is difficult to maintain but which is quite important is impartiality when it comes to your children. In the best circumstances, children in the family should feel equally loved and should not feel that there is a preference for any ‘one child. to pursue He pursued his goal to be President without rest. He would not stop for something / anything or anyone in his pursuit of that goal. That was all he could a goal think about. ideology/ ‘A major ideological split among the countries of the world is along the Ideological lines of capitalist ideology versus Marxist ideology. paar O © UWSCollege Pty LtdAcademic English for Tertiary Studies: EAP 5 sole / solely His sole relative is his mother now because the rest of his faily was killed in an earthquake. with “strings T didn’t want to take the gift because I was afraid that there were attached” / “strings” attached and that she wanted something in return. “no strings attached” relief funds The world health organizations usually provide relief funds (to be used for food, shelter, medical care etc.) for the victims of the natural disasters. geographical or | Geographical frontiers are the physical borders between countries. political frontiers | Political frontiers are more psychological and involve the borders that divide people because of political differences. birthright Every citizen of the U.S has, as his or her birthright, freedoms that are stated in the Bill of Rights. Each person has these rights simply because he or she was born in this country. Task 4: Vocabulary exercise - Read sentences to students 1. He was detained by the police and no one took any action on his behalf. 2. When they voted on the new law, her vote was the only dissenting one. 3. People in many parts of the world are working to abolish the death penalty. 4. The judge lost credibility when they discovered that she was not as impartial as she was supposed to be. 5. The police held him in custody for having allowed human rights violations to occur. 6. They appealed to the governor to prevent the execution of the criminal. 7. The funds were given to the organization with no strings attached. 8. Her father persuaded her to pursue her goals. age ct/20) © UWSCollege Pty LtdAcademic English for Tertiary Studies: EAP 5 Transcript of lecture: What I’m going to be talking about in this lecture is an organization...Amnesty International (on board)... & I know that some of you have heard of this organization and others of you haven't... some of you have heard about it from me...cthers of you haven't... well let me start with some details about this organization. it was founded in 1961... and what it is ..it’s one of the largest and most active human rights organizations... in 2008... it had 2,200,000 members... & these members were spread out among 150 countries...so it’s very international...in 1977 it was given the Nobel Peace Prize... & in 1978 it was given an award by the United Nations...for...outstanding achievement in the field of human rights...so it’s very, very well-known...very widespread...& quite recognized...it’s concerned strictly with prisoners... & I'll tell you a little bit more about that ..it seeks the release of what they calll “prisoners of conscience” [on board]... they seek the release of these prisoners of conscience... & the way they define the term...is they say it’s any person..who is detained.. for the non-violent expression...of political...or religious beliefs...or... because of colour...ethnic origin...race...or sex... & Ill repeat that definition for you because I'd like you to get that.... they seek the release of all prisoners of conscience... & the way they define prisoners of conscience is any person..who is detained... for the non-violent expression...of political...or religious beliefs...or... because of colour...ethnic origin ..race...0r Sex... they also do a couple of other things on behalf of prisoners...they work for fair trials within reasonable time periods for all political prisoners...they also work to protect all people from torture...because they believe that no one has the right or no one should be tortured... & finally...they work for the abolition of the death penalty..that is... they’re against the death penalty...ok...as I said before... this organization has been very, very successful & has earned high international respect...among a wide range of countries... not just West..not just East...but worldwide...ok...what I'm specifically going to focus on in this lecture...now that I’ve told you a little bit about the organization...are some of the specific principles that underlie some of Amnesty International's activities ... & probably contribute to its success...ok ...& there are 8 principles in particular that I’m going to talk about and then before I end I’m going to give you a specific example of an individual whose life was probably saved by Amnesty International's work just so you can get an idea of the organisation’s work in practice, but let's start as I said with the principles. Page 5 of 10 © UWSCollege Pty Ltd‘Academic English for Tertiary Studies: EAP 5 Ok the first principle is that it has a limited mandate... & that is... it has a limited field of authority...it doesn’t try to do too much ... it limits its field...of work... so as you might have noticed... it doesn’t act in respect of all violations of all rights... but it specifically works for particular kinds of rights... specifically focuses on political prisoners... torture... execution... ok... & they don’t believe that other rights are less important... but they just believe that in order to do good work they need to limit their focus to those particular areas... & in the past there has been some pressure on them to expand their work to include other civil & political rights such as voting... censorship... poverty...hunger... so far they've resisted... & basically... their belief is... & this is a quote... quote...”if someone takes away your bread...he suppresses your freedom...but if someone takes your freedom..rest assured... your bread is threatened... because it no longer depends on you... but on the pleasure of your master”... end quote...ok...so that’s how they justify their work specifically in terms of political freedom... Now the second basic principle is that they focus on the individual prisoner... according to Amnesty International... it’s not enough just to get general information..,just to find out about general human rights violations...ok they’re particularly concerned about the names of individual people...individual prisoners... & specific details about each case... and this principle is exemplified in the basic structure of Amnesty International which is the “adoption group” [on board] ... and these adoption groups are made up of members of Amnesty International in a specific locale...for example there might be an adoption group made up of Amnesty International members from one city...or state...or country... or even neighbourhood... and these adoption groups take on specific prisoners’ cases... so it’s a very personal operation... rather than an abstract operation...so these particular adoption groups will have the name of the prisoner... information about his or her case...information about his or her condition... his or her family and so on... and the adoption group writes letters...raises money... and does whatever it feels it can do to help this one prisoner... Ok the third principle of Amnesty International is that all action is grounded in fact...and part of the reason for this is that they recognize that in order to take action it is necessary to have reliable information...in order to be respected you need to have reliable information... so at the heart of their activities is good research... they conduct fact finding missions to countries to find out the truth of Page 6 of 10 © UWSCollege Pty LtdAcademic English for Tertiary Studies: EAP 5 what's going on... and most countries do let them in ... because they know that this is a fairly impartial organization that is respected worldwide...and so it would look very bad in terms of worldwide opinion to not let them do research in a country...ok... and Amnesty International is aware that its credibility rests on the reliability of its information... Ok the fourth principle... Amnesty International is based on member participation....if you remember the second principle I said that they are concerned with individual prisoners... now this fourth principle is concerned with their membership...ok... it says that it’s the members... the individual members...that are very important... and I’m sure you've heard of “top-heavy” organizations in which all of the power really rests on the top level... well Amnesty International... you might call a “bottom-heavy” organization because really...they key work is done by the members themselves...ok...and as far as Amnesty International is concerned. the individual makes a difference... and so it’s the effort of individuals that make up the organization... and they feel that without the efforts of these individuals...of these individual men and women... little would be accomplished...it’s these people who take the actions...according to Amnesty International...if it were left solely to governments... human rights would not be protected...ok... Ok...The fifth principle is moral suasion...or persuasion...with governments... Amnesty International is not a conflict-seeking organization...rather what they like to do is initiate dialogue...with governments...with the people involved...they’d rather point to a better way...rather than punish the government...ok...so therefore they don’t urge the isolation of a government...or they don’t urge economic sanctions...or any kind of punishment against a country... rather what they want is...they want dialogue...they want feedback...& they want some action... Ok...the sixth point... and the sixth one I think is very, very important for an international organization...and that is that it’s strictly impartial in all of its work...as far as Amnesty International is concerned... wherever men and women are deprived of their freedom...or their right to not be tortured or their right to life..that's where they will go...it doesn’t matter if the country is capitalist ..communist...religious...non-religious...it doesn’t matter ..so as far as they're concerned...there is no other consideration to be taken into account when these rights are being violated...ok...and that helps because that way if you're a Ce © UWSCollege Pty Ltd‘Academic English for Tertiary Studies: EAP 5 communist country you don’t need to feel that this is a capitalist organization...a capitalist country doesn’t feel that it’s a communist organization...very impartial...and in order to keep this impartiality... Amnesty International refuses to compare or rank countries...so they don’t compare countries...they don’t rank countries... and they feel that there’s no use in saying X is better than Y when they‘re talking about human rights... Ok...another important consideration...another important principle is that Amnesty International is fully independent in policy and finances...this is the seventh principle...it has no links...state...political bodies...religious bodies...it has no links to anyone except its membership...and there are certain rules that Amnesty International has adopted to protect its independence..for example...if an Amnesty International member occupies a high post in a government. he or she cannot occupy a high post in Amnesty International...because that would... or could... be a conflict of interest...another example of laws Amnesty International has taken to protect its independence is the fact that no Amnesty International group can work for prisoners in its own country...for example...if I'm in an adoption group in the United States ... I can’t work on behalf of American prisoners... I might work on behalf of prisoners in other countries.. who would work for prisoners in the United States? Amnesty International members from other countries... remember there are members in over 160 countries... in this way...again...there are no conflicts of interest ... ok ... finally...all finances... I'm sorry...this is still part of the seventh principle...all... finances come from subscriptions or contributions of members... Amnesty International doesn’t take any grants from any governments ... and they don't take any gifts that have any kind of strings attached... any conditions... that are inconsistent with the organization’s goals. Ok...and finally...the last one...is that a basic belief of Amnesty International is that all people...have...a responsibility in...terms of human rights...what does this mean? It means that according to Amnesty International...geography...political frontiers...have nothing to do with human rights violations... so we can’t just say “oh...that’s going on in another country... it’s none of my business”..we have to realize that what is going on in other countries... it’s a human rights violatio our business... they believe that human rights are the birthright of every individual and that it’s the duty of every person then to seek the defense of those rights Faas Sot.29 © UWSCollege Pty LtdAcademic English for Tertiary Studies: EAP 5 whenever they‘re violated...ok...and they believe that non-interference is just as bad as acceptance... Now...so far I've spoken very generally about Amnesty International...but what I'd also like to do is give you a specific example of how it works...put a face on it..show it in action...and I'm going to talk about one of its letter writing campaigns. You see it has lots of different types of letter writing campaigns. ..some are on-going... some are urgent...immediate and require prompt attention when torture and death are most likely and this latter one is called it’s urgent action network...so although Amnesty International started its general letter writing campaign in 1961, it didn’t start this urgent action network until a dozen years later...in 1973..and Amnesty likens this urgent action network to an emergency room staff in a hospital...when a call comes in ...members of the network get to action immediately...composing letters...sending email and faxes with moments, hours, days ...so let’s talk about this particular network and how it got started...in fact how its first urgent letter writing campaign began and for this we have to go back to Brazil in the 1970s...you see in 1973 Brazil was ruled by a military regime and detainees were regularly tortured by the days following arrest...there was little time to wait for organised actions since each day, each moment in detention was dangerous...so let’s go back to the evening of Feb 15 1973... a university professor of economics by the name of Luiz Rossi was at home when he was arrested no explanation ... his home was surrounded by police and military with machine guns and he was taken away ...his wife wasn’t able to leave the house to let others know what had happened, but she was able to write a note to a neighbor without the police seeing..and eventfully thankfully...that note reached A.I headquarters in London...and it wasn’t a surprise...the organization had for some time been receiving reports from Brazil... telling of brutal state torture...but this was a specific case that needed immediate attention ... so Amnesty International researchers started investigating...but it took two weeks for the Brazilian military and police to even acknowledge Professor Rossi's detention...meanwhile Amnesty International continued its work...consulting different international organizations... garnering support for a campaign on behalf of the professor... and then 16 days later..it issued its first urgent action appeal... well time passed...one month...two months... it was April and Professor Rossi's wife received a message to report to the police and security headquarters to identify her husband's body...tragedy...it looked like Amnesty International's work hadn't worked...however, when she got pee © UWSCollege Pty LtdAcademic English for Tertiary Studies: EAP 5 there, she saw her husband was alive and was also shown a huge pile of letters from Amnesty International supporters... letter upon letter... she was told by the security headquarters people that her husband must be quite important...more important than they thought... and the stack of letters were the proof... those letters saved his life... eventually Professor Rossi was freed in October 1973... a story with a happy ending... now by the way this letter writing campaign...let me remind you was all done before the internet and email...imagine how much more immediate and effective the process is now...it definitely is...ok... we're running out of time..so you can see with these eight principles that I'd talked about Amnesty International has survived and thrived since the early 1960s to grow toa membership of over 2.2 million and to gain very very high international respect... since it was founded they estimate that more than 44 000 individuals have been freed from prison...protected from torture and secured from death threats due to their work... 44 000... quite an achievement and if you're interested in more information check out their website..it contains extensive links to actions, campaigns and resources ... there's so much that can be done...some by individuals...one letter at a time... pee ae, © UWSCollege Pty Ltd