The UN gave Ahmad Abuznaid a scholarship to deliver the document to them in person when the committee will address US compliance with international standards of justice that were ratified by the US Senate in 1992. The Dream Defenders, the NAACP, and Community Justice Project of Florida Legal Services collaborated on the Written Statement on Stand Your Ground Laws. The Dream Defenders have been fierce advocates for Marissa Alexander, who won her appeal for a new trial this week. See Adam B's diary for the low down on why the Appeals judge vacated the prior verdict, which that jury had reached in just 12 minutes, Justice in Florida: Marissa Alexander gets a new trial. And the Root named Phillip Agnew, head of the Dream Defenders, to their list of the top 100 most influential people, at No. 45.
Ahmad Abuznaid, Legal Policy Director for the Dream Defenders
“People may have the image of the United States of being completely just and equal,” said Ahmad Abuznaid, Legal Policy Director for the Dream Defenders who participated in writing the report. ...Continue reading below the fold Dream Defenders Stand Their Ground At United Nations
From Kossack Nancy Jones
Facebook:
"The news is MUCH better. The scholarship was for Geneva! "Beyond excited that our Legal & Policy Director, Ahmad Abuznaid, has been granted a scholarship to present our Stand Your Ground report to the United Nations in Geneva next month, as part of the UN's review of the United States' commitment to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR)."Ahmad Abuznaid, has been granted a scholarship to Geneva!!!!!
"Shamile Louis, an executive board member of the University of Florida Dream Defenders, said at the local level, the report demonstrates the work being done by motivated young adults is meaningful work, bringing attention to their cause in Gainesville and across the state."
"Abuznaid said he hopes the statistics in the report will bring attention to the situation of discrimination in America." Join us below the fold for Dream Defenders Stand Their Ground At United Nations, WUFT NEWS on September 25th, 2013
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Phillip Agnew, Executive Director, Dream Defenders
From Kerry Washington to Benjamin Todd Jealous, these folks shaped our year, and we know they'll shape the future...Among them: Martin family attorney Benjamin Crump (No. 11), who continued to help define the national narrative about racial profiling. New to the list this year is Phillip Agnew (No. 45), the brave young activist at the head of the Dream Defenders' push for legislative change in the wake of the tragedy. ...Continue reading 2013's Top Black Influencers
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Join us below the fold to celebrate these extraordinary activists.
The U.N. Human Rights Committee’s [sic] placed “stand your ground” on the list of issues it wishes the United States to respond to.
The U.S. will be under review on Oct. 18. as one of the signatories of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights treaty. The U.S. signed the treaty in 1976 along with 73 other countries to ensure individual freedoms and citizen equality. The countries are subjected to periodic review by the U.N. Human Rights Committee to assure compliance with the treaty.
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"Shamile Louis, an executive board member of the University of Florida Dream Defenders, said at the local level, the report demonstrates the work being done by motivated young adults is meaningful work, bringing attention to their cause in Gainesville and across the state."
...Continue reading Dream Defenders Stand Their Ground At United Nations
Shamile Louis, Executive Board member of the University of Florida Dream Defenders
Kossack Nancy Jones notes that "Shamile [Louis] is incredibly good at hearing what seems like disagreement and finding where the common ground is."
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Ahmad Abuznaid, 28-yr-old, Legal and Policy Director, The Dream Defenders
Ahmad Abuznaid, Legal Policy Director, after learning he won a scholarship to present the Dream Defenders Report on Stand your Ground Laws at the 109thSession of the United Nations Human Rights Committee, 13-31 October 2013 in Geneva, Switzerland.
By Chabeli Herrera for WUFT NEWS on September 25th, 2013
“People may have the image of the United States of being completely just and equal,” said Ahmad Abuznaid, Legal Policy Director for the Dream Defenders who participated in writing the report. “We are telling a different story. We are telling the story of the work that still needs to be done in the United States of America, the story of the disproportionate effects on minority communities and ‘stand your ground’ is one of those issues.”
Abuznaid said he hopes the statistics in the report will bring attention to the situation of discrimination in America.
“We’d like to see the international community, the United Nations, recognize this and do some outreach to our government and let them know that the world is watching and everything isn’t peachy and fuzzy in the U.S.,” he said.
...Continue reading Dream Defenders Stand Their Ground At United Nations
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United States’ Compliance with the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights
Written Statement on Stand Your Ground Laws
Submitted by Dream Defenders, Community Justice Project of Florida Legal Services, Inc. and the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People
109th Session of the United Nations Human Rights Committee
13-31 October 2013
VI. Recommended Questions
We recommend that the Committee pose the following questions to the U.S.:
1. How much federal funding goes to local law enforcement in states with “Stand Your Ground” laws and to what extent has the federal government examined the ways in which its funding contributes to a racially discriminatory prosecutorial apparatus that confers immunity on individuals who commit homicide?
2. Given the data that shows SYG laws have been applied in a racially discriminatory manner, what will the federal government do to protect racial minorities from being targeted without recourse?
3. What can the federal government do in terms of strengthening gun laws to ensure that SYG laws do not continue to increase the level of gun violence and homicides?
...Continue reading Written Statement on Stand Your Ground Laws
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The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) is a multilateral treaty adopted by the United Nations General Assembly on 16 December 1966, and in force from 23 March 1976. It commits its parties to respect the civil and political rights of individuals, including the right to life, freedom of religion, freedom of speech, freedom of assembly, electoral rights and rights to due process and a fair trial. As of May 2013, the Covenant had 74 signatories and 167 parties.[1] ...Continue reading International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights
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Support the Dream Defenders - A Daily Kos Group
- The Dream Defenders are fighting for justice in Florida. Their mission is to enact Trayvon's Law in Florida, which would repeal the Stand Your Ground law, ban racial profiling, and end the school-to-prison pipeline.
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