Nashville Amnesty Chapter Hosts Fourth Annual Human Rights Conference

The Nashville Chapter of Amnesty International is preparing for its fourth annual conference on September 21^st to discuss key human rights issues.

Amnesty International is known worldwide for its ability to help “prisoners of conscience”—people imprisoned for speaking their mind or exercising other basic rights. It does this by encouraging members to write letters which force leaders to confront the abuses perpetrated in their country.  Often this will result in the prisoners’ successful release. 

The Nashville chapter of Amnesty International holds an annual conference where people are invited to hear about various human rights issues throughout the day, including its main area of focus: prisoners of conscience.  This year promises to be a great event, beginning with registration and brunch in the morning and leading into workshops at noon, on Sept 21^st. 

There will be several workshops throughout the day, including a presentation on immigrant rights, poverty and unemployment, prisoners of conscience and Amnesty International’s letter writing campaigns, and alternatives to the death penalty.

“We have a fantastic array of topics and great speakers for each,” says Julie Brinker, community relations officer for the Nashville Church of Scientology and co-organizer of the Nashville chapter of Amnesty International.  Brinker says the chapter is inviting other human rights organizations to set up information booths outside of the main event hall.

This will be the first statewide conference held in Tennessee, with other chapters traveling from Memphis, Chattanooga and Knoxville. A contingency from the regional office in Atlanta, Georgia will help host it.

Amnesty International is a global movement of more than 3 million supporters, members and activists in over 150 countries and territories who campaign to end grave abuses of human rights.  It is independent of any government, political ideology, economic interest or religion, and funded mainly by membership and public donations.  Amnesty International’s vision is for every person to enjoy all the rights enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and other international human rights standards.

The event will be Sept 21^st, 2013 from 10am-3pm with a free brunch and workshops throughout the day. It will be held in the community room at Belmont United Methodist Church. For more information, email [email protected].