March 15, 2010
The struggle against poverty is the top of the priorities, reports Geneviève Garrigos reelected as President
Geneviève Garrigos has just been reelected as President of Amnesty International France (AIF) for a second two-year mandate during the Congress of the organization that was held on 13 and 14 March 2010 in Nantes. The new administration board has also been elected: Francis Perrin (Vice-President), Arnaud Gèze (Treasurer), Joëlle Chamarie, Cécile Coudriou, Xavier Guillauma and Thierry Philipponnat.
Approximately 800 AIF activists met during two days to discuss and adopt the next strategic plan that outlines the French section’s work and operation for the next six years.
The stakes for Amnesty International France are considerable. The organization pursues its action to strengthen the protection of the right to freedom of expression, to advocate the rights of uprooted persons, to protect the persons from violence by state actors and non state actors, and the right not to be subject to any discrimination.
It also deals with strengthening the empowerment of people living in poverty within the framework of its campaign “Let us Demand Dignity” which aims to put an end to human rights abuses that contribute to poverty.
“These objectives are established during a crucial period for Amnesty International as it will commemorate its 50 year anniversary next year”, declared Geneviève Garrigos. “Human rights are universal and indivisible: the struggle against poverty is also a matter of law”. Our campaign “Let us Demand Dignity” strengthens Amnesty International’s work for justice and access to fundamental rights for all “.
A real success. Between the round tables on Russia, death penalty, human rights actors, the “Dogora” concert, the exhibition “Wall of human rights” of the Iraqi artist Abbas Bani Hassan, and the guests from Burkina Faso, Russia, Tunisia, Mauritius and the United States, the Congress gathered nearly 3,000 persons.
The sailor Louis Mauffret inaugurated the sail of his boat for his next race between Les Sables and the Azores.
The artist Paul Bloas represented on the sail an angry, offended man that illustrates the campaign “Let us Demand Dignity”.
Among the highlights of the Congress, the activists were able to hear, directly from Vietnam, the testimony of lawyer Lê Thi Công Nhân, under house arrest since her release from prison on March 6th. Advocating for human rights, she spent three years behind bars. She intervened just before the presentation of another Vietnamese human rights defender, Michel Tran Duc whose association Viet Tan fights for freedom of expression on the internet.