Amnesty International is in Ferguson.
In an unusual move, the global rights organization Amnesty International has dispatched a delegation of observers and organizers to Ferguson, Mo., to provide direct support to community members and to observe the police response to protests. The 13-person delegation, which arrived late last week, was the first of its kind deployed by Amnesty within the United States, the organization said.
Not the first time it’s ever been needed though.
stevegiegerich @stevegiegerich · Aug 15
Jasmine Heiss & Justin Mazzola part of Amnesty International team monitoring situation in #Ferguson #MichaelBrown
The scope of Amnesty’s mission was unprecedented; it was more like what they did during the 2013 protests in Turkey than anything they’ve done in the US before.
Heiss, who returned to Washington on Sunday, said the most striking thing she saw during her time in Ferguson was the “overall lack of transparency” from law enforcement.
“Reflecting on our time there, one of the most troubling things is what we didn’t see,” she said, referring to limits placed by law enforcement officials on access to the protests. “When you see this kind of restricting of people protesting … it seems clear that the authorities are using the ill will of some to undermine the rest.”
Well let’s face it: the US is more like Turkey than it is like the secular liberal democracies of the world.
I’ve known great officers and some not so great ones over the years. Looking at some of the images coming out of Ferguson Mo, I can’t help but think that some of the local PD should be employed elsewhere.
http://pictoraltheology.blogspot.com/2014/08/protect-and-serve.html
I don’t know how reliable this source is, but it appears that Ferguson police have ordered Amnesty International observers to leave.
Amnesty on Twitter reports the Ferguson police ordered everyone to leave the area, AI included.
Nothing says transparency like forcing out an internationally respected human rights organization.