Progress Report 4

Project Report 1 Members: Emily Metallic, Marjorie Richards, Emma Venard, Lori Probasco, Victoria Tudor, Sam Alig,  Solai Meyappan
Topic: Impact of corporate environmental destruction on indigenous societies through
·      Extracting industries
·      Water Industries/Land Grabs
Plan: We will show specific case studies and the impact that the environmental destruction has had on indigenous societies. Also showing why people should care about this issue and the impact these corporations are having on people that are unable to defend themselves.
Resources: Newspaper articles, JSTOR, Academic Articles, Documentaries, YouTube Videos, Oxfam materials, Organizations/Corporation Websites.
What aspects of the environment are being destroyed by corporations?
What are the effects of environmental destruction?
What is the government role in the environmental destruction?
What are specific case studies/examples of environmental destruction in indigenous societies?
What are some possible solutions?
How are the corporations defending/covering up their actions?         
What are the roles of individual citizens (globally and in indigenous societies)?
Why do we need to change the current situation?
Task 1: Emma Venard
            Roles of government/citizens
Task 2: Lori Probasco
            Case Study: Deforestation/Agriculture
Task 3: Victoria Tudor
            Case Study: Extracting Industries (Land Grabs?)
Task 4: Emily Metallic
            Overarching information: Basic info on a global level; effects, definition, etc.
Task 5: Sam Alig
            Case Study: Water Industries
Task 6: Marjorie Richards
            Proposed Solutions, organizations working to stop environmental destruction
Task 7: Solai Meyappan
            Roles of corporations: PR campaigns, covering up, etc.
Project Report 2
Our group has made a lot of progress by individual looking up case studies that have to do with our topic. We also have some people working on general information. Our next step is to start putting together slides and then combining them into a cohesive power point.
Sources: 
Gabriel Elizondo and Maria Elena Romero. “Brazil Tribes Occupy Contentious Dam Site.”        30 June, 2012. Web. 1 October, 2012          http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/features/2012/06/201263012941975547.html
    http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/features/2012/06/201263012941975547.html
Oloo,Janak. "Battle over Yala Swamp." Reject. no. 50 (2011): 1, 5
Soest, Landon. "Good Fortune." Transient Pictures. 2009. DVD
        
Corporate Environmental Destruction
I204
Progress Report #3
Solai Meyappan
For this portion of our project I will be discussing Roles of Corporations and the impact they leave on Environmental Destruction.  Unfortunately corporations have their priority set on maximum revenue, and they tend to put environmental concerns on the backburner.  They leave a huge impact on Deforestation, Agriculture, and Resources. Corporations are supposed to follow the Free Prior Informed Consent when it comes to Environmental Destruction, but they tend to disregard the situation.  If corporations do not start to change their views on running a successful company, then rapidly we will see a decline in our Environment.    
Emma Venard
My contribution is on the role of governments and individuals in corporate environmental degradation. I have done research on the actions governments have taken in either fighting or encouraging such corporate actions. Governments should be the strongest protectors of the land but this is not always the case. I have researched various ways they react to corporate environmental destruction. I will be further examining the influence of individuals on extractive industries and what tools they used to combat it, whether through legal venues or illegal actions.
Victoria Tudor
Case Study of the effects of Extraction Industries:
La Oroya, Peru is one of the most polluted place in the world due to the mining and processing of heavy metals. The emissions and wastes from the plant expose the residents to toxic lead, copper, zinc, and sulfur dioxide. Studies have shown the lead content in children of the town are 3 times higher than the WHO safety limit. Studies have also shown lead, arsenic, and cadmium soil contamination.
            The plant is owned by the Doe Run Company, an affiliate of Renco Group, whose CEO is the American billionaire Ira Rennert. Initially, Doe Run bought the plant for an extremely low cost on the condition that they would improve the living conditions in the town. Although Doe Run claims that emissions have reduced, conditions have not measurably improved, and there are no plans to cleanup the preexisting toxicity.
This video shows images of the situation:
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gY6WXa9aKrM
Lori Probasco
I have watched a documentary and read several articles on the Yala Swamp in Kenya. A piece of land in this swamp has been taken over by Dominion Farms. Dominion Farms sees itself as doing something good for the people by bringing in new technology and what they project will be a steep increase in the development in this area. However, the local people say that the things this group is doing is changing the whole landscape, and affecting their careers. Dominion Farms responds by saying that the people can adapt, and take on new careers, such as fishing, instead of raising animals. I have good information on what the local political group is doing, what human rights groups are doing, and what the corporation is doing, so that all sides of the matter are presented to the class. I just started putting together some slides for our collective powerpoint.
Sam Alig
What I have contributed to my action campaign group is I have found a case study of an example of indigenous people that are currently fighting a battle for their rights and the rights to protect their land. The study is on indigenous tribes in Brazil that are going to be displaced if the 3^rd worlds largest dam will be built. If construction continues, which it currently is, 25,000 people will lose their homes and way of life. I have also found an article pertaining to what they are currently doing to try and fight for their rights.
Marjorie Richards
I have identified organizations that are concerned with extractive industries and human rights violations that pertain to the environment. One of the leading organizations is Oxfam. A few of the major issues about which Oxfam is concerned is natural resources, land, and agriculture in developing countries. Their leading platform on the issues is that they “empower farmers, fishers, and others to defend their right to life-sustaining resources.” Oxfam lobbies for rural communities and offers hands on help. Another important organization is Friends of the Earth International. They “campaign on today’s most urgent environmental and social issue. [They] challenge the current model of economic and corporate globalization, and promote solution that will help to create environmentally sustainable and socially just societies.” Friends of the Earth International raises awareness about human rights violations concerning land, agriculture and extractive industries while also leading protests and lobbying for the rights of rural communities. Both of these organizations try to help the communities be heard and inform the communities of their rights. Oxfam and Friends of the Earth International are two main nonprofit organizations that deal with human rights violations and the environment. When I have been informed of the individual case studies, I will also add NGOs that worked primarily with those incidents and add them to the presentation.

http://www.oxfam.org/en/about/issues/natural-resources
http://www.foei.org/en/what-we-do
Emily Metallic
 I am assigned to the general information segment of the presentation. Essentially, I am responsible for introducing the presentation and topic to the class. Because this is a broad and relatively cursory assignment, I will also compile the presentation and take on a sort of project manager role. So far I have made my portion of the presentation, beginning with laying out the organization of the presentation in the following order: introduction; case studies; roles of corporations, governments and individuals; and solutions. In the introduction section, I have defined the terms: corporation, environmental destruction and indigenous communities. I also explain why the topic is important. I found a video that links consumer dollars with government corruption and  community benefits. I am looking for better videos and graphics to accompany my portion of the presentation. Below are the links I've used with brief annotations.
http://www.fwrgroup.com.au/environmental-degradation.html - definition of environmental destruction
http://www.duhaime.org/LegalDictionary/C/Corporation.aspx - definition of corporation
http://www.un.org/esa/socdev/unpfii/workshop_data_background.doc - definition of indigenous people

• most cited descriptions of the concept of the indigenous was given by Jose R. Martinez Cobo, the Special Rapporteur of the Sub-Commission on Prevention of Discrimination and Protection of Minorities, in his famous Study on the Problem of Discrimination against Indigenous Populations

• http://www.globaled.org/curriculum/indigenous.html - indigenous peoples facts

Project Report 4

OUTLINE

I. Intro

• Emily introduces topic
• Talks about key terms and definitions
• Solai gives overview of corporations
• Discusses bad and good corporations

II. Case Study 1

• Lori discusses Yala swamp
• Gives corporation point of view
• Shows video
• Gives locals point of view
• Show video

III. Case Study 2

• Sam gives overview of the case and role of the government
• Shows video

IV. Case Study 3

• Victoria gives overview of case
• Solai gives the corporations role presentation
• Emma shows the government's role

V. Solutions

• Maggie discusses Oxfam
• Shows and discusses petitions
• Shirts in exchange for signatures

Sources: 

Gabriel Elizondo and Maria Elena Romero. “Brazil Tribes Occupy Contentious Dam Site.”        30 June, 2012. Web. 1 October, 2012          http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/features/2012/06/201263012941975547.html

Geman, Ben. " Oxfam jumps into oil payments disclosure lawsuit - The Hill's E2-Wire." The Hill. N.p., 12 Oct. 1924. Web. 1 Dec. 2012. <http://thehill.com/blogs/e2-wire/e2-wire/263951--oxfam-jumps-into-oil-payments-disclosure-lawsuit>.

"Indigenous Communities and Industrial Corporations." Indigenous People, Indigenous Voices. United       Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues, n.d. Web. 15 Oct. 2012. <http://www.un.org/en/events/indigenousday/pdf/Indigenous_Industry_Eng.pdf>.

"Indigenous Peoples." Human Rights and Business Dilemmas. United Nations Global Compact, n.d. Web. 15 Oct. 2012. <http://human-rights.unglobalcompact.org/dilemmas/indigenous-peoples/>.

"Indigenous Peoples and the Environment." United Nations Human Rights. Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, n.d. Web. 16 Oct. 2012. <http://www.ohchr.org/Documents/Publications/GuideIPleaflet10en.pdf>.

Oloo,Janak. "Battle over Yala Swamp." Reject. no. 50 (2011): 1, 5

"Oxfam America: Working together to end poverty and injustice." Oxfam America. Oxfam, n.d. Web. 1 Dec. 2012. <http://www.oxfamamerica.org>.

Richardson, Benjamin J. "Protecting Indigenous Peoples through Socially Responsible Investment." Indigenous Law Journal, 2007. Web. 16 Oct. 2012. <http://cmsdata.iucn.org/downloads/cel10_richardson_2.pdf>.

Soest, Landon. "Good Fortune." Transient Pictures. 2009. DVD 

Progress Report #4

Progress Report #1: Group # 6; Julia Mandehr, Grace Robinson, Kate Kenny, Dominique Bryant, Lilly Judge, Katie Hansen and Mick Pence; Guantanamo Bay and the War on Terror

Our topic focuses specifically on Guantanamo Bay Prison and the events that transpired there with relation to torture and the war on terror. We chose to focus on Guantanamo bay because it is one of the best-known examples of a challenge of human rights. Our plan for developing an action campaign is to spread awareness to the class, and try to gain support to have Guantanamo bay more heavily regulated, and ultimately shut down. We plan on asking the class to get together into discussion groups to go around and share what they really know about Guantanamo bay, and the torture that has gone on within its walls. It is our hope to really engage the class in our presentation and to educate them enough to hopefully have them join our campaign to shut Guantanamo down. We will use examples from the war on terror itself to show how torture has really affected people for the rest of their lives, and how experiencing it within these prison walls is detrimental to ones physical and mental health. There aren’t many specific accounts shared from prisoners within Guantanamo bay because the government has done a lot to keep it quiet. However, there are many stories told from war on terror victims that are similar to those that prisoners exposed to.

The questions we are going to try to answer are:

·      Real examples from prisoners and their stories

·      What are the specific violations of human rights

·      What steps need to be taken to shut it down

·      What is the history of Guantanamo bay

·      Why hasn’t it been shut down yet

·      What are the requirements for being sent to Guantanamo bay

We plan on using our class articles, library books, movie clips and internet sources to find sufficient information to back-up our arguments and build an affective campaign. We are going split up into pairs to research and focus on the different aspects of our presentation, and then combine all of our findings together to form one presentation.  Our topics are the History, the torture techniques and specific accounts of torture, and the steps necessary to close Guantanamo down.

The History: Dominique & Mick

Torture techniques: Grace & Julia

Steps to shut down: Lilly, Kate & Katie

Progress Report #2: Group # 6; Julia Mandehr, Grace Robinson, Kate Kenny, Dominique Bryant, Lilly Judge, Katie Hansen and Mick Pence; Guantanamo Bay and the War on Terror

So far our group has deepened our understanding of Guantanamo through our research. We have focused finding credible sources for our research, and weeding out all of the sources that have no proof or evidence of their claims. We have found a lot of great popular media sources like youtube videos. We also plan to have a group screening of Sicko (directed by Michael Moore) which we will follow up with a discussion. We are aiming to find as many current sources as possible to talk about the present-tense state of Guantanamo Bay. We believe that by putting the issues of Guantanamo Bay in a current context it will be presented as a more serious and relevant issue.  This will hopefully motivate the students to take action in this issue that we have seen begin and evolve within our own lifetimes.

Our presentation format has changed slightly since progress report #1. Instead of only advocating the closing of Guantanamo we are now going to present both sides of the argument and urge students to choose whichever side they support to get involved. Since Guantanamo is such a controversial issue we want to inform our class about both sides of the argument, instead of presenting a biased perspective. We believe this will be a more effective strategy in getting students involved because all opinions about the topic will be represented so students will have the option to get involved for whichever position they take on the issue.

               

Here are some more specific details about the progress of each of our members:

Grace & Julia have an extensive list of torture tactics and the effects they have on both the guards and prisoners of Guantanamo Bay.

Dominique & Mick are continuing research on the history of Guantanamo Bay.

Lilly & Kate are working to research the perspective of those who advocate closing Guantanamo Bay while also investigating different plans to make this happen.

Katie is researching the opposite perspective of keeping Guantanamo open and the reasons why many people believe that the procedures carried out at Guantanamo are justified.

In addition to the sources we have already acquired we plan to explore more media sources (particularly video clips) to determine the best sources to use in our presentation. We also want to find a few more articles to strengthen our framework and have a more detailed understanding of the issues surrounding Guantanamo Bay. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Bellinger, John. Kadidal, Shayana, et al. Should Guantanamo Bay be closed? http://www.cfr.org/human-rights/should-guantanamo-bay-closed/p21247

Cratty, Carol. (2009) Sept. 11 families: Keep Guantanamo Bay Open. CNN Politics. http://articles.cnn.com/2009-07-17/politics/gitmo.families_1_guantanamo-detainees-military-commissions-terror-trials?_s=PM:POLITICS

Inside Guantanamo Bay (National Geographic Documentary) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zY7UOil5W64&feature=fvwrel

Mazetti, Mark. (2009) Interrogation memos detail harsh tactics by CIA. New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/17/us/politics/17detain.html

Morgan, Melanie. (2008) Obama should keep GITMO open. http://wwwwakeupamericans-spree.blogspot.com/2008/12/obama-should-keep-gitmo-open.html#.UGjm6a6MKSo

Priest, Dana. Graham, Bradley. (2004) Guantanamo List Details Approved Interrogation Methods. Washington Post. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A29742-2004Jun9.html

Q&A Closing Guantanamo (2010) http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-11623753

Rogan, Tom. (2012) Why Guantanamo Bay should remain open. http://dailycaller.com/2012/09/24/why-guantanamo-bay-should-remain-open/

Savage, Charlie. (2012) Will the Election Decide what is considered Torture? New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/28/us/politics/election-will-decide-future-of-interrogation-methods-for-terrorism-suspects.html?_r=0

Senate Judiciary Committee with Alberto Gonzalez. (2007) http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=vZFqjoVLjdQ

Torture Techniques used in Guantanamo. http://thejusticecampaign.org/?page_id=273

Welcome to Guantanamo Bay: A Rare Inside Look. http://www.youtube.com/watch?NR=1&feature=endscreen&v=sLqKTh80q0o

Progress Report #3 Group # 6; Julia Mandehr, Grace Robinson, Kate Kenny, Dominique Bryant, Lilly Judge, Katie Hansen and Mick Pence; Guantanamo Bay and the War on Terror

Dominique Bryant:

History/Timeline

            Guantanamo Bay’s history has been short lived.  Starting January 11, 2002, when 20 Afghan prisoners marked the start of the detainee operation. Here are some important dates that show the progress of the detention camp.  It started off with 20 detainees and has reached at least 779 detainees.

·      May 9, 2003: Guantanamo hits its peak population of 680. (All told, the camp has processed 779 detainees, but 680 is the largest number of detainees there at one time.) 

·      October 9, 2003: The Red Cross issues a public statement noting "deterioration in the psychological health of a large number of detainees." 

·      January 14, 2009:  A public statement saying that detainee was tortured is released for the first time by a senior Bush administration official responsible for reviewing practices at Guantanamo Bay. The statement said that the treatment of a Saudi national (Mohammed al-Qahtani) who allegedly planned to participate in the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, met the legal definition of torture. 

·      December 22, 2010: Obama administration readies indefinite detention order for Guantanamo detainees.

Katie Hansen:

Why Guantanamo Bay Should Remain OPEN

In this portion of the presentation, I will delve into the opposition points that are made in favor of keeping Guantanamo Bay open. This section will allow class members to know what the pros and cons are in this discussion and to understand the perspectives on both ends of the spectrum. To supplement the reasons, a YouTube video will be shown that features a debate between the Senate Judiciary Committee as to the reasons why Guantanamo Bay should remain active. A clip from the documentary, Sicko, may also be shown to supplement this section. The ‘pro’ reasons that will be covered, but are not limited to, are the following:

·      Legal Constraints of bringing detainees within US borders

·      Risk of bringing detainees closer to American citizens

·      Risk of returning detainees back to their respective countries, differing legal standards that emerge

·      Risk of detainees being freed and ‘slipping through the cracks’

·      Backlash of US citizens, especially those personally affected by 9/11

·      False accusations of conditions at Gitmo: health care, sanitary conditions, standard of nutrition/diet, opportunities for education/exercise

·      Risk  that accusations are based on the viewpoint of the most extreme offenders and may have inaccurate accounts

Katherine Kenny:

I have been researching current/recent legislature relating to Guantanamo Bay as well as what the attempts Obama has made to close Guantanamo. A brief summary of what I have found is that there are still many prisoners remaining in Guantanamo Bay and what the president is trying to do is give some of them trials in the U.S., detain some that are still deemed to dangerous,and the remaining prisoners should be transferred to other countries. I have also been reading articles relating to the different effects this upcoming election could have on America's torture policy (which would directly effect policy at Guantanamo). Both candidates hold very different views on what is and what is not considered torture. Obama has attempted to close Guantanamo and has ordered to create a federal facility to receive prisoners in Illinois, but due to bipartisan opposition Congress has not approved funding for this facility. Some advancements have been made for the treatment of the prisoners such as more civilian trials, release of some prisoners, and a new restricted list of interrogation techniques. I plan to continue researching these topics as well as finding more information about the steps needed to close Guantanamo Bay. I am working on a brochure as well to pass out to each student with resources for how they can get involved as well as why they should care about the issue. I am also keeping a word document to keep track of any connections I make between the readings and our topic so that we can have a section for our presentation of how Guantanamo relates to the readings. 

Grace Robinson and Julia Mandehr:

Guards/Interrogators

Many of the interrogators that work at Guantanamo Bay were trained at SERE, which stands for Survival, Evasion, Resistance, Escape.  This program was designed to help military personnel who were captured as Prisoners of war to withstand torture, and now these are the people that are interrogating the prisoners (detainees) to get the information they want to hear.

The guards that work at Guantanamo Bay wear masks when they go into the detainees’ cells.  They wear these masks because the detainees spit at them or throw their food into the guards face.  Also, the detainees act vulgarly towards the guards and yell profanity at them, especially the female guards.  Many of the detainees will not look into the guards’ eyes if she is female because it goes against their culture.

Camps

The higher up the number that the camp is classified as, the higher security there is and less freedom for the detainees.  Camp 4 detainees are able to do their own laundry and play with soccer balls because these are the most cooperative detainees. Camp 5 and Camp 6 have less freedom and the detainees are not allowed to leave their cells.  These are detainees that have misbehaved or broken the rules of Guantanamo Bay.  The interrogation room is called the reservation room to make it sound more appealing.  “Prison is about punishment and rehabilitation and we do neither one here”—that is why the people are referred to as detainees and not prisoners.

Detainees

The Detainees live in a 2.5-meter by 3.5-meter cell and some have been there for as many as seven years.  They are fed cold or unpalatable food, sleep in reverse sleep patterns and are exposed to extreme temperatures.  Bush said that Guantanamo prisoners do not deserve Prisoner of War status or privileges, however, the military had to treat them in accordance with the Geneva Convention agreement.

Torture

Torture techniques used at Guantanamo were first realized when Abu Ghraib was shut down and a list of torture techniques was written on the wall by the US Army Captain.  It had been said that these same techniques were being used a Guantanamo so people’s concerns were increased.  There is an approved list of 24 torture techniques that happen in Guantanamo Bay; however, the pentagon will not release this list to the public.  From different sources, it has become clear that a few of the approved techniques include: 

direct questioning, incentive/removal of incentive, emotional love/hate, fear up/mild, fear up/harsh, reduced fear, pride and ego up and down, futility, “We Know All”, establish your identity, repetition, file and dossier, good cop/bad cop, rapid fire and silence.

It is also known that harsher techniques were approved to be used for Mohamed Al Qahtani because he was believed to be the planned 20^th hijacker on 9/11.  It was admitted that he was water boarded.

Lilly Judge:

From my research, I’ve found that there has been much effort on the part of the US government to close Guantanamo Bay since it’s inception. However it has been hampered by difficulties in assessing the threat posed by individual detainees as well as the diplomacy it requires in the necessity for human rights agreements and security measure enforcement by other countries. Below is an outline of “Leaving Guantanamo”, a report by the House Armed Services Committee in 2012.

1. Mechanisms to reduce the Guantanamo population were first contemplated when the facility was established in 2002. However, procedures to accomplish this took about eight months to finalize, and were spurred by persistent concerns that some detainees should not be held.

·      Difficult to classify detainees’ threat levels

·      Within US govt (state dept and dept of defense) there was disagreement on which were threats and how much of a threat they were

2. After the first review process began, political and diplomatic pressures to reduce the Guantanamo population arose, resulting in releases and transfers.

·      Transfer to be prosecuted in own countries or plain released

·      Treated worse in other countries than at Guantanamo

·      External pressure especially from foreign nations to transfer and release

·      Thought criticisms against Guantanamo could be addressed by reducing population

·      Had to do with diplomacy – nations threatening to not cooperate with American goals abroad

3. Pressure to reduce the Guantanamo population accelerated in the second bush term, before reengagement dangers became fully apparent.

·      Released/transferred detainees are unlawful enemy combatants being moved to other countries and subjected to security measures appropriate for their threat level

·      Administrative Review Boards

·      Britain pushing for closing

·      Needed to assess humane treatment possibilities and make security agreements

4. While the GTMO transfer and release important instituted by the Obama administration differed in some important respects from what preceded it, there are sufficient continuities so that the threat of reengagement may not be lessened in the long term.

·      In sum, the administration stipulated to the committee that improved interagency cooperation, more collaborative decision-making, and the availability of a wider body of intelligence information is what distinguished the EOTF from the ARB mechanism

Progress Report #4: Group # 6; Julia Mandehr, Grace Robinson, Kate Kenny, Dominique Bryant, Lilly Judge, Katie Hansen and Mick Pence; Guantanamo Bay and the War on Terror

Presentation Outline

Intro

·                        -   All members will introduce themselves

·                         - Poll: Mick

·                         -Play video clip

History

·                        -Mick presents history overview

·                        -Dominique presents more detailed explanation of Guantanamo

·                       -Quiz over history section

Torture Techniques

·                      - Presented by Julia and Grace

·                     -  Video clips

·                      - Discuss

o   Guards

o   techniques

o   prisoner story

o    false confessions

Should we close Guantanamo?

·                            -Katie presents keeping Guantanamo closed

o   Risk, legal constraints, family’s perspective

o   Sicko clip

·                              -Lilly presents closing Guantanamo

·                               - Kate presents issues faced in closing Guantanamo

o   Actions to close

o   Ways to get involved –brochure

Closing: Poll presented by Kate

Multimedia used: video clips (national geographic and Sicko) and brochure with information for involvement

Finalized Bibliography

Brinkerhoff, Noel. Half of Prisoners Still Held at Guantánamo Have Actually been Cleared for Release June 12 2012http://www.allgov.com/news/us-and-the-world/half-of-prisoners-still-held-at-guant%C3%A1namo-have-actually-been-cleared-for-release?news=844612

Bellinger, John. Kadidal, Shayana, et al. Should Guantanamo Bay be closed? http://www.cfr.org/human-rights/should-guantanamo-bay-closed/p21247

Cratty, Carol. (2009) Sept. 11 families: Keep Guantanamo Bay Open. CNN Politics. http://articles.cnn.com/2009-07-17/politics/gitmo.families_1_guantanamo-detainees-military-commissions-terror-trials?_s=PM:POLITICS

"Guantanamo Bay's Peculiar History." PBS. PBS, 28 July 2006. Web. 19 Nov. 2012. <http://www.pbs.org/now/shows/220/guantanamo-bay-history.html>.

"Guantanamo Bay Timeline." (washingtonpost.com). N.p., n.d. Web. 15 Nov. 2012. <http://projects.washingtonpost.com/guantanamo/timeline/>.

Head, Tom. "Torture and False Confessions." About.com Civil Liberties. N.p., 16 Mar. 2007. Web. 13 Nov. 2012. <http://civilliberty.about.com/b/2007/03/16/torture-and-false-confessions.htm

Inside Guantanamo Bay (National Geographic Documentary) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zY7UOil5W64&feature=fvwrel

Kohl, Herb & Gonzales, Alberto. Senate Judiciary Committee with Alberto Gonzales - 7/24/07 Pt 8. Time: 0:00 - 3:12. Web

Mahaney, Erin. "Guantanamo Bay: Historic Naval Base Meets Suburban America." About.com Geography. N.p., 22 Oct. 2010. Web. 14 Nov. 2012. <http://geography.about.com/od/croatiamaps/a/Guantanamo-Bay.htm>.

Mazetti, Mark. (2009) Interrogation memos detail harsh tactics by CIA. New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/17/us/politics/17detain.html

Morgan, Melanie. (2008) Obama should keep GITMO open. http://wwwwakeupamericans-spree.blogspot.com/2008/12/obama-should-keep-gitmo-open.html#.UGjm6a6MKSo

Murphy, M. E. "Chapter 1: Under the Spanish Flag." The History of Guantanamo Bay: 1494-1964. Vol. 1. N.p.: U.S. Navy, 1953. N. pag. Naval Station Guantanamo Bay. U.S. Navy. Web. 18 Oct. 2012. <http://www.cnic.navy.mil/guantanamo/About/History/GuantanamoBayHistoryMurphy/Volume1/Chapter1/index.htm>.

Pike, John. "Guantanamo Bay "GITMO"" Guantanamo Bay [GTMO] "GITMO" Global Security, 7 May 2011. Web. 19 Nov. 2012. <http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/facility/guantanamo-bay.htm>.

Priest, Dana. Graham, Bradley. (2004) Guantanamo List Details Approved Interrogation Methods. Washington Post. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A29742-2004Jun9.html

"Q&A: Guantanamo Detentions." BBC News. BBC, 05 May 2012. Web. 15 Nov. 2012. <http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-12966676>.

Q&A Closing Guantanamo (2010) http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-11623753

Rogan, Tom. (2012) Why Guantanamo Bay should remain open. http://dailycaller.com/2012/09/24/why-guantanamo-bay-should-remain-open/

Savage, Charlie. (2012) Will the Election Decide what is considered Torture? New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/28/us/politics/election-will-decide-future-of-interrogation-methods-for-terrorism-suspects.html?_r=0

Sicko. Dir. Michael Moore. The Weinstein Company, 2007. DVD.

Sierra, J. A. "Notes on Guantánamo Bay." Historical Look at Guantanamo. N.p., 2008. Web. 19 Nov. 2012. <http://www.historyofcuba.com/history/funfacts/guantan.htm>

Senate Judiciary Committee with Alberto Gonzalez. (2007) http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=vZFqjoVLjdQ

Torture Techniques used in Guantanamo. http://thejusticecampaign.org/?page_id=273

Welcome to Guantanamo Bay: A Rare Inside Look. http://www.youtube.com/watch?NR=1&feature=endscreen&v=sLqKTh80q0o

Question for Sandhya

In the article, it says that women in India will have to fight for change in a different way than Americans or Europeans due to the caste system. How do the protests and social movement for human rights differ from Western social movements?

Sandhya Question

In India, what distinguishes the dalit women from those of the upper-middle class? Is there anything that can be done legally in order to give these women the same freedoms as their "superior" counterparts? What can be done in the western world in order to help the oppressed women in countries half way around the world?

Sandhya Question

What are some difficulties standing in the way of women's social movements in India and other Eastern countries that don't/didn't pertain to women's social movements in the West? How difficult is it to catalyze these women into action after centuries of degradation?

Question for Sandhya!

Sandhya, in what ways do you think western feminists can become allies for feminists in India? Some argue that western feminists feel that it is their responsibiliy to "save" women in the east without fully understanding that there are cultural differences and that 'freedom' and 'rights' aren't always defined in the same ways - what do you think it is important for western feminists to understand before trying to support women in rural parts of India?

Progress Report #4

Refugees and Internally Displaced Persons

Zoe Lewis, Sandhya Sridhar, Cloe Pippin, Austin Rose

Progress Report #1

Group: Refugees and Internationally Displaced Persons; Sandhya Sridhar, Cloe Pippin, Zoe Lewis, Austin Rose

Topic: Refugees in the Israeli-Palestinian context

Plan: Our action campaign aims to raise awareness of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict with respect to its impact upon Palestinian civilians and its implications for the global community. Not only will raising awareness increase cultural sensitivity, it will also recognize the needs of those who actually live through the now over-diplomacized situation, to coin a more appropriate term.

Questions:

What is the difference between refugees want and what their governments want?

What resources do refugees have?

What kind of physical and psychological hardships do refugees most commonly face?

Why is there such a large refugee population?

What can we as students, communities, or first-world nations do to address this international problem?

What is the historical background for the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in particular, and why is the situation so stagnant?

Resources:

Arutz Sheva: Israel National News

Palestine News Network (PNN)

EBSCO - peer-reviewed journals

United Nations High Commissioner for Refugee website

Israel/Palestine documentaries

Partisan online videos

Tasks (in order of presentation) and Responsibilities:

1. Intro video: What do people at IU Bloomington know about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict?

Austin Rose will film approximately 1.5 minutes' worth of students' responses to the question, "What do you think about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict?" and appropriate follow-up questions. He will then create a 2-minute introduction video that we will play at the beginning of our presentation to introduce our topic, plan, and questions to answer.

2. History/Background prezi: What caused the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and what caused such a large refugee population?

Christopher Lang will create an approximately 8-minute prezi detailing the highlights of the conflict and the reason why a refugee population exists.

3. Professor Presentation - current political situation: From a governmental perspective, what is the current Israeli-Palestinian situation? Where are we at with respect to peace talks, and why have they stagnated?

Sandhya Sridhar will coordinate and introduce an IU Professor who is an expert on the current Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and this professor will come speak to our class for about 15 minutes about the different governments' views on the conflict. She will also speak about the most important current statistics that are relevant to this professor's discussion after the professor's talk is over.

4. Refugee Presentation - personal interview of a refugee: What is it like to be a refugee? What resources are available? What do refugees seek? What kind of psychological and physical hardships do refugees most commonly face?

Sandhya Sridhar will interview a refugee from Africa who currently lives in Indianapolis about what it was like to be a refugee who sought asylum in multiple places. Excerpts from this recorded interview will be played after the professor finishes speaking in class. This section of our presentation will last approximately 10 minutes.

5. Volunteer experiences with Refugees - personal transcript: What is it like to work with refugees? What is the difference between what is available and what refugees seek? What situations were the easiest or most difficult to address, and what actions or words from volunteers seemed to have the most impact?

Grace Evans will interview a person who has had personal experience volunteering with refugees via email, and she will read his responses out loud in class. This transcript reading will last approximately 2-3 minutes.

6. From the eyes of a refugee - group skit: Our group will together address all of our questions by acting our some personal manifestations of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Where do refugees go for help? What answers or help do they receive, if any? Why?

Everyone in the group will draft and act out this skit. This skit will last approximately 10-15 minutes.

7. Action campaign flyers:  These hand-outs for the class will address the question "what can we as students, communities, or first-world nations do to address this international problem?".

Zoe Lewis will create, print off, hand out and present these flyers to the class. The flyers will be about half a regular 8" x 11" page each, and the presentation of them will last approximately 5 minutes.

8. Picture powerpoint: What is the face of refugees and internationally displaced persons?

Cloe Pippin will create a picture powerpoint that will capture the face of refugees caught within the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Not only will this uphold and destroy stereotypes of what refugees are, but the powerpoint will balance our ethos- and logos-centered approaches to this problem with a more pathos focus.

Progress Report #2

Our group has really been working hard in the last week. We met tonight to see progress on each of our individual parts. Austin did an awesome job with the video! He obviously put some time into it, and I think it'll be a great opener for our presentation. Cloe finished the picture power-point and compiled some great sources for us. Sandhya has an interview set up with Dr. Rahman for later in the week. I've started on the flyer portion of our presentation as well. Things are really coming together! We've had a minor set back with a few of our members dropping the class, but we know we'll be able to finish on time. We're pretty far ahead of the game, and we're excited with what we have done so far.

Works Cited

"Al-Nakba Refugees Picture Gallery." Hanini. Mike Odetalla, n.d. Web. 24 Sept. 2012. <http://www.hanini.org/Al-Nakbagallery.html>.

"In Pictures: Palestinian Refugee Pictures." BBC News. BBC, n.d. Web. 19 Sept. 2012. <http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/shared/spl/hi/picture_gallery/06/middle_east_palestinian_refugee_children/

html/1.stm>.

"In Pictures: Syria Before the Syrian Civil War." Demotix. Demotix, 25 July 2010. Web. 20 Sept.

2012. <http://www.demotix.com/news/1354869/pictures-syria-syrian-civil-war#media-1354808>.

"Palestinian Refugees from Iraq Resettle in Chile." The Electronic Intifada. Electronic Intifada, 8 Apr.

2008. Web. 23 Sept. 2012. <http://electronicintifada.net/content/palestine-refugees-iraq-resettled-chile/7457>.

"Refugees of Palestine - In Pictures." Occupied Palestine. N.p., n.d. Web. 16 Sept. 2012. <http://occupiedpalestine.wordpress.com/2010/10/31/palestinians-in-refugee-camps/>.

Progress Report #3

Sandhya's contribution --

 At the beginning of our project, I was the primary notetaker of our ideas. I have coordinated with a professor who has a wide range of expertise about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict such that we may have a video interview of his opinions on the current political status and how it affects refugees in the area. I also communicated with Hope Karekezi about visiting our class to talk about her experiences, but she will be unavailable throughout October, so I provided an alternate solution to another group member. I've researched current statistics about refugees in relevant areas, and I will also be responsible for putting together our final powerpoint. My main role in group meetings was that of facilitation and identifying important issues, but all of us together contributed to brainstorming.

Zoe’s—

I'm really happy about the progress our group has made so far. It seems like we're all leaders by nature, which means that we haven't really had to have a "leader" for the group. We worked hard over the last week and a half, after realizing two of our members had dropped the class. When a few of us met last week, I led a discussion to finalize all parts that we wanted in our final presentation. We discussed how long we thought each segment would take, and now have a better idea of what information we still need. My individual contribution is the flyers we'll pass out at the end of our presentation. At this point, it's still a work in progress. We decided that we wanted to hear what Dr. Rahman has to say in the interview, before we decide on a definite 'Call to Action' from the class. This will be presented on the flyers. In our group so far, I've tried to just keep communication flowing. Sometimes things come up, and people can't make it to meetings. I try to keep people updated on what they miss, so we're all on the same page!

Cloe’s—

Throughout the course of working on the project, my main role has been to research the lives of current Palestinian refugees. I was assigned with the task of compiling a collection of photographs of refugees from various camps in a PowerPoint presentation to give the class a more personal and concrete view of who exactly the Palestinian refugees are and what their situation is like. Beyond that, I’ve also found several personal testimonies of refugees that will help us create skit to model the issues refugees face—ranging from poverty to prejudice. I have contacted a few people from around campus in attempts to find a refugee to come and speak about their experiences and am in the process of working with a fellow student from Yemen to learn about his experiences with the refugee camps there.

Austin’s—

I have already finished making a video for our group that involved interviewing students all around campus and editting their repsonses together. Now I am working on a powerpoint presentation to explain the history of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Progress Report #4

Sources:

1.) "In Pictures: Syria Before the Syrian Civil War." Demotix. Demotix, 25 July 2010. Web. 20 Sept.

2012. <http://www.demotix.com/news/1354869/pictures-syria-syrian-civil-war#media-1354808>.

2.) "Palestinian Refugees from Iraq Resettle in Chile." The Electronic Intifada. Electronic Intifada, 8 Apr.

2008. Web. 23 Sept. 2012. <http://electronicintifada.net/content/palestine-refugees-iraq-resettled-chile/7457>.

3.) Universal Declaration of Human Rights

4.) http://eycb.coe.int/domino/04.html (Refugee transcript)

5.) Peace Building in Violent Conflict: Israeli-Palestinian Post-Oslo People-to-People Activities

Ifat Maoz

International Journal of Politics, Culture, and Society , Vol. 17, No. 3 (Spring, 2004), pp. 563-574

Outline:

- Austin introduce

- Austin video

- Cloe introduce prezi

- Prezi (Cloe, Austin, Zoe, Sandhya)

- Sandhya introduce video (with current statistics)

- Rahman video

- Cloe introduce picture powerpoint and skit

- Skit (Cloe, Zoe, Austin, Sandhya)

- Zoe introduce call to action of refugee agency

- Cloe present refugee agency testimony

- Zoe transition into presenting flyers

- Sandhya transition into questions

 Findings: We researched the history of the conflict, learned what would be the most impactful actions that we can do as students, and we realized the extent of how this conflict affects a basic human rights of people, including Palestinians.

We are using self-created videos, a filmed interview, pictures, scholarly articles, and NGO websites.