Forwarded message: Date: Tue, 19 Oct 93 15:23:20 PDT From: Abraham Bonowitz Message-Id: <9310192223.AA18132@igc.apc.org> To: abonowit@magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu Subject: Who is Mary Gray? /* Written 9:51 am Oct 19, 1993 by rmilsom@igc.apc.org in igc:ai.ideas */ /* ---------- "Who is Mary Gray?" ---------- */ October 12, 1993 Contact: Christine Haenn 202/544-0200 NEW CHAIR OF AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL USA WILL FOCUS ON WOMEN'S RIGHTS AND MULTICULTURALISM Organization Elects Two Women To Top Board Posts New York, N.Y. - Amnesty International USA (AIUSA) is pleased to announce that Mary W. Gray was elected as new Chair of the Board of Directors at AIUSA's Board meeting on October 3, 1993. Gray, a professor in the Department of Mathematics and Statistics and the Department of Computer Science and Information Systems at American University in Washington D.C., will head the 400,000 member U.S. section of Amnesty International. Gray said upon her election, "My goals are to strengthen and advance the cause of human rights worldwide, and to increase AIUSA's potential to meet the hopes and expectations that so many prisoners have in Amnesty International. In the United States, my priority is to see our government make further progress in ratifying the international human rights covenants, abolishing the death penalty, and improving our treatment of refugees. I will also focus attention on worldwide violations of women's rights and work to enlist more people - from diverse backgrounds - in Amnesty's work. In my twenty-five years in Amnesty International, I have learned that individuals working together can and do make a difference. I am proud to be part of an international movement of over 1,000,000 members devoted to ensuring that a single standard of human rights protects individuals throughout the world." A statistician and lawyer, Gray has been a member of Amnesty International USA's Board of Directors for five years, has served as treasurer for four years, and has chaired the Board's Committee on International Development. Gray represented AIUSA at the 1991 International Council Meeting held in Yokohama, Japan. Currently she is the faculty sponsor for the American University AIUSA group. On an international level, Gray serves on Amnesty International's Standing Committee on Human, Information, and Financial Matters. Her background includes many years as a civil rights and women's rights activist. Her commitment to human rights work was triggered by her efforts to free scientists imprisoned for their political views. Alicia Partnoy of Washington D.C. has been elected Vice-Chair of AIUSA's Board of Directors. Partnoy, a member of the Board of Directors for the past two years, is a human rights activist, poet and author of The Little School: Tales of Disappearance and Survival in Argentina (Cleis Press 1986), and Revenge of the Apple/Venganza de la manzana, a bilingual collection of poetry(Cleis Press 1992). During her years as a "disappeared" person and political prisoner in Argentina, her stories and poems were smuggled out of prison and published anonymously in human rights journals. Since her arrival in the United States, she has lectured extensively at the invitation of Amnesty International, religious organizations, and universities. Partnoy has presented testimony on human rights violations in Argentina to the United Nations, the Organization of American States, and human rights organizations in Argentina. Her testimony was quoted in the final report of the Argentine Commission for the Investigation of Disappearance which helped bring about the conviction of four junta generals in Buenos Aires. Partnoy was a key member of the Survivors Committee which successfully put a human face on government abuses during the United Nation's World Conference on Human Rights held this past June in Vienna. Partnoy will be a major spokesperson during Amnesty International's year-long campaign against Disappearances and Political Killings set to launch in Washington D.C. on October 20, 1993. Curt Goering, Acting Executive Director of AIUSA said, "AIUSA is fortunate to have such qualified and accomplished human rights activists at our helm. Mary Gray and Alicia Partnoy bring many years of experience, commitment and special skills well suited to serving not only AIUSA but the entire human rights movement. In different ways they have both witnessed and felt first-hand the importance and impact of individuals working for individuals, which will help ensure that AIUSA not only maintains, but further increases, its role as a beacon of hope for all those suffering human rights abuses around the world."