Petrelis Files

June 1, 2005

Amnesty International
U.S. Offices
aimember@aiusa.org
aiusama@aiusa.org
aiusamw@aiusa.org
aiusane@aiusa.org
aiusaso@aiusa.org
aiusala@aiusa.org
aiusasf@aiusa.org

Dear Amnesty International:

It's my understanding that Amnesty bylaws strictly prohibit directors and board of director members from making donations to political candidates and parties, so I can't fathom why William F. Schultz, the executive director, and Joe "Chip" Pitts, chair of the board, contributed money last year to Sen. John Kerry's run for the White House.

According to Federal Election Commission files, both Schultz and Pitts gave the maximum amount allowed by law to Kerry. (Source: PoliticalMoneyLine )

FEC files also show that of all contributions from Schultz, Pitts and other Amnesty directors, the money overwhelmingly went to Democrats and their political action committees. I have appended information from FEC records about the donations at the end of this letter.

My questions for you about these donations are as follows. Did Amnesty recently amend its rules of governance to allow political donations from its directors and board? If the group hasn't made such changes, aren't these donations then in violation of Amnesty's charter?

On another important Amnesty matter, I am pleased your latest report on the state of human rights across the planet is making note of the myriad abuses of civil and human rights in the United States of America by government authorities.

The Amnesty International 2005 report justifiably cites and deplores the state of disrespect for human rights by the U.S. government, for which I applaud your organization. I have absolutely no qualms about what is included in your section on the U.S. and the many violations of human rights committed by government officials and the courts. (Source: Amnesty report on US human rights )

However, the exclusion of the thousands of incidents of hate crimes perpetrated against gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender Americans, and the attacks on the equal and human rights of these Americans by local, state and federal politicians, is of grave concern to me.

Perhaps you're not aware that the Department of Justice issued its annual hate crimes statistics report in November 2004 and it documented more than 1,400 attacks on queer Americans reported to law enforcement officials. (Source: FBI hate crimes report , page 9.)

Maybe Amnesty International is ignorant about the 2004 report by the National Coalition of Anti-Violence Programs on anti-queer hate incidents, which loudly echoes the statistics in the Department of Justice's report. (Source: Anti Violence Projects' stats , under the news section, click on the PDF listing for the 2004 report.)

How could your advocacy group fail to make any note of the findings in these two most current human rights reports?

There's also the issue of the dozens of legislative attempts to repeal or compromise basic human rights for queer Americans by so many city councils, state assemblies and the U.S. Congress?

From gays in the military, to parenting rights, to marriage equality and employment protections, our basic human rights were facing attacks throughout last year, and Amnesty International seems blithely unconcerned enough to cite the political and physical attacks on queers in its new report.

I respectfully request a prompt reply about my concerns regarding the political giving by Amnesty leaders and the omission of queers from your report on human rights abuses in the United States.

Sincerely,
Michael Petrelis
San Francisco, CA
Ph: 415-621-6267
^^^

Arriaga, Maria A
2/4/2004 $250.00
Washington, DC 20007
Amnesty International/Director -[Contribution]
LISA QUIGLEY FOR CONGRESS


Arriaga, Maria A
7/29/2004 $1,000.00
Washington, DC 20007
Amnesty International/Director -[Contribution]
JOHN KERRY FOR PRESIDENT INC


Arriaga, Maria A
8/9/2004 $1,000.00
Washington, DC 20007
Amnesty International/Director -[Contribution]
JOHN KERRY FOR PRESIDENT INC


Benesch, Susan
10/26/2004 $500.00
Washington, DC 20009
Amnesty International/Human Rights -[Contribution]
NEXT POLITICAL ACTION COMMITTEE


Benesch, Susan
10/26/2004 $750.00
Washington, DC 20009
Amnesty International/Human Rights -[Contribution]
NEXT POLITICAL ACTION COMMITTEE


Benesch, Susan
7/3/2004 $1,000.00
Washington, DC 20009
AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL/ADVOCATE -[Contribution]
JOHN KERRY FOR PRESIDENT INC


Benesch, Susan
8/5/2004 $225.00
Washington, DC 20009
Amnesty International/Refugee Advoc -[Contribution]
MOVEON PAC


Benesch, Susan
9/16/2004 $500.00
Washington, DC 20009
Amnesty International/human rights -[Contribution]
MOVEON PAC


Bothne, Nancy
7/20/2004 $250.00
Chicago, IL 60626
AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL/MANAGEMENT -[Contribution]
JOHN KERRY FOR PRESIDENT INC


Schneider, Karen
7/11/2004 $300.00
Bethesda, MD 20817
Amnesty International/Human Rights -[Contribution]
KERRY VICTORY 2004


SCHULTZ, WILLIAM F
3/28/2003 $250.00
HALESITE, NY 11743
AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL -[Contribution]
LEAHY FOR U.S. SENATOR COMMITTEE


Schulz, William F
5/27/2004 $2,000.00
Huntington, NY 11743
Amnesty International/Chairman -[Contribution]
JOHN KERRY FOR PRESIDENT INC


SCHULZ, WILLIAM F
5/2/2004 $1,000.00
HUNTINGTON, NY 11743
AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL -[Contribution]
KENNEDY FOR SENATE 2006


SHULTZ, WILLIAM
9/13/2004 $250.00
HALESITE, NY 11743
AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL USA -[Contribution]
DEMOCRATIC SENATORIAL CAMPAIGN COMMITTEE


SHUTTZ, WILLIAM
10/21/2004 $200.00
HUNTINGDON BAY, NY 11743
AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL -[Contribution]
DEMOCRATIC SENATORIAL CAMPAIGN COMMITTEE

Pitts, Joe
5/28/2004 $1,000.00
Dallas, TX 75201
Baker & McKenzie/Attorney -[Contribution]
MARTIN FROST CAMPAIGN COMMITTEE

Pitts, Joe III
2/13/2004 $2,000.00
Coppell, TX 75019
Self/Investor/Entrepreneur -[Contribution]
JOHN KERRY FOR PRESIDENT INC

PITTS, JOE CHIP W
7/29/2000 $500.00
COPPELL, TX 75019
CONSULTANT -[Contribution]
REGINA MONTOYA COGGINS FOR CONGRESS