Amnesty International at UW (AIUW) is determined to get people’s attention about human-rights issues — and as strange as it sounds, hosting keggers and cake walks are two of the ways they do it.

“Amnesty International is a human-rights organization that works to bring awareness to, and lessen the effects of, human-rights violations in other countries and the U.S.,” said junior Melanie Nguyen, president of AIUW.

The group relies on hosting events to spread the word about the issues members care about.

“We mostly create events: bring speakers and have movie screenings, keggers and cake walks to raise awareness and funds,” said Nguyen.

Amnesty International USA (AIUSA), the U.S. branch of the organization, has five core issues, as they call them, and a number of other issues that they monitor as well. The five core issues are Counter Terror With Justice Campaign, Darfur Campaign, Death Penalty Abolition Campaign, Campaign for Individuals at Risk and Stop Violence Against Women Campaign.

The school chapters are free to focus on any of these issues they wish, and AIUW’s has had two main focuses for this year.

“Two of the campaigns we have been focusing on are the Stop Violence Against Women and the plight of the Hmong people in Laos, Cambodia, and Thailand,” said junior Rosa Lehman, AIUW’s secretary.

AIUW’s first focus has included working with a woman who opened a women’s shelter in the United Arab Emirates, trying to raise funds and awareness of it.

The second focus is that of the Hmong people, which, while a major international issue, is somewhat less well-known among students, said Nguyen. According to AIUSA’s Web site, the Hmong are a people group originating in southeast Asia. After suffering severe persecution in Laos because many opposed the government that took power, many Hmong fled and sought refuge in Thailand. Now, some are being forced to return to Laos, likely to brutal treatment at the hands of Laos authorities. AIUSA and AIUW are both working to raise awareness and public outcry about that fact.

“We’ve … been working on behalf of the Hmong people, to prevent them from being deported back to their country where they’ve been illegally persecuted,” said Nguyen.

AIUW holds events throughout the year to raise awareness of these issues.

Their biggest event of the year is coming up May 18-22. Human Rights Awareness Week is a weeklong event that seeks to educate and involve a greater part of the UW community in human-rights issues.

Lehman said that the club has several events planned for that week, including speakers, an art day, an open mic night, movie screenings, a Jeopardy!-style game and more.

“Everyone should fight for human rights,” said John Cobian, a member of AIUW. “And everyone should come.”

Nguyen said that despite the fact that AIUW has had a difficult time this year finding people committed to working with the club, she is hopeful that she will be able to find more. She also mentioned that AIUW is hoping to collaborate with other on-campus human-rights organizations to have a broader effect on the UW.

“I think human rights are really important, and people need to be made aware of things that are happening so they can take an active role against it,” she said. “We have a lot of people on the mailing list, but only 10 or so who are really active. We’re always hoping for more, and I really think people will get involved when they see what we’re all about.”

Sometimes, she said, all it takes is one person’s passion to make a difference.

“I had a long-term friend who was involved,” said Nguyen. “He had a huge passion for human rights, and I got that from him. It’s up to each person to find something that they’re passionate about and go for it. Make a difference, as much as you can.”

Each of the officers talked about the issue they were most passionate about.

Nguyen and Lehman talked about human rights for women, domestically and globally, and the Hmong situation in southeast Asia.

For junior Kristen Garcia, the big issue is human trafficking, when people, usually women, are bought and sold for labor and prostitution.

“It’s just so wrong,” she said. “No one should have to go through that, and the people responsible need to be found, stopped and held accountable.”

Most of the members of AIUW have only been involved with the club since the beginning of this school year, and all plan to stay involved next year. Nguyen is hopeful that the continuity, and the experience, will help AIUW have a more visible presence on campus next year.

She said that her biggest desire is that people would learn to think outside of themselves and their little world and understand what is going on around them. To her, that is the key to getting people involved.

One of the biggest misconceptions about human rights, said Nguyen, is that it is a foreign issue. She explained that many of the issues that the AIUSA focuses on are problems here in the United States. In fact, with the exception of the Darfur Campaign, all of the core issues have some kind of U.S. element, some bigger than others.

“It isn’t just a Third-World problem, way off on the other side of the world” said Nguyen. “It’s a problem everywhere.”

Reach features editor Randy Ferreiro at features@dailyuw.com.