By Lisa M. Cataldo / Correspondent
A group of 14 Norwell High School students, accompanied by their principal Stephen Mahoney, were among more than 1,000 young activists to attend a demonstration in New York City Monday to protest human rights abuses.
The students, members of the high school’s Amnesty International Club, participated in the 8th annual Get on the Bus 2003, a day of activism organized by local Amnesty International Group 133 of Somerville, Massachusetts.
The human rights rally in Central Park was followed by a visit to the Russian Consulate to hear advocates speak about human rights in Chechnya. The day’s events also included a trip to the U.S. Mission to the United Nations for a demonstration on Refugee and Immigrant Rights and a Tibetan Human Rights Protest at the Chinese Consulate.
More than 100 groups of high school and college students from 12 states participated in Monday’s event, part of Amnesty International’s National Week of Student Action.
“Some of the speeches we heard were very poignant,” said Ben King, 16, co-president of the Amnesty Club. “The fact that some of these people had the courage to get up and speak when they were going through such deep pain puts a human face to the human rights abuses that you don’t always see.”
One of the featured speakers during Monday’s rally was Christina Xiang Fu, wife of current pro-democracy prisoner Yang Jianli. Fu’s husband was detained by Chinese authorities on April 26, 2002 and his family has been given no information on his status or whereabouts. Fu was detained and expelled from China in May of 2002 after an attempt to rescue her husband and the family has been unsuccessful in their efforts to hire a lawyer for Jianli in China.
“I found Christina’s story to be very moving,” remarked Sonia Siu, 18, co-president of the Amnesty Club.
Demonstrators during Monday’s rally also called for the release of the Drapchi 14, a group of Tibetan nuns who were imprisoned more than a decade ago in the Drapchi Prison in Lhasa, Tibet for taking part in peaceful protest demonstrations between 1989 and 1992. Of the 14 nuns who were handed down sentences for protesting the Chinese occupation of Tibet, nine have been released, one (Ngawang Lochoe) died in captivity in February of 2001, and four remain imprisoned.
The Amnesty Club at Norwell High School, founded in 1992, currently has 20 members and holds weekly meetings with high school history teacher and club advisor Marybeth Brust. Members write letters to officials all over the world urging them to be aware of human rights violations.
Additionally, the club sponsors guest speakers such as Paris Carriger who paid a visit to Norwell High last fall to tell his story. Carriger, an Arizona prisoner on Death Row, spent nearly 21 years in prison for a murder he didn’t commit. The murderer, whose false testimony helped convict Carriger, eventually confessed to the crime. When the confession came to light in 1987 Carriger had lost his rights to an appeal. He was refused a new trial but after receiving more than 1,000 letters from concerned citizens, a three-judge panel of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit issued a stay of execution. One year later Carriger’s execution was reinstated by the courts but he was eventually granted a new trial and was released from prison in 1999.
“The Amnesty Club empowers and encourages students to take action through writing, protesting and self educating,” said Brust. “What is unique about this club is that students have the chance to learn through their experiences like taking part in the rally in New York, expanding upon what they have learned in the classroom.”
“It’s interesting if you look back in history and you learn about how some people in the world were mistreated,” Siu said. “People don’t realize that there are some real life human rights abuses that are still going on today in different parts of the world. I joined this club because I enjoy making a difference in the world.”
According to Mahoney, Monday’s trip was a success and he hopes to get a larger group to attend next year’s annual event.
“The trip was a positive experience,” Mahoney said. “Part of our mission here at Norwell High School is to become contributing citizens to society. We met and traveled with students from Avon Senior/Junior High School, Brockton High School, Thayer Academy and U-Mass Dartmouth. It was great to hear the kids speak so articulately and passionately. I was very proud to be a part of this group from Norwell. It was inspiring.”
“The rally gave us a different perspective because the world always seems so much bigger than all of us,” King said. “But seeing a face before you telling a story makes the human rights abuses that much more real. Amnesty gives us the opportunity to do something about it.”
“Demonstrations like these give people the chance to talk about problems in the world that nobody ever talks about,” said Norwell student Rory Nolan.
“Whether you agree or disagree about certain issues isn’t the most important thing,” added student and Amnesty member Ross Perry. “What’s really important is getting the message out there.”
2003 Norwell High School Get on the Bus Participants: Sarah Barbour, Rupsha Biswas, Branwen Gallagher, Anna Graefe, Will Graefe, Christina Horton, John Kelly, Ben King, Lindsay Macurtain, Josh Mariano, Rory Nolan, Ross Perry, Sonia Siu, Stewart Steele, and Norwell High Principal Stephen Mahoney.
