about this issue of preemptive prosecution some argue it's because amnesty international gets twenty percent of their funding from the u.s. from from the government and from those that are within the united states and that's why amnesty international possibly wouldn't be first to step up to the plate to talk about issues like preemptive prosecution and. alleged victims in the united states as opposed to campaigning for political prisoners in other countries throughout the world well that definitely seems to make sense and it raises a lot of questions thanks so much. now do you know that alcohol is more harmful than heroin or crack that's a new study out of the u.k. is found after reading the harmfulness of twenty different drugs ranking them based on how destructive they are to the individual who takes them and to society as a whole the researchers analyzed how addictive a drug it is how it harms the human body as well as criteria like environmental damage caused by it its role in breaking up families and its economic costs like health care social services and prison now out of one h

the book festival who is done a great job hosting this event and i want to thank chapter of amnesty international the pakistani student association, and the afghan student union for cosponsoring with the mortensen appearance here tonight and now, please give a warm welcome to the sarah faragalla from george mason chapter of amnesty. come on, sarah. at thank you amnesty. [applause] >> thank you congressman connolly. good evening. on behalf of the amnesty international chapter of george mason university i would like to welcome you to the mason awards presentation. my name is sarah faragalla and i'm the co-president of amnesty international. last winter i started reading "stones into schools." being a huge human rights activists it was a perfect reading choice for me. part of being on the executive board of amnesty each of the officers is to plan an event of their choice that pertains to human rights and has an education awareness component. halfway through the book i decided to bring greg mortenson to mason. the student organizations have sets limited resources, i decided hey it least it is worth a

i would also like to thank the mason chapter of amnesty international. and as i like to thank congressman connolly, and also he mentioned the pakistani student association and the afghan student union. i both had the chance to meet them and doing some really great stuff. they have some upcoming fundraisers to help build. they want to set up some schools in afghanistan. so it's exciting to see that. and to the fall, for the book festival, and it's a great honor to be here. i thought i would, everybody wants to talk about current affairs, politics and all that stuff, so i thought i would get all that stuff out of the way really first so we can talk bout the real important issues, about education and about tolerance and peace and everything. so, there is a very devastating flood in pakistan recently, or 20 million people displaced, about 38 million homes destroyed, 6000 schools, and it goes on and on. it's very catastrophic. and the concerns that bothered me a bit is that the u.s. aid appropriate to pakistan was first based on how it relates to our security

the council of europe and amnesty international condemning this act the noise of calls from the police investigation one of a saying so far waterway no. great we're still early in the investigation but so far this case has been transferred to the country's top investigators they have a very good track record and they have experience with dealing with high profile cases so far forty people have been interviewed but so far a suspect list has not been released a statement of such brings up to date the office of developing story from central moscow. it's veterans day in the united states some time when the troops hoping to boost its numbers by capitalizing on public a motion for war heroes army video games and parades are among the tools aimed at young people from poor neighborhoods recruiters try to fill a quota but his lower enlisted met an iraq veteran who says that he couldn't take any more war that others shouldn't have to either. autumn in new york the leaves red and yellow reminders that seasons change green becomes obsolete for people to meet sergeant sure rowe first name out this

and i was a member of amnesty international for nearly 25 years and we've been very informed about whatas been happening in her life and she's kind of mandela of our moments. and you think the head of what we've learned from amnesty, they are actually quite vain. they are vainer than rock stars. they really do read all their prep. >> that was just the beginning of it. you know, he may be filled with joy, as he said, but bono is not satisfied that his hero is released. hear what he says has to happen to make one of the most famous political prisoners mean something. back with that in just two minutes. we're going to hike up here, so we'll catch up with you guys. [ indistinct talking and laughter ] whew! i think it's worth it. working with a partner you can trust is always a good decision. massmutual. let our financial professionals help you reach your goals. not sure what to take? now click on the robitussin relief finder. click on your symptoms. get the right relief. makes the cold aisle easy. the robitussin relief finder. it's that simple. >>> okay. now more of my exclusive interview w

amnesty international considers them a human rights violation. and sitting next to me x none -- none other that father jonathon morris. he knows god like i know d. -- like i know sod. and our "new york times" correspondent. good to see you, pinch. >> log on to the website to real columnist david brooks and gail collins debate all things college. speaking of, hi, co-eds, if you fold me the right way, i make for a good beer funnel and good birth control. very absorbent. >>> he came, he saw, he danced. barack obama has left indonesia where he probably wasn't born. probably. before leaving he made a speech. and you know what that means. it is time for another episode of hello barry. >> tonight obama addresses frayed tensions. >> i said then and i hillary pete now that no single speech can eradicate years of mistrust, but i believe then and i believe today that we do have a choice. we can choose to be defined by our differences and give in to a future of suspicion and mistrust or we can choose to do the hard work of forging common grounds for the stea

they are human rights watch, they are amnesty international. you go to almost any impartial human rights organization, and they will point out executions, stonings, amputations, political prisoners. this is fairly well documented. >> well, it's not well documented, it's a kind of media blitz about the issue of human rights. but the allegations are not well founded, or it is ill founded. let me take you to the famous one, sakineh mohammadi, capital punishment. she was involved in a relationship with another person. she received capital punishment. but our legal system in the case of capital punishment, it has a lot of check and balances. it is right now going through the check and balances. while there is the chance that it should be lessened, the punishment, or not. >> let me interrupt, because the differences, as i understand them, it is not clear that sakineh actually murdered her husband at all. this was a later charge. she's been condemned to death by stoning, which is a cruel and unusual punishment. >> okay. >> and as far as, until the wes

i was a member of amnesty international for nearly 25 years.ed about what's been happening in her life. she's kind of the mandela of our moment, this moment we're in right now. you think, well, do people really care about what's going on in a rock concert in the united states or in europe and if 70,000 u-2 phones lifting pictures of her face over their head, you know, what does that mean? does it mean anything? what we've learned from being members of amnesty is, these dictators are vainer than rock stars, they read all their press. you think kim jong-il doesn't read his press, he does. and the military junta in burma absolutely do. they care about what people are thinking. so in the international community, if they keep her front and center in the media, cnn has done a great job on this, it really does count. >> you wrote a letter why you wrote the song "walk on" and it was said to honor her. you said this is an amazing woman that put family second to country, who, for her contrick shuns, made the choice not the see her sons grow and not to be

this is part of our barnes & noble and amnesty international lecture series, and i have the great honor right now of reading just a few passages from "letters to my torturer, "by the main speaker, houshang asadi. this is his story. it's chapter 15, woof woof, i am a spy. my little dog is yapping, licking my feet. he wants me to take him out. his name is sonny. he's my little boy, kind and loyal. he has no idea that under the pressure of the whip i, too, become a dog. he is the opposite of my broken, wounded and devastated self, but all this has nothing to do with my beautiful dog. he has no idea that once before i had to bark before i was allowed to speak. on this stormny parisian morning, i am writing my 15th letter to you and to history, and i am forced to return to the most bitter days of my life. there is a time when my battered body was shaking on the torture bed and my soul was running away to avoid surrendering to the devil. 12:18, march, 1983. you have left, and i am twisting and turning on the blanket. my shoulder blades want to break away from my body. i want to find some calm

we are doing what amnesty international wasn't doing. amnesty at the time was not taking cases in america for adoption because they were afraid of losing support year. so only london amnesty took palestinian cases. so if we can across a woman prisoner who has been tortured in prison or a young arab american who had been detained for months and forced to sign a confession in hebrew without ever even read it, we take individual cases or house demolition cases, etc., people in the camps being treated badly by the lebanese authorities, etc., that's the stuff we did so in some ways we were not the palestine solidarity committee that existed. we were not the plo friends of the plo group that existed. we were a human rights campaign, and so some of those issues didn't affect us but we were clear in condemning that stuff and made it very clear that it will only was destructive of human life on the israeli side but it was destructive of people love understanding of the palestinians on the other side. it was bad for both. >> host: talk about the ce

responsible organization because the concern i have is the same concern that's been expressed by amnesty international and are you putting people at risk that are not the wrong-doers. people may be named that can be interpreted as wrong doers and killed by the taliban. >> charlie: do you know them? >> a little bit through e-mail. >> charlie: what do you do two e-mail about. >> this and that. >> charlie: what do you e-mail about? >> the domain name. >> charlie: in other words, you weren't happy he used wikileaks? >> in the early days when it was announced as the wikipedia of secrets. we didn't know what was going and we said don't use the name wikipedia and we transferred the domains to him and the technical transfer hasn't been completed and it's complicate and boring. >> charlie: if you wanted to could you have stopped them from using the domain name? >> no, because wiki is a ge genc term. we have control over wikipedia but wiki whatever is generic. i'm not sure we want to stop him. i think it's been a little uncomfortable there's been confusion in the public eye we have something to do with each oth

amnesty international has called for a criminal investigation.es must step in and carry out such an investigation themselves. "the telegraph" boris johnson, a conservative, issued the following warning. it is not yet clear whether george w. bush is planning to cross the atlantic to flog us his memoirs. but i would urge caution. the real trouble from the bush point of view is that he might never see texas again. one moment he might be holding forth to a great perspiring tent at hay-on-wye. the next moment, click, some embarrasses member could walk on stage, place some handcuffs on the former leader of the free world and take him away to be charged. of course, we are told this scenario is unlikely. "w" is the former leader of a friendly power with whom this country is determined to have good relations. but that is what torture-authorizing augusto pinochet thought. and unlike pinochet, mr. bush is making no bones about what he has done. let's call in jonathan turley, george washington university school of law. good evening. >> hi, keith. >> the mayo

her fiance, shane, was an accomplished photojournalist who had done films for amnesty international and in darfur. >> i would recommend that people stand around this side. >> reporter: and josh fattal, an environmentalist, headed a sustainable living community in oregon. their parents, who are profiled in the film, agonize over their release. >> we're hoping it strikes the compassionate chord and pushes for a humanitarian release. >> reporter: while the u.s. and iran have had broken diplomatic relations for decades, last month, secretary of state hillary clinton spoke out on fattal and bauer's behalf. >> we do not believe there is any basis whatsoever for them to be put on trial. >> we have enormous support from many parts of the government, but the kids are not home. >> reporter: sarah shourd says that's why she's working tirelessly to share their story with the world so shane and josh can finally make it home. >> i'm very hopeful. i just want it to be tomorrow. >> reporter: kareen wynter, cnn, los angeles. >> if you're interested, you can see the documentary. it's called "free shane a