Up to 1,000 Amnesty International Students and Activists Converge on NYC to Demand Human Rights

Amnesty International Local Group 133's 15th Annual Event Targets Burmese, Sri Lankan, Congolese and Chinese Governments  

NEW YORK, April 15 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Up to 1,000 human rights activists will travel from Massachusetts to New York City on  Friday, April 16th, for a full day of activism on human rights abuses in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Burma, Sri Lanka, Tibet and other countries.  Amnesty International Group 133 (of Somerville, MA) comes to New York for the 15th Annual "Get On The Bus for Human Rights (GOTB)." Since its inception, GOTB has grown from 30 participants to more than 1,000 dedicated volunteers who arrive by train, bus and car to protest human rights abuses around the world at locations in New York City including consulates, missions, the United Nations and corporate headquarters.

(Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20081014/AILOGO)

This year's demonstrators will write letters and take to the streets to demand that Myanmar's military regime release Nobel Peace Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi and other imprisoned pro-democracy advocates; they will call for the release of journalist J.S. Tissainayagam in Sri Lanka and Tibetan filmmaker Dhondup Wangchen in China, both arrested for publishing material critical of their governments' abuses against minority communities; and they will call upon the Democratic Republic of Congo to support women's rights defenders who have come under severe threat.

The day begins with a panel of international journalists and Burmese and Tibetan monks.  The speakers panel is hosted at The Great Hall of The Cooper Union and is co-sponsored by the Cooper Union Department of Continuing Education & Public Programs.  It's a fitting start of the day, considering Cooper Union's exceptional legacy of supporting social justice causes. Following the panel, participants will travel to select locations in New York City for the afternoon's demonstrations.

Amnesty International is a Nobel Peace Prize-winning grassroots organization with more than 2.2 million supporters, activists and volunteers in more than 150 countries who campaign for human rights worldwide. The organization investigates and exposes abuses, educates and mobilizes the public and works to protect people wherever justice, freedom, truth and dignity are denied.

WHO: Up to 1000 Amnesty International student and local group

members and other grassroots activists

WHAT: 15^th Annual "Get On The Bus for Human Rights" from Boston to

New York City

WHERE: Program begins with an 11:00 a.m. speakers panel at The Great

Hall at The Cooper Union (7 East 7th St), proceeds to Sri

Lankan Mission to the U.N. (630 3rd Avenue at 41^st St.), then

Dag Hammarskjold Plaza (E 47th St (between 1st and 2nd

Aves), the UN Building (1st Ave and 46th St), and the Chinese

Mission to the U.N. (350 E. 35th Street).  Complete schedule is

attached.

WHEN: Friday, April 16, 2010 from 11 a.m. until 5:00 p.m.

Please visit www.amnestyusa.org or www.gotb.org for more information.

Get On the Bus 2010 Schedule of Events

10:00 a.m. - 11:00 a.m. - Event Registration

Location: Great Hall at Cooper Union at 7 East 7th St.

11:00 a.m. - 12:30 p.m. - Speakers Panel, Great Hall at Cooper Union

Featuring: Tala Dowlatshahi, U.S. Representative, Reporters without Borders; U Pyinya Zawta, Buddhist monk and co-founder, All Burma Monks' Alliance; U Gawsita, Buddhist monk and human rights activist; Gouri Sadhwani, Deputy Executive Director

Organizing, Membership & Campaigns, AIUSA; Thenjiwe McHarris, Amnesty organizer speaking on behalf of AI's efforts in the Democratic Republic of Congo; and Geshe Lobsang Tenpa, executive member of the Tibetan community of New Jersey and contributor to the Human Rights Watch report "Trials of a Tibetan Monk: the Case of Tenzin Deleg."

1:50 - 2:35 p.m. - Sri Lanka Action

Location: Sri Lankan Mission to the UN at 630 3rd Avenue (41st Street and 3rd Ave)  

2:55 - 3:40 p.m. - Burma Action

Location: Dag Hammarskjold Plaza, (2nd Avenue and East 47th Street)

3:40 - 4:15 p.m. - Democratic Republic of Congo Side Action

Location: UN Building, front side  

4:15 - 5:00 p.m. - Tibet Action

Location: Chinese Mission to the UN: 350 E 35th Street (between 1st and 2nd Avenue)

SOURCE Amnesty International