Amnesty International Guidelines

An Important Memo to Participants in the June 23rd Hutto Vigil

To: Participants in the June 23 Hutto Vigil X in Taylor, Texas

From: Amnesty International USA

We are pleased to see momentum building for this timely mobilization. The fact that you are participating in the vigil is an indication that you understand how important it is that we take action to pressure the U.S. government to end the imprisonment of children and asylum seekers. Now we urge you to help us ensure the success of this vigil. We offer the following suggestions in the spirit of the power of collective action.

1. Disclosure to the Taylor police and Hutto detention facility is ongoing. We decided to inform the police and Hutto of this event because we are all aware of the special dangers faced by immigrants who participate in demonstrations and protests. For this reason, we ask that no one engage in any illegal activity on the site of the vigil. Any groups planning any sort of civil disobedience should arrange for it to be clearly distinguished from and physically separate from this vigil. Please note that the Taylor police do not allow any sales or monetary solicitations at the site of the vigil and they will take action against anyone engaged in such activity. (This includes requests for donations.)

2. This is a peaceful, nonviolent vigil. Violence of any kind will not be tolerated. It is possible that there will be competing participants and it is possible that some of them will engage in verbal abuse. We ask all participants to refrain from engaging with provocateurs either physically or verbally. Our goal is to make clear to the world that children and asylum seekers should not be imprisoned. Remember that the press will be watching all that goes on, and we know they can and will edit in any way they like. Let’s keep the moral and behavioral high ground, whatever the provocation. Our message will thus be stronger.

3. Our message must be clear and consistent. This is a vigil against the imprisonment of children and asylum seekers, against the denial of human rights, and in support of international law. As is well known, those who support the imprisonment of children, asylum seekers and migrants will make it look like we don’t care about the national security concerns of the USA. This is not true and we want to avoid making it easy to distort our messages. We therefore request that signs and slogans go the extra mile in respecting people of all persuasions, and not appear to deny the dignity of or call for aggression against any group or community.

Please keep the messages positive. We support international law. We call for an end to the imprisonment of children and asylum seekers. This is not to say that we all agree on all matters. Within the framework of justice and human rights, there are different views. Some frame the issue in terms of human rights, some in terms of privatization of penal institutions, some in terms of racism. The organizers of this vigil ask all to be respectful of these disagreements.

4. Please respect the organizers of the vigil. This will be a large vigil. As such, we will need everyone's cooperation to make sure that things move along efficiently, that we get the vigil underway smoothly, and that we leave the grounds in the condition in which we found it. Please clean up after yourself, and follow instructions that come from the stage.

Thank you and we look forward to participating in this event with you!