Donne senza confini

FOSCA NOMIS, ON THE HUMAN RIGHTS' SIDE

Fosca Nomis is the vice-president of the Italian Section of Amnesty International. Founded in 1975 it counts over 90.000 partners. The interview for Serverdonne

London, May 1961. Peter Benenson, lawyer English, reads the news of the arrest in Portugal of two guys guilty to have toasted in a coffee to the liberty obtained by the Portuguese colonies. On 28th may 1961 Peter Benenson published an appeal on the daily newspaper The Observer for the liberation of the two young people and all the prisoners deteined for opinion motives.

(Peter Benenson, founder of Amnesty International)

"Every day opening the newspaper", dott. Benenson declared, "we read news of imprisoned people, tortured or executed for motives of opinion. I believe that if the indignation that everyone feels to learn these news, could be turned into a common action, something of concrete could be done."
That common action theorized by Benenson became Amnesty International, the greatest independent non government organization that since 1961 works all over the world to defend the human rights. It almost counts two million partners and supporters in more than 140 countries of the world.
The Italian section has been founded in 1975 and it counts over 90.000 partners.
The vice-president is a young turinese girl that has studied political sciences. Fosca Nomis took part to Amnesty as soon as twenty-year old because it conjugated the values of the defense of the human rights with the opportunity to do something of concrete.

The Mission
Today there are a lot of organizations that fight for the respect of the human rights, What does Amnesty International distinguish itself from the other organizations? "Amnesty is a real movement of opinion" Fosca Nomis affirms. "In Italy they are around 90.000 partners with 2500 volunteers who work in 200 groups on the italian territory. The volunteers and the volunteers are the heart of our organization. They are activists for the human rights who fight for the respect of Universal Declaration of the Human Rights in the world. But the aspect that more characterizes our organization it is being independent from any political part, believes religious and economic power. This is particularly important to be able to require to every government, to every army in conflict, to every enterprise, the respect of the international standards."
Also Peter Benenson has refused honors offered him by the various british governments. "I would also like to remember" she continues. "that our autonomy is confirmed by the sources of financing that are predominantly represented by the associative quotas and by the donations of single person."
To sensitize the public opinion on themes as the abolition of the death penalty is the best tool to make pressure to political level. In 1961 every countries in the world adopted dealth penalty. In the 1989 Amnesty International launched the first world campaign against the capital punishment and today 120 Contries in the world have abolished it.

(On right Irene Khan, secretary of Amnesty International together with the Queen Rania of Jordania to the inauguration of the campaign “anymore violence on the women”)

The most beautiful experience
Also Fosca Nomis believes that to form a conscience on the human rights is important to build a different future and she remembers in fact one of her most beautiful experiences with Amnesty.
"In 2000 I have organized a cycle of meetings in the high schools in Piemonte, north Italy. We have thought to invite a young boy like them to tell his story and his fight for human rights. So we have invited Fredy Velez, a young researcher of a Colombian no governmental organization who has been threatened of died by the paramilitary for his job. He has had to leave suddenly his Country. He has been able to use some program of support organized by Amnesty International Spain for human rights defenders. I have spent ten days with Fredy accompanying him in the schools; I have seen the face of boys and girls change listening his history. "

(The candle, symbol of Amnesty International, remembered during a concert of U2)

To contribute to the notoriety of Amnesty International in the world, the support of personality and artists that have take part to the Amnesty's campaign. Just last year Amnesty International has conferred to the group rock U2 the prize Ambassadors of Conscience.
Also Fosca Nomis met personality. "I would like to remember one of the founders of the section togolese of Amnesty, Koffi Nadjombe that in 1999, year when a report of A.I was published on Togo, he was arrested together with his wife that was pregnant and they were tortured. They were freed thanks to an urgent action of Amnesty and they succeeded in running away in Europe where they established. Koffi has struck me for his determination and it has surely been a meeting that has given me a lot of strength in to continue my work in Amnesty. Koffi always remembered us that there are people who need us as his case because thanks to the activists and to the people who have signed his appeal, today he is alive and free."

(Activists of an italian group of Amnesty Internazional)

Anymore violence against women
The last two Amnesty's campaign are Control Arms where the organization asks the approval from the United Nations of a convention to control the commerce of weapons that every year causes 500.000 victims. The other one is Anymore Violence on the Women. Amnesty reports that the violence towards the women is one of the most serious and diffused violations of the human rights. A woman on three in the world has suffered violence.

Since 1994 in Ciudad Juarez in Mexico 263 girls have been killed, abducted teen-agers, torture and murder. All girls were workers employed in the "maquilladoras", factories of assemblage that use lower manpower cost. Later more than ten years the mystery remains on the death of these girls. What can Amnesty International do when the Mexican local authorities don't even seem disposed to collaborate to get justice and where the same activists for the human rights are threatened of death? "Amnesty International can have an important role in cases like this to support those associations that on the territory are constituted for getting justice. For instance in Ciudad Juarez has been founded the association of mothers and sisters of Ciudad Juarez victims, very brave women who want to get justice but that for this reason they are often threatened. Amnesty hold the reflectors aimed at them. To know that a world international organization supports these associations, it reduces the risks for them."

Social responsibility of enterprises
The case of Ciudad Juarez is the testimony of how difficult is the marriage between globalization and human rights. The "maquilladoras" born to the border between the United States and Mexico. They are the result of the agreement signed in 1994 Nafta among United States, Canada and Mexico. American multinationals enterprise would have installed firms in Mexico with fiscal advantageous and exploiting the lower manpower cost and in change they would have offered job to thousands mexicans people. The globalization pushes the multinationals entreprise to look for countries where the full liberty of business management is guarantee often without giving importance to the workers rights or the environment. For this reason in 2004 the United Nations have intervened dictating the norms on the responsibility of the multinational societies. To comply to these norms is optional and some governments (as Italy and United States) they have not positively welcomed the proposals U.N. inviting the organization don't create problems to the enterprises. To comply to the norms implicates burdens to which a lot of firms don't intend to undergo but they prefer to exploit the normative lacks of the states where they go. In Nigeria any law imposes to the firms to complete a study on their impact in the society (environmental and social impact). Globalization and human rights, also Amnesty International is involved on this theme. Will it be possible to harmonize the two aspects? "Paradoxically the globalization has pulverized the borders" Fosca Nomis affirms, "but it has contemporarily reduced the dimensions of the world. Also small enterprises have economic relationships with very distant countries in which the human rights can be violated. The norms of the United Nations related to the human rights for the multinational enterprises represent an important point of reference because they delineate new and more remarkable responsibilities for the enterprises to guarantee the human rights. About ten enterprises have already stuck to the norms proposing to experiment them before these become binding. Amnesty asks that also the other enterprises voluntarily comply to the norms. The associations of the civil society are determined in to require that these norms become for all the enterprises binding."
We have succeeded to globalizzare the markets, the challenge of the millennium will be to succeed to globalizzare the rules of the game and also on this front Amnesty International is involved.
Peter Benenson refering to the symbol of Amnesty wrote, "our candle doesn't burn for us but for all those people that we have not succeeded in saving from the jail, that they have been killed, tortured, abducted, disappeared. The candle of Amnesty International burns for them."

Federico Bastiani