d
      The University of North Carolina at Wilmington
      Amnesty International Student Group

 Home  |  Learn More About Us  |  Take Action Now  |  Meeting Notes  |  Info Library  |  Contact Info

 

 

Constitution of Amnesty International

 

Adopted _____________________________________________________________

(Signature of Executive Council Director and Date)

 

Preamble

We students of the University of North Carolina at Wilmington recognize that all humans are entitled to the rights encompassed within the Universal Declaration of Human Rights as listed in Article XIV of this document. Our goal is to promote the acceptance and enforcement of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights by all governments, including our own. Our mission is to undertake research and action focused on preventing and ending grave abuses of the rights to physical and mental integrity, freedom of conscience and expression, and freedom from discrimination, within the context of our work to promote all human rights. We are independent of any government, political ideology or religious creed. We do not support or oppose any government or political system, nor do we support or oppose the views of the victims whose rights we seek to protect. We are concerned solely with the impartial protection of human rights.

 

 

Article I.  Name

 

The group shall be known as Amnesty International UNCW or AIUNCW.

 

Article II.  Affiliation

 

Amnesty International UNCW (henceforth AIUNCW) is a student group of Amnesty International (henceforth AI).

 

Article III.  Purpose and Objectives

 

-         Creating awareness of worldwide human rights issues on campus and in the surrounding communities

-         Campaigning to help the student body understand why such issues are important to know about and how they effect us all

-         Lobbying government officials to address violations of human rights worldwide and within our own country

-         Lobbying human rights offenders to stop current actions and prevent future violations

-         Working to further the actions and campaigns of Amnesty International

-         Providing emotional and other forms of support to victims of human rights abuses

 

 

 

Article IV.  Adherence

 

This organization will adhere to all University rules, regulations, and policies, as well as to all local, state, and federal laws. AIUNCW is a student group of AI, and therefore is bound to the rules and regulations for student groups as declared by AI. In addition, AIUNCW is bound by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights defined by the United Nations, and noted in Article XIV of this document.

 

 

 

Article V.  Membership

 

Section 1.  Categories of Membership

 

A) Executive Council – All officers are automatically members of the Executive Council as described in Article X. The Executive Council will be composed of only officers.

 

B) Core Group Member – A core group member is a voting member which must become a member of the core group by invitation extended by an existing core group member. The executive council may refuse membership to any individual, even when a core group member has extended an invitation to that individual. Such refusal must be justified by demonstration that the potential member is, has been, or will be, in violation of any part of Article IV in this document. Core group members are granted the privileges of voting on all issues and extending membership invitations, and therefore must be students, staff, or faculty of the university as required by the university.

 

C) Extended Group Member – Anyone can become an extended group member, which is a non-voting member by requesting addition of their name to our listing. Extended group members may not vote on issues, but are allowed to participate in any events or meetings of AIUNCW except executive council meetings. Extended group members are aloud to debate before a vote of the core group, but are not permitted to vote. Extended group members are not granted power over the group or on behalf of the group in any form.

 

Section 2. Non-exclusionary Membership Clause.

This organization practices an open membership policy for members of the university community without regard to race, color, age, religion, national origin, disability, or sexual orientation. Membership and participation in this student organization is also open without regard to gender, unless exempt under Title IX. Membership in this organization may be limited to the individuals who affirm the belief of the stated mission of this organization which is directly reflected in the purpose and objectives as stated in this constitution.

 

 

Section 3.  Membership Revocation Procedures

A member may be removed from membership at any time by the core group organizer, or a majority vote of the core group, for violating any rules or regulations of Amnesty International. This includes violation of human rights as defined by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Voting will be conducted by the core group organizer, or a delegate appointed by the core group organizer. Voting may be conducted via email. All core group members are required to vote on removals.

 

 

Article VI.  Advisory Board

An advisory board will be chosen by the Executive Council, via majority vote, where the board may consist of anyone including students and non-students. The advisory board members are granted no privileges; they are only to act in an advisory capacity.

 

Article VII.  Meetings

 

Section 1. Core group meetings will be facilitated by the core group organizer, or a person nominated to act on the core group organizers behalf by the core group organizer. The facilitator will follow the guidelines set forth by Amnesty International for running effective meetings.

 

Section 2.  One core group meeting will be held every week. The date and time of the weekly meetings will be determined at the beginning of each semester. The first week of the semester, and every other week thereafter, the group will have a large meeting followed by a 15 minute letter writing session. On the weeks between those just mentioned, the group will meet for a brief intro, and then split into committees for the remainder of the time.

 

Section 3.  Executive Council meetings will be facilitated by the core group organizer or a delegate appointed by the core group organizer. Once a meeting is in session, the council members will consecutively take the floor. Upon taking the floor each member of the council will state any new or old business they are responsible for, and will also introduce any information they find relevant to the current meeting. The council will vote on all issues at the time they are brought up, unless deferred to future business. All future business must have an assigned date and time to be addressed by the council. Future business will be maintained by the Chief Information Officer as described in Article VIII. The core group organizer will be responsible for bringing up future business at the agreed upon time. The next executive council meeting date and time will be set before adjourning.

 

Article VIII.  Executive Council Members

 

Section 1. The duties of the President shall be to:
a. Preside over all core group and executive council meetings.
b. Call any additional meetings.
c. Disseminate information received from Amnesty International USA offices.
d. Represent the group at all coordinating meetings with the Office of the Dean of Students, Student Government Association, and all other university offices.
e. Keep the advisory board informed of all activities.
f. Meet with the advisory board on a periodic basis for planning.

Section 2. The duties of the Vice President shall be to:
a. Fill in for the Core Group Organizer if he or she is for any reason unable to carry out his or her duties at any given event or meeting.
b. Assist the coordinator in administering the business of the group.

Section 3. The duties of the Secretary shall be to:
a. Take minutes of each meeting and make them available to the Director of Technology for website and email posting.

Section 4. The duties of the Treasurer shall be to:
a. Maintain a record of all group transactions and submit any necessary reports to AI.
b. Report financial information to the group at meetings.
c. Help organize the fundraising committee and either serve as chair, or select a delegate to serve as chair of the committee.

Section 5. The duties of the Chief Technology Officer shall be to:
a. Create and maintain all technological devices and systems required to support AIUNCW.
b. Distribute meeting minutes and other information via AIUNCW’s website and email lists.

Section 6. The duties of the Outreach Coordinator shall be to:
a. Act as a liaison to the campus newspaper.
b. Ensure that all group events are well publicized through campus newspapers, bulletins, announcement boards, posters, fliers, and by other means.

Section 7. The duties of the New Member Coordinator shall be to:
a. Coordinate efforts to recruit new members.
b. Ensure that new members feel welcome and understand the structure and mandate
of Amnesty International.
c. Hold informational sessions to keep all members up to date on how to be an effective activist within in the group, as well as externally.

Section 8. The duties of the Urgent Action Coordinator shall be to:
a. Receive the Urgent Action appeals, photocopy them, and distribute them to the group.
b. Keep track of letters written.
c. Inform the group of Urgent Action updates.

Article IX.  Elections

 

All elections will take place in March every year. Elections will be conducted by the core group organizer or a delegate chosen by the core group organizer. Elections may be conducted via email, but results must be publicly revealed at the post election meeting.

 

Section 1. Core Group Organizer

The core group organizer will be elected by majority vote of the core group according to the rules of Article IX Section 3. The executive council may veto any election results for the position of core group organizer with unanimous approval of the veto by all executive council members. The newly elected core group organizer will begin working closely with the current core group organizer two months before the end of the spring semester. At the end of the semester, the new organizer will take over.

 

Section 2. Officers / Executive Council Members

All other officers will be elected by majority vote of the core group in accordance with election rules as outlined in Article IX Section 3. The voting will be conducted at the same time as the elections for the core group organizer.

 

Section 3. Voting Rules and Regulations

All voting is based on majority rule unless otherwise stated. Majority rule means that in any two sided issue, the side that wins the most votes will be the action taken by the group. All Executive Council members must vote on every issue. At least 2/3 of the core group must also vote on all issues under direction of the core group. Voting may be conducted via email by the core group coordinator, or a delegate chosen by the core group coordinator. If 2/3 of the core group have not voted within 5 days of the call for a vote, the executive council may decide whether to vote the item up or down. This decision requires unanimous agreement of all executive council members, and must take into consideration the votes of the core members that did vote.

 

Article X.  Executive Council

 

Section 1.  Composition of the Executive Council

The Executive Council is composed of the officers described in Article VIII.

 

Section 2. Responsibilities

The Executive Council must approve or deny all issues regarding any aspect of AIUNCW via voting procedures as described in Article IX Section 3. The Executive Council will be responsible for group direction and continuation.

 

Article XI.  Finances

 

The core group organizer will be responsible for either maintaining financial records and reporting them to Amnesty International, or delegating the task to a core group member.

 

 

Article XII.  Amendments

 

The constitution can be amended at any time with unanimous approval of the executive council and 2/3 approval of the core group. The constitution may not be altered under any circumstances, it may only have amendments added. Amendments may be used to cancel existing articles, but the original article must be left in the constitution.

 

Article XIII.  Non-profit Clause

 

The UNCW Amnesty International Student Group is organized exclusively for charitable, religious, educational, or scientific purposes, including, for such purposes, the making of distribution to organizations that qualify as exempt organizations under section 501 (c) (3) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1954.

 

No part of the net earnings of the organization shall inure to the benefit of its members, directors, officers, or other persons except that the organization shall be authorized to and empowered to pay reasonable compensation for services rendered and to make payments and distributions in furtherance of the exempt purposes of the organization.

 

In the event of dissolution, the residual assets of the organizations will be turned over to one or more organizations with similar purposes or to one or more organizations described in section 501 (c) (3) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1954.

 

 

Article XIV.  The Universal Declaration of Human Rights

 

In 1948, the United Nations General Assembly proclaimed this Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) a common standard of achievement for all people and all nations. To that end, every member of society must keep this declaration constantly in mind and strive by teaching and education to promote respect for all these rights and freedoms:

In the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the United Nations has stated in clear and simple terms the rights that belong equally to every person. These rights belong to you. These rights are your rights. Familiarize yourself with them. Help to promote and defend them for yourself and your fellow human beings. For more information about specific rights, see the full documentation at http://www.un.org/Overview/rights.html

1. Right to equality.
2. Freedom from discrimination.
3. Right to life, liberty, personal security.
4. Freedom from slavery.
5. Freedom from torture and degrading treatment.
6. Right to recognition as a person before the law.
7. Right to equality before the law.
8. Right to remedy by competent tribunal.
9. Freedom from arbitrary arrest or exile.
10. Right to a fair public hearing.
11. Right to be considered innocent until proven guilty.
12. Freedom from interference with privacy, family, home and correspondence.
13. Right to free movement in and out of any country.
14. Right to asylum in other countries from persecution.
15. Right to a nationality and freedom to change it.
16. Right to marriage and family.
17. Right to own property.
18. Freedom of belief and religion.
19. Freedom of opinion and information.
20. Right of peaceful assembly and association.
21. Right to participate in government and in free elections.
22. Right to social security.
23. Right to desirable work and to join trade unions.
24. Right to rest and leisure.
25. Right to adequate living standards.
26. Right to education.
27. Right to participate in cultural life and community.
28. Right to social order assuring human rights.
29. Community duties essential to free and full development.
30. Freedom from state and personal interference in the above rights.

Amnesty International believes that governments should adhere to all the principles in the UDHR and that the promise of the UDHR can be fulfilled. Through the tireless work of our membership, Amnesty International has pledged to do its part to make the vision of the UDHR a reality for every citizen of every country.