HOPE for HUMANITY

Dear Tim,

I want you to know how much I and my colleagues at Amnesty International appreciate all you have done to defend human rights through a remarkably difficult period.

You can ensure that Amnesty stays at the forefront of the world’s most pressing human rights emergencies in 2009 by making a tax-deductible year-end gift to our America I Believe In Matching Gift Challenge.

To restore the America we believe in, we’re calling on President-Elect Obama to take four concrete and immediate steps:

* Ban the use of torture or other cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment.

* Issue an executive order to end the U.S. program of secret detention.

* Close the detention facility at Guantánamo Bay; detainees should be charged and fairly tried, or released.

* Demand a full investigation of all U.S. detention and interrogation policies in the “war on terror.”

Just as surely as the Bush administration’s disastrous human rights policies have reverberated across the globe, so too can a renewed American commitment to fairness and the rule of law. Together, you and I can make this vision a reality.

I know this request comes to you at a time of tremendous economic difficulty here at home. I also know how long we have waited for this moment—an extraordinary opportunity to restore America’s reputation in the world and bring new hope for progress on human rights. From the bottom of my heart, I urge you not to let this historic opportunity pass.

Please make a tax-deductible gift today—and show that our country is ready, once again, to take a leadership role in advancing human rights around the world. For the next 4 days, your contribution will go twice as far, as a group of Amnesty International members has agreed to match all online gifts, up to $250,000. Please be as generous in your year-end giving as your personal circumstances allow.

First time donors making a gift of $60 or more will also receive a beautiful Amnesty International wall calendar, absolutely free.

If we achieve our Matching Gift Challenge goal online, we’ll have immediate access to an additional $250,000—funds that we’ll put to work immediately to ensure a renewed American commitment to justice and human rights.

Thank you in advance for your support.

Sincerely,

Larry Cox Executive Director, Amnesty International USA