WASHINGTON - October 30 - Approximately 325 Amnesty International USA (AIUSA) activists and supporters will gather this weekend for AIUSA's 2006 Southern Regional Conference, "Bringing Human Rights Home." The conference will take place at the Radisson Hotel at the New Orleans Airport November 3-5.

"We are having this year's conference in the great city of New Orleans to stand in solidarity with the people of the Gulf who are still demanding their human rights in the wake of Hurricane Katrina," said Jared Feuer, Director of AIUSA's Southern Regional Office. "This weekend will be about informing and inspiring our members regarding pressing domestic and international human rights abuses facing our world today, from Darfur, to Guantanamo, to New Orleans."

Conference sessions will address topics including torture, violence against women, the crisis in Darfur, working with trauma survivors and economic, social and cultural rights. On Saturday morning there will be a post-Katrina Solidarity Bus Tour and panel on the human rights crisis in the Gulf. The tour through New Orleans will be guided by local community members and have an advocacy component. On Sunday, former Tibetan prisoner of conscience and musicologist Ngawang Choephel will be sharing his story about art, politics and imprisonment.

WHAT: Amnesty International USA's Southern Regional Conference

SPEAKERS: Larry Cox, new Executive Director of AIUSA; Ngawang Choephel, Tibetan musicologist and former prisoner of conscience

WHERE: Radisson Hotel, New Orleans Airport, 2150 Veterans Memorial Blvd.

WHEN: Nov. 3-5

-- Reception at the Contemporary Arts Center on Fri., Nov. 3, at 7:15 p.m.

-- Opening Plenary: "The Post-Katrina Crisis" on Sat. Nov. 4 at 8:45 a.m.

-- Closing Plenary with Ngawang Choephel on Sun., Nov. 5 at 12:15 p.m.

The conference is open to the public. Members of the press are not required to register.

For further information, please go to: http://www.amnestyusa.org/events/southern/regionalconference.html

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