High Road Progress Report 2008-2009

8/9/2019 High Road Progress Report 2008-2009

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Where Weve Traveled and

Where Were Headed


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January 2008 through July 2009

High Roads Start-up

The day he left office, January 7, 2008, Anderson filed incorporation

papers for what would become High Road for Human Rights Education

Project D0F1D and High Road for Human Rights Advocacy Project. D1F2D Since thatday, High Road has been working non-stop, building the infrastructure

necessary for mass communication and mass mobilization that will lead to

major changes in human rights policies and practices.

Areas of Focus

High Road identified fourhuman rights areas on which to focus:

genocide, human trafficking, climate

change, and torture. Recently, a fifth

area of focus, state-sanctioned killing

under the guise of the death penalty,

was added to the High Road agenda.

The work of High Road has been

intense and far-reaching, laying the

groundwork for an aggressive,effective citizens lobby of informed,

well-prepared people in local

communities throughout the nation.

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Presentations/ReceptionsAnd Enthusiastic Response

Founder Rocky Anderson has made numerous presentations about the

mission and strategies of High Road for Human Rights around the United

States and Canada. D2F3D At High Road receptions, the response by those in

attendance has been enthusiastic and supportive. At every event, people

have volunteered to help form local chapters. High Road has formed

fourteen chapters around the country and, with sufficient funding and

staffing, can mobilize members and create 30 or more active chapters

operating around the country by the end of 2009.

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Recognizing Climate ChangeAs a Threat to Human Rights

On behalf of High Road, Anderson has presented in several cities

throughout the United States on the urgency of taking effective action to

reverse the trend toward irreversible and catastrophic climate change. At the

core of High Roads approach to climate change is a commitment to treating

the potential catastrophe posed by global warming as a major human rights

threat. The presentations include a call for leadership, the implementation of

concrete solutions, and vigorous advocacy by all who are concerned aboutthe future of our planet and its inhabitants.D3F4D

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Combating Tortureand Upholding the Rule of Law

High Road for HumanRights has been instrumental in

pushing for hearings by the

House Judiciary Committee on

torture, other abuses of power,

and the undermining of the rule

of law. Anderson drafted a

letter to Congressman John

Conyers, Chair of the Judiciary

Committee, and obtained the

signatures of such notables as

George McGovern, Noam

Chomsky, Harry Belafonte,

Jonathan Kozol, and Daniel

Ellsberg. (The letter, to which

thousands of others have added

their signatures, is posted at a

web site set up by High Road,

H0Hwww.restoreruleoflaw.comH. That web site has had over 1,186,000 hits.)

Reflecting the power of grassroots mobilization, the letter led to twomeetings with Chairman Conyers and several other members of Congress D4F5D

and to extensive correspondence and conversations between High Road and

members of the staffs of Congressman Conyerss office and the Judiciary

Committee.

Following those meetings, the

House Judiciary Committee held a

six-hour hearing on July 25, 2008

regarding abuses of executive power.

Anderson testified at that hearing,

along with Elizabeth Holzman,

Frederick A. O. Schwartz, Bob Barr,

Vincent Bugliosi, Dennis Kucinich,

Bruce Fein, and others. D5F6D

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At that hearing, Anderson proposed several concrete steps to be taken

in order to reverse the undermining of the rule of law, to provide for

accountability, and to provide for safeguards against future abuses of

power.D6F7D Congress is now close to proceeding with many of the

recommendations.

High Road for Human Rights sponsored and organized a rally for

Truth and Accountability on Torture on May 28, 2008. Of several other such

rallies held throughout the nation, the High Road Rally was the only one to

generate coverage by the news media.

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Effective Mass Communicationand Mass Mobilization

High Road has conveyed its mission and strategy for grassrootsmobilization through a robust web site D7F8D with informative, up-to-date

content, including three compelling multi-media pieces developed by High

Road. In addition, High Road has shown its multi-media piece, Torture

and the Rule of Law, in numerous venues. D8F9D It was featured in an email to

over 6,000 people, with very positive response. The email generated over

20,000 hits on the High Road web site in three days, proving the

effectiveness of powerful, high-quality mass communication9F10

With the help of a student volunteer coordinator, dozens of local high

school volunteers have helped with High Road events. Interns and other

volunteers have also helped with everything from putting on receptions to

entering computer data.

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Boards and Advisory Committee

High Road for Human Rights Education Project and High Road for Human

Rights Advocacy Project have built remarkable Boards of Directors.D10F11D Also,

an extraordinary Advisory Committee has been formed, including Yoko

Ono, Elie Weisel, Bill McKibben, Lester Brown, Mark Hertsgaard, Winnie

Singh, Ed Mazria, Gus Speth, Mimi Kennedy, Paul Rogat Loeb, Terry

Tempest Williams, Ben Cohen, Daniel Ellsberg, Ross Gelbspan, Susan Joy

Hassol, Hillary Brown, and Sheila Watt-Cloutier.

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Films and Rallies

High Road for Human Rights has presented documentary screenings

and panel discussions with public television station KUED and Salt Lake

City Film Center.D11F12D In addition, High Road for Human Rights AdvocacyProject was the proud sponsor and organizer of a well-attended Peace and

Human Rights rally on May 28, 2008 (see H1Hwww.peaceandhumanrights.comH,

a web site created by High Road.) and a rally for truth and accountability for

torture on June 25, 2009.

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The GrassrootsHigh Road Chapters in Action

Carmel, CALos Angeles, CASan Francisco, CAWashington, DCTampa Bay, FLBoise, IDNew York City, NYPortland, OR

Salt Lake City, UTUtah County, UTBrigham Young University, UTPark City, UTSeattle University, WAUniversity of Washington, WACasper, WY

Community and Public Events

All over the country, High Road for Human Rights chapter leaders are

taking the initiative to make certain that High Roads grassroots strategies

are implemented.

Chapter members are constantly working to increase High Roads

membership base, guiding chapter members to engage in grassroots actions

on a sustained basis, being creative in maintaining enthusiasm and

fundraising, and keeping up good communication with and reports of

progress to the national headquarters.

Capitol Climate Change Demonstration

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On March 2, 2009 thousands of people joined in a multi-generational act of

civil disobedience at the Capitol Power Plant a plant that powers

Congress with dirty energy and symbolizes a past that cannot be our future.

Power Shift 09

In the middle of our new administration's first 100 days, Power Shift 09

brought 10,000 young people to Washington to hold our elected officials

accountable for rebuilding our economy and reclaiming our future through

bold climate and clean energy policy. Members of High Road for Human

Right joined with over 10,000 young people from all over the country and

converged on Washington D.C. to take a message of bold, comprehensive

and immediate federal climate action to Capitol Hill.

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Rocky's Lesson

Public Forum Letter - May 18, 2009

When I learned that former Salt Lake City Mayor Rocky Anderson would bespeaking to my high school English class, I was enthralled. He did not come to

explain his controversial politics but to talk about High Road for Human Rights, anonprofit group that he helped found that is dedicated to stopping genocide.

As Rocky lectured about pressuring elected officials in Washington, D.C., onmatters of genocide, I couldn't believe my ears. Why would we need to pressure

our Jim Mathesons and Orrin Hatches? Is the idea of stopping genocide

controversial? When a mass of humans cry out in a foreign tongue and on adistant continent is it not the same emotion that we may feel here in our own

land?

Is it because the dollar figure to stop the atrocity has too many zeros behind it?

Could it be that we just don't care? History shows that politicians certainly don't.By staying silent we are at best lazy and at worst accessories to murder.

Thousands are dying for nothing. Does anyone care?

Scott Johnson

# # #

National Action

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Throughout the first six weeks of 2009, High Road for Human Rights

collected the signatures of over 7,300 concerned citizens who added their

names to the call for an end to torture and restoration of the rule of law. On

February 18, 2009, High Road sent those letters to every member of

Congress and to President Obama.

News and New Media Outlets that have covered High Roads actions:

Washington Post

MSNBC

Rachael Maddow Show

USA TodayThe Nation

The Salt Lake Tribune

My DD

Daily KosThe People's Campaign for the

Constitution

Democracy for New Hampshire

Antemedius

Liberally Critical Thinking

NoosoopAmerican Chronicle

David Swanson

Democratic Underground

treehugger.comIn the Course of Events

Ragingbull

Democrats.com

High Roads LiteratureYoko Ono

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Rwandan Genocide

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The Right People

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Introduction Brochure

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Strong Collaborations

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High Road has developed collaborations with several outstanding

organizations. KUED and the Salt Lake City Film Center are terrific

partners and provide excellent examples of the potential for similar

collaborations in communities with High Road chapters throughout the

country.

Anderson has worked with Human Rights Watch on a proposed op-ed

piece calling for human rights to be a major criterion and concern for the

International Olympic Committee. He also worked with Human Rights First

in drafting a proposed op-ed piece about the record of human rights abuses

by China as it prepared for the Summer Olympic Games in 2008. Anderson

worked with representatives of several national organizations to organize a

demand for congressional hearings on abuses of executive power and he

recently agreed, after an invitation by Bruce Fein, to serve on the founding

Board of First Branch Institute, which will focus on rule of law and balanceof power issues.

Initial Funding

With generous and crucial seed funding by Barbara and Norm Tanner,

funding through ICLEI by Rockefeller Brothers Fund, honoraria paid for

some of Andersons presentations, and contributions by over 160 individuals

and companies (including Khl Clothing, which is adding drop tags with theHigh Road name, logo, and web site address to every piece of clothing it

sells around the world), High Road for Human Rights has been able to meet

all financial requirements for the first 1 years of operations. Major

expenses have included fees for attorneys, graphics artists, and accountants;

office equipment (some of which was donated); payroll for staff and

contractors (a grant writer and web designer/multi-media producer); and

printing/mailing.

Immediate Potential

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High Road for Human Rights now has the potential, within weeks, to utilize

the infrastructure built during the past eighteen months to strengthen existing

chapters and to build new ones. With the hiring of a National Chapter

Director to coordinate the grassroots education and advocacy efforts

between the national office and the chapters, High Road now has enormous

potential to expand its membership base.

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July 2009 Through 2010

Capacity to Bring About Change

With sufficient funding, High Road for Human Rights is poised to make an

enormous difference in US policies and practices as they impact human

rights around the world. As has already been proven, High Road has

enormous capacity to raise consciousness and motivate people to take

effective action toward change.

Filling an Essential Human RightsGrassroots Function

Excellent field work and reporting on human rights abuses is provided by

outstanding organizations like Amnesty International and Human Rights

Watch. Human Rights First, the American Civil Liberties Union, and Center

for Constitutional Rights provide excellent educational materials and engage

in crucial litigation to vindicate fundamental human rights. Complementing

their efforts, High Road for Human Rights provides unique, essential,

sustained grassroots strategies and mass mobilization that, for far too long,

have been missing.D12F13

With sufficient resources, High Road for Human Rights will continue

to build chapters and a strong, broad-based membership throughout the

country. Those chapters and members will be focused on the same issues

and the same concrete solutions, utilizing many of the same grassroots

strategies. With full implementation of High Roads strategy, no one in

Congress or the White House will ever again be able to say the people back

home dont care. They will finally face effective pressure to take specific

actions to prevent or stop mass atrocities.

The High Road Strategic Plan calls for at least 50 chapters across thecountry and membership of at least 5,000 people by the end of 2010. High

Road will provide members and others with presentation materials

(brochures, summaries of research, films, multi-media presentations

developed by High Road, and FAQ sheets) so that consciousness can be

raised in local communities and people can be organized to advocate

vigorously and effectively for solutions.

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For the first time, members of Congress from across the country will

be confronted at every meeting they attend in their home states by

constituents who will demand that specific actions be taken to protect human

rights.D13F14D In the best democratic traditions, there will be phone and letter

writing campaigns,D14F15D letting elected officials know that if they do not act to

stop human rights abuses, their inaction will result in political costs.D15F16D No

longer will elected officials be able to turn a blind eye to mass atrocities with

the assumption that no one cares and that inaction will be tolerated.

Local reporters and editorial boards will frequently hear from local

residents about inaccurate or insufficient reporting about human rights

issues. Faith and civic organizations, as well as school classes, will hear

from local residents about human rights challenges and the responsibility

each person has to speak out.

There will be public service announcements, more informative news

articles and programs, more participation on radio and television talk shows,

greater involvement by young people, greater discussion during political

campaigns about human rights issues, and informative films that will help

raise awareness and motivate people to take effective action.

All of that and more will be coordinated and organized by High Road

for Human Rights, in every community where a chapter is organized and

nationwide through High Roads proven mass communications strategy.

It is that exercise of our democracy that has been missing and it is

what High Road for Human Rights will offer to make certain that the

promise of Never Again is finally kept.

Please support this vital effort, through your financial support and

your commitment to citizen activism. Join us on the High Road toward a

more peaceful, safe, and just world.

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1 The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has approved High Road for Human Rights Education Project

for status as a public charity under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code (the Code). The

IRS has advised the Education Project that contributions to it are deductible under section 170 of the

Code. Also, the IRS has advised that the Education Project is qualified to receive tax deductiblebequests, devises, transfers or gifts under section 2055, 2106, or 2522 of the Code.

2

High Road for Human Rights Advocacy Project has been approved by the Internal Revenue Servicefor status under Section 501(c)(4) of the Internal Revenue Code. Contributions to the Advocacy

Project are not deductible for federal income tax purposes.

3 Those presentations have been offered at receptions at the offices of High Road in Salt Lake City; at

Columbia Institute conferences in Vancouver, BC and Huntsville, Ontario; before civic organizations

like the Exchange Club and Rotary Club; in Carmel and San Francisco, California at events hosted by

Board member Karen Osborne; in New York City at Steinway Hall; in Washington, D.C. at a receptionhosted by Barbara Koeppel; and at campus venues in Laramie and Casper, Wyoming. He also

presented the intellectual hors douevre, Breaking the Cycle of Complacency (which can be

viewed on High Roads web site), at a University of Utah College of Humanities-sponsoredHumanities Happy Hour.

4 Anderson has been recognized nationally and internationally as a leader in climate protection. Hisrecord as Mayor of Salt Lake City, where he reduced greenhouse gas emissions in municipal operations

by 31% in four years, has often been cited as an example of what cities and other governmental entities

everywhere can accomplish in combating global warming. For his leadership on climate change,Anderson received the Climate Protection Award from the EPA, the Distinguished Service Award from

the Sierra Club, the Respect the Earth Planet Defender Award, and the World Leadership Award for

environmental programs from the World Leadership Forum. Anderson presented in conjunction with

the United Nations Climate Change Conferences in New Delhi, Buenos Aires, and Bali. He consultedin London with the assistants to heads of state in preparation for the 2005 G8 Conference, at which

climate change was one of only two major agenda items. He founded and co-hosted Sundance

Summit: A Mayors Gathering on Climate Protection and has presented for several years at numerousconferences throughout the US, as well as in Australia, Canada, and Sweden. Anderson was named by

Business Week as one of the top twenty activists in the world on climate change

(Hhttp://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/05_50/b3963417.htmH) and served on the Newsweek

Global Environmental Leadership Advisory Committee. He is a vigorous advocate of treating climate

change within a human rights framework, emphasizing the catastrophic impacts past, present, and

future of climate change on hundreds of millions of people, including some of the most vulnerable

people in the world.

As Executive Director of High Road, Andersons work on climate change has included

presentations at the following events:

The 8th National Conference on Science, Policy and the Environment (National Council for

Science and the Environment) Climate Change: Science and Solutions (Washington, D.C.,

January 18, 2008)

Green Your Scene Environmental Symposium (Ketchum, Idaho, March 11, 2008)

Earthday: Green Apple Festival (Washington, D.C., April 20, 2008)

Surdna Foundation Board of Directors (on behalf of ICLEI) (New York, New York, May 12,2008)
http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/05_50/b3963417.htmhttp://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/05_50/b3963417.htmhttp://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/05_50/b3963417.htmhttp://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/05_50/b3963417.htm


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Keynote Address at the 2008 ICLEI Local Action Summit (Albuquerque, New Mexico, May

15, 2008)

Keynote Address at the 2008 Southwest Land Trust Conference (Park City, Utah, May 16,

2008)

Online video presentation for ICLEI, Climate Change and Local Leadership

Park City Rotary Club (Park City, Utah, June 3, 2008)

Keynote Address, Combating Climate Change: A Human Rights Imperative, InternationalHuman Rights Funders Group (New York City, July 21, 2008)

Tampa League of Cities, Local Government Solutions to Global Climate Change (Tampa,

Florida, August 14, 2008)

Member, Resource Team, Mayors Institute on Climate Change, Regional Plan Association

(New York City, September 3-5, 2008)

Keynote Address, Combating Climate Change: A Leadership Imperative (New York City,September 4, 2008)

Natrona County Commission Workshop on Climate Change (Casper, Wyoming, September 11,

2008)

Climate Change in Carbon Central, University of Wyoming (Casper, Wyoming, September

11, 2008)

The Green Summit, University of Nevada at Reno (Reno, Nevada, September 20, 2008)

Combating Climate Change: A Human Rights Imperative, Winter Conference for Activists,

Healthy Planet Mobilization Committee (Salt Lake City, Utah, February 14, 2009)

Keynote Address at Power Shift 09 (Washington, D.C., February 27, 2009) (a video of theaddress is at HUhttp://highroadforhumanrights.org/media/travel2.htmUH)

Presentation to 50 Chinese Mayors or Deputy Mayors at a training session organized by Joint

US-China Cooperation on Clean Energy (JUCCCE) (SeeHUhttp://highroadforhumanrights.org/media/travel2.htm UH) (Beijing, China, May 5, 2009)

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Anderson arranged for several people with influence to participate in those meetings, includingGeorge McGovern, Daniel Ellsberg, Elisa Massimino (now the Executive Director of Human RightsFirst), Hilary Shelton, Director of the Washington Bureau of NAACP, and Walter Fauntroy. He also

met with several people to solicit their assistance in pushing for hearings, including Michael Posner,

President of Human Rights First, Vincent Warren, Executive Director of Center for ConstitutionalRights, and Carroll Bogert, Associate Director of Human Rights Watch.

6 A video of Andersons testimony, as well as the written testimony he submitted to the HouseJudiciary Committee, can be viewed on the HRHR web site.

7 The potential remedies suggested by Anderson at the House Judiciary Committee hearing were (1)

impeachment; (2) legislation precluding consideration of presidential signing statements in determiningstatutory legislative history; (3) legislation providing that signing statements cannot serve as a defense

for a violation of the law; (4) pursuit by Congress of a declaratory judgment as to the effect of

presidential signing statements; (5) an assertion of Congresss constitutional role in making war byforbidding, through passage of a criminal statute with severe penalties, any attack against Iran, except

as permitted under the United Nations Charter, the Constitution, and explicit authorization by

Congress; (6) the authorization and designation of special prosecutors to investigate and prosecuteviolations of the law by members of the administration; (7) legislation strictly limiting the application

of the State Secrets doctrine; (8) legislation providing for severe punishment for any government agent

who engages in or authorizes torture, or cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment of any person being
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detained, without exception; (9) a clarification by Congress as to the process that must be followed

before any US treaty obligations, including the Geneva Conventions, are violated or terminated by any

member of the Executive Branch; and (10) the appointment of a select committee, similar to the

Church and Ervin Committees, charged with investigating and disclosing to the American people theabuses of power by the Bush administration and those who have worked in concert with it, and making

recommendations concerning reforms to prevent such misconduct in the future.

8Hwww.highroadforhumanrights.org

9 It was shown at the Forum for Inquiring Minds (Salt Lake City, September 14) and at receptions inNew York City and Washington, D.C. It was also shown at a high school in Casper, Wyoming, where

students indicated they had gained a very different viewpoint from the presentation.

10 The multi-media piece on Torture and the Rule of Law can now be viewed on the High Road website.

11 A listing of Board members, along with biographical sketches, can be found on the High Road website.

12 Those documentaries include films about the genocides in Rwanda and Cambodia, a film about civil

rights and the Chicago 7, and, along with Phil Donahue, the film Body of War.

13Samantha Power described why the US failed to act to stop the genocide in Rwanda in 1994:

[A]s was true with previous genocides, these U.S. officials were making potent political

calculations about what the U.S. public would abide. . . . [T]hey looked to op-ed pages of elite journals, popular protest, and congressional noise to gauge public interest. No group or

groups in the United States made Clinton administration decisionmakers feel or fear that

they would pay a political price for doing nothing to save Rwandans. A Problem From

Hell America and the Age of Genocide (New York: Basic Books, 2002), pp. 373-74(emphasis added).

Although Human Rights Watch supplied exemplary intelligence to the U.S. government andlobbied in one-on-one meetings, it lacked the grassroots base from which it might havemobilized the crucial domestic pressure everyone agreed was missing. Id. at 377

(emphasis added).

The phones in congressional offices were not ringing. Id. at 376.

Likewise, during the genocide in Bosnia, Congressman Frank McCloskey fought valiantly to achieve a

solution. However, he repeatedly heard from his congressional colleagues that the people back homedidnt care. They werent hearing from their constituents, so they werent going to take any action. Id.at 298-99.

14Many people believe that if the right people are elected, effective and compassionate action will be

taken without anything else having to be done by their constituents. However, Jim Wallis makes itclear thats not how it works:
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[T]he members of Congress [are] the ones . . . who walk around town with their fingers held

high in the air, having just licked them and put them up to see which way the wind is

blowing. . . . Even the ones who want to make a difference will tell you they cant without

public backing, and they dont often find it. Many of us believe that by replacing one wet-fingered politician with another, we can change our society. But it never really works, and

when it doesnt we get disillusioned. We then get tempted to just grumble, withdraw, or give

up altogether on ever changing anything. But thats where we make our mistake. The greatpractitioners of real social change . . . understood something very important. They knew that

you dont change a society by merely replacing one wet-fingered politician with another. You

change a society by changing the wind. Jim Wallis, Gods Politics (San Francisco:HarperSanFrancisco, 2005), pp. 21-22.

15 Commenting about the absence of a grassroots call for action to be taken to stop the genocide inRwanda, and the difference such a call would have made, Senator Paul Simon said, If every member

of the House and Senate had received 100 letters from people back home saying we have to do

something about Rwanda, when the crisis was first developing, then I think the response would havebeen different. Power, supra, at 377.16 [T]he most realistic hope for combating [genocide] lies in the rest of us creating short-term politicalcosts for those who do nothing. Samantha Power, Raising the Cost of Genocide, The New Killing

Fields: Massacre and the Politics of Intervention, (edited by Nicolaus Mills and Kira Brunner) (New

York: Basic Books, 2002), p. 73.

Documents

High Road Progress Report 2008-2009