dojN000340.xml

dojN000340.xml

born-digital

email

yes

no

2001-12-21

Friday, December 21, 2001 7:02 AM

Dear Mr. Zwick,

I am a member of Amnesty International, a worldwide human rights movement
committed to ensuring that the basic human rights of people are respected
without discrimination.

International human rights standards including the Universal Declaration of
Human Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights
prohibit arbitrary discrimination and the US government is obligated to
respect these rights.

We therefore request that the Justice Department, consistent with such
international human rights standards, and the general principle of equality,
include among relatives eligible for compensation those who lost their life
partners as well as de facto parents or children, without regard to sexual
orientation or marital status.

We ask the Justice Department to follow the positive example of New York
state in granting compensation benefits "on a showing of mutual
interdependence with the victim, in recognition that anyone who shared with
the victim living expenses, day to day activities and the emotional bonds of
family deserves help in this time of need."

We remind Justice Department officials that real justice is only served when
all families - and all types of families - impacted by the human rights
tragedy of September 11 are treated with dignity and equality.

We thank you very much for the attention.

Regards,
Individual Comment

2001-12-21