dojN000894.xml

dojN000894.xml

born-digital

email

yes

no

2001-12-25

Tuesday, December 25, 2001 3:18 PM
for Kenneth L. Zwick

Kenneth L. Zwick, Director
Office of Management Programs
U.S. Department of Justice


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

2001-12-25