dojN001491.xml

dojN001491.xml

born-digital

email

yes

no

2002-01-10

Thursday, January 10, 2002 8:21 AM
Justice Department

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

2002-01-10