Saint Louis University’s Amnesty International will sponsor two upcoming events on campus that deal with abuses of human rights.

These events include a Tribunal on the Death Penalty and the Midwest Amnesty International Conference which are to be held next week.

Thursday, Oct. 18, Amnesty International, in cooperation with the Law School, plans to host a one-day event to bring together attorneys and experts to highlight and discuss issues related to the death penalty. This tribunal presents a unique opportunity to learn more about the racial, socioeconomic and political aspects behind the death penalty.

“Missouri is of particular concern to us,” said SLU senior Eric Sears, student area coordinator of Amnesty International. “Recently, it was declared the state with the third highest rate of executions. The state has already executed six [people] this year and is scheduled to perform another on the 24th.”

The coordinators of the Tribunal are developing a report containing abridged versions of all the speeches scheduled on Thursday. These reports will be sent to each member of the Missouri General Assembly, as well as the governor.

“We are attempting to be proactive because Missouri fails on all standards of the death penalty,” stated Sears.

The Tribunal will be held from 9:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Law School.

This event is open to the student body in addition to the greater St. Louis community. In fact, the Missouri Bar Association is giving the Tribunal “Continuing Legal Certification” status for lawyers who must complete a certain number of these hours per year to maintain their licenses.

Sears encouraged students to attend: “The Tribunal is a unique opportunity to become more knowledgeable about important issues and concerns about the death penalty that students are not exposed to through the media.”

Beginning on Friday, Oct. 19, and lasting through Sunday, Oct. 21, SLU will host the Amnesty International USA’s Midwest Regional Conference in the Busch Memorial Center. The theme this year is “Working to Globalize Justice,” which is fitting in light of the events of Sept.11 and the recent U.S. attacks on Afghanistan, according to Sears. The opening session on Friday will address these events.

“The conference this year has been dramatically revamped in light of the attacks. Many people have been looking toward Amnesty International for a just response to the events of Sept. 11,” Sears said.

In addition to this topic, the conference will discuss issues of global trade, the future of the human rights movement and mistreatment of women during conflict. Through this conference, Amnesty International hopes to educate people on how to work towards the promotion of human rights with regard to globalization of justice.

“The Regional Conference represents a unique opportunity to become better educated on a wide variety of human rights’ abuses and learn how they can help stop these abuses,” Sears added.