There are numerous restrictions on access to this collection. Please see the restrictions note in the finding aid (in red)
This collection of papers documents the work of Amnesty International's IEC, IEC Standing Committees, International Council Meetings, materials related to international planning and finances, and papers concerning AI policies and country priorities. Thematic areas of focus include research coverage in AI, crisis response (including Rwanda), impunity and the International Criminal Court, and economic, social and cultural rights.
During my years of service in the 1990s, the IEC typically met 4 times a year. Meetings were highly structured, and the agenda packets sent by international mail to all IEC members were quite hefty. Meetings were usually held at or near the International Secretariat; they usually convened on a Friday afternoon and concluded early afternoon on Sunday. On Friday morning, prior to the formal meeting, the IEC Finance Subcommittee and the IEC Employers' Subcommittee held separate meetings, and items of business from these sub-committee meetings were typically addressed toward the end of the main meeting. The IEC's 9 members included 7 members and a treasurer (all elected by ICM delegates), plus one staff member elected by staff at the International Secretariat. The main IEC meetings were attended by these 9 IEC members, all members of the Senior Management Team (SMT), the IEC assistant, and occasionally by IS program managers or invited staff. [Section personnel were categorically excluded from attending IEC meetings, in part so as not to provide the UK section special privilege due to its location.] Meeting papers typically included a main agenda document and numerous items for information or action. Following the meeting, several documents were distributed to AI sections worldwide as part of the Weekly Mailing, although the practice varied over time: an IEC Bulletin written by the IEC Chair, which typically served as a cover note for attached documents (a practice inaugurated in 1993) and eventually included a narrative about main issues discussed in the meeting. This document sometimes included a list of decisions taken during the meeting, in tabular form and without commentary. A "Report" of the meeting, containing a summary of discussions and recorded decisions of IEC meetings.
Series II: Papers related to IEC Standing Committees
During my years on the IEC, the IEC's four permanent standing committees were an integral part of the IEC's decision-making process. Authorized by Decision 63 of the 1991 ICM and comprised of leaders and specialists from AI sections around the world, the Standing Committee on the Mandate (SCM), the Standing Committee on Research and Action (SCRA), the Standing Committee on Organizational Development (SCOD), and the Standing Committee on Human Information and Financial Matters (SCHIFM) were intended to assist and advise the IEC. In the 1990s, nearly every study mandated by an ICM decision was referred by the IEC to one or another of the standing committees.
Series V: Papers related to International Secretariat and International Executive Committee
Series VIII: Policy Issues and Positions Internal to Amnesty International
Rbml Advance Appointment
There are numerous restrictions on access to this collection. Please see the restrictions note in the finding aid (in red)
Columbia University Libraries, Rare Book and Manuscript Library
Processed by Susan Waltz and Patrick Lawlor
Susan Waltz is a Professor Emerita of Public Policy at the Ford School of the University of Michigan. Waltz served on Amnesty International's Executive Committee (IEC) from 1993-1999. As a member of AIUSA, she has been active in local groups in Oakland, CA and Miami, FL and served on the AIUSA Board from 2009-2012. Waltz also served on AIUSA's Committee on International Development and on the Military, Security and Police Transfers Co-Group. She has been active in AI's international work to promote an Arms Trade Treaty.
The subject headings listed below are found in this collection. Links below allow searches for other collections at Columbia University, through CLIO, the catalog for Columbia University Libraries, and through ArchiveGRID, a catalog that allows users to search the holdings of multiple research libraries and archives.
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| Name | ||
|---|---|---|
| Amnesty International | CLIO Catalog | ArchiveGRID |
| Subject | ||
| Arms control | CLIO Catalog | ArchiveGRID |
| Human rights | CLIO Catalog | ArchiveGRID |