Amnesty International (AI) and Amnesty International USA (AIUSA)
During the yearlong Campaign on the U.S., AIUSA continued to point out that police misconduct and excessive force are neither isolated nor new problems.(17)
Currently, one of AIUSA's committees, the Leadership Council, holds it to be outrageous that the U.S.
It was only recently that two of the 13 states, Virginia and Washington, in which sexual contact between prison guards and women inmates was not criminalized by law, have taken steps to remedy that lacuna.(21) AIUSA has successfully intervened in cases involving electroshock stun belts in New York City and in Los Angeles, restraints used on pregnant women inmate in Illinois, and sexual contact between guards and prisoners in Virginia and Washington, among others.
AIUSA's report, Not Part of My Sentence: Violations of the Human Rights of Women in Custody (March 1999), discusses forms of torture and cruel, inhuman, and degrading treatment experienced by women in U.S.
AIUSA has headquarters in New York City, with six other offices in the U.S.: Washington, D.C., Chicago, Somerville (MA), Atlanta, Culver City (CA), San Francisco, and Nederland (CO).
Rights for All, AIUSA Campaign Newsletter 1 (New York, 1998).
In 105 of these places, 4,300 local AI groups are active; in 55 countries and territories, the national groups operate under the heading of "sections." AIUSA Volunteer Activities include: Human Rights Educators Network; Local Groups; Student Groups; Freedom Writers Network; Urgent Action Network; Government Action Network; The Women's Program: Health Professionals Network; Legal Support Network; Children's Rights Network; and AI Members for Lesbian and Gay Concerns.