Alliance for Open Society International
Encyclopedia
Alliance for Open Society International, Inc. (AOSI) is a non-profit organization
to promote open society
by shaping government policy and supporting education
, the media
, public health
, and human rights
, especially in Central Asia
. AOSI also advocates social, legal, and economic reform to support public health and human rights. It is an organization of the Open Society Network
(OSN) established in July 2003.
but to better serve Central Asia, the organization created its first regional branch office in Almaty, Kazakhstan.
From 2002 to 2007, AOSI administered United States Agency for International Development
(USAID)-funded drug rehabilitation
programs in Uzbekistan
, Tajikistan
, and the Ferghana Valley Region of Kyrgyzstan
. In some cases, the program was tailored in a "culturally appropriate" way to better mesh with local Islam
ic and Christian
and beliefs. According to AOSI:
The programs differed from locale to locale; examples of measures included were assistance with drug withdrawal
symptom
s and detoxification, education about the control of hepatitis
infection
, halfway houses to help people rehabilitate and readjust to living without drugs, and—at the program for drug addicts in the city of Osh
-- the use of acupuncture
.
, is a former Human Rights Watch
reporter, a former Executive Director
of Médecins du Monde
, a member of the New York
Bar Association
n and a member of the Council on Foreign Relations
. Kushen also worked in the Office of the Legal Adviser of the United States Department of State
where he focused on international criminal justice
, counterterrorism, intelligence
, and international scientific cooperation.
Ricardo Castro, President and General Council for the AOSI, has experience in the area of Latin America
n corporate finance
. Treasurer Steve Gutmann audits AOSI financial operations in New York City
and Budapest
. Maria Santos Valentin, Secretary and Deputy General Counsel for the AOSI, has financial experience in several areas, especially Latin America and Eastern Europe
.
d the United States Agency for International Development and other U.S. Government agencies in response to the anti-prostitution pledge
that was a component of HIV/AIDS policy
during the George W. Bush administration
being extended to include non-profit organizations based in the United States
.
As described by the online magazine
Medical News Today
:
Just prior to this case, the non-profit organization DKT International
had brought a similar lawsuit that prevailed in District Court
but lost on appeal at the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit
. The February 2007 ruling was based on the assumption that the government would allow speech regarding prostitution as long as it is done through an affiliate that doesn't receive federal funding.
With the backing of the American Civil Liberties Union
, AOSI sued the United States Agency for International Development, the financial backers of its Central Asian drug rehabilitation programs. Co-plaintiff
s were the Open Society Institute
and Pathfinder International
. Lawyer
s from the Brennan Center for Justice
at New York University School of Law
represented the plaintiffs.
In May 2006, Judge Victor Marrero, a federal judge of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, issued a preliminary injunction against requiring these organizations to sign the anti-prostitution pledge. Ruling that such a sweeping restriction on the privately funded speech of groups violates the First Amendment
, Marrero wrote "The Supreme Court has repeatedly found that speech, or an agreement not to speak, cannot be compelled or coerced as a condition of participation in a government program."
The government appealed the case to the US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. During the oral arguments in the case, the government stated that it would allow legally and physically separate affiliates to engage in the prohibited speech.
The government issued guidelines to this effect in July 2007. In November 2007, the Appeals Court let the preliminary injunction stand and returned the case for trial to the District Court, where it is currently pending.
Non-profit organization
Nonprofit organization is neither a legal nor technical definition but generally refers to an organization that uses surplus revenues to achieve its goals, rather than distributing them as profit or dividends...
to promote open society
Open society
The open society is a concept originally developed by philosopher Henri Bergson and then by Austrian and British philosopher Karl Popper. In open societies, government is purported to be responsive and tolerant, and political mechanisms are said to be transparent and flexible...
by shaping government policy and supporting education
Education
Education in its broadest, general sense is the means through which the aims and habits of a group of people lives on from one generation to the next. Generally, it occurs through any experience that has a formative effect on the way one thinks, feels, or acts...
, the media
Mass media
Mass media refers collectively to all media technologies which are intended to reach a large audience via mass communication. Broadcast media transmit their information electronically and comprise of television, film and radio, movies, CDs, DVDs and some other gadgets like cameras or video consoles...
, public health
Public health
Public health is "the science and art of preventing disease, prolonging life and promoting health through the organized efforts and informed choices of society, organizations, public and private, communities and individuals" . It is concerned with threats to health based on population health...
, and human rights
Human rights
Human rights are "commonly understood as inalienable fundamental rights to which a person is inherently entitled simply because she or he is a human being." Human rights are thus conceived as universal and egalitarian . These rights may exist as natural rights or as legal rights, in both national...
, especially in Central Asia
Central Asia
Central Asia is a core region of the Asian continent from the Caspian Sea in the west, China in the east, Afghanistan in the south, and Russia in the north...
. AOSI also advocates social, legal, and economic reform to support public health and human rights. It is an organization of the Open Society Network
Open Society Institute
The Open Society Institute , renamed in 2011 to Open Society Foundations, is a private operating and grantmaking foundation started by George Soros, aimed to shape public policy to promote democratic governance, human rights, and economic, legal, and social reform...
(OSN) established in July 2003.
Operations
AOSI is based in New York CityNew York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
but to better serve Central Asia, the organization created its first regional branch office in Almaty, Kazakhstan.
From 2002 to 2007, AOSI administered United States Agency for International Development
United States Agency for International Development
The United States Agency for International Development is the United States federal government agency primarily responsible for administering civilian foreign aid. President John F. Kennedy created USAID in 1961 by executive order to implement development assistance programs in the areas...
(USAID)-funded drug rehabilitation
Drug rehabilitation
Drug rehabilitation is a term for the processes of medical or psychotherapeutic treatment, for dependency on psychoactive substances such as alcohol, prescription drugs, and so-called street drugs such as cocaine, heroin or amphetamines...
programs in Uzbekistan
Uzbekistan
Uzbekistan , officially the Republic of Uzbekistan is a doubly landlocked country in Central Asia and one of the six independent Turkic states. It shares borders with Kazakhstan to the west and to the north, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan to the east, and Afghanistan and Turkmenistan to the south....
, Tajikistan
Tajikistan
Tajikistan , officially the Republic of Tajikistan , is a mountainous landlocked country in Central Asia. Afghanistan borders it to the south, Uzbekistan to the west, Kyrgyzstan to the north, and China to the east....
, and the Ferghana Valley Region of Kyrgyzstan
Kyrgyzstan
Kyrgyzstan , officially the Kyrgyz Republic is one of the world's six independent Turkic states . Located in Central Asia, landlocked and mountainous, Kyrgyzstan is bordered by Kazakhstan to the north, Uzbekistan to the west, Tajikistan to the southwest and China to the east...
. In some cases, the program was tailored in a "culturally appropriate" way to better mesh with local Islam
Islam
Islam . The most common are and . : Arabic pronunciation varies regionally. The first vowel ranges from ~~. The second vowel ranges from ~~~...
ic and Christian
Christianity
Christianity is a monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus as presented in canonical gospels and other New Testament writings...
and beliefs. According to AOSI:
The countries covered under this program have experienced significant increases in opiateOpiateIn medicine, the term opiate describes any of the narcotic opioid alkaloids found as natural products in the opium poppy plant.-Overview:Opiates are so named because they are constituents or derivatives of constituents found in opium, which is processed from the latex sap of the opium poppy,...
consumptionRecreational drug useRecreational drug use is the use of a drug, usually psychoactive, with the intention of creating or enhancing recreational experience. Such use is controversial, however, often being considered to be also drug abuse, and it is often illegal...
due to geography and recent socio-political events including the collapse of the Soviet UnionSoviet UnionThe Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
and the Afghan conflictSoviet war in AfghanistanThe Soviet war in Afghanistan was a nine-year conflict involving the Soviet Union, supporting the Marxist-Leninist government of the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan against the Afghan Mujahideen and foreign "Arab–Afghan" volunteers...
. Heroin transiting through these countries has created epidemics of drug use, undermining already fragile economies and threatening to overwhelm health systems with HIV. This has also occurred in other nearby former Soviet republics. (The) mission is to engage all levels of society in reducing demand for heroin and other opiates.
The programs differed from locale to locale; examples of measures included were assistance with drug withdrawal
Withdrawal
Withdrawal can refer to any sort of separation, but is most commonly used to describe the group of symptoms that occurs upon the abrupt discontinuation/separation or a decrease in dosage of the intake of medications, recreational drugs, and alcohol...
symptom
Symptom
A symptom is a departure from normal function or feeling which is noticed by a patient, indicating the presence of disease or abnormality...
s and detoxification, education about the control of hepatitis
Hepatitis
Hepatitis is a medical condition defined by the inflammation of the liver and characterized by the presence of inflammatory cells in the tissue of the organ. The name is from the Greek hepar , the root being hepat- , meaning liver, and suffix -itis, meaning "inflammation"...
infection
Infection
An infection is the colonization of a host organism by parasite species. Infecting parasites seek to use the host's resources to reproduce, often resulting in disease...
, halfway houses to help people rehabilitate and readjust to living without drugs, and—at the program for drug addicts in the city of Osh
Osh
Osh is the second largest city in Kyrgyzstan, located in the Fergana Valley in the south of the country and often referred to as the "capital of the south". The city is at least 3,000 years old, and has served as the administrative center of Osh Province since 1939...
-- the use of acupuncture
Acupuncture
Acupuncture is a type of alternative medicine that treats patients by insertion and manipulation of solid, generally thin needles in the body....
.
Leadership
Robert Kushen, Chair and President of the Board of DirectorsBoard of directors
A board of directors is a body of elected or appointed members who jointly oversee the activities of a company or organization. Other names include board of governors, board of managers, board of regents, board of trustees, and board of visitors...
, is a former Human Rights Watch
Human Rights Watch
Human Rights Watch is an international non-governmental organization that conducts research and advocacy on human rights. Its headquarters are in New York City and it has offices in Berlin, Beirut, Brussels, Chicago, Geneva, Johannesburg, London, Los Angeles, Moscow, Paris, San Francisco, Tokyo,...
reporter, a former Executive Director
Executive director
Executive director is a term sometimes applied to the chief executive officer or managing director of an organization, company, or corporation. It is widely used in North American non-profit organizations, though in recent decades many U.S. nonprofits have adopted the title "President/CEO"...
of Médecins du Monde
Médecins du Monde
Médecins du Monde or Doctors of the World, is a non-governmental humanitarian aid organisation created in March 1980 by 15 French doctors, including Bernard Kouchner after he had left Médecins Sans Frontières , the aid society which he had co-founded earlier in 1971...
, a member of the New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
Bar Association
Bar association
A bar association is a professional body of lawyers. Some bar associations are responsible for the regulation of the legal profession in their jurisdiction; others are professional organizations dedicated to serving their members; in many cases, they are both...
n and a member of the Council on Foreign Relations
Council on Foreign Relations
The Council on Foreign Relations is an American nonprofit nonpartisan membership organization, publisher, and think tank specializing in U.S. foreign policy and international affairs...
. Kushen also worked in the Office of the Legal Adviser of the United States Department of State
United States Department of State
The United States Department of State , is the United States federal executive department responsible for international relations of the United States, equivalent to the foreign ministries of other countries...
where he focused on international criminal justice
Criminal justice
Criminal Justice is the system of practices and institutions of governments directed at upholding social control, deterring and mitigating crime, or sanctioning those who violate laws with criminal penalties and rehabilitation efforts...
, counterterrorism, intelligence
Espionage
Espionage or spying involves an individual obtaining information that is considered secret or confidential without the permission of the holder of the information. Espionage is inherently clandestine, lest the legitimate holder of the information change plans or take other countermeasures once it...
, and international scientific cooperation.
Ricardo Castro, President and General Council for the AOSI, has experience in the area of Latin America
Latin America
Latin America is a region of the Americas where Romance languages – particularly Spanish and Portuguese, and variably French – are primarily spoken. Latin America has an area of approximately 21,069,500 km² , almost 3.9% of the Earth's surface or 14.1% of its land surface area...
n corporate finance
Corporate finance
Corporate finance is the area of finance dealing with monetary decisions that business enterprises make and the tools and analysis used to make these decisions. The primary goal of corporate finance is to maximize shareholder value while managing the firm's financial risks...
. Treasurer Steve Gutmann audits AOSI financial operations in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
and Budapest
Budapest
Budapest is the capital of Hungary. As the largest city of Hungary, it is the country's principal political, cultural, commercial, industrial, and transportation centre. In 2011, Budapest had 1,733,685 inhabitants, down from its 1989 peak of 2,113,645 due to suburbanization. The Budapest Commuter...
. Maria Santos Valentin, Secretary and Deputy General Counsel for the AOSI, has financial experience in several areas, especially Latin America and Eastern Europe
Eastern Europe
Eastern Europe is the eastern part of Europe. The term has widely disparate geopolitical, geographical, cultural and socioeconomic readings, which makes it highly context-dependent and even volatile, and there are "almost as many definitions of Eastern Europe as there are scholars of the region"...
.
Lawsuit
In September 2005, AOSI sueLawsuit
A lawsuit or "suit in law" is a civil action brought in a court of law in which a plaintiff, a party who claims to have incurred loss as a result of a defendant's actions, demands a legal or equitable remedy. The defendant is required to respond to the plaintiff's complaint...
d the United States Agency for International Development and other U.S. Government agencies in response to the anti-prostitution pledge
Anti-prostitution pledge
The U.S. federal government requires non-governmental organizations that receive federal anti-HIV/AIDS or anti-trafficking funds to adopt an organization-wide policy opposing prostitution and sex-trafficking. This requirement, known as the anti-prostitution pledge, has been in place since 2003...
that was a component of HIV/AIDS policy
Office of National AIDS Policy
The Office of National AIDS Policy coordinates the continuing domestic efforts to reduce the number of new infections in the United States. In addition, the Office works to coordinate an increasingly integrated approach to the prevention, care and treatment of HIV/AIDS. The Office also emphasizes...
during the George W. Bush administration
George W. Bush administration
The presidency of George W. Bush began on January 20, 2001, when he was inaugurated as the 43rd President of the United States of America. The oldest son of former president George H. W. Bush, George W...
being extended to include non-profit organizations based in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
.
As described by the online magazine
Online magazine
An online magazine shares some features with a blog and also with online newspapers, but can usually be distinguished by its approach to editorial control...
Medical News Today
Medical News Today
Medical News Today is a web-based outlet for medical news, targeted to both physicians and the general public. The site was launched in 2003 and reports monthly readership of 3–4 million unique visitors...
:
At issue in the case is a requirement that public health groups receiving U.S. funds pledge their "opposition to prostitution" in order to continue their life-saving HIVHIVHuman immunodeficiency virus is a lentivirus that causes acquired immunodeficiency syndrome , a condition in humans in which progressive failure of the immune system allows life-threatening opportunistic infections and cancers to thrive...
preventionPublic healthPublic health is "the science and art of preventing disease, prolonging life and promoting health through the organized efforts and informed choices of society, organizations, public and private, communities and individuals" . It is concerned with threats to health based on population health...
work. Under this "pledge requirement," recipients of U.S. funds are forced to censor even their privately funded speech regarding the most effective ways to engage high-risk groups in HIV prevention.
Just prior to this case, the non-profit organization DKT International
DKT International
DKT International is a charitable non-profit organization that promotes family planning and HIV/AIDS prevention through social marketing. The Washington, D.C.-based DKT was founded in 1989 by Phil Harvey and operates in Africa, Asia, and Latin America. Much of its revenue comes from its sales of...
had brought a similar lawsuit that prevailed in District Court
United States district court
The United States district courts are the general trial courts of the United States federal court system. Both civil and criminal cases are filed in the district court, which is a court of law, equity, and admiralty. There is a United States bankruptcy court associated with each United States...
but lost on appeal at the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit
United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit
The United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit known informally as the D.C. Circuit, is the federal appellate court for the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. Appeals from the D.C. Circuit, as with all the U.S. Courts of Appeals, are heard on a...
. The February 2007 ruling was based on the assumption that the government would allow speech regarding prostitution as long as it is done through an affiliate that doesn't receive federal funding.
With the backing of the American Civil Liberties Union
American Civil Liberties Union
The American Civil Liberties Union is a U.S. non-profit organization whose stated mission is "to defend and preserve the individual rights and liberties guaranteed to every person in this country by the Constitution and laws of the United States." It works through litigation, legislation, and...
, AOSI sued the United States Agency for International Development, the financial backers of its Central Asian drug rehabilitation programs. Co-plaintiff
Plaintiff
A plaintiff , also known as a claimant or complainant, is the term used in some jurisdictions for the party who initiates a lawsuit before a court...
s were the Open Society Institute
Open Society Institute
The Open Society Institute , renamed in 2011 to Open Society Foundations, is a private operating and grantmaking foundation started by George Soros, aimed to shape public policy to promote democratic governance, human rights, and economic, legal, and social reform...
and Pathfinder International
Pathfinder International
Pathfinder International is based in Watertown, Massachusetts and is a global non-profit organization , that focuses on reproductive health, family planning, HIV/AIDS prevention and care, women and girls empowerment, and more. Under the leadership of Daniel E...
. Lawyer
Lawyer
A lawyer, according to Black's Law Dictionary, is "a person learned in the law; as an attorney, counsel or solicitor; a person who is practicing law." Law is the system of rules of conduct established by the sovereign government of a society to correct wrongs, maintain the stability of political...
s from the Brennan Center for Justice
Brennan Center for Justice
The Brennan Center for Justice at New York University Law School is a non-partisan public policy and law institute that focuses on issues involving democracy and justice...
at New York University School of Law
New York University School of Law
The New York University School of Law is the law school of New York University. Established in 1835, the school offers the J.D., LL.M., and J.S.D. degrees in law, and is located in Greenwich Village, in the New York City borough of Manhattan....
represented the plaintiffs.
In May 2006, Judge Victor Marrero, a federal judge of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, issued a preliminary injunction against requiring these organizations to sign the anti-prostitution pledge. Ruling that such a sweeping restriction on the privately funded speech of groups violates the First Amendment
First Amendment to the United States Constitution
The First Amendment to the United States Constitution is part of the Bill of Rights. The amendment prohibits the making of any law respecting an establishment of religion, impeding the free exercise of religion, abridging the freedom of speech, infringing on the freedom of the press, interfering...
, Marrero wrote "The Supreme Court has repeatedly found that speech, or an agreement not to speak, cannot be compelled or coerced as a condition of participation in a government program."
The government appealed the case to the US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. During the oral arguments in the case, the government stated that it would allow legally and physically separate affiliates to engage in the prohibited speech.
The government issued guidelines to this effect in July 2007. In November 2007, the Appeals Court let the preliminary injunction stand and returned the case for trial to the District Court, where it is currently pending.