Alliance for Open Society International

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 Islamic and Christian and beliefs. > USAID-funded Drug Demand Reduction Program in Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, and the Ferghana Valley Region of Kyrgyzstan (aidsprojects.com) According to AOSI:

The countries covered under this program have experienced significant increases in opiate consumption due to geography and recent socio-political events including the collapse of the Soviet Union and the Afghan conflict. 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 another but examples of things included were assistance with drug withdrawal symptoms 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.

Leadership

Ricardo Castro, Vice President and General Council for the AOSI, has experience in the area of Latin American 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.

Lawsuit

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 HIV prevention 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. > Medical News Today "Federal Court Holds "Anti-Prostitution Pledge Requirement" Violates First Amendment" (Main Category: HIV/AIDS, Article Date: 15 May 2006)

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.US Court of Appeals (2007 February 27) District of Columbia Circuit Decision in DKT v. USAID No. 05-CV-01604. Retrieved 5 September 2008.

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. Among the AOSI's many co-plaintiffs were the Open Society Institute and Pathfinder International. Lawyers from the Brennan Center for Justice at New York University School of Law represented the plaintiffs. > American Civil Liberties Union and the ACLU Foundation: Amicus Brief in Alliance For Open Society International, Inc., et al. v. United States Agency For International Development, et al. (11/9/2005) > Brennan Center for Justice:Alliance for Open Society International v. USAID Questions and Answers About the August 8, 2008 Ruling Granting InterAction and Global Health Council a Preliminary Injunction

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 Court has not yet issued a ruling in the case.

Links

• PDF of MEMORANDUM OF LAW OF AIDS ACTION AND TWENTY-ONE OTHER ORGANIZATIONS* AS AMICI CURIAE IN SUPPORT OF PLAINTIFFS’ MOTION FOR A PRELIMINARY INJUNCTION

References

Category: Civic and political organizations Category: Non-profit organizations Category: Central Asia