Amnesty International Salisbury Group

Minutes of the Monthly Meeting on Thursday 13th Sept 20187.30 pm 4 Victoria Road

1 Chairman’s WelcomePresent: Andrew, Tony, Ria, Fiona, Eddie, Peter, LesleyApologies: Michael P, Farha.

AH

2 Minutes of previous Meeting – These were agreed. LC

3 Treasurer’s Report - £999.59 (Bank Account) £30.06 (Cash)

MP

4 Campaign Reports

Death Penalty

Please see the Salisbury Group Website www.salisburyai.com for the full international updates for the months of August and September, covering the EU, Sri Lanka, Thailand, the USA, Saudi Arabia, Kenya, the UK, Jerusalem, Japan, Egypt, Turkey, Pope Francis, Bangladesh, Malaysia, Sudan, Taiwan, Iran and Pakistan. Direct link to the report is https://wp.me/p4jvwE-1om

Of particular note:

The Home Secretary stated the UK would not oppose the use of the death penalty if Alexandra Kotey and El Shafee Elsheikh, alleged to be members of Islamic State, were extradited to the US. The two men had been stripped of their British Citizenship. Following an intervention by the lawyers acting for El Shafee Elsheikh, the Government temporarily suspended co-operation with the American authorities over the case. See https://wp.me/p4jvwE-1n5

Pope Francis issued a statement that the death penalty was ‘inadmissible’, and that the Catholic Church would work for its abolition across the world. A group of 75 Catholic Clergy members have expressed concern that, by refining the Church’s teaching on the death penalty, the Pope has cast doubt on the authority of the Church’s teaching body, the Magisterium.

There are worrying reports that the Sri Lankan Government is intending to resume the implementation of the death penalty after a moratorium of more than 40 years.

LC

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The six remaining members of the Cult found guilty in Japan of the 1995 sarin attack have been executed.

State Prosecutors in the Sudan have called for the death penalty to be reinstated for Zeinab Mohammed Saleh, the young girl found guilty of the murder of the husband she had been forced to marry, and who had raped her.

A Panel of former Judges in Missouri, USA is considering the death penalty case of Marcellus Williams, and whether Governor Mike Pearson should spare his life. Mr Williams, convicted of murder, was hours away from execution when the then Governor Eric Greitens ordered an investigation. New testing had revealed that the DNA found on the weapon matched another unknown person.

An Egyptian Court has confirmed the death sentences of 75 prominent members or affiliates of the Muslim Brotherhood.

In Egypt, the Photo-Journalist Mahmoud Abu Zeid (Shawkan) was sentenced to five years in prison. Having already served five years, he is expected to be released shortly.

Urgent Actions

Belarus – UA 135/18 - Iranian citizen Mehrdad Jamshidian, who suffers from acute ill-health, was detained on 14th June in Belarus. He is at imminent risk of deportation to Iran where he may be subjected to torture and the death penalty for ‘apostasy’ and accusations of murder. (Circulated to DPLWG 24.7.18.)

USA – Nebraska – UA136/18 – The State was set to carry out its first execution in 21 years on 14th August. The prisoner, who had been on death row for 38 years, had given up his appeals and was not seeking clemency. Amnesty urged the State not to resume executions. (Circulated to DPLWG 24.7.18.) The execution of Carey Dean Moore took place on 14.8.18.

Bahrain – An email action was received from Reprieve in connection with 21 people currently on death row, 4 of whom had exhausted their legal appeals and could be executed at any time, including Maher Abbas Al-Khabbaz, Mohamed Ramadhan and Husain Moosa. All had been tortured into confessions. The UK Parliament are shortly to hold a debate on human rights in Bahrain, and members and supporters are asked to contact John Glen, requesting his attendance with a view to increasing international

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pressure on the Bahraini authorities to call off these imminent executions. (Circulated to DPLWG 1.9.18.)

Campaigning

The signing event in advance of this year’s World Day Against the Death Penalty took place on Saturday 1st September. 43 labels for our Tree of Life were signed, calling on the Japanese Government to abolish the death penalty and to treat prisoners currently on death row more humanely.

At their request, 20 labels were forwarded to the New Forest Group for use in their meeting on 1st September. We are very grateful to the Group for their support.

The labels have been forwarded to AI in London. A Tree of Life, with all the labels from Groups across the Country, is to be delivered to the Japanese Embassy on 10th October.

North Korea

TM provided an update on the campaigning carried out by the Group:

Shocked by information received from Amnesty’s International Secretariat several years ago describing NK’s abuse of human rights against its own people including secret prison camps, the Group has:

Invited Kenny Latunde-Dada to speak at Sarum College Read several books by North Korean defectors Written to the authorities in NK, but without any apparent

effect Shown films and had North Korean speakers Recorded an interview with Fiona Bruce MP, co-chair

APPG, and made a short film with the mid-Glos Group on a collection of human rights tapestries

Had coffee mornings at St Thomas’s and shown videos there, collecting signatures to close the camps in NK

Held stalls in the city centre with a petition to close the camps

In cooperation with the Cathedral, held the annual Evensong Service with the main focus on NK.

Where next?

We can continue to try to spread the word but, in my view, we should follow the advice of Fiona Bruce, who said, ‘The international community should prepare for change to come to

TM

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North Korea …we must support and rain North Korean exiles in leadership roles so that they may one day take ownership of their country.

How?

It seems that the vast majority of North Korean exiles are living in New Malden, Surrey. This is too far from Salisbury to visit frequently but we could try to raise funds to support the North Korean Community Centre in New Malden; however, if our Group could recruit supporters/sympathisers who would come to films and talks and bring others with them, we could not only spread the word but also generate extra funds to help projects such as the North Korean Community Centre in New Malden. The ultimate intention would be to empower the North Korean community of defectors in the hope that they might eventually bring about a fundamental change in their home country. This could be discussed either at a monthly meeting or at a specially designated meeting.

In discussion, the Group agreed we would need to ensure supporters were aware that the proposal was for donations at such meetings to be used in this way, but that this could be a way forward. In the meantime, RW will make contact with, and possibly visit, the New Malden Group.

An article in the Sun Newspaper had been published on 31st August on the Prison Camps, highlighting the horrific conditions endured by the prisoners.

TM had written to Kate Allen to express concern that, for a further year, Amnesty’s annual report had made no reference to North Korea. A reply had been received indicating it was not possible to cover every aspect of human rights.

For information: Thursday 20th September 9.00 pm on Channel 5 – ‘Michael Palin in North Korea’ - Pt 1 of 2.

Refugees

The proposed Vigil, originally planned for September, will now take place on 16th October from 10.00 to 12 mid-day. Supporters will meet outside the Guild Hall.

The Petition to the Home Secretary will be available at the Vigil, and will also be used at the Citizenship Day on 26th October. It will focus on expanding the definition of ‘family’ and the provision of legal aid.

AH will continue to liaise with the Methodist Church regarding the possibility of exhibiting the Refugee

AH

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Photographs in January 2019.

RW circulated leaflets on the Harbour Project in Swindon.

5 Social Media Report

Web and other media statistics, July and August1 2018

We continue to attract followers – another nine in this period – and they now stand at 356. There is a steady monthly increase in followers but bizarrely, it is not reflected in viewing figures. One thing which is becoming increasingly noticeable is the interest from overseas to a blog which is not reflected locally.

While this report covers the two previous months, September has seen considerable interest in the ‘Tree of Life’ event we did this month. There was a burst of activity which meant we had exceeded the normal monthly total in the first week and we are likely to see the previous monthly record of 405 broken. Most of these were from overseas. The photo has also been picked up by Amnesty on Twitter saying that [the group] ‘has created a beautiful #treeoflife for an end to the

death penalty in Japan.’ Web siteThe figures are: Feb Mar Apr May June July Aug 172 182 186 198 216 207 305

ViewsAll time: 11,711 (11 Sept)

Top four country views:July Aug

USA 75 180UK 97 48Australia 7 9Ireland 5Canada 22

PC

1 There was no meeting in August5 | P a g e

Top posts:July

1. UK role in the destruction of Yemen see https://wp.me/p4jvwE-1mf

2. Defence Secretary meets civil society groups concerning (but fails to mention our role in supplying weapons)

3. The group’s Trump protest (see photo below) August

1. Case against human rights (2 years old but continues to receive interest)

2. Defence Secretary meets civil society groups concerning (but fails to mention our role in supplying weapons). See https://wp.me/p4jvwE-1nf

3. Accountancy firm (PwC) in Saudi arms row see https://wp.me/p4jvwE- 1nk

Twitter

A big increase in activity with 4493 impressions. August was quieter largely because of a lack of tweets. Our followers seem to have settled at 145 which is encouraging after several months of decline.

Impressions:

Feb Mar April May June July Aug 3486 2666 2138 1420 3543 4493 2824

The top tweet in July was the group’s Trump protest in the square with 393 impressions. This was despite no coverage, before or after, in the Salisbury Journal. For August it was the item about the UN holding the Saudis accountable for their actions in Yemen which got 765 impressions.

FacebookThe number of people following us on Facebook continues to grow and we had a Reach as Facebook calls it of 444 in July and coincidentally, 444 in August as well. These are the highest figures we have seen.

In July, the top post was our Trump protest (328) and in August, the bus strike in Yemen killing a number of children (213).

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Tumbler

No change in the Tumblr statistics with the same 5 followers. 17 are following

YouTube & Flickr

Total views of the North Korea video stands at 1,963. 4963 views on Flickr and 941 views of the still image on Flickr. (September figures)

Group Web site: www.salisburyai.com Twitter: www.twitter.com/salisburyai

Facebook: www.facebook.com/salisburyai

Tumblr: www.salisburyai.tumblr.com

Content always welcome!

6 Monthly Action

Home Office – Stop blocking Children’s Rights – an on-line action and petition are available

I Welcome Refugees – Take part in the Families Together campaign by sharing a family photo

Planning for Write for Rights – The campaign will be launched on 1st November and end on 31st December.

The supplement to the Amnesty Magazine is available to those who wish to write more letters in support of individuals at risk - Download Real Lives,

All

7 Individual Prisoner

The Group will discuss at next month’s meeting the possibility of requesting an Individual prisoner, or participating more actively in the Human Rights Defenders campaign.

All

8 Citizenship Day FD

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This will take place on 26th October. A planning meeting will be held at Fiona’s on 16th November at 11.00 am to finalise the session and those taking part.

AH will contact UTC and Wiltshire College to offer similar sessions. FD is awaiting a response from the 6th Form College.

AHEBRW

9 Christmas Tree Festival at St Thomas’s – 3rd-10th December

The Group’s application to provide a tree has been accepted. The theme will be the celebration of 70 Years since the signing of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. A workshop to produce materials for the tree will take place at 10.00 on 12th November at Peter and Lesley’s.

FDRWPCLC

10 Speaker

The Group have received an offer from Salisbury Methodist Church of a venue for a speaker on Human Rights on 10th December (Human Rights Day). It is hoped that Daniel Trilling might be available – PC to contact.

PC

11 Refugee Photographs Exhibition

AH will continue to liaise with Salisbury Methodist Church regarding the possibility of mounting the Exhibition over the month of January 2019.

AH

13 AOB – There was none.

11 Forthcoming Events

Refugee Vigil – 16th October Citizenship Day – 26th October Christmas Tree Festival – 3rd-10th December Human Rights Day Speaker – 10th December Refugee Photographs Exhibition – January 2019 - TBC Arts Centre Film – 8th March 2019 Market Stall – June 2019

Next Meeting: Thursday 11th October 2018 Time: 7.30 pm Venue: 4 Victoria Road

www.salisburyai.com www.twitter.com/salisburyaiCampaign box and candle – AH; tabards – P&LC

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Should you wish no longer to receive Minutes of meetings, or other communications from the Group, please let us know by emailing our Group Secretary at Donovan.fiona@gmail.com

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