Amnesty International Salisbury Group

Minutes of the Monthly Meeting on Thursday 7.30 pm 4 Victoria Road

1 Chairman’s Welcome – Andrew welcomed RiaPresent: Andrew, Fiona, Tony, Eddie, Ria, Peter, LesleyApologies: Michael P

AH

2 Minutes of previous Meeting – These were agreed LC

3 Treasurer’s Report £1,066.51 (Bank Account) £30.06 (Cash)

The annual financial return form is to be completed and returned.

MP

4 Campaign Reports

Death Penalty

Please see the Salisbury Group Website www.salisburyai.com for the full international update, covering Uganda, Iraq, Egypt, Lesotho, the USA, Chile and Iran.

Of particular note:

In a Military Court Martial, 22 Lesotho Defence Force (LDF) soldiers were acquitted of mutiny charges. If found guilty, they would have faced the death penalty.

A Senate Committee in Washington State (USA) approved by 4-3 a measure to abolish the death penalty within the State. The measure would remove capital punishment as a sentencing option for aggravated murder, and mandate a life sentence without the possibility of parole. The Bill will now move on to the Rules Committee. (Note: A moratorium has been in place since 2014)

In Iowa (USA) a bill to allow execution by lethal injection for first degree murder has had its first reading by the House of Representatives. If it becomes law, this will reverse a 50-year ban on capital punishment. It is, however, believed that the vote is unlikely to be carried by the Public Safety Committee, and the bill is unlikely, therefore, to be passed.

The Supreme Court in Iran upheld a ruling imposing the death penalty on Ahmedreza Djalali, the Iranian-born

LC

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Swedish-Belgian Professor from the Free University of Brussels. Professor Djalali was charged with espionage and ‘enmity with God’ following – according to his Lawyer – an unfair and corrupt trial. He could be executed at any time

Following the brutal killing by a gang, comprised mainly of students, of a student (Mashal Khan, pictured) falsely accused of blasphemy, a court in Pakistan has sentenced one man to death. Five others have been sentenced to life imprisonment and twenty-five

to three years in prison. Twenty-six were acquitted. Picture courtesy sydasien.se

Urgent Actions

Iran – UA 10/18 – Iranian teenager Abolfazi Chezani Sharahi remains at risk of execution after his execution scheduled for 17th January was postponed. Fourteen years old at the time of the crime of which he was convicted, since 2014 he has been transferred to solitary confinement in preparation for his execution four times. (Circulated to DPLWG 22.1.18). This month’s DP Urgent Action

USA – Alabama – Vernon Madison was scheduled to be executed on 25th January. His lawyers maintain that he lacks a rational understanding of the reason for his execution following a number of severe strokes, which have resulted in dementia and an inability to remember the crime. (Circulated to DPLWG on date of receipt – 22.1.18). 25.1.18 - The US Supreme Court granted a stay of execution to Mr Madison.

Bahrain – UA 252/14 (Second Update) – The Court of Cassation has upheld the death sentence imposed on Maher Abbas Ahmad following a trial which found him guilty of the premeditated murder of a policeman, but which relied on ‘confessions’ extracted under torture. If the King ratifies his sentence, he will be at imminent risk of execution. (Circulated to DPLWG 30.1.18.)

Iran – UA 171/17 – Ramin Hossein Panahi, an Iranian Kurdish prisoner, has been on hunger strike since 27th January after a grossly unfair trial that followed 4 months of enforced disappearance. He has been sentenced to death in connection with his membership of the armed Kurdish opposition group, Komala. (Circulated to DPLWG 5.2.18.)

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Belarus – UA17/18 – Viachaslau Sukharko and Aliaksandr Zhylnikau, found guilty of murdering three people, were initially sentenced to life imprisonment, but a re-trial has resulted in the death sentence for both. If, as is likely, the Supreme Court upholds the sentences and a presidential pardon is denied, both will be at risk of imminent execution. (Circulated to DPLWG 5.2.18.)

Campaigning

Anti-Death Penalty Project – No further information has been received. The Project is expected to ‘go live’ following the AIUK AGM in April.

North Korea

Please see details of the forthcoming Cathedral Service under Item 6.

An email has been received from Kenny Latunde-Dada asking for Groups to publish and share messages on social media welcoming the marching together of the North and South Korean athletes, and calling for North Koreans to be able to watch the Olympics without censorship. This will be done from the Website on 9th/10th February.

Refugees

The Group discussed holding a street signing for the Children’s Human Rights Network petition, requesting a reduction in the cost for the registration of children, but felt the issues were too complicated to deal with in this way.

No reply has been received from John Glen MP asking him to make an exception to carrying out his usual Constituency duties on Friday 16th March, in order to attend the Second Reading of the Family Reunion Bill, and to vote in favour of the Bill.

No replies have as yet been received from other Groups regarding the loan of our Exhibition of Photographs. The Cathedral may be interested later in the year. AH will approach the Five Rivers Leisure Centre.

P and LC had attended the Southampton University/Amnesty International Lecture on the Genocide of the Rohinga in Burma. A report on the Lecture can be seen on our Website.

TM

AH

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5 Social Media Report

Web and other media statistics, January 2018 Interesting month with some highlights. The has been a noticeable increase in the number of Website followers and we now have over 300 for the first time. There were 300 views in the month.

Web siteThe figures are: July Aug Sept Oct Nov Dec Jan 173 190 306 208 178 186 300

ViewsAll time: 9908 which means we will breach 10,000 in February.

Country views:Jan

UK 189

USA 75India 5Ukraine 4

Top posts:1. The item about the Salisbury refugee Reza

Maghsoudi2. Cameras for human rights (exhibition at the

Methodist church)3. About us

Followers: a significant increase to 302. This is the biggest monthly increase since the site was formed.

Twitter

A good month with over 3319 impressions. A small increase in the number of followers to 139 so we seem to have stopped the decline.

Impressions:

July Aug Sept Oct Nov Dec Jan2856 1857 3619 4118 1719 4277 3319

Top tweet:

The urgent action concerning an execution in Iran.

Top mention is from the Salisbury Journal concerning the Afghan

PC

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refugee.

Facebook

An increase in activity this month with a total reach1 of 173 and 659 ‘engagements2.’ The biggest item was the ‘Cameras for human rights’ at the Methodist Church. No other noteworthy posts.

Tumbler

No change in the Tumblr statistics with the same 5 followers

YouTube & Flickr

Total views of the North Korea video and still image exceeded 7,000 during the month.

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 Cathedral Evensong – 1st March (5.30 pm)

TM has held a further meeting with TC of the Cathedral, and the Order of Service has been agreed. TM will raise the possibility of changing the second reading to the North Korean poem. This will be read by FD.

TM will provide the Journal with a press release by 19th February.

FD will produce a petition urging the President of China to stop the forcible repatriation of North Koreans seeking refuge.

PC will produce and deliver 10 posters for TM to circulate to local Churches.

JP will provide the candles and drip shields.

AH will bring the tabards

FD will book a table at Alpino’s to follow the Service.

TMAll

1 Reach means anyone who has seen the post or has been sent it.2 Engagement means people are clicking, liking, commenting or otherwise reacting to the post. For us, this is more important than just ‘reaching’. 5 | P a g e

7 Human Rights Celebration

The Celebration is looking doubtful as attempts to date to raise sponsorship have proved unsuccessful. A response is, however, awaited from Lush Cosmetics.

A plea will be going out to members shortly.

PC

8 Arts Centre Film

Following discussion, it was agreed that a feature film would be more likely to attract a larger audience than a documentary; however, the possibility of an additional screening of a documentary – free to view but with tickets issued in advance – would be explored.

FD

9 Monthly Action

I Welcome – Groups are invited to ask MPs to attend the Westminster debate on the reuniting of refugee families on 16th March (see 4 above – Refugee Campaigning)

Azza Soliman – Take action for a lawyer and human rights defender facing imprisonment in Egypt.

Freedom to Express Yourself Exhibition – The Exhibition is available for Groups to borrow and an inspirational notebook is available to buy.

Make A Will Month – March 2018 – Over 150 solicitors across the UK have pledged to give time freely to enable people to write or update their Will.

National Conference & AGM – 7th-8th April, 2018, Swansea University. RW will be attending and will report back to the Group.

All

10 AOB

The Group briefly discussed the Local Groups Survey Report. Of particular note was the average size of Groups – 5-10 – which was reassuring for the Group as we have regularly numbered 6.

It was disappointing that there was little detail of the actual activities undertaken by individual Groups as this might have provided inspiration.

All

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FD will respond to AI’s request for feedback on their Website. This will include concerns regarding difficulties with navigation and finding specific items, and the lack of dates on postings.

FD will request a copy of the new Guidelines regarding data protection.

FD will also order copies of ‘About Amnesty’ for use in Citizenship presentations.

In the light of our local MP’s interest in The Maldives, it was agreed that AH would contact John Glen MP regarding our concern about recent events.

11 Forthcoming Events

Cathedral Evensong – 5.30 pm 1st March (followed by Alpino’s)

Market Stall – 23rd June (please start collecting items!) Human Rights Celebration? – June, exact dates TBC Arts Centre Film – November? TBC

Next Meeting: Thursday 8th March Time: 7.30 pm Venue: 4 Victoria Road

www.salisburyai.com www.twitter.com/salisburyaiwww.facebook.com/salisburyai

Campaign box and banner: Box – AH; Banner (needs replacing) – P&LC

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