A most terrible prison


Channel 5 is allowed into CECOT – a prison from hell

June 2026

Richard Madeley was allowed to film inside the most awful prison called CECOT – Centro de Confinamiento del Terrorismo – in San Salvador and the results were transmitted last week. Despite the restrictions placed on the programme makers, it showed a prison that might have come straight out of some dystopian horror film (movie). The prison is vast and to get about it, he had to travel on a shuttle bus. It has a capacity for 40,000.

Words cannot fully describe the state in which the men are held. Think battery farm for chickens and you get close. Men are effectively warehoused in cells of 100 which contain steel racks three tiers high on which they spend their days. They are not allowed any reading materials and there is no TV. The lights stay on 24 hours a day every day. They have no contact with relatives or lawyers. Trials such as they are, take place on screen with up to 100 defendants at a time. The men will never leave the prison. Further insight is by Human Rights Watch who reported on American nationals held there. They eat the same food each day.

Madeley makes it clear that the men are members of various gangs and have committed a vast number of murders. Some inmates are alleged to have murdered 30 people. San Salvador had a high murder rate with around 16 a day. The drastic measures taken by the president Nayib Bukele has seen this rate drop dramatically. This poses a profound question: that in a state where gangs operate and murder is at a very high level, can the drastic measures and the methods used in CECOT be justified?

Madeley admitted feeling ‘shaken’ by the experience and film of some of the terrible murders could not be shown on British TV. He continued: “It’s obvious that CECOT breaches human rights as we currently understand. It’s a shocking, extreme corner of humanity, but El Salvadorians were writhing under the thumb of psychotic, psychopathic sadists. I wonder if sacrificing civil liberties for the common good is something others would ever be prepared to embrace”. The approach by the President is popular among many in El Salvador who are free of the threat posed by the murderous gang members.

The prison has proved to be controversial in the US and a CBS film was pulled before transmission because allegedly, political pressure was applied. President Trump is reported to be keen on the prison and USA Today revealed a financial deal in which prisoners were sent there.

It is a dilemma. Human rights groups condemn the regime but it has delivered a measure of normality for Salvadorians. Richard Madeley poses this question at the end of his programme. Can such inhumane methods ever be justified?

Sources: The Sun, Cornwall Live, Guardian, Independent, USA Today, CBS

Pic: AFP

Featured post
Featured 0

The tragedy only gets worse


The steady destruction of Lebanon continues while the world looks on

May 2026

The systematic destruction of large parts of southern Lebanon continues apace and on Wednesday, Israel ordered the evacuation of the city of Tyre a city of 200,000 inhabitants. Beirut has be hit by multiple missile and drone strikes which the IDF claim are targeted. It is interesting to note that news media are putting the word ‘targeted’ in inverted commas: progress of sorts.

It is a tragedy that shows no sign of an end. Death and destruction in Gaza with Netanyahu now saying they want to annex 70% of the territory from the 50% they control now. Nearly 73,000 have died there and many thousands more injured. The tragedy of the West Bank where settlers are attacking Arab and Palestinian homes, attacking people and destroying trees and crops. It is a tragedy in south Lebanon where more killing is taking place, white phosphorous is being used and entire villages erased from the map. The attack on Iran is a tragedy with much destruction and many deaths.

The West’s response has been feeble, the UK’s particularly so. Weapons are still being provided to Israel and RAF flights continue. The appalling treatment of the flotilla and those on board drew only a muted response from our government. Israel continues to act with impunity and seems if anything to be ratcheting up the violence. They have successfully put the US in an extremely difficult position. Trump is desperate to secure a deal with Iran which many believe Israel does not want. The lack of a concerted response by the UK and a willingness to follow in the wake of the US and President Trump is a tragedy all of itself.

Part of the UK’s pusillanimous response is because so many of the government’s MPs and many other MPs from other parties are members of the Friends of Israel groups, the best funded of lobby organisations in parliament. If you read the link to the Canary you will see the comment: ‘Finally, this raises serious questions about whose interests these officials actually work for. In turn, a serious long-felt concern is brought to the forefront: is the UK government occupied by Israel? This is precisely the question we asked of the Salisbury MP, Mr John Glen, who is a ‘proud member’ of the Conservative Friends of Israel. Who are you representing, many people in Salisbury who find the violence to be abhorrent and counter productive, or, the Israeli government? He said he would not dignify the question with an answer.

Another tragedy is that it will not, in the long run, improve Israel’s security. By simply bombing, destroying villages and parts of towns, incarcerating thousands of Palestinians in appalling conditions – it is merely creating resentments and hatreds for the future. This has to be the ultimate tragedy for the country. Of particular concern is that violence has become embedded into the psyche of the country – a kind of first response to problems is the send for the military and bomb somewhere. Perhaps John Steinbeck’s quote is apposite: ‘All war is a symptom of man failure as a thinking animal‘.

Vigil 130

Which is why the vigils in Salisbury continue but with no sight of the local MP. The public responses are now uniformly positive with thumbs up and a few stopping by. The rights of almost all those living in the region have been compromised.

Sources: Palestine News, Al Jazeera, (various)

Recent posts:

Thought of becoming a subscriber?

Featured post
Featured 0

Execution spree continues in Florida


Man on death row for 34 years due to be executed

May 2026

The pace of executions in Florida continues and the latest is Dusty Ray Spencer who has been on death row since 1992. Gov. De Santis has signed the warrant and the due date is noon on June 25th. Florida accounts for 40% of all US executions last year according to Amnesty International. It is the tenth such warrant signed by the governor this year. The state set a record in 2025 with 19 executions.

Spencer was convicted of murdering his wife in a violent assault. This was witnessed by his son who tried unsuccessfully to intervene. The Jury voted 7-5 in favour of execution. There have been a number of appeals. Floridians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty state that if the case was heard today, he would be unlikely to receive the death penalty. In the light of all the executions FADP say that ‘We reject the idea that executions are inevitable. Nothing requires the state of Florida to respond to violence with more violence. Our leaders still have a choice’.

In preparing this piece we have explored a number of articles in the US and Florida media and there is little to explain how a marine who apparently had a good service record, became this violent individual. There are brief mentions of his mental state but little else.

If you visit the FADP site there is a petition. Amnesty is opposed to the death penalty in all circumstances. We publish a report each month on the use of the penalty around the world.

Sources: CBS News, FADP, Tampa Bay Times, Justia Law, ‘They Will Kill You’

Latest posts:

Featured post
Featured 0

Vigil following a horrific week


Global outcry following appalling treatment of flotilla activists

May 2026

The world was shocked this week by the appalling scenes and the treatment of activists seized by Israeli forces on the high seas. A BBC video shows some of what went on. Around 430 activists were seized in the operation and were shown with their hands tied behind their backs and made to put their foreheads to the ground while the Israeli Security minister shouted abuse at them. It has caused international consternation particularly as Ben-Gvir is a close confidant of Netanyahu the prime minister who has said the behaviour was ‘not in line with Israel’s values and norms’. Various countries have summoned Israeli ambassadors.

Haaretz reports that 15 detainees were sexually assaulted. A German Foreign Ministry spokesman has demanded a full explanation. An Israeli prison service spokesman called the claims ‘false and entirely without factual basis’. The video testimonies of those who arrived back home seem to point to widespread abuse and violence against them.

Vigil

The 129th vigil in Salisbury took place this week in bright sunshine with around 30 in attendance. A number of passers-by took photos and indicated support either verbally or by gesture.

Why not subscribe?

Featured post
Featured 0

Government signs trade deal


Sir Keir says deal with Gulf States a ‘huge win’ for British business but …

May 2026

The government proudly announced a trade deal with the Gulf States this week which will increase trade with UK firms by many millions. The fly in the ointment however is the human and worker’s rights in those countries which are dire. Take UAE as an example. The country commits a wide range of abuses against its citizens. There is little freedom of expression with a number of individuals given long sentences following mass trials which are transparently unfair.

Women have few rights and experience inequality in education, employment and legal rights. The kefala system is widely employed which ties foreign workers to one employer and effectively denies them any meaningful employment rights.

Torture and other abusive actions are frequent with prisoners kept for long periods in solitary confinement. Human rights defenders are harassed.

The country is accused of providing military equipment to the RSF in Sudan who have committed a range of atrocities. A similar range of failures could be listed among the other countries included in the agreement, Saudi Arabia for example.

Values free

None of this seems to matter. Any mention of human rights has been omitted from the agreement and the government claims these matters are best pursued outside it. The TUC has criticised it arguing that we should ‘not be doing deals with countries which abuse human rights and worker’s rights‘. It is claimed to be a ‘values free agreement’.

Any notion of limiting trade with oppressive regimes which practise a range of abuses against its citizens seems a distant prospect. We are sufficiently desperate for trade that such matters are no longer part of the political landscape. Yet ministers will often claim their belief in human rights. Sir Keir himself told his biographer “There is no version of my life that does not largely revolve around me being a human rights lawyer”. Being a lawyer is not the same as having principles and acting on them. Wouldn’t it be more honest simply to admit we will trade with anyone? There is a podcast of this and other recent posts – see below:

Sources: Amnesty, HRW, American Democracy and Human Rights in Bahrein

Featured post
Featured 0

People in the Park


Salisbury group attends this event with its focus on sustainability

May 2026

This event, organised by Salisbury Transition City each year with 75 exhibitors present this year. The theme is sustainability and with this in mind the Salisbury group focused on the abuse behind the manufacture an everyday item such as a pair of jeans. Billions are made every year and millions are employed in making them. This followed the publication by Amnesty International of a report Stitched Up which details the multiple abuses of this massive industry. From health hazards, physical and sexual abuse of the mainly female workforce, wage theft and the denial of union and collective bargaining rights are all described. The failure of high street retailers to control adequately what is going on is also noted.

The results were muted and only a few of the handouts were taken (see below). It is disappointing to report the Mayor of Salisbury and her party quickly walked past our stall without stopping. Perhaps it was because people view sustainability mainly as an environmental problem. The idea that globalisation and the abuses that flow from it is perhaps not so well appreciated. Massive amounts of water are consumed in their production and of course the fuel needed to move the items from country to country during the course of their manufacture.

Clearly the idea that abuses taking place on the far side of the globe are both a human rights and a sustainable issue is not well recognised. Around a quarter of the cotton used comes from the Xinjiang region of China where the abuse of Uyghurs is taking place and their culture being systematically destroyed. Thousands are engaged in forced labour to produce the cotton. The region is closed to outsiders for obvious reasons.

There is work to do to convince people that sustainability is not just about trees – important though that is – but about the clothes we wear, where they come from and how they’re made. Retailers can continue to sell goods made with the exploitation of millions of mostly female workers, some in near slave like conditions, while claiming their humanitarian credentials on their web sites.

Jeans handoutDownload
Featured post
Featured 0

Good news from Oklahoma


Richard Glossip released after nearly three decades on death row

May 20

We are pleased to report the release on bail of Richard Glossip for whom we have campaigned for many years. His case is a long and tortuous one and he has been served ‘last meals’ on three occasions. He has been on death row for 27 years. In the endless series of trials and appeals it seems to be clear that the prosecution case was always weak. The crime was the murder of Barry van Treese in 1997 and Glossip was alleged to be the killer.

The prosecution allowed its key witness, Justin Sneed, to provide false testimony about his mental health and medical treatment. The new evidence showed that Sneed was diagnosed with bipolar disorder and prescribed lithium, facts that were withheld from the defence. At trial, Sneed falsely claimed he was never treated by a psychiatrist and received lithium mistakenly. This falsehood was material because Sneed’s testimony was the only direct evidence implicating Glossip, and impeachment of his credibility could have influenced the jury’s decision. The prosecution had prior knowledge of Sneed’s mental health treatment and still failed to correct the misstatement when it was made to the jury.

Correcting this false testimony would likely have changed the jury’s assessment of Sneed’s reliability. The prosecution is alleged to excluded exculpatory evidence, interfered with witness testimony, and allowed destruction of key physical evidence. Given these cumulative errors and their impact on the fairness of the trial, Glossip is entitled to a new trial. The Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals’ rejection of the attorney general’s confession of error was based on a misapplication of federal law.

Free for now

Richard Glossip walked out of an Oklahoma County jail Thursday with his wife, free on bond for the first time since his 1997 arrest, after a judge set his release terms ahead of a retrial the U.S. Supreme Court ordered last year. As Hannah Ziegler reported for the New York Times, Judge Natalie Mai set Glossip’s bond at $500,000, requiring an electronic monitoring device and prohibiting contact with witnesses or travel outside Oklahoma. A group of supporters helped raise the bond money.

Glossip was convicted in 1998 and again in 2004 of arranging the murder of his employer, Barry Van Treese, through motel handyman Justin Sneed. The state set execution dates for him nine times. Two independent investigations later found that critical evidence had been withheld and that Sneed’s testimony, the cornerstone of the prosecution’s case, was faulty.

Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond, who had previously asked the Supreme Court to throw out Glossip’s conviction, said he would retry the case but would not again seek the death penalty. Glossip’s attorney Donald Knight said the bond ruling was unexpected and marked a step forward after what he called a decades-long nightmare.

Judge Mai wrote that a new trial free of error would give all parties and Oklahoma citizens the closure they deserve. Knight said the court’s decision had rejected the state’s claim of a strong case for guilt. Glossip told reporters outside the jail Thursday that it was overwhelming but amazing.

The point here is that the case was weak and there are serious doubts about his guilt. Had he been executed in one of the three previous occasions there would be no coming back. It could not be undone.

Sources: MSN, Oklahoma Watch, The Oklahoman. Picture NBC.

Featured post
Featured 0

A damp vigil


A reduced number at the latest vigil, No 128, held in the wet

May 2026

Well it still goes on. There was a report on the Channel 4 news ostensibly about a ceasefire in Lebanon followed by footage of bomb damage from the latest raids. Surreal. One wonders if there ever will be a ceasefire so belligerent are the various parties and so deep the hatreds. Things could be better if the US curbed its seemingly unconditional supply of weapons and support for Israel.

In his latest book Israel, What Went Wrong (Fern Press, 2026) the Jewish academic Omer Bartov writes:

“By what bitter cunning of history have we come to the point that not even eight decades after the Jewish state was established in 1948 – the same year in the genocide convention was adopted by the United Nations in direct response the Nazi extermination of European Jewry – Israel engages for two years in a genocidal undertaking with almost total impunity from the very international legal regime set up after World War II to prevent and punish this crime?”

Eurovision

The Eurovision song contest was held on Saturday and Israel came second to Bulgaria the winners. Five countries boycotted the contest because of Israel’s presence and there have been protests in Vienna. Coming second to Bulgaria it represents a triumph for the country despite the protests. Ireland did not to participate and RTÉ said in December that it felt Ireland’s participation would be “unconscionable given the appalling loss of lives in Gaza and the humanitarian crisis there, which continues to put the lives of so many civilians at risk”. It also said it was deeply concerned by the targeted killing of journalists in Gaza during the conflict and by Israel’s barring of international journalists from the territory. At least 235 journalists have been killed there making it the most dangerous place in the world for them to work.

It is nonetheless troubling that the Israeli entrant could perform so well with reports that the voting was ‘nail-biting’ with a chance that Israel could have won. This despite the terrible events going on in the region. The European Broadcasting Union insists the contest is not political. Last year, there were reports of aggressive marketing by Israel to help secure its second place.

Most media have simply reported the results with discussions about the merits of the performances. So we are indebted to the New York Times who have investigated the Israeli contestant and reveal that the country has invested heavily to the tune of $1 million to promote him. The full story is worth a read and reveals the extent they went to achieve their success. Further details in this Al Jazeera story. Looking at the BBC coverage for example, there is no hint of this activity leaving readers or viewers none the wiser about what happened. The British entrant got the dreaded ‘nul point’ for a second year.

Around 20 attended the vigil on Saturday, down from recent ones but People in the Park kept many away as did the weather. As ever, no sign of the local MP, Mr John Glen who is a proud supporter of Conservative Friends of Israel.

Sources: Politico, Irish Times, International Federation of Journalists, NY Times.

Photo from the vigil courtesy of Peter Gloyns

Recent posts

Featured post
Featured 0

Steady erosion of rights continues


Changes to the European Convention latest moves

May 2026

The endless discussion about who shall be the leader of the Labour Party has meant the latest moves to whittle away rights has received little attention. The guiding influence is immigration, a factor which is a kind of idée fixe in our politics and seems to have the capacity to win or lose elections for individuals or parties. It is claimed that the UK’s membership of the ECHR is preventing us dealing with the problem and in particular the wish to deport people back to their country or origin.

It is not unique to the UK hence the declaration last week giving European governments more power to deport immigrants. The 46 members have decided that ‘states had an undeniable sovereign right to control their borders‘. The Home Secretary, Yvette Cooper, said ‘countries can [now] take action on illegal immigration‘. A questionable statement on many levels. The UK government wants to set up ‘hubs’ in foreign countries to process claims. It has been described as giving governments more ‘wiggle room’ to return migrants, even if there is a risk of mistreatment on their return. It is perhaps a measure of the moral collapse of our political parties that this agreement has generated almost no discussion and scarce mention in the media beyond the facts of the declaration.

Large sections of our community have no love for Europe and the Brexit beliefs still remain strong among many who also have believed at the time of the Referendum that the legal controls would be gone as well. The key proponent of Brexit and leader or the then UKIP party, Nigel Farage said last year ‘the Reform [his new party] will remove the UK from the European Convention and disapply International treaties‘. Reform did well in the recent local elections winning many seats and control of 34 councils. The loss on the other hand of so many Labour held seats has put the future of the prime minister under threat which is where we came in. .

The issues

There are many issues worth setting out:

– The concerns about immigration and the role of people not born in the UK is very one-sided. A number of politicians making most noise about immigrants are themselves – almost bizarrely – sons or daughters of … immigrants. Priti Patel, Suella Braverman, Shabana Mahmood, Danny Kruger and many more have parents not born in the UK.

– There is little recognition, in the desire to deport those already here, of the essential role immigrants and foreign nationals play in our society and economy. The health service for example could not operate at its current level nor could care and nursing homes for the elderly. London underground and bus services would be down to skeleton levels of activity. Much of our food would disappear off the shelves.

– No recognition of the fact that the rise in those coming by boat has been caused by government’s closing almost all means to claim asylum legally.

There are also issues of morality and rights which seem to get ignored or set aside.

– As Amnesty International has put it, it risks creating a ‘hierarchy of people‘. Those who enjoy rights under article 3 not to be subject to torture and those who do not. We are seemingly happy to trade and sell arms to countries which practice torture but we don’t want those fleeing it to come here.

– It shows a politics which is driven by populism and biased coverage. In all the press coverage about immigrants which fill the pages of the mostly right-wing media, there is next to no coverage of the large numbers emigrating. It creates the illusion of the country becoming full-up like pouring more and more water into a jug. GB News is at last to be investigated by Ofcom for not countering in an interview with Donald Trump claims that London had no-go areas for police and parts of the UK were governed by Sharia Law. The interviewer did not challenge the president on this nonsense and retransmitted the interview the following day.

– It attacks the most vulnerable and those least able to defend themselves.

– It panders to the belief that immigration and immigrants are somehow the cause of our economic malaise. Never mind weak investment, low productivity, lack of export growth, high interest rates, poor training and other policy failures, just ship out the immigrants and somehow Britain will be great again.

– It is just another step in the drip, drip, drip of steadily removing rights. The limits on the right to protest and increasing and often ill defined police powers. The various acts we have noted before e.g. Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act 2022 and the Public Order Act 2023, with more legislation in the pipe line, are increasingly been seen as attacks on free speech. There is an attempt to reduce the number of jury trials. Juries have irritated politicians by freeing some people despite directions to convict by some of our reactionary judges.

We need to be much more aware of this populist drive to diminish or weaken our rights. The claims that the Human Rights Act is a ‘criminal’s’ or ‘terrorist’s charter’ is based on the false notion that such people are using the act to escape justice. Autocratic regimes almost always base their rise to power by finding a minority to foist onto the blame for the ills of society and their own failure to govern effectively. It is not done dramatically but bit by bit. It is not even true to say ‘by stealth’ as it is done in plain sight.

Local MPs John Glen and Danny Kruger are revealed by They Work for You, generally (Glen) and consistently (Kruger) to vote against proposed equality and human rights legislation. We cannot therefore rely upon either of these two gentlemen to support threats to our rights by these actions.

Sources: HRW, Civicus, Guardian, Irish Times, GB News, Standard.

Recent posts:

Thought of becoming a subscriber?

Featured post
Featured 0

Minutes and newsletter


Contains a number of interesting items about human rights today

May 2026

We are pleased to attach our latest minutes and newsletter. We do not publish a newsletter as such but the minutes double as one. They contain pieces about immigration, the death penalty and the slowly deteriorating state of rights in the UK. Towards the end you will find details of forthcoming activities if you were interested in making contact.

May minutes (Word)Download

Latest posts:

Featured post
Featured 0

78th anniversary of the Nakba


Terrible events of 1948 which continue to have an effect today

May 2026

The Nakba took place in 1948/49 and resulted in vast number of Palestinians and Arabs being displaced from their homes or murdered by soldiers of the newly created Israeli state. Numbers vary but 750,000 is the approximate figure. Those who survived lived in camps in Jordan, Gaza and Lebanon. Survivors within the new borders of Israel were subject to manifold restrictions which are recognised as apartheid. The catastrophe has left lasting pain and hatreds which means the prospects for peace and reconciliation are remote. Palestinians living in the West Bank are subject to increasing levels of violence and destruction of their property.

There is a march in London tomorrow which no doubt elements of our media and some politicians will demonise calling it a ‘hate march’ or other accusations. Reporting will focus on any violence and very little on the causes. The Jewish Chronicle, quoting Labour Friends of Israel MPs, is calling for a ban.

Reporting

On the question of reporting and the bias of large parts of our media, our attention has been drawn to a piece Prince Harry wrote condemning anti-Semitic and anti-Muslim hatred in the New Statesman. Within days, nearly all the media removed the anti-Muslim element. It is an astonishing read and involves supposedly trusted outlets including the BBC; the Guardian, Sky News, CNN and others. The reasoning or the motives are not clear. It is recommended that you read the evidence provided in this link. Many find claims of media bias hard to accept and this is a clear cut example of altering the news to suit an agenda.

Some background is here concerning the Nakba. A report by Amnesty International on the right of Palestinians to return. Middle East News provide further stories.

We shall be holding our vigil – with others – tomorrow, Saturday 16th as usual. In the market place, Salisbury starting at 5pm for half an hour.

Featured post
Featured 0

Risks to our rights steadily increasing


Our monthly report on trends in the UK is worrying

May 2026

Government appeal against Palestine Action ban

Good Law Project warns that if the Home Secretary Shabana Mahmoud wins her appeal against the lifting of the ban on Palestine Action th the combination of the Online Safety Act 2023 and the Terrorism Act 2000 could be used to silence support for anti-genocide campaigners.

The problem lies in the very broadly drafted offences which even the police have found hard to apply. Online platforms might share this difficulty and fear heavy fines if they don’t remove references to action for Palestine. The Online Safety Act obliges platforms to remove “priority illegal content” from the internet in the UK. At the top of this list is “terrorism content” which includes posts that relate to section 12 of the Terrorism Act, such as “inviting support” for a terrorist organisation or “expressing an opinion or belief that is supportive of a proscribed organisation” while being “reckless as to whether a person to whom the expression is directed will be encouraged to support a proscribed organisation”. See also a previous post on this site pointing out the risks inherent in using this firm.

Palantir Data Privacy Concerns continue

The Good Law Project is supporting Democracy for Sale to raise a challenge about the information commissioner’s decision to keep secret documents sent to Wes Streeting Health Secretary and Health and Social Care Minister Karin Smyth that will reveal truths about the risks of Palantir’s data platform. The British Medical Association has expressed concern about handing sensitive health data to the company which has ties with the Israeli Military and ICE. See our previous post about the threats to our rights from this firm. Statements by the firm’s chief executive are illuminating.

Equality and Human Rights Commission

Following the Good Law challenge in the Supreme Court, the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) has been obliged by Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson to revise its guidance on the application of the Sex definition in order to provide ‘legally accurate, practical guidance’ and ensure ‘all service users are treated with dignity and respect’. Parliamentary approval will be sought in May. Recent testimonies from trans patients suggest that their health concerns are sidelined by some doctors.

Democratic decline

Amnesty International warns the UK is increasingly reflecting, rather than resisting, global trends towards weakening of democratic norms. The 2026 report can be accessed here and download the full report which is divided into countries.

In 2025 – 2026 the UK has:

– used counterterrorism powers to restrict peaceful protest

– overseen the mass arrest of peaceful protesters, with courts ruling aspects unlawful

– intensified hostile policies towards migrants and people seeking asylum

– increased surveillance and policing powers

– continued arms transfers to Israel despite clear risks of use in serious violations of international law

– cut international aid amid escalating global humanitarian need

– defended the use of national security vetoes in legacy Troubles cases, undermining truth, accountability and justice for victims and families

– pursued economic and social policies that risk pushing more people into poverty, weakening protections for economic and social rights.

As we have noted on several occasions before, successive governments have got themselves ensnared with various unpleasant regimes because of their desire to maintain arms exports. We continue to arm UAE despite their support for the rebels in Sudan and other destabilising actions in Libya and Yemen for example, and as noted, we continue to arm and support Israel despite the genocide in Gaza.

Featured post
Featured 1

Global Trends in Refugees and Asylum Seekers 2024


Refugees and asylum seekers still generate a lot of political heat

May 2026

The International Organisation for Migration has produced its latest World Migration Report, covering 2024/5.  It assesses the number of internally displaced people worldwide at 83 million, mostly due to environmental disaster, but about 20 million due to conflict.  In 2025 there were 94 million migrants in Europe (i.e. people living in a different country from their starting residence).  Of course, these figures include people who move for reasons of work or family, as well as refugees and asylum seekers.  

At the end of 2024, there were 36.9 million refugees globally, with 31 million under the UNHCR mandate, and 5.9 million refugees registered by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA).  A further 5.9 million other people in need of international protection – largely from Venezuela – were reported at the end of 2024.  The number of refugees under the UNHCR mandate has decreased slightly since 2023, when it stood at 31.6 million.

Increase in asylum claims

There were also approximately 8.4 million people seeking asylum status.  This is a 22 per cent increase from the end of 2023.  Despite partial reporting from the United States (only until mid-2024), the country still had – by far – the largest number of pending asylum claims (3.2 million) by end of 2024.  Other countries with large asylum applications included Egypt (631,100), Peru (540,000), Germany (348,900) and Canada (292,100).

In 2024 alone, 3.1 million new individual asylum applications were registered globally, with half of these received in only four countries: the United States (729,100), Egypt (433,900), Germany (229,800) and Canada (174,000). Nationals of the Sudan, Venezuela, Syria, Colombia and Afghanistan comprised most new individual asylum applications in 2024.  Obviously the situation will be somewhat different post-2024, particularly with regard to the USA.

At the end of 2024, children (that is, people under 18 years of age) made up around 41 per cent of refugees, people in a refugee-like situation and other people in need of international protection.

The (American) Migration Policy Institute have researched the question of anti-immigrant borders.  They reckon that in 1989 there were 12 border walls, and there are now 74.  The EU has increased its fenced length between 2014 and 2022 from 315km to 2,048 km.  One of the results of this sort of growth has been the number of drownings at the US/Mexico border, up by 3,200% between 2020 and 2023.  It was observed that tougher border policy has resulted in more seasonal migrants deciding to stay. Picture shows the wall between the US and Mexico.

UK situation

In the UK, the amount of legislation on immigration has now seen 6000 changes to the rules since 2010.  The latest areas of conflict concern the 1 in 1 out arrangements with France, the prevention of family reunion, and the replacement of hotel accommodation for asylum seekers by use of military establishments.  On the latter, the Institute for Public Policy Research has reported on the relations between claimants and the local community, and concludes that the main problem is the lack of transparency from government bodies, the absence of consultation and the lack of any obvious benefit from the newcomers’ arrival to the community.  The IPPR support a community-based long-term social housing project that would be of benefit to all groups.

The Refugee Council has a briefing on how to respond to the government consultation on asylum support and family returns, which runs out on 28th May.

Other unhappy organisations include the Law Society (the new independent appeals body is not satisfactory) and 150 children’s’ social and legal organisations, who believe the latest changes in immigration rules amount to an attack on children’s rights.

The government is withdrawing travel support for Afghans seeking to come to the UK, of which there are believed to be about 9,000.  They will now have to make their own way vie third countries.  The Home Secretary (pictured) has made a new agreement with France worth £662 million to provide more enforcement on the Channel coast beaches and better intelligence.  The Home office say that 480 people smugglers were arrested in 2025.  The Telegraph have quoted Ms Mahmood with saying that the crackdown on irregular migrants will give her room to allow more legitimate routes, but there is no detail on this as yet.

Reform’s claims

Other proposals in the air include Reform UK’s intention to deport migrants who have settled status if they arrived by non-legal means.  This would amount to some 400,000 (and they claim would save £14.3 billion through 2029-34 (when they would presumably be in power).  The (Reform) Lancashire County Council are withdrawing from the government’s resettlement scheme for accepted asylum seekers.

Nevertheless, the numbers of arrivals are down this year (by a third in the first quarter); the number of small boat arrivals in April 2025 was 11,000 against 7,000 this April.  The net inflow (of all types of immigration) over the last three years has gone from 900,000 in 2023 to 400,000 in 2024 to 200,000 in 2025; obviously much of this is due to restrictions of work and student visas, but it remains striking.  Next stats available 21st May

The Council of Europe are meeting on Friday in Moldova to discuss the issue of return hubs for refused asylum seekers.  Various European countries have made bilateral arrangements and up to 12 countries have been named as possible recipients.  The COE is the governing body for the European Convention of Human Rights, and possible changes to the ECHR will also be discussed.

The people behind Refugee Week (15th -21st June) are urging us to carry out a million acts of hope between 13th and 20th May.  Details at A Million Acts of Hope – Together With Refugees

Featured post
Featured 0

Clothing and the abuse of rights


We will be at the People in the Park event this Saturday to highlight this issue

Past event – report soon 16/05

At this event in Salisbury on Saturday 16th May, we shall be focusing on the human rights abuses involved in the manufacture of a pair of jeans. An everyday item of clothing, no less than 5 billion pairs are made every year mostly in factories in Far East countries. From the production of the cotton to the manufacture of the jeans themselves, millions of – mostly women – are subject to massive levels of abuse. Amnesty has produced a report called Stitched Up which provides background to this industry.

The numbers involved are quite staggering. There are something like 100 million garment workers worldwide the vast majority of whom suffer various kinds of abuse to enable us to buy cheap clothes (not just jeans).

The abuses

The abuses take place at every stage in the manufacture:

  • Around a quarter of the cotton comes from the Xinjiang region of China where the abuse of the Uyghurs is a massive issue. The treatment by the Chinese of these people is a story of itself and involves mass arbitrary detention and so-called ‘re-education’, unjust imprisonment, intrusive surveillance and forced labour. The treatment of the Uyghurs has been described as genocide.
  • To produce the faded look a dangerous process is used and the workers are in danger of contracting silicosis. Numbers die of this each year.
  • Low wages and levels below even minimum wage levels in their own country. This is linked to ‘wage theft‘. Workers are allegedly paid the minimum wage but do not if fact receive them. So inspectors carrying out cursory checks for the retailers see appropriate wages being paid.
  • Overwork. Overtime is compulsory if a big order arrives and workers may work very long shifts with no choice.
  • No collective bargaining and trade unions largely banned. It can involve working 99 hour weeks. Only 5 unions exist among Marks and Spencer’s 172 suppliers for example.
  • Abuses, physical and sexual, is widespread. With a mostly female workforce this is a serious problem.
The brands

The major brands on our high streets and on line are complicit in these abuses. It is important to stress the massive scale of the abuse involving millions of people. Virtually all the major brands are complicit in whole or in part, in these abuses largely due to inaction. If you read the Amnesty Stitched Up report linked above, you will see nearly all the familiar high street names mentioned. The supply chains are long so factories may be largely invisible to any inspection activity.

This post is to raise your awareness. It is almost certain that among the clothes you are wearing are garments produced which are the product of abuse, violence, forced labour about which the retailer you bought them from has likely done little to tackle. Cheap clothing comes at a cost. It is not costless because making clothes in the UK is extremely difficult if retailers are freely able to source from countries where regulations are ignored, wages are not always paid in full and there are no trade unions.

Previous year’s stall. Photo Salisbury Amnesty

Latest posts:

Featured post
Featured 0

Latest Death Penalty report


May 2026

We are pleased to attach the latest report for mid-April to mid-May thanks to group member Lesley for the work in compiling it. It contains details of the penalty around the world including a massive number of executions in Iran and how Saudi has executed large numbers in recent years. Singapore is mentioned with its policy of executing individuals involved in the drugs trade. Florida continues to feature with the Governor signing warrants for executions.

Israel’s proposals to re-introduce the penalty and to hold public trials for those held following the 7th October massacre is discussed and the responses to the change from countries around the world. Israel seems to be sliding ever backwards with its genocide, apartheid, violence and now the reintroduction of the death penalty last used on Adolph Eichmann.

As ever, we have to note that China is thought to be the world’s largest executioner but details are a state secret. There is a disturbing report from Australia however with some details but there is a warning about its content.

Report: April May (Word)DownloadDownload
Featured post
Featured 1

Amnesty conference in Exeter


Well attended conference with a wide range of human rights issues discussed

March 2026

The Exeter group of Amnesty puts together a conference every year and those attending this year were able to listen to a range of speakers on some of the current problems with human rights around the world. Each topic will need its own space so we shall be putting up a range of posts over the coming week or so to give them justice. For now, this is just a brief summary as a kind of ‘taster’. All credit to the Exeter group for organising this event. Six members from the Salisbury group attended and all found it worthwhile.

Tapestry

The tapestry was on display after many years absence. It was displayed in Salisbury Cathedral several years ago.

Malawi

We do not hear enough from Africa although the war in Sudan occasionally makes the news. Malawi is one of a number of countries in Africa which have anti-gay legislation. Eric Sambisa spoke of his campaign and actions to get the law on LGBTQ+ legislation changed in his country. Those laws derive from colonial times and change is proving slow.

Authoritarianism

We had two speakers on authoritarianism, first in America and second in the UK. Trump and his supporters are carrying out a range of such measures and worryingly, UK governments are quietly following suit with more laws and increased police powers designed to reduce protests. The firm Palentir was raised more than once and they represent a serious risk to our personal security.

Purchasing

A forthcoming Amnesty campaign will focus on what we buy and the human rights stories behind our purchases. Much of what we buy comes from overseas and is produced in sweat shops in the far east where – mostly women – work in terrible conditions with few if any rights. There are no trade unions. The surprising, nay shocking thing, is that big name British retailers are involved, the likes of M&S, Tesco, Next and others. Firms who’s policies have the familiar words about human rights being our ‘first priority’. The supply chains are long and as you go down them the opportunities for abuse increases.

There was discussion of Early Day Motion 1266 concerning banning goods coming from the illegal Israeli settlements. Unfortunately, there was insufficient time to discuss the large number of MPs, from all parties, who are members of the powerful Friends of Israel lobby groups. Their power means the motion is unlikely to succeed.

Palestine

The situation in Palestine was a topic as you might expect and we had a presentation from an academic at Exeter University. Part of the discussion focused on the prospects for a two state solution. There are none was the stark conclusion. Israel has systematically removed people and built settlements which make the creation of a viable Palestinian state impossible. Recent announcements of the creation of 19 new settlements cements this fact, referred to as ‘settler colonialism’. The speaker did focus on the Apartheid regime in place in Israel and the West Bank. Attacking that, much as happened in South Africa which saw that regime come to an end, was the way forward he said.

Amnesty International

There were some speakers who discussed issues surrounding Amnesty itself. In common with all charities at present and the drop in funding to the sector of £1.4bn in a year, Amnesty is having to reduce its expenditure. It has a new Chief Executive. It is facing ‘significant financial challenges’.

Photo

The photo is the traditional picture where delegates assemble in front of the cathedral.

Once again, thanks to the Exeter group for organising this excellent event. Thought of becoming a subscriber?

Recent posts:

Featured post
Featured 0

Talk by Iranian ex-prisoner in Romsey


Anoosheh Ashoori tells of his ordeal in Evin prison, Iran

March 2026

Anoosheh was seized suddenly in 2017 by four men who, after checking who he was, bundled him into a car where he was blindfolded. Thus began 5 years of incarceration in fearful conditions mostly in the infamous Evin prison in Tehran. He never knew what his ‘crime’ was but it was later to emerge it was connected with the £400m tank deal with the UK that ensnared Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe as well.

Anoosheh came to Romsey on 18 March to give a talk organised by the Romsey Amnesty group about his

experiences. He described the terrible conditions: cells packed with men with primitive hygiene facilities, hearing the screams from the women’s part of the prison, the terrible food which led to great weight loss, and long periods in solitary confinement. And the endless interrogations.

But in amongst the suffering there was also some slivers of hope and light. He described what became the ‘Evin University’. Since many intellectuals, writers and others seen as a threat to the regime were imprisoned, there were many opportunities for people to learn from one another and offer mutual support. There were teaching groups, one involved the writing of short stories. They all helped to maintain some sense of sanity.

He was strongly influenced by Victor Frankl who had survived the Holocaust and his book Man’s Search for Meaning. He offered some insights into suffering following his three years in the camps including Auschwitz. Suffering can cease to be suffering if it is imbued with meaning he suggested.

Like Nazanin, he was a hostage. This raised the question – as with her captivity – of the role of the British government in trying to secure his release. They were keen for family and supporters not to make a fuss because, they claimed, delicate negotiations were continuing and any such fuss would upset them. ‘Do not go public’ his family and supporters were advised This was always doubtful and the basic reason was the £400m the UK government owed the Iranians for the non-delivery of the tanks destined for the Shah’s regime. Both had become tangled up in this long-running row.

Current war

His talk took place three weeks into the current war where Israel and the US have bombed many areas of Iran in an attempt to prevent the Iranians developing a nuclear weapon and to force regime change (it is thought: the precise objectives are unclear). This has led to the closure of the straight of Hormuz and huge economic effects around the world. Which prompted questions from the audience about the current situation and whether he was optimistic.

It did not sound as though he was. He thinks the campaign will simply lead to further problems, echoing many who think that attempting to change a regime by bombing it is unlikely to be successful. He also said the IRGC is ‘like a cancer’ meaning it was deeply embedded in Iranian society and thus difficult to dislodge. He was asked about celebrating his release: he doesn’t because he cannot help but think of those who are still incarcerated in Evin and other prisons in Iran.

What should we do? he was asked. ‘Speak as loudly as possible’ he answered and his comments appeared to be directed at the government. It was a piece with his earlier comments about the role of the UK government during his imprisonment and the desire of the Foreign Office to keep a low profile and not make a noise. His advice was to counter that. His second comment was ‘perseverance always pays off’.

Summary

It is always humbling to listen to someone who has experienced great suffering and come out the other side. His lack of bitterness was noteworthy. He spoke of his desire in prison to run the London marathon, if and when he got out, which he has more than once. He was not optimistic about the country’s future and the current war will not change things. His description of the ‘Evin University’ shows that even in such terrible conditions, the human spirit can shine through which must be a sign of optimism in itself.

Congratulations to the Romsey Amnesty group for organising this talk which was well attended.

Additional material from New Internationalist. Image: Salisbury Amnesty

Featured post
Featured 2

Ex Iranian prisoner to tell his story


Anoosheh Ashoori will speak in Romsey

March 2026

PAST EVENT – see later report of the event itself.

The story of Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe has been widely told and she has become a household name. A BBC film was made of her ordeal and she came to Salisbury to speak. Iran is in the news at present with the bombing campaign being carried out by Israel and the US one aim of which – it is thought – is to rid the nation of the current regime, the regime which thought seizing hostages was a good idea.

Along with Nazanin was the rather less well-known Anoosheh Ashoori (pictured) a dual national businessman who spent 5 years in Evin prison in Tehran at the same time as Nazanin. He is coming to Romsey on 18th March to talk about his experiences. The talk starts at 7pm at the United Reform Church, SO51 8EL. The talk has been organised by the Romsey Amnesty Group.

Recent posts:

Featured post
Featured 0

Review of 2025


… and things do not look much better for 2026

December 2025

We have published 192 posts so far this year on a wide variety of subjects concerned with human rights. A key feature of the year has been the continuation of our vigils. We have held over 109 since the current conflict started and although there is some kind of cessation of hostilities, peaceful reconciliation between Israel and the Palestinians seems a far away dream. Some food aid is getting in but Israel has seized almost all the cultivable land leaving those in Gaza hemmed into an even smaller part of their territory. We have commented on the poor reporting of events there and the unsatisfactory nature of so many interviews.

Arms sales

A feature of this conflict and other conflicts around the world is the role of the arms trade. It appears that this trade seems to determine British policy: truly the tail wagging the dog. The government frequently trots out that it has a ‘robust policy’ whilst granting licences – and in particular open licenses – to almost all who come. The effects on people at the receiving end of these weapons sales does not seem to worry the Foreign Office or government ministers. Recent government’s policies have focused on growth and if growth means selling arms to Israel and to the UAE so be it. There is considerable evidence that the latter are supplying the RSF in Sudan who are alleged to commit many atrocities.

At the height of the Yemen war we highlighted the role of British arms firms and their weapons sales to the Saudis. RAF personnel were involved just short of being labelled ‘mercenaries’.

Sport

Sport has featured in several of our posts and the ever increasing use by states with abysmal human rights records to use sport to burnish their images. Virtually all sports are involved, but especially football, boxing, motor sport, golf, tennis and cycling. The driver is money. China and the Gulf states are among those with almost unlimited resources to pour into sporting events with seemingly no difficulty in attracting sportsmen and women to compete in their countries with no moral qualms. They also invest in our football clubs again with no concerns about how tainted the money is.

It has become so part of the furniture now that it engenders little comment. Whereas some years ago a nation which executes significant numbers of its citizens – often after confessions extracted under torture – which imprisons or ‘disappears’ human rights defenders and journalists and treats its women as second class citizens denying them many rights, would raise eyebrows when seeking to sponsor or host a sporting event. Not today.

Refugees

And it is not just sport where issues of human rights have seemed to take a back seat. People entering this country by various means have generated a massive amount of political controversy here in the UK. It is probably true to say that immigration in one form or another is one of the dominant political forces at work. It is deciding elections. A number of politicians are using the ‘crisis’ to their political advantage (they hope). Egged on by sections of our media, they have created the impression that there is a crisis particularly around the numbers arriving in small boats across the Channel. Any concern for those in the boats and why they are risking their lives to get here does not seem to feature. The impression is sometimes created that if we could deport the migrants (however defined) our problems would be over. The connection between our arms sales and the instability of the countries they have fled from does not seem to enter their thinking.

The contribution by immigrants (again however defined) is scarcely recognised. That large sections of our economy (horticulture and the food industry for example), the health service, hospitality and transport, would cease to function without them seldom seems to enter the consciousness of our senior politicians. We have commented on the strange fact that many of our senior politicians, including Rishi Sunak, Suella Braverman, Priti Patel, Shabana Mahmood, Kwasi Kwarteng and Danny Kruger are all descended from recent immigrants but are among the most aggressive about deporting those coming after them. We can offer no explanation.

Rights at home

Which brings us to another theme concerning the government and its own attachment to UK human rights. It was once hoped that the arrival of Sir Keir Starmer – an ex human rights lawyer and past Director of Public Prosecutions – would see an improvement in the human rights climate. Sadly, it has not come to pass. Laws against protests introduced by the Conservatives to clamp down on protestors, have not been modified or repealed and have even been added to. A more humane policy towards immigrants and refugees has not happened. Arrests have continued and as this is being written, those arrested on pro-Palestine marches are close to death on hunger strike. His continuing support for Israel has been shaming. He has issued critical comments but they have not been backed up by action, cutting arms supplies for example. No believable explanation for the hundreds of RAF flights over Gaza has been forthcoming. His most disgraceful comment that ‘Israel was right to withhold power and water from Gaza’ was widely condemned.

This year we have introduced a new regular feature reviewing the human right situation in the UK itself. This is probably something we would never have contemplated doing say, twenty years ago but a combination of poor leadership, aggressive home secretaries and many MPs with little interest in protecting human rights, has led to this move. Both Danny Kruger (MP for East Wiltshire) and John Glen (MP for Salisbury) are listed on They Work For You as generally voting against human rights is another factor. Mr Glen, who is listed as a member of the well-funded lobby group Conservative Friends of Israel has never once visited the Saturday peace vigil nor mentioned it in his weekly column in the Salisbury Journal.

Ukraine, Sudan, China, Palestine …

The world situation does not seem to get any better. The situation in Ukraine is critical and not just for the Ukrainians. We have one member of the Security Council, Russia gratuitously attacking an independent nation while another member, the US seems indifferent to their plight. The warm greeting by President Trump of President Putin on the tarmac in Alaska must be one of the more grizzly images of the past year. European nations have become almost powerless, in part because of their collective failure to invest in defence (defense) but also because they have become kind of vassal states to the US.

We must not forget that human rights in Russia are poor. There is no opposition and a leader who was a threat to Putin, Navalny, was probably murdered in Siberia. Others have been arrested or murdered along with many journalists. Children have been abducted from Ukraine. Ukrainian prisoners have been tortured.

We could devote a whole page to China. A million Uyghurs are persecuted and are forced to work while their culture is systematically destroyed by the Communist Party. Some call it genocide. Tibet has had a similar treatment and its culture largely eliminated. They are believed to execute more of its citizens than all the rest of the world combined. Freedom has been snuffed out in Hong Kong. Chinese nationals are intimidated overseas.

The future

The future is unpromising. The ‘New World Order’ created after the war is well and truly dead. Powerful interests act at will. Despotic leaders act in their own interests not in the interests of ordinary people. Europe is too feeble to act. It looks as though things will continue as they are. There is no hint that the current conflicts will end equitably but based on the whims of a handful of profoundly flawed men.

A large number of MPs of all parties are members of the Friends of Israel group and many also receive money from them. How can they be expected to act honestly, with integrity and in the best interests of the country (to be clear, the UK whose residents voted them in not a foreign state) if they are members of a powerful and well funded lobby group? Arms companies continue to sell their wares with few controls so desperate is the government for growth. The BBC has been cowed into silence on important topics.

In June of last year, the Institute for Government, recognising the serious loss of trust in the government, published its 7 steps to restore trust. One was the publication of an independent ministerial code. Another was to ensure lobbying was built on a clear coherent and transparent system. It has not happened. There is no rigorous or proper system of controlling the ‘revolving door’ which is a passport for corruption by ministers, ex-civil servants and military people retiring into lucrative appointments with arms companies.

Hope

The weekly vigils and the many hundreds of protests around the country for an end to the killing and genocide in Gaza is a heartening sign. It shows a significant number of people who care about what is happening, care that is not reflected by the government nor by chunks of the media. Despite their numbers, reporting is thin with a media all too keen gleefully to report flag waving disturbances outside hotels or army camps. If hope is to be found it lies with ordinary people who simply say ‘this isn’t right, this is not what I believe in’. Rutger Bregman in his Reith Lectures (2025) argues just this: that small committed groups can make a difference. However, whether they can achieve this at the international level is debatable. We can cite climate which will be having harmful effects on more and more of the world’s population and where progress if anything is going backwards.

We shall continue to campaign and we always welcome new members to the team.

Best wishes for the New Year to our small band of readers!

Featured post
Featured 0

25th Anniversary of HRA


Today marks the 25th Anniversary of the Human Rights Act

October 2025

Twenty five years ago this act was signed and ended the need to go to Strasbourg to get justice. It fundamentally changed the law by giving fundamental rights to citizens. It is currently under threat and it, and the European Convention which predates it, are disliked by many of the political and media class. In the next post we shall discuss this in more detail.

But today (2nd) we celebrate.

Recent posts:

Featured post
Featured 0

We are 50!


The Salisbury group is 50 this year

September 2024

NOTE FOR YOUR DIARY

And we want to celebrate it with a photo. We were formed not too long after Amnesty International itself was created and we are, sadly, the last group left in Wiltshire.

We shall be assembling at 2:30 near the Guildhall in the market square tomorrow, October 3rd for a group photo. It should only take 30 minutes or so and we are inviting all members and supporters who can make it, to come and join in.

In some ways it is sad that we still need to exist. The hope after the Second World War and the signing of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 1948 was high. People believed human rights would become the norm in societies around the world. It hasn’t turned out that way. Atrocities still continue in Africa, the Uyghurs are still persecuted in China, war rages in Ukraine, bombing continues in Gaza and human rights violations continue around the world in Syria, Iran, Burma and Saudi Arabia.

One of our continuing campaigns is the ending of the death penalty around the world (see our reports on this site). You will also see from our site and elsewhere that the UK is a major supplier of arms to states which are engaged in abusing their citizens. This has been a vexed issue at present concerning arms to Israel. It is an irony of the post war world that the UN Security Council is comprised of the world’s major arms suppliers. So there is still a need for human rights work.

Come and join us on 3rd!

Featured post
Featured 1

Salisbury Group at 50!


Group is 50 this year!

February 2024

The Salisbury group was established in 1974 and has been going strong for 50 years. It took us a bit by surprise today when we realised this so we haven’t thought of any celebrations yet. But as the last active group in Wiltshire we can allow ourselves a bit of pride that we are still here and still trying to promote the human rights cause in the county.

It probably seems a little different today from 50 years ago. Human rights then were regarded as a good thing and support was largely unquestioning. The war was a living memory for many and a desire never to see a repeat of the death and destruction of the war and the horrors of the Holocaust was deeply felt. 

A long time has passed however and today, we see successive Conservative governments seeking to end or curtail the Human Rights Act. Laws have been passed making protest more difficult and the police have been given more powers to arrest those protesting. 

Much of the media keeps up a steady campaign denigrating human rights and suggesting they are a means for terrorists and serious criminals to escape justice because their ‘rights’ have been infringed. We are made less safe they claim because of the act rather than the precise opposite. The benefits the act has brought are seldom mentioned. The success of the Hillsborough families in overturning the various coroner and court decisions and the false narrative put out by the police was a major example. 

Some sections of the media do not like the act since it provides some protection from press intrusion and this has led them to carry on a relentless campaign often supported by exaggerated stories.

In the past few years the issue of immigration has come to the fore and immigrants crossing the Channel by boat has become a political hot potato. The government is seeking to send some immigrants to Rwanda in an attempt to discourage smugglers from sending them over from France. There has always been hostility to immigrants as each wave has come over, the Jews from Russia for example at the beginning of the last century. 

But the notion that we would become more sympathetic and welcoming has not worked out. The question therefore is how embedded are human rights norms and beliefs in our society? The occasional desire for a return of the death penalty, hostility to refugees as just mentioned and evidence of the UK government’s involvement in torture, clampdowns on protest suggest that human rights and human dignity is only shakily rooted in our society.

So although the group is 50 this year, our work is not done!

If you live in the South Wilshire area, we would welcome you joining us. Follow this site for details of what we are doing.

Grammar amendment April 2026

Featured post
Featured 0

Podcast Episode: Rights Trade And Sustainability


Pip: Amnesty Salisbury keeps showing up — in the rain, at the park, in the footnotes of trade agreements nobody else is reading.

Mara: That's the thread running through welland2's recent posts: rights under pressure, from ECHR reforms to death row to a sustainability fair in a local park. Let's start with where the pressure is heaviest — the slow dismantling of civil liberties.

Rights eroding in plain sight

Pip: The headline concern here is a pattern, not a single event — each new policy framed as a border measure or a public-order fix, but adding up to something larger when you step back.

Mara: The post "Steady Erosion of Rights Continues" puts it directly: "It is not even true to say 'by stealth' as it is done in plain sight."

Pip: That's the part that should unsettle people. The argument isn't that rights are being quietly stolen — it's that they're being removed openly, and we've stopped noticing.

Mara: The context is the ECHR declaration giving European governments more power to deport migrants, even where there's a risk of mistreatment on return. Yvette Cooper called it permission for countries to "take action on illegal immigration." Amnesty International's response was that it risks creating a "hierarchy of people" — those protected under Article 3 against torture, and those who are not.

Pip: And the post notes that the UK sells arms to countries that practice torture while turning away people fleeing it. That tension doesn't get much airtime.

Mara: The post also flags the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act 2022 and the Public Order Act 2023 as part of the same drift — limits on protest, expanding police powers, and now pressure on jury trials. Local MPs John Glen and Danny Kruger are recorded by They Work for You as voting against equality and human rights legislation.

Mara: Then there's the vigil — post number 128, held in the rain, documented in "A Damp Vigil." Around twenty people attended. Omer Bartov's book is quoted there, asking how Israel, founded the same year as the genocide convention, now conducts what he calls a genocidal undertaking with near-total impunity.

Pip: And the minutes and newsletter post pulls these threads together — immigration, the death penalty, the state of rights in the UK — for anyone who wants the fuller picture.

Mara: The Oklahoma piece is the counterweight. Richard Glossip, after twenty-seven years on death row and three last meals, walked out of jail after a judge ordered his release ahead of retrial. The prosecution had withheld evidence about its key witness's mental health. As the post puts it: had he been executed on any of those three occasions, it could not be undone.

Pip: The good news from Oklahoma is real. It's just that it took nearly three decades to arrive. On to the trade deal that skipped the values entirely.

A trade deal without the values

Pip: The Gulf States agreement is being sold as a win for British business — but the post "Government Signs Trade Deal" asks what got left out of the small print.

Mara: Sir Keir told his biographer "There is no version of my life that does not largely revolve around me being a human rights lawyer." The post's response is pointed: being a lawyer is not the same as having principles and acting on them.

Pip: The TUC called it a "values free agreement." The UAE's record — the kafala system tying workers to single employers, mass trials, solitary confinement, allegations of arming Sudan's RSF — none of it made it into the text.

Mara: Which sets up exactly what the Salisbury group was raising at the park.

Sustainability is also about the clothes you wear

Pip: "People in the Park" is the annual Salisbury Transition City event — seventy-five exhibitors, sustainability focus — and the local Amnesty group brought a different angle to it.

Mara: The post describes the group highlighting Amnesty International's report "Stitched Up," which details abuses in the global jeans industry: "health hazards, physical and sexual abuse of the mainly female workforce, wage theft and the denial of union and collective bargaining rights."

Pip: The response was muted. The post's honest read is that people associate sustainability with the environment, not with the supply chain behind a pair of jeans.

Mara: Around a quarter of the cotton comes from Xinjiang, where forced labour is documented and the region is closed to outside observers. The post's conclusion: retailers can claim humanitarian credentials on their websites while the exploitation continues.

Pip: Rights in the courtroom, rights at the border, rights in the fabric of your jeans — it's the same argument in different registers.

Mara: And the vigil keeps going. Next episode, we'll see what else is accumulating.

0

Blog at WordPress.com.

Up ↑