Executions continue at pace in Florida


Governor De Santis breaking records in Florida

March 2026

On this day when it has been reported that the death toll in the US/Israel school bombing in Iran has risen to 148 with a further 95 injured, it may seem contrary to mention the death penalty in Florida. Governor De Santis is hell bent on his execution spree with 5 new death sentences so far this year following on from the record 19 executions in 2025. They are related in the sense that violence is seen as a solution to problems. The US is the only nation in the Americas to have the death penalty in some states. Bombing or putting to death: it seems to be part of some politician’s thinking that such violence is a cure or a solution. It appears to give them a sense of accomplishment. Yet in truth it solves nothing.

The death penalty in the state has many dubious characteristics. As Clive Safford-Smith has noted in his book – Life and Death in the Court Rooms of America for example – the justice system for those without financial means works imperfectly. Injustice in these circumstances is bad enough but when it leads to the death of an individual it is unconscionable. Police do not always disclose all the evidence which might exonerate the accused. Only eight out of 12 jurors are needed for a guilty verdict.

Latest execution this Tuesday (3rd March)

The latest scheduled execution is Billy Kearse (pictured). The murder of Sgt. Parrish devastated his family and the Fort Pierce community. Nothing about our opposition to this execution diminishes that loss. Still, Billy is a person with intellectual disability who was just 18 years and 84 days old at the time of the crime, which is exactly why three Florida Supreme Court Justices said his was “clearly not a death case.” Basic decency and the rule of law demand we take that seriously.

Ron De Santis is a keen proponent of the death penalty saying “I think we’re in a good spot now, and I want to make sure that people (Death Row inmates) that have exhausted all these appeals over many years, sometimes decades, like when all that’s done …, and there’s victims’ families that are wanting to see justice, that I’m doing my part to deliver that,”

House Minority Leader Fentrice Driskell, acknowledged she might sound “cynical,” but she indicated the increase in De Santis signing death warrants could be tied to his political ambitions.

“What we’ve seen from this governor, and past behavior is oftentimes a predictor of where future behavior might go, this is a governor who’s been so focused on his own ambitions, his personal ambitions, he wants to impress Republican primary voters,” Driskell said Monday during a conference call with reporters. [Source: WUSF]

De Santis wants executions to be carried out quickly believing that they will act as a “strong deterrent”. There is no evidence that the death penalty is a deterrent and there is little difference in murder rates between states with the penalty and those without. Florida has the highest level of exonerations of all states in the Union.

Sources: Floridians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty, https://www.wusf.org, Hoodline, Jacksonville

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Nigeria and Shell Oil: 30 years on


Let us not forget the role of Shell Oil in Nigeria

March 2026

In this world of fast moving actions, invasions, civil wars and genocide, it is easy to lose sight of past concerns which still resonate today. We are reminded in the Spring edition of the Amnesty News (Issue 228) of the events which took place 30 years ago in Nigeria and the activities of the Anglo-Dutch oil giant Shell. Amnesty produced a report last year Extraction Extinction which examines in detail the problems of the extraction industries and their effects on the environment, the climate and human rights.

On p129 of the report is a brief history of Shell’s activities in Nigeria and its complicity in the murder of Ken Saro-Wiwa:

In 1956, Shell first discovered oil in commercially viable quantities in Nigeria, when the country was still under British colonial rule. Before long, Shell operated more than 1,000 wells in 90 oil fields covering an area of 31,000 km2 across the Niger Delta. During the 1990s, Shell reported that its annual profit from oil production in Nigeria averaged USD 220-240 million, some 7% of Shell’s total worldwide profits from exploration and oil production.

Within the Ogoniland region alone, Shell operated 96 wells in five oil fields and was able to produce 28,000 barrels a day. The environmental degradation caused by their operations drove protests by the Ogoni people, led by writer and activist Ken Saro-Wiwa.

In November 1993, General Sani Abacha seized power in a military coup. General Abacha banned all political activity, replaced civilian governors with military administrators, jailed and executed opponents. An Internal Security Task Force was created to “restore and maintain law and order in Ogoniland” and immediately responded to community led protests in the Niger Delta with excessive use of force and other human rights violations.

Amnesty International has documented Shell’s involvement in human rights violations in Nigeria and its close relationship with the Nigerian military. Amnesty International’s research revealed that Shell executives met regularly with top government officials during this period and discussed the government strategy for dealing with protesters in Ogoniland.

In October 1995, nine Ogoni men including Ken Saro-Wiwa were convicted and sentenced to death in relation to trumped up charges of incitement to murder. They were hanged 10 days later; their bodies dumped in an unmarked grave. Five days later, Shell launched a new USD 4 billion natural gas joint venture with the Nigerian government. The
executions of the Ogoni Nine sparked outrage around the world. [Extract from the report]

A study by Durham University discusses the role of Shell in damaging the environment.

The organisation The Movement of the Survival of the Ogoni People, MOSOP provides further details. They maintain that Shell knowingly provided encouragement and motivation to the military authorities to stop the activities of MOSOP thus contributing to the deaths. There was an international outcry following the murder of Saro-Wiwa (pictured: photo MOSOP).

There does not seem to be any reference we could find on Shell’s website to these events. A relevant policy states: “Shell strives to make a positive impact on people around the world, and this includes providing the energy people need, contributing to local economies and communities, championing inclusion and respecting human rights” [accessed 28 February 2026].

There is some evidence to show that Shell has improved its performance in this area. However, after 30 years, the fight for justice continues. Shell has never fully cleaned up the oil spills and mess they created in the area and court actions continue.

The story of Ken Saro-Wiwa is presented in this piece in Historical Nigeria.

This is a story about a powerful international company which was able to operate in a country with few controls over its activities. When threatened by local people protesting about the severe damage it was doing to the environment, it is alleged they connived with the military authorities of the time who murdered a number of the protestors including Ken Saro-Wiwa. It seems that even after the passage of 30 years and some claims that Shell Oil is behaving more responsibly, they have yet to fully clean up the mess made by their activities. There are issues both about climate, the environment and human rights bound up in the same story.

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Vigil on the day war threatens in Middle East


The 117th vigil took place on the day Israel and US attack Iran

March 2026

Reports today (March 1st) that Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei is dead killed by an air strike from Israel. President Trump promised to end foreign wars yet here we are with US and Israeli forces engaged in bombing Iran. There have been retaliations by Iran. The UK’s involvement is as yet unclear but RAF jets are reported to be airborne in defence of some Gulf states and no doubt other assistance has been offered.

About 30 attended the 117th vigil in Salisbury in what seems almost a forlorn hope of seeing peace in the region. To engage in yet more military actions with all the tens of thousands already dead, seems an utterly pointless exercise which may bring short-term advantages but has no prospect of longer term stability.

Both Israel and the US are concerned by Iran’s nuclear ambitions. Yet no mention is ever made that Israel is a nuclear state. The Center for Arms Control and Non-Proliferation estimate the country has 90 such weapons and sufficient nuclear material for another 100. Considerable secrecy surrounds this fact and needless to say western media almost never mention it.

Part of the rationale for these recent attacks is to rid Iran of its murderous leadership the head of which appears to have been killed yesterday. The idea that the death of Khamenei is going to lead to some kind of peaceful conclusion and regime change is fanciful. Even if the current regime is deposed in some kind of coup or insurrection, who knows who or what will replace them? There is no obvious successor and the immediate outcome is likely to be instability. This action is more to do with domestic troubles being experienced by Messrs Trump and Netanyahu. And what about the Board of Peace?

Israeli supporting press are broadly in favour. Bringing peace, human rights and stability to a country by dropping bombs on it seems an odd way to go about things. We tried that in Iraq…

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Talk in Southampton


“Is football a net good for humanity?”

February 2026

The Southampton group is hosting this talk on Monday 2nd March at the University and booking is advised. The subtitle is the impact of sport on human rights. The lecture is by Miguel Delaney, the chief sports writer for the Independent. Starts at 6 pm.

We have posted a number of pieces on the subject of sportswashing and the effects on human rights. Sport as we have said – not just football but tennis, golf, cycling, motor sport, athletics, boxing and others – are being used by various unsavoury regimes to promote their image. Fans seem not to be concerned about the fearful human rights issues taking place in those countries, the routine use of torture, the absence of a free press and the imprisonment of opposition leaders, human rights defenders and lawyers. Vast sums of money are expended in the activity and several despots now own British football clubs. So the talk should be an interesting one.

“Is football a net good for humanity? 
The impact of sport on human rights” Guest speaker: Miguel Delaney, chief football writer for The Independent Monday 2 March | 18:00 
Avenue Campus & Online
The School of Humanities at the University of Southampton, 
in partnership with Amnesty International (Southampton group), 
is excited to present Miguel Delaney to deliver the 11th Human Rights Lecture.
Book your place here
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Coffee morning


February 2026

PAST EVENT

The group hosted a coffee morning at St Thomas’s church in the centre of Salisbury. We had a suggested action for people to take concerning a surgeon, Dr Hussam Abu Safiya (pictured), who was seized from a hospital in Gaza and who’s whereabouts in Israel are currently unknown. He has probably been severely mistreated. We are asking people to write to the IDF to ask for his whereabouts to be made known, for assurances that he is not being tortured, to have access to legal advice and to receive medical treatment. Disappointingly, only three handouts were taken.

Considerable international disquiet has been expressed about this man, and how he has been treated. The Israeli media are now saying, 14 months later, that he is a member of Hamas.

Further details on the handout below:

coffee morning handout 2026Download
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Palestine Action centre of the news


115th vigil took place following a momentous week in the courts

February 2026

We discussed in a previous post the High Court’s decision that the government’s decision to ban Palestine Action was disproportionate. The ban on them has not been lifted as the government seemed determined to appeal and some experts say the Appeal Court may overturn it. The government seem passionate about supressing dissent on this matter – obsessive even – and the possible reasons for this will be discussed in a future post.

Around 30 attended the 115th vigil yesterday and the ‘recognition factor’ by passers-by was higher than usual probably because it was light, Over 50 took note and a few took pictures. A video can be viewed here, with thanks to Peter Gloyns.

Once again we note that the local MP, Mr John Glen has failed to put in an appearance and despite 115 vigils attended by hundreds of his constituents, has never once mentioned them in his weekly Salisbury Journal column. He is a member of the Conservative Friends of Israel, thought to be the largest and best funded of all the lobby organisations in parliament. Although the Conservatives are the largest of such groups, other parties have members as well. It goes some way to explaining why there is silence on the question of genocide in Gaza and little noise about settler violence in the West Bank.

An interesting event took place on the BBC’s Any Questions? programme on Saturday 14th February. Perhaps the programme should be relabelled ‘Some Questions‘ because one audience member stood up and asked “What does the panel think about the BBC not expressing the truth about the genocide in Palestine?” This was not the question she had submitted on the card so it was hastily ignored and the original question about the High Court’s decision discussed instead. It seemed to reveal a BBC deeply nervous of the whole issue of Gaza. A question about the BBC’s poor record would almost certainly never have been allowed. There were a number of disturbances from the audience during the programme talked over by the presenter Alex Forsyth.

“Valentine’s gift to every thug and anti-Semite”

A large part of the ensuing Any Answers? focused on the Palestine Action decision. Most were in favour of the judgement and a handful not. Overall, it seems that the public finds the decision to call them a terrorist organisation over the top. This view is not supported by the Daily Mail among others who concludes that the decision is a ‘Valentine’s gift to every thug and anti-Semite who cheerleads for Palestine Action‘. It found the decision ‘baffling’ and quotes a government source saying it was ‘bonkers’ [accessed 15th February]. It correctly notes that the decision could go the the Supreme Court and take months to decide.

Image courtesy of Peter Gloyns

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Minutes and Newsletter


February 2026

We attach the group’s minutes of its February meeting thanks to group member Lesley for the work in compiling them and for other members Fiona and Andrew for their contributions. We do not produce a newsletter so these minutes, although longer than normally the case with minutes, contain items of wider interest.

Human rights shot to the top of the agenda this week following the High Court’s decision concerning Palestine Action which has been another blow for the government.

February minutes an d Newsletter (Word)Download

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Palestine Action ban lifted: for now


High Court finds the ban on Palestine Action ‘disproportionate’

February 2026

The High Court has ruled that the ban on Palestine Action is disproportionate and banning it unlawful. The ban remains in place however as the government is minded to appeal the decision which will take place later this month. The decision is a major victory for the right of free speech and the right of assembly. Liberty and Amnesty have both appealed to the Home Secretary, Shabana Mahmood, to respect the decision. It represents a severe blow to the government. Around 2,500 have been arrested during protests.

It is worth remembering the way PA was banned by the then Home Secretary, Yvette Cooper. Almost certainly she knew the likelihood of achieving a successful vote in parliament was unlikely, so they were lumped in with two extreme white supremacist groups, the Maniacs Murder Cult and the Russia Imperial Movement. Labour members were then whipped to pass the measure. Local MPs Sir Desmond Swayne and Danny Kruger both voted with the government. John Glen MP is not shown as voting. At one stage, the Home Office attempted to suggest they were funded by Iran, a story The Times and the Daily Telegraph fell for, but which they now no longer support.

The Board of Deputies for British Jews are reported to be extremely concerned by the ruling. Lord Sumption interview on the BBC’s PM programme thought the decision vulnerable on appeal. He thought the problem for the government was that the ‘overreach’ of the legislation which meant those holding banners or placards were arrested. He thought PA a ‘thoroughly nasty organisation’.

The government seems particularly determined to clamp down on this organisation and to continue its support for Israel despite the fearful loss of life in Gaza now put at over 72,000. Violence in the West Bank continues apace with estimates of over 1,000 deaths with many more driven from their homes by settler violence.

Elbit Systems, the Israeli arms firm with plants in the UK, has been at the centre of the protests. It manufactures drones which are alleged to be used in Gaza to commit war crimes, a claim Elbit denies.

This is undoubted good news but whether it will survive the Appeal Court remains to be seen. One way or another, by legislating against protest, arresting supporters doing no more than wave placards, and planting fake stories in gullible and compliant media, the government seems determined to support Israel whatever it does and how ever many people it kills or drives from their homes.

Sources: Sky News, Daily Telegraph, The Guardian, CAAT, Jewish Chronicle.

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EU Strategies on Immigration: A Shift in Focus


Refugees and immigration have dropped down the political agenda. Irregular arrivals to EU fall

February 2026

With nearly all the political attention focused on the future of the Labour government and Sir Keir’s likely survival together with the steady stream of resignations from No. 10 (soon be time for the old joke ‘will the last person to leave remember …’ etc) attention has shifted from the near constant focus on immigration and in particular the boat crossings.

This month the focus has been on Europe, specifically the EU, who are developing a 5-year strategy prioritising deterrence, deportation and cooperation with non-EU countries.  In the words of Ursula von der Leyen, ‘Europe decides who comes to the EU’.  The view of Amnesty International is that the EU risks demonstrating complicity in rights violations by its proposed dependency on third countries.  So far deals have been made with Tunisia, Mauritania, Egypt and Morocco, none of which has blameless human rights records.  It is worth noting that irregular arrivals in the EU are down by 25% in 2025.  While many European countries are making conditions harder for irregular arrivals, Spain has decided to regularise the status of 500,000 undocumented migrants, emphasising their value to the country.

Deportation is also looming large in the UK.  Under threat of shutting down their visas, Angola, Namibia and the DRC have agreed to take back migrants claiming asylum in the UK.  Numbers of removals have been made, especially to Albania, Brazil and India. In 2024, 32% of enforced removals were asylum-related, 25% of voluntary removals.  The voluntary return numbers are not only people agreeing to go back home, but include anyone not going through the application process properly for whatever reason (the number of these who actually leave the country is unknown, of course).

The ‘One in, one out’ arrangement with France has so far resulted in 281 people going to France and 350 coming the other way.  The journal ‘Medical Justice’ says that a high proportion of those involved are survivors of trafficking and/or torture.

Reduced backlog

In Britain, the backlog of asylum cases is going down although, as notes before, the number of refusals has gone up (probably due to less care being taken in the interviewing) so that there is a bigger backlog of tribunal appeals (and fewer qualified staff to deal with them).  Barrister Colin Yeo has observed, “The only group to benefit from these long waiting times are those whose cases will ultimately fail; by the time that happens they will have been living here for years and it will be even harder for the Government to remove them than would otherwise have been the case”.  As of last September, 17,000 claimants had been waiting more than a year for a decision.

The UK Government has been publicising its plans for new ways of dealing with the immigrant issue.  Among them is a plan for ‘Named Community Sponsorship’ whereby local communities take the responsibility for inviting and incorporating migrants into the community.  This would create safe and legal routes into the UK, but leaves the onus on local private projects and may result in cherry picking. The Ukrainian process would be the template, but no timeline has been given.

The Home Office is also talking of trialling new ways of housing irregular migrants to replace hotels following Refugee Action’s suggestion that authority for asylum seekers’ accommodation should go to local councils, not the Home Office.  Local councils are resisting for fear of hostile public reaction.

The BBC have reported that there has been a surge in the number of refugee households that are now homeless, up from 3,520 in 2021/2 to 19,310  in 2024/5.  The increase in waiting times and shortening of time available to find accommodation post-assessment are blamed.

In the wider world, the Sudan conflict has had a profound effect on its neighbour countries with 14 million displaced persons. 1.2 million have moved to Chad, a country where 42% of the population live below the poverty line.

March for Refugees

Finally, for anyone eager for exercise, Refugee Action are organising a March for Refugees, sponsored walking 30, 60 or l00 miles through the month. Details at Sign up to March for Refugees.

AH

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Right to protest under threat


Government making protesting more and more difficult

February 2026

Successive governments have taken more and more steps to limit the right to protest. More laws are planned and existing laws are used to prevent or obstruct the right to protest. The laws have been used particularly against Palestine Action which has been banned on spurious grounds. A recent Channel 4 programme Palestine Action: The Truth Behind The Ban (registration needed) exposes the shaky grounds for the ban with the government alleged to have planted stories willing printed by the Times and other right wing papers claiming Iranian funding. Further legislation is planned to prevent repeated protests. Scotland is to hold a judicial review in March over the ban on Palestine Action.

On 4 February a jury at Woolwich Crown Court acquitted all of the first six Palestine Action activists of charges of aggravated burglary or violent disorder at Elbit Systems Filton factory. None had been charged with terrorism offences.

After more mass arrests of peaceful protesters at Wormwood Scrubs, the hunger and thirst strikes have now ended with five members released on bail, although the health implications for them will continue into the future. The family and lawyer of thirst-striker Umer Khalid claim they have been denied access to him since his hospitalisation on 26 January. By the time the remaining prisoners are charged, some individuals will have been in pre-trial detention for 2 years which is well over the six-month limit. The actions of the Palestine Action group in sabotaging Israel-linked arms manufacture Elbit, have resulted in the closure of the factory. Elbit has lost a £2 billion training contract with the UK government but continues to supply other military equipment and services.

The Extinction Rebellion appeal, backed by Defend our Juries, which claimed that the jury’s right  to vote according to their conscience had been interfered with in the judge’s summary at their trial, was dismissed in a Court of Appeal ruling. This, somewhat incongruously, recognised the validity of the conscience clause but denied their claim of judicial interference in this case. 

Proposed changes to ECHR  

David Lammy, Secretary of State for Justice, is seeking to limit access to rights in Article 8 of the ECHR for some violent prisoners. See a previous post for fuller discussion.

Liberty is joining forces with Amnesty International UK, Greenpeace, Palestine Solidarity Campaign, and Quakers in Britain, for a mass lobby of Parliament to defend our right to protest. Join us in London at Westminster Hall in Parliament from 2pm–5pm on Tuesday 17 March 2026.   

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Concerns about facial recognition


The use of facial recognition technology advancing with few controls

February 2026

One of the features of the Chinese state is the massive use of facial recognition technology throughout China. It is a vast system with millions of cameras and is used to monitor every movement of its citizens. The system is used to control everyone and it means no one can move or meet someone without it being observed and logged by the state. It is the ultimate example of the panopticon in a modern setting.

Some are remarkably relaxed about its use in the UK believing claims made that it will be properly controlled and will be used to catch criminals, drug dealers and the like. So innocent people have nothing to fear. Read on …

Right to Privacy

The government’s Biometric Technology Consultation (to close on 12 February) aims to help develop a new legal framework for the use of facial recognition and similar technologies by law enforcement. Despite the landmark UK Court of Appeal ruling in 2020, that found the South Wales Police use of automated facial recognition (AFR) technology was unlawful, police forces in different parts of the country have increased their use of Live Facial Recognition (LFR).  As these systems contain the biometric data of huge numbers of people, some concerns from human rights groups, including Amnesty and Liberty, are briefly summarised here.

The first concern is to ensure that a new legal framework should apply to all use of ‘biometric technologies’ by all law enforcement and other organisations and should be transparent.  Complex mathematical processing is used to identify facial features and generate ‘similarity scores’ but the internal logic of how a match is calculated is hidden from both the police operators and the public.  The authorities cannot explain the specific basis for an intervention nor account for why or if the technology produces biased or inaccurate results.

Second, it is concerning that the use of Facial Recognition Technology (FRT) is becoming widespread and easily accessible, with retail outlets taking on a quasi law enforcement role, aided and supported by the police, and drawing on the same or similar databases.  It is becoming normalised in schools, in commercial and retail settings, with information flowing between sectors and under a patchwork of inconsistent laws which the public does not understand and find almost impossible to challenge.

This was demonstrated in a recent Guardian report (6th February) on the apprehension and removal from Sainsbury’s store in Elephant and Castle of a customer who had been wrongly matched by staff with a photo of a different customer flagged by their Facewatch camera.  In order to prove his innocence he had to apply to the agency using a QR code and submit a photo and a copy of his passport to them before they declared him not on their blacklist.

 The following is a list of factors of concern to human rights groups:

– Transparency – to include how and when the technology is being used and the clarity of accessible information about rights.

– Whether biometric data is acquired overtly or covertly.

– Whether it is collected voluntarily or involuntarily. Pervasive monitoring is leading to the normalisation of suspicion less surveillance.

-The subject’s status – whether or not someone is the intended subject of a police investigation or an innocent bystander walking past a camera.

– Who has access to the data and the results.

– The space, context and location of deployment. Expectations of privacy vary significantly between a quiet park and a busy thoroughfare.

– Whether the system is used to make inferences about a person’s internal state, their emotion or intent.

– Whether the interference is demonstrably ‘necessary’ and ‘proportionate’ to a legitimate aim, such as the prevention of serious crime.

– Whether assessments consider the Public Sector Equality Duty (PSED) to ensure the technology does not have a discriminatory impact.

– Algorithm bias: whether this performs differently based on race, gender, or age, which could lead to the over-policing of marginalised communities.

– Watchlist bias: whether scrutiny of criteria can ensure groups are not disproportionately targeted based on protected characteristics.

– Bias in interpretation of identification patterns claiming to provide predictive evidence.

Human Rights groups say that any new regulation should protect privacy and limit data-sharing between public authorities, law enforcement and private companies; and that as the state gains powerful new ways to monitor citizens, a strong and resilient oversight body with true independence is needed to protect human rights and dignity.

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Latest death penalty report


Report for mid January to mid February

February 2026

We are pleased to attach the latest monthly report on the state of the death penalty around the world thanks to group member Lesley for the extensive work in compiling it. Good and bad but mostly the latter, with Florida leading the charge in the US and Iran engaged in a continuing programme of executions. As ever we have no information on China which probably carries out more executions than the rest of the world combined but whose details are a state secret.

Report January to February (Word)Download

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Latest vigil – number 114


Modest turnout on a wet and cold evening

February 2026

Around 25 turned out for the 114th vigil on a wet and cold evening in Salisbury. We continue because there is no sign of a real prospect of peace in the Middle East and people continue to die in Gaza. The death toll has risen to 72,027 according to the Peninsular with Israeli strikes continuing in the territory. The so called Board of Peace is to hold its next meeting in Washington on 19th of this month with no Palestinians present Al Jazeera reports. Over 500 have now been killed since the peace process began.

Attempts to allow foreign journalists into Gaza to document evidence there have failed yet again. The Foreign Press Association has been engaged in a fruitless campaign for around 4 years now and the Israeli Supreme Court has decided to defer a decision yet again. It has postponed making a decision 10 times and finally ran out of patience. However, it allowed the Israeli lawyer to present their evidence in closed session. There are criticisms of the FPA for endlessly pursuing these applications when it is clear an enfeebled court is never going to allow foreign journalists in.

Three journalists from the Egyptian Committee for Gaza Relief were possibly murdered by an IDF airstrike according to +972 despite being some distance from the yellow line and in a clearly marked car. The IDF claim that the ‘suspects were operating a drone affiliated to Hamas’ which seems extremely unlikely but without independent evidence it is hard to be sure.

“We will continue to kill the idea of a Palestinian state” Bezalel Smotrich Finance minister

This follows the recent decision by the Israeli cabinet to ease restrictions on Jewish people acquiring land on the West Bank in contravention of the Oslo Accords. The process of acquiring land by Jewish people will be governed by an element of the IDF and the need to go through the civil administration will no longer be necessary. The decision has drawn a rare condemnation from JD Vance.

A positive message to come out of the endless horror of death and destruction comes from the West England Bylines which is a citizen’s journalist outlet and contains a poem by Lama Kuhail:

In Gaza’s Streets, where pain does flow,
A wounded land, the world must know.
Through darkened skies and broken ground,
A son of courage still resounds.
With every tear and every fight,
They chase the dawn,
Defy the night.

A video of the vigil with thanks to Peter Gloyns for permission to post it. Picture shows wet attendees!

Article by Salisbury group member published in West England Bylines.

Sources: +972, The Peninsular, Haaretz, West England Bylines, Al Jazeera

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Proposal to limit application of rights law for some prisoners


David Lammy seeking to limit access to article 8 rights for some violent prisoners

February 2026

David Lammy, the Secretary of State for Justice, is proposing to establish Supermax style prison units similar to that established in the USA. In addition, he wants to limit the applicability of the ECHR article 8 rights to those prisoners. The supermax prison in Florence, Colorado has been criticised by human rights groups including Amnesty: “The US government’s callous and dehumanising practice of holding prisoners in prolonged solitary confinement in the country’s only federal super-maximum security prison amounts to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment and is in violation of international law“.

‘Not designed for humanity’

The inhuman nature of the facility is encapsulated in this quote from Howstuffworks:

“The only time that inmates are allowed out of their cells is for an hour of exercise. Handcuffed and shackled at their feet, inmates are either led to an empty room with a single pull-up bar, or taken outside to the yard, where they are locked alone inside a caged pen.

“Robert Hood, a former warden at the ADX told The New York Times that the ADX was “not designed for humanity. When it’s 23 hours a day in a room with a slit of a window where you can’t even see the Rocky Mountains — let’s be candid here. It’s not designed for rehabilitation. Period. End of story.””

A report was published ‘Independent Review of Separation Centres‘ by Jonathan Hall KC into separation in prisons which contains a section reporting on his visit to the facility in Colorado. He was not given full access which might explain his rather benign view of the facility and contrasts markedly with the above extract. He does not address or even seem to be aware of the inhuman nature of the prison and its dreadful effects on inmates.

Lammy is concerned at the prospects of article 8 rights being applied if such units are established. Article 8 is the respect for family and private life and part 2 of the article limits public authorities from interference with these rights except for the prevention of disorder or crime or for the protection of others (that is prison officers). Clearly, by establishing any facility remotely like the inhuman system operating in the US would almost certainly lead to legal protests and action.

British prisons are in a state of almost permanent crisis. According to the Howard League for Penal Reform, we currently have 87,249 incarcerated [accessed 4 February], the highest per capita total in Europe. Many of the prisons are decrepit, suffering severe infestations and prisoners are often confined to their cells for 23 hours a day. Recidivism is 28.9% [Government figures – January to March 2024] with those serving sentences of less than 12 months having a rate of 66%. Numerous reports conclude the system is not working.

The proposal has raised serious concerns although the idea has received strong support from the shadow justice secretary Mr Nick Timothy (Con) who wants the UK to leave the ECHR altogether. There are issues of how to handle dangerous prisoners who pose a risk to those whose duty is to guard them. Copying the inhuman US system is not an answer. The chief executive of the Howard League has pointed out that it is not necessary to impose such levels of inhuman conditions and this was not recommended by the report.

Another concern is that limiting the application of ECHR rights might be followed by other proposals by one government or another, all of whom would like to see us leave the Convention. Perhaps we should ponder Dostoevsky who observed the degree of civilization in a society can be judged by entering its prisons.

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Book review: Complicit


Review of Peter Oborne’s book Complicit

February 2026

We were pleased to host a talk last month by the author and journalist Peter Oborne about his new book Complicit: Britain’s role in the Destruction of Gaza. A detailed and hard-hitting review has been published by the British Palestine Project and is a recommended read. It amplifies the severe criticism of the BBC for its many failings in its reporting and in particular, never inviting acknowledged Jewish experts to be interviewed and almost completely failing to report on the hundreds of RAF flights which have taken place over Gaza the purpose of which is unclear.

It is also extremely critical of the British prime minister Sir Keir Starmer and contrasts his activities as a human rights lawyer and his highly questionable support for Israel now. Other parts of our media come in for criticism as well.

Britain’s role in Israel’s murderous campaign in Gaza.

Image from the BPP

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Burma: the misery continues


Six decades of attacks and airstrikes continue

February 2026

Burma, or Myanmar, has slipped out of the news in recent months but the brutal activities of the military Junta continue. Violence has lasted for 6 decades now during which massacres have been carried out and around 800,000 have been forced to flee. Elections are promised which will be sham. There is considerable resistance, both peaceful and armed to the regime. As part of the election process some of the 20,000 political prisoners will be released according to the latest edition of the Burma Campaign News (Issue 49, 2026). Political prisoners are subject to horrific treatment, held in appalling conditions, subjected to torture and denied medical care. Children as young as 2 years old are held as proxies for their parents.

Amnesty reports that the military Junta has committed widespread repression and abuse in every facet of life in the country since seizing power on February 1, 2021, Amnesty International, Fortify Rights, and Human Rights Watch said last month. The military’s atrocities since the coup, which include war crimes and crimes against humanity, escalated over the past year as the Junta sought to entrench its rule through abusive military operations and stage-managed elections.

The UN Special Rapporteur said in London in December:

“The people of Myanmar have shown extraordinary courage. They deserve an international response that matches their determination the United Kingdom can play a decisive role and now is the moment to act”.

Following a submission by Gambia, the International Court of Justice has in January, commenced hearing evidence of genocide against the Rohingya people many of whom fled the country. The ICJ issued provisional measures to protect the Rohingya which have been ignored by the Junta.

The UK government is criticized for not having made any new, targeted sanctions since 2024 and there is also a concern that the Junta is allowed to host a military attaché in London.

China’s role

The role of the Chinese is significant in the future of the country. Currently, it is reported by Foreign Affairs that China is ‘supporting both sides but with the hope that the Junta will win through in the end’ despite its appalling record of human rights abuses. It can tolerate a divided Myanmar as long the the main power holders remain dependant on China for trade and energy. It is also reported that China has provided $3bn of aid to the Junta.

Although it is true that the UK can play a role, the resource rich country is attractive to China which exhibits little interest in human rights within its borders or in foreign countries. It is their role which is probably crucial and as long as it continues to support the military then the current path of violence will likely continue.

As well as the Burma Campaign, another organisation of note is Advance Myanmar.

Ming Aung Hlaing, leader of the Junta

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UK Government’s Inaction on Palestinian Rights Criticized


Bishop’s letter “incredulous” at lack of government action over Gaza and West Bank

February 2026

Three Anglican bishops have today (2nd February) written a letter published in the Guardian in which they express dismay at government inaction over Gaza and events on the West Bank.

“Having returned from another visit to Palestine, we are incredulous that the UK government has still not published its legal response to the international court of justice’s advisory opinion in July 2024. This inaction has contributed to a culture of impunity that the Israeli government has used to accelerate its de facto annexation of the West Bank.

“Its instruments are administrative changes, continuous settlement expansion and growth, intensifying violence by Israeli troops and settler militia, the localised system of road closures, house demolitions, tightening access to water and electricity, deepening legal segregation and an unequal system of governance.

“While world leaders met in Davos to debate futuristic plans for the reconstruction of Gaza, which are largely disconnected from reality, we visited and listened to Palestinian Christian communities across the West Bank on their lived experience. Once more, we have heard from families living in fear and torment – an unending nightmare where they are denied even minimal dignity. The violence has robbed them of the ability to earn a living and provide for their families.

“Terrorised to the point of fearing for their lives, there is no one to protect them. Faced with such abandonment, and denied any agency as to their future, many now feel they have no choice but to leave or to die standing. This seems to be the Israeli government’s intentional strategy.

“The international community must uphold its obligations under international law to protect Palestinians. The only way is to uphold the ICJ advisory opinion. Having formally recognised the state of Palestine, the British government must publish its response and take all necessary measures “not to render aid or assistance in maintaining the situation created by Israel’s illegal presence in the Occupied Palestinian Territory”, as the court stipulated.

“The situation in the West Bank is a tragedy foretold. We must stand up and do the right thing before it’s too late”.


The Rt Rev Dr Guli Francis-Dehqani Bishop of Chelmsford; The Rt Rev Rachel Treweek Bishop of Gloucester; The Rt Rev Graham Usher Bishop of Norwich

Readers of our earlier posts about British government’s complicity in the violence and its continued political, military and diplomatic support will be aware of the shameful role our government has and is playing in the genocide taking place there.

Image: Al Jazeera.

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Author and journalist Peter Oborne visits Salisbury


Talk to the Salisbury group about his new book ‘Complicit’

January 2026

The Amnesty International Salisbury Group invited the noted journalist and author Peter Oborne to speak about his recently published book* ‘Complicit: Britain’s Role in the Destruction of Gaza’ which describes in detail the extent to which British governments and media have supported the Israeli government presentation of events in Gaza since the massacre in October 2023.  The event, held in the Methodist Church, was very well attended, with an audience of around 80.  Following his presentation there was an opportunity for the audience to ask questions.  Thirty copies of his book quickly sold out.

Asked about the motivation for writing the book, Mr Oborne (on the right of the picture) said that the drive came to him while in Nablus in October 23, as a continuation of his previous work as a political journalist and critic of lying in politics and the pro-Israel lobby. He noted that the former prime minister Rishi Sunak had declared unequivocal support for Israel, and the current prime minister Sir Keir Starmer notoriously agreed that the Israelis ‘had the right to deny fuel and water to the Gazans’. This brought them into an alliance with the far right and right wing media.

The role of the United States as a factor was considered. This has affected the language that is used in the conflict. Sir Keir Starmer, it was noted, was a human rights lawyer, and a Corbynite [reference to Jeremy Corbyn, a previous leader of the Labour Party], who changed as soon as he became leader.

Asked how influential the Conservative Friends of Israel were, Mr. Oborne noted that as MPs they must be compromised and should not be part of the debate if receiving funding from them (Note: the Salisbury MP Mr. John Glen is a member of this group).  The funding is significant and amount to around half a million pounds by some estimates.  He observed that during the committee stage of a related bill, only pro-Israeli MPs were called.

Media bias

The discussion moved on to the question of misrepresentation of events in the media.  The claim that Hamas had ‘beheaded babies’ was reported as fact in the Daily Mail and the Times, and such stories were used as a justification for deliberate targeting by the IDF.  In general, war has always led to misreporting historically: the first casualty in war is truth.  Lurid stories of baby killings were repeated in the Independent (!) and the Daily Express and repeated by the Israeli Ambassador and other politicians. 

Q: how many babies were killed and beheaded?  A: Two were killed, none beheaded.  In his book Peter Oborne quotes research by the Israeli paper Haaretz which revealed one had been shot through a door and a second infant had died after delivery by Caesarean section and the mother had died as well.  Terrible events but not the mass killing of babies which the British media had swallowed whole. 

Even the BBC and broadsheet newspapers were guilty of misreporting, sometimes by omission rather than commission.  In his book, Oborne describes the BBC’s coverage as ‘a reporting disaster and a moral calamity‘ (p51)

For example, no mention was ever made of the “Dahiya doctrine” of military destruction of civilian entities.  The doctrine itself calls for the deliberate targeting of civilians and civilian infrastructure in order to induce suffering and severe distress throughout the targeted population.  By targeting indiscriminately, the IDF hopes to deter further military attacks against Israel, destroy its enemies, as well as influence the population to oust the militants seen as the primary target.  This seems to contradict Israeli claims of targeting actions against Hamas not civilians, a claim endlessly repeated by the media.

Why did British media consistently misreport events in the Gaza war Peter was asked?  The fear of being called anti-Semitic is a factor in bias among reporters. The Israel lobby will respond immediately to critical comment and not all journalists recognize the rules of the game. The IDF will regularly challenge reporting of actual events. With most newspapers being pro-Israel, it is easier to report from that angle.

Israel accused UNRWA of employing and harbouring Hamas terrorists among its 17,000 staff. As a result, the British government immediately withdrew its support. UNWRA was the largest agency operating in Gaza and by closing their warehouses and distribution work it had a devastating effect on the lives of those living there.  In the past few days, their HQ was demolished by Israel, and, although the UK reinstated its connection, the myth of Hamas involvement was never rejected.

Questions from the floor

Questions from the floor included the makeup of the IDF (the Israeli national army, but one with a substantial number of foreign volunteers) and the influence of Israel had over the USA and UK policy.  He thought some but is was not overwhelming.  In answer to a question, Mr. Oborne praised Mrs. Thatcher for her support of international law, something not sustained today,  We are being let down by politicians, but some who have been supportive of the Palestinian cause were named along with alternative media. Asked about President Trump’s “Board of Peace”, it was considered to be not a serious venture, not least because there is still no genuine ceasefire.

On the question of whether the political classes will be held to account, the speaker’s view was that if not, then might would be right. If the International Court of Justice concludes that genocide has taken place, British politicians may be liable – although, since the Attorney-General was a government appointment he would have to take the case up and this is unlikely to happen.  The possibility remains that other countries might decide to prosecute.

Mr. Oborne was thanked for coming to Salisbury and discussing his book.

*OR Books (pub) ISBN: 9781682194263

Recent posts:

Peter Oborne now writes for Middle East Eye and Byline Times.

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Latest arms trade news


Latest CAAT newsletter reveals UK role in killing around the world

January 2026

The Winter 2025 edition of the Campaign Against the Arms Trade (CAAT) news discusses the many issues to do with the supply of arms by the UK and others internationally. The government frequently claims to employ ‘robust’ measures to control the trade which has much potential to cause misery around the world, but the facts seem to suggest otherwise: CAAT reveals the top two purchasers of weapons are two nations which have abysmal human rights records. In the period 2020 – 2025, the top country for our weapons was Saudi Arabia at £6.4bn and second was Qatar at £4.1bn. Further down the list, is UAE at £825m.

All these countries do not permit opposition to exist, torture is widely practised, human rights lawyers and activists are routinely arrested, and women are not equal citizens. Foreign workers are treated dreadfully and the gleaming towers which feature in their promotional videos involve the deaths of many hundreds of indentured labourers.

Needless to say, Israel features and the UK governments continued support for arms sales despite the genocide taking place there. Interestingly, they report that Spain has ceased all arms sales and Germany likewise. It had been reported that the German Chancellor has reduced sales but CAAT report that no new exports have been approved.

The claim by the UK government that it has ‘robust’ controls is contradicted by the use of the secretive Open General Export Licences (OGEL). Looking at the list of restricted destinations [accessed 23 January] one finds that Israel is not listed. CAAT say that around half our exports to Israel are by this method.

Revolving door

The scandal of the revolving door continues. This concerns senior individuals in government or the forces taking up roles for arms companies following their retirement. There is a set of rules, which are largely sidestepped, to prevent abuse by people using their contacts to further the interests of the arms companies. These are set to be abolished this year and a new system introduced following a long list of scandals. We await to see how effective the new system will be. CAAT reveals the names of two new entrants to this hall of shame: Sir Simon Bollom, Head of the MOD’s Defence Equipment and Support, and Sir Mark Poffley formerly Deputy Chief of the Defence Staff. They will be joining Elbit Systems the Israeli arms firm which has facilities in the UK. They can use their influence to promote the interests of Elbit Systems. CAAT say there is no suggestion of impropriety.

A lengthy Private Eye report on this corruption, lists many names of politicians and others involved.

RAF flights over Gaza

The RAF continues to overfly GAZA and there are reports that the information gathered is being used to assist the Israeli IDF. The Ministry of Defence maintains that these flights were “solely to locate hostages,” yet the scale, timing and persistence of the flights raises questions as to how much they aided Israel’s military operations despite being conducted under the banner of humanitarian intent. It is not clear that any hostages were identified by the RAF.

The CAAT newsletter, together with previous newsletters and reports, paints a picture of the UK government which is more interested in supporting sales of weapons as part of its growth policy, than in the humanitarian effects these weapons have on the millions who suffer from their use. The high use of open licences means few meaningful controls are in place. They also proudly promote and support the Defence and Security Equipment International (DSEI) each year in London with the innocent sounding claim that it ‘promotes the UK’s defence ethos, agenda and leadership while encouraging opportunity and cooperation with our global allies‘. ​(Source, DSEI 2027 Home page).

The sums involved are large and defence (defense) firms are a key part in some local economies. Controls based on a sense of moral purpose and a proper exercise of end user certificates would curtail their activities and hence employment. It is a tail wagging a somewhat compliant dog.

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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!

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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.

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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!

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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 is 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.

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