Month: November 2024

And the Vigils go on


November 2024

A video of the Vigil can be seen here.

The 52nd Vigil was held today in the Market Square in Salisbury and 30 attended. There was a kind of irony around today’s event as we looked out over the Market Square which was festooned with Christmas lights with the market in full swing. The Vigil is about peace in the region where Christianity began. With an estimated 44,000 dead in Gaza the notion of ‘peace and goodwill to all men’ seemed a long way off. Gaza and Palestine generally (however it is delineated) is precisely the area where Christianity was started yet here we are looking at a raging war and hatred seeming to be the defining spirit.

There is a temporary cessation of hostilities in Lebanon but few would confidently this to extend for any length of time.

Today (Sunday 1st December) we were in the Cathedral Cloisters from 10:00 until noon for a Write for Rights event so if you are in the area, please give us a call.

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The 51st Vigil


Smaller than usual numbers due to the stormy weather

November 2024

A smaller contingent this Saturday (23rd November) for the 51st Vigil in Salisbury due almost certainly to the inclement weather with storm Bert raging. The Vigil took place during the week in which the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Benjamin Netanyahu, the former Defense minister, Yoav Gallant and the leader of Hamas, Mohammed Deif (believed to be dead).

The reaction around the world was mixed with outrage from Israel and from the US who spoke of sanctioning the ICC itself. Other nations are guardedly in support of the actions which are based on a wide range of breaches of International Humanitarian Law. This includes the use of starvation as a weapon of war.

The sympathy that Israel received following the horrific attack on October 7th last year and the seizure of 250 hostages has all but dissipated. Around 44,000 have now died in Gaza with thousands more wounded, some seriously. The so called ‘General’s Plan’ to clear the northern part of the enclave – denied by Israel – seems to be in operation. Independent observers and journalists are denied access so obtaining reliable reports is impossible. Claims of individuals being used as ‘human shields’ cannot be independently verified and little evidence has been produced.

The ICC warrants pose a problem for countries like the UK (but not the US which is not a signatory as is Israel) which are required to stop the supply of weapons. What will happen on this point we shall see.

Among the criticisms made is that lumping the two Israeli people in with Hamas is quite wrong. The problem for the ICC is that if they issued warrants for the Israelis alone, they would be criticised for ignoring Hamas. The same argument applies in the other direction.

There seems no end in sight. The arrival of Donald Trump as the next US President is awaited and Israeli politicians who anticipate more favourable treatment by him in comparison to President Biden. There are still those who think that the current conflict started on 7th October last year – it didn’t. The conflict goes back to at least 1948 and further back than that. Years of apartheid by the Israeli government and the current violent campaign by the ‘settlers’ to clear Palestinians and other Arabs from the West Bank are all part of a prolonged conflict. It even goes back to the British Empire and the desire to protect the Suez Canal and hence the link to India.

We are pleased to attach a video of the Vigil produced by a supporter.

We shall be there next Saturday, 30 November at 5pm.

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North Korea


North Korea admits to using the death penalty

November 2024

North Korea is back in the news recently having sent thousands of troops to aid the Russians in their invasion of Ukraine. They are also supplying munitions in return for, it is thought, technological help from Russia. They are also engaged in using the death penalty and we are reproducing a post from Amnesty on this.

North Korea has admitted carrying out public executions in a rare admission about its treatment of prisoners, ironically made during an effort to defend and justify its human rights record. Rights organisations have long accused Pyongyang of shooting dead convicts in public, and defectors from the isolated country have given gruesome accounts of North Korean executioners tormenting condemned prisoners, burning and mutilating them after death and forcing others to look at their corpses.

On one occasion, an estimated crowd of 25,000 in the northern city of Hyesan was forced to watch as nine people were executed by firing squad for having slaughtered government-owned cattle and distributing the meat to businesses.
“I kept thinking of the horrific scene of yesterday’s shooting, so I couldn’t sleep all night and trembled with fear,” one resident said.

North Korea defended its controversial law dictating harsh penalties for consuming foreign media on Thursday, while admitting that it carries out public executions and imprisons perpetrators of “anti-state” crimes. The DPRK government made the rare acknowledgement during the U.N.’s Universal Periodic Review (UPR) of the country in Geneva, which examines the human rights record of member states every four to five years.

At a session on 14 November, a North Korea official offered striking admissions of human rights abuses in the country, even as he sought to justify them under state policies.
On the death penalty, Park said the DPRK executes individuals “who committed extremely serious crimes,” including publicly. 

Until now, North Korea has denied staging public executions and has sought to promote the idea that there is a legal framework with safeguards for treatment of prisoners.

Public executions are considered to be a way to keep the population in line. According to witness testimonies from the DPRK, public executions for watching or distributing South Korean films and drug smuggling have increased in recent years, as well sentences for “crimes against the regime”.

Public executions of young North Koreans are on the rise, Seoul says, as Pyongyang seeks to stamp out South Korea’s cultural influence. One North Korean defector to the South recounted witnessing the public execution of a 22-year-old in South Hwanghae province in 2022. The young man’s crimes were listening to 70 South Korean songs and watching and sharing three South Korean films.

The death penalty has always been available in North Korea’s legal system but a commentary on the North Korean Criminal Law 3, published by the North Korean authorities in 1957, suggests that the death penalty will eventually be abolished in North Korea and is presently utilised as a last resort.

The revised Criminal Code of 1987 mentions the death penalty as one of two kinds of “basic penalties” to be imposed on criminal offenders. The minimum age for imposition was lowered from 18 to 17 and the prohibition against the lowering of human dignity was scrapped. Under the 1987 Criminal Code, the death penalty is mandatory for activities “in collusion with imperialists” aimed at “suppressing the national-liberation struggle” and the revolutionary struggle for reunification and independence” or for “acts of betraying the Nation to imperialists”
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Arms sales and the revolving door


New report from the Campaign Against the Arms Trade reveals extent of this activity

November 2024

[ADDED: 16 December] If you want to see ministers squirm in front of a select committee when discussing arms sales to Israel (via USA) watch this YouTube video. Usual claims of ignorance and unable to answer basic questions. Even though the RAF is regularly flying over Gaza, it seems they are unaware of the destruction as the purpose they say is to look for hostages.

The question of arms sales has risen up the political agenda partly because of the question of whether we should continue to sell weapons to Israel. It also cropped up with the decision recently to award a GCVO to the King of Bahrain presented by King Charles. It was also an issue during the war in Yemen where British weapons and personnel were involved in helping Saudi in their ferocious bombing campaign in that country. All these and other examples revealed an industry with considerable political influence. They result in a distortion of our political process and an almost complete disregard for the effects of the arms on people at the end of them. The destruction being carried on in Gaza is facilitated by the continuing sale of F-35 aircraft elements of which are made in the UK. An ‘ethical dimension’ to our policy seems to be a thing of the past. There is little sign that arms sales are restricted to states which ignore human rights or International Humanitarian Law.

Not so much a revolving door as an ‘open plan office’

Campaign Against the Arms Trade CAAT has campaigned on these issues for many years and their current magazine, Issue 270, Autumn 2024 contains a number of articles on the topic of arms. One concerns what has been known as the ‘revolving door’. In an article ‘Government and Arms Industry Joined at the Hip’, they explore the deeply compromising nature of this relationship. They have published a report From Revolving Door to Open Plan Office: the Ever Closer Union Between the UK Government and the Arms Industry. They argue that the arms industry has become so deeply embedded in the government that the boundary has almost disappeared. It is now not so much a revolving door as an ‘open plan office’. 40% of top military staff and civilian personnel leaving the MOD hold positions in the arms and security industries. Transparency International research shows that one company, BAE, had more meetings with ministers and with Prime Ministers than any other company.

Private Eye carried out an extensive survey in 2016. This went into great detail and named names.

Why does it matter?

It matters for three main reasons:

  • Firstly, arms cause great misery for millions of people. The harrowing images on news programmes of property destruction, dead bodies, lines of people on the move or rows of tents housing displaced people are the result of the activities of this trade,
  • The lobbying power is such that government ministers seem to fall into line almost as soon as they assume power. Grand statements by Sir Keir Starmer and David Lammy for example are quickly forgotten as the next trade deal is signed. The arms trade seems to wield enormous power and influence over government policy,
  • Thirdly, the ‘open plan office’ means senior staff in the Civil Service and in the MOD and armed services are keeping an eye on prospects as they approach retirement. Lucrative board appointments and ‘consultancy’ contracts await them. Are they going to ask uncomfortable questions or raise difficulties with an arms contract and jeopardise these prospects?

As CAAT put it:

‘When these ‘revolvers’ leave public service for the arms trade, they take with them extensive contacts and privileged access. As current government decision-makers are willing to meet and listen to former Defence Ministers and ex-Generals, particularly if they used to work with them, this increases the arms trade’s already excessive influence over our government’s actions.

‘On top of this, there is the risk that government decision-makers will be reluctant to displease arms companies as this could ruin their chances of landing a lucrative arms industry job in the future. Beyond individual decisions, the traffic from government to the private sector, and vice versa, is part of a process where the public interest becoming conflated with corporate interest, so that it becomes normal to unquestioningly meet, collaborate and decide policy with the arms industry, then take work with it.’

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Urgent action: Oklahoma


We attach an urgent action concerning the death penalty in Oklahoma

November 2024

DEATH PENALTY ACTION FOR NOVEMBER, 2024

This  action is part of our continuing campaign calling on the Governor of Oklahoma to issue a moratorium on all executions, and ultimately to move towards the permanent abolition of the death penalty in the state.  Letters (preferably) or emails should be sent to Governor Stitt, focusing in particular on the history of racial discrimination within the State and how this has impacted on Oklahoma’s application of the death penalty.

Contact details:

The Honorable J Kevin Stitt

Governor of the State of Oklahoma

Oklahoma State Capitol

2300 N. Lincoln Blvd; Suite212

Oklahoma City

OK 73105

USA.

Emails can be tried at:   https://oklahoma.gov/governor/contact/general-information/contact-the-governor.html which gives access to a form.

Please take this action before the end of November.

Racial Discrimination/Bias in the Application of the Death Penalty in the State of Oklahoma

In 2017 the Death Penalty Review Commission concluded the system in Oklahoma was ‘broken’ and unanimously recommended a moratorium on executions ‘until significant reforms were accomplished’.  They also questioned ‘whether the death penalty could be administered in a way that ensured no innocent person was put to death.  They made 47 recommendations but it is understood – over 6 years later – none have been implemented.

In 2022 the report Deeply Rooted: How Racial History informs Oklahoma’s Death Penalty’ by Dr Crutcher, Founder and Executive Director of the Terence Crutcher Foundation, was issued – and updated in  September 2024.

The report places Oklahoma’s death penalty in its historical context of lynchings and mass violence against Black Oklahomans and the forced migration of Native Americans. It documents the historical role that race has played in the State’s death penalty and details the pervasive impact that racial discrimination continues to have in the administration of capital punishment.

The report ties Oklahoma’s use of the death penalty to its troubled history of racial violence and segregation. It observed that Oklahoma was at an inflection point in its administration of the death penalty and argued that, if the State was to establish a fair and humane system of justice, it was crucial to acknowledge and redress the effects of the Jim Crow laws and racial violence that persist into the present day.

Racial discrimination, especially the race of the victim, continues to infect all aspects of the death penalty in Oklahoma.  A study of homicides in the state between 1990 and 2012 found that the odds a person charged with killing a white female victim would be sentenced to death were 10 times greater than if the victim was a minority male. Of the 25 executions scheduled between August 2022 and December 2024, 68% involve white victims. Data throughout the report suggest that valuing white victims more than others has resulted in disproportionate punishment for Black defendants who murder white people.

An examination of the age and race of the men scheduled for execution reflects the bias that Black youth are perceived as older and less innocent than white youth. Seven of the 10 Black men set for execution were 25 years old or younger at the time of the crime. By contrast, only one of the 13 white men set for execution was 25 or younger at the time of his crime. Three of the Black men were 20 or younger and one of them, Alfred Mitchell, was only two weeks past his 18th birthday.

Of the 142 people in the U.S. who have been removed from death row because of intellectual disability (following the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling that their executions are barred), the majority (83%) have been people of colour. This suggests that people of colour, especially Black people, with intellectual disability are at a greater risk of being subjected to capital punishment. Oklahoma has limited the ability for people on death row to seek relief based on intellectual disability. As the report notes, Michael Smith, a Black man, had a documented, lifelong intellectual disability[i]. Despite his medical diagnosis, Oklahoma denied Mr. Smith a hearing on his intellectual disability.

At least five cases of those scheduled for execution in Oklahoma may have involved official misconduct, including Clarence Goode, a Black and Muscogee man set to be executed on August 8, 2024, (but see below) who was convicted after the testimony of a detective who later served time in federal prison for misconduct in other cases. Nationwide, nearly 80% of wrongful capital convictions of Black people involve official misconduct by police, prosecutors, or other government officials.

Native American Sovereignty

The report states that Oklahoma has a history of defying U.S. Supreme Court decisions that would provide some measure of racial justice. For example, the Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals refused to apply McGirt v. Oklahoma (holding that the State lacked jurisdiction to prosecute crimes committed by or against Native American people on tribal lands)

In 2020 the US Supreme Court recognised that Oklahoma has continually prosecuted criminal cases in violation of long-standing treaties with Native American tribes.  At least 3 Native Americans have been executed in violation of tribal sovereignty, and at least 4 people remain on death row despite these violations.

Thirty-seven Native American men and women have been sentenced to death in Oklahoma, more than in any other state. Two people currently scheduled for execution –  Clarence Goode, Jr[ii]  and Alfred Mitchell[iii] are Native American.

Sources:  Death Penalty Information Centre

[i] my update: executed on 4th April 2024 – despite a 4 to 1 recommendation for clemency from the Pardon and Parole Board

[ii] my update: execution stayed 8th August 2024 pending new date

[iii] my Update: execution stayed 3rd October 2024 pending new date

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Fiftieth Vigil


Fiftieth Vigil held on Saturday 16 November

November 2024

[Video added, 17 November]

It is likely that holding a Vigil on Saturday in Salisbury Market Place was intended to be a short run affair. Most vigils are: people come together to show their support for a cause and it’s over. But on Saturday, we held our 50th Vigil in aid of peace in Gaza. Around 40 attended a number which has remained remarkably constant. New people came as well so it isn’t the same old faces week after week.

Part of the motivation is the continuing horror in Gaza and also, now, Lebanon with reports today of aid workers killed in a bombing. Over 43,000 are now dead in Gaza with 70% women and children the BBC reports.

Some of the attendees at the 50th Vigil.

Video of the Vigil

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Visibility


November 2024

We have made some changes to how we promote the site. We are – in keeping with thousands of others – no longer on X as it is allowing some unpleasant material to remain unmoderated. You will see at the bottom of posts that we are now on Mastodon and Bluesky. Please let us know if there are problems with accessing either of these. We continue to post on Facebook.

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Group minutes: November


November 2024

The minutes of our November meeting are here thanks to group member Lesley for producing them. The contain information about forthcoming events and brief reports on refugees and the death penalty.

Minutes November (Word)Download

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Group news


Some events the group will be involved in

November 2024

From time time we list some of the events the group will be involved in. This is partly for those people who might be thinking of joining us. Coming along and making yourself known is the best way to introduce yourself. Membership of our group is free but if you join Amnesty International there is a fee.

We welcome new members especially in this, our 50th year since formation. We are, sadly, the only surviving group in Wiltshire and we hope people from outside Salisbury feel able to join.

Upcoming events:

  • Not an event as such but a tree will be planted in Victoria Park soon to commemorate out anniversary. We are not able to be at the planting itself (!) but we hope to convene a photo shoot at some future date,
  • Carol singing. [Completed – see post]. This has been an annual event and we kick of on 9 December in Victoria Road. We are delighted to welcome the Farrant Singers to do the singing and we cover 3 or 4 roads in the vicinity,
  • Vigil. Group members take part in the Vigil in the Butter market in Salisbury (by the Library) starting at 5pm for half an hour. This is to promote peace in the Middle East. See previous posts on this subject. This Saturday 16th, will be our 50th such Vigil,
  • We will be holding a schools event on 26th but this is not open to all,
  • Write for Rights in the Cathedral cloister on 1st December for around 2 hours in the morning, [Completed]
  • Further ahead, we will be at the People in the Park event in May. Details in due course,
  • We hope to arrange an Evensong with the Cathedral next year.

We look forward to seeing you at one of these events.

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King Charles gives GCVO to King of Bahrain


Award of GCVO invites many critics because of poor human rights in Bahrain

November 2024

The award of the Grand Cross of the Victorian Order to King Hamad bin Isa al Khalifa of Bahrain by King Charles has brought criticism and controversy. The list of human rights failures in Bahrain is a long one. It includes the lack of a free press, no genuine political opposition, the use of torture, critics who are harassed and arrested and there are problems with an independent judiciary. Individuals are executed after confessions secured following the use of torture. There is little religious freedom. Freedom House has described the kingdom as one of the more repressive regimes in the region. Since violently crushing a popular prodemocracy protest movement in 2011, the Sunni-led monarchy has systematically eliminated a broad range of political rights and civil liberties, dismantled the political opposition, and cracked down harshly on persistent dissent concentrated among the Shiite population.

Of course it is unlikely that King Charles was directly responsible for this award and may even felt uncomfortable with it. It is almost certainly a political decision because Bahrain is a key defence ally. CAAT has described the range of contacts between the two kingdoms and the importance of Bahrain as a purchaser of arms.

This has become a feature of British foreign policy and ideas of an ‘ethical foreign policy’ seem a long time ago. The Royal family are frequently used to promote ties and friendly relations with the various monarchs who still rule most of the Gulf states. Arms sales and the supply of oil are crucial elements of the British economy and effectively means ethical and human rights issues have to take a back seat. The Secretary of State said in parliament on 21 October 2021 that ‘[t]he Government are clear that more trade will not come at the expense of human rights’. However, as CAAT notes, arms sales to Bahrain continue apace.

Human rights violations and violence continue in the Kingdom and arms sales continue seemingly unhindered. Awarding the King an award is just icing on the cake. The problem is that it represents a kind of seal of approval. Is the Kingdom ever going to improve if it feels that Britain will continue to supply arms, use the Royal family in this way and make these awards? Or will it feel it can carry on persecuting its people and continue to deny basic rights with impunity? After all, the Bahrain’s own web site proudly proclaims ‘Bahrain is committed to safeguarding human rights, actively engaging in impactful initiatives that underscore its dedication to ensuring the well-being and freedom of its citizens and residents.’

Charles was told in a letter by the exiles: “It is personally difficult for us to view this honour as anything other than a betrayal of victims who have suffered at the hands of King Hamad and his brutal regime.”

Sources: Amnesty International; Human Rights Watch; Hansard; the US State Department; the Guardian; CAAT; Freedom House; Government of Bahrain; Bahrain Institute for Rights and Democracy.

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