Month: June 2025

Trade Talks with China: Ethical Dilemmas Ahead


Government has to decide: rights or trade?

June 2025

It is reported today that the government is engaged in a range of talks with Chinese officials to improve trade and political relations. The Chinese Embassy is quoted as saying that relations have ‘positive momentum’. Elsewhere, relations are described as ‘warming’. Of course both countries are suffering from the Trump tariff war and so a degree of mutual comfort is to be expected.

The fact remains that human rights in China are dire across a very wide spectrum, almost too long to describe in fact. They include no freedom of expression; atrocious and genocidal behaviour towards the Uyghurs and other Turkic peoples; Human Rights defenders who face long prison terms and torture; continuing repression in Tibet; the crackdown in Hong Kong and the execution of large numbers of its citizens – possibly equal to all the rest of the world put together. It is also aggressively pursuing overseas Chinese who criticise the country and persecutes any of their family members in China. Restrictions are getting steadily worse over time.

Azeem Ibrahim, speaking at the Humanist Convention this month, described the multi-pronged approach

adopted by the Chinese. It was a talk about the rising threat of autocracies which included Russia and Turkey. He pointed out that the country leads the world in surveillance and it has a massive programme using facial recognition technology. It is also working hard to gain access and control to international agencies in the UN for example. The Warsaw Institute describes how they use their commercial power and investments to shut down any Security Council criticisms of their human rights infringements. His basic message was that China in particular has an organised and well-funded programme to attack western values by any and all means available. He added that the West has been complacent in thinking that western values are a settled state of affairs.

So where does that leave the Labour government? It is reported to be softening its position now it is in government. Nine individuals have travel restrictions placed on them including 5 Conservatives: Ian Duncan Smith being one and Tom Tugendhat another. All because they criticised the treatment of Uyghurs. These restrictions might be lifted. The concern is that the government is desperate to achieve growth and seems willing to abandon all principles to achieve it although a trade deal is not on the cards. This site is concerned with human rights but the wider issue is western governments – like the UK – who seem very slow to wake up to the organised threat posed by autocracies like China who are determined to pursue their view of the world by all means possible.

Sources include: Human Rights Watch, Amnesty, Guardian, US Department of State, New China Human Rights.

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Press Freedom Threats in Northern Ireland: Urgent Response Needed


Second of our reports points to failings in the UK

June 2025

A Threat to press freedom in Northern Ireland

Since 2019, Amnesty has documented over 70 death threats, bomb threats, and violent attacks against journalists. Most threats came from armed paramilitary gangs.  Not one has been prosecuted to date. Some reporters now live behind bullet-proof windows, reinforced doors and CCTV. Many people assume Northern Ireland’s conflict is over.  Yet some journalists are receiving more threats of serious violence from paramilitaries than ever before.

Amnesty calls for two urgent steps: a Media Safety Group – to coordinate an effective response to threats against journalists and A Home Protection Scheme – so journalists at risk can secure their homes without paying the price for doing their jobs.

Right to protest 

The EHRC was set up to “encourage good practice in relation to human rights” and “promote… protection of human rights” but it appears to be seeking to ban protests outside its offices.

“Article 11 protects your right to protest by holding meetings and demonstrations with other people”, says its website but the landlord of the Vauxhall office of the Equality and Human Rights Commission is seeking an injunction against protests outside its offices for the entire period for which the EHRC has a licence to occupy, that is until 31 January 2026.  

It would prohibit anyone (without the consent of the EHRC’s landlords) “entering, occupying or remaining upon all or any part of the commercial premises known as Tintagel House”, including on the forecourt outside its offices.  Protest may be possible on the public pavement or road outside its office – although with a risk of criminal conviction – but anyone entering the forecourt would risk imprisonment.  The application was sparked by an entirely peaceful encampment by Trans Kids Deserve Better outside Tintagel House on 30 May 2025.  Good Law Project considers this unlawful and is intervening to resist the injunction application.

Vagrancy Act Scrapped

The “cruel and outdated” Vagrancy Act is finally set to be scrapped in 2026 after making rough sleeping a

criminal offence for more than 200 years, the Labour government has announced. The 1824 law has criminalised rough sleeping and begging in England and Wales since the days of the Napoleonic Wars.  

Frontline homelessness charities have campaigned for years for the Vagrancy Act to be axed, warning that punishments, including fines, drive rough sleepers away from support.  Labour has promised it will finally be removed from law next spring and replaced with increased financial support for people experiencing homelessness and new legislation targeting “real crimes” such as organised begging by gangs.

British support for foreign security and intelligence services  

NGOs and senior MPs  have expressed concern in a joint letter to David Lammy that the Labour government’s ‘light touch’ review of policies regulating British support for foreign security and intelligence services will not remove ministers’ ability to approve UK cooperation in situations where there is a real risk of torture or the death penalty.  The policies were blamed for facilitating injustices in cases such as those of Jagtar Singh Johal and Ali Kololo.  Johal, a British human rights activist, was allegedly tortured in India, where he remains in jail, after a tip-off from UK intelligence services.  Kololo was wrongly convicted and sentenced to death over an attack on British tourists after the Met police provided assistance to Kenyan authorities.

The Mental Health Bill

This has now had its second reading in the Commons and aims to modernise the treatment of mental health. Among other things it will allow greater choice of treatment to patients, will reduce the use of detention especially in the case of autistic patients or those with learning difficulties and will address the disproportionate outcomes for black patients and those from minority groups.

UK’s legal obligations in Israel/Gaza conflict

The UK must impose sanctions on the Israeli government and its ministers and also consider suspending it from the UN to meet its “fundamental international legal obligations”, more than 800 lawyers, academics and retired senior judges, including former Supreme Court justices, have said.

In a letter to the prime minister, they welcome Keir Starmer’s joint statement last week with the leaders of France and Canada warning that they were prepared to take ‘concrete actions’ against Israel.  But they urge him to act without delay as “urgent and decisive action is required to avert the destruction of the Palestinian people of Gaza”.  The signatories, including the former Supreme Court justices Lords Sumption and Wilson, court of appeal judges and more than 70 KCs, say that war crimes, crimes against humanity and serious violations of international humanitarian law are being committed in Palestine.

More than 300 Foreign Office staff have been told to consider resigning if they cannot support the government’s policy on Israel, after they repeatedly expressed concern that the UK could be viewed as complicit in war crimes.

The UK government has now sanctioned Israeli government ministers Itamar Ben-Gvir and Benzalel Smotrich in response to their repeated incitements to violence against Palestinian communities and, in partner with Australia, Canada, New Zealand and Norway, calls for immediate action against extremist settlers.   

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Political Waves: The Crisis of Refugee Boat Crossings in 2025


Refugees and the boat crossings still making political waves

June 2025

This month we are back to the small boats.  So far in 2025 some 15,000 arrivals have been recorded (1,100 on one day).  The Home Office say this is due to better weather and more people crammed in to boats.  In quarter 1 numbers were up by 20% on last year – mainly from the usual places – Eritrea, Afghanistan, Sudan.

The asylum backlog is down to 78,000, but with a lower grant rate (49% over the last year) the improvement may not be maintained.  The number of claimants jailed for “illegal arrival” has doubled in the last year.  Between 2022 and 2024, 556 arrivals were prosecuted under the Illegal Migration Act and 455 convicted (half of them were said to be piloting the boats, willingly or otherwise, and were therefore “facilitators”). In the latter half of last year, 53 people were arrested for people smuggling including many who happened to be steering the boats and many of them children.

Plans for removing arrivals to third countries for processing have made little progress ; Albania said no, North Macedonia & Kosovo have not been asked  but say they are open to discussion.

3,800 Afghans are currently awaiting homes (who came under the ARS scheme and were left unsupported). Also it has been claimed that an unnamed Special Forces officer blocked the entry of 1585 Afghans (it has been suggested this might be related to potential war crimes revelations).

Mary Bosworth (Oxford Professor of Criminology) has an interesting piece on the outsourced immigration detainee escorting system Mary Bosworth (@mfbosworth.bsky.social) — Bluesky

7000 Syrians are still in limbo awaiting a UK decision on processing their claims after a pause (the new regime is still being monitored, though presumably it will eventually be possible for many to return there).

The US has taken on “refugees” from South Africa, white residents supposedly under threat.  So far there have been 50,000 enquiries and 68 actual moves.

The Home Secretary has said she is working on a “fast-tracking” removal system for migrants from “safe” countries; these have not yet been named.

Of the 108,000 claimants for asylum status in the last year 16,000 were from holders of student visas. The government is likely to address this question soon.

Immigrant-focused group British Future have polled the public on attitudes to the word “immigrant”.  For 70% of respondents this conjured up people on small boats, while 46% thought of imported workers.  Of those who wanted to see a reduction in immigration, 49% prioritised the boats, very few mentioning worker or student arrivals.  The research also finds that 59% of the public, and 64% of 2024 Labour voters, agree that migrants living in the UK and paying taxes should be eligible to apply for citizenship after five years or less.

Polling organisation More in Common found that 51% thought a fall in immigration a good thing, 57% opining that the level was still too high.

One of the more interesting ideas for Refugee Week is that of Lancaster, where an exhibition, Escape to Safety, will give visitors an interactive view of the refugee experience.  More on that here

Finally, the Government’s Spending Review this week had a couple of points on the immigration/asylum seekers question.  Chancellor Rachel Reeves says the new Border Security Command will receive up to £280m more a year by the end of the spending-review period.  She also promises that all spending on hotels for asylum seekers waiting for their cases to be heard will stop by the end of this parliament.

Andrew Hemming

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Mid-May to Mid-June Report Highlights


June 2025

We are pleased to attach the report for the period mid-May to mid-June thanks to group member Lesley for the work in compiling it. It is longer than usual reflecting the increasing activity in the US following President Trump’s actions on the use of the penalty. As ever, we must point out that the world’s biggest user of the penalty – China – who is believed to execute thousands of its citizens, is not present in the report because details are a state secret.

Report: May June (Word)Download
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New trial for Richard Glossip


Death row inmate of 27 years to receive new trial

June 2025

Richard Glossip has been on death row in Oklahoma for 27 years and has been on the verge of execution nine times. His case went to the Supreme Court who found that a key witness had lied and that prosecutors had withheld information. The decision was vacated and Oklahoma’s Attorney General, Gentner Drummond, has ordered a new trial which is promised to be fair. He made clear however that he was not proclaiming his innocence.

The case illustrates a problem with the justice system if evidence which may cast a different light on a case is withheld by the police or prosecutors particularly evidence which is exculpatory. No one would pretend the UK system of justice is perfect but the system of discovery which demands that the defence team has access to relevant evidence before the trial, has been a key development in recent years. Too often in US trials by contrast, lack of this information or candour by the prosecutors has been a factor.

Richard Glossip (pictured, theintercept.com) may by now have been executed. At one planned execution it was discovered that the lethal drugs to be used did not match execution protocols which led to a suspension of executions in the state for seven years.

Glossip’s case is a clear example why capital punishment should not be used by a state. Simply put, mistakes cannot be rectified. Amnesty is against capital punishment in all circumstances. The US is the only state on the American continent to retain it. There is little evidence that it is effective. It brutalises the state. It is incredibly expensive. And as has been shown in the Glossip case, if false evidence was used to secure a conviction, then the mistake cannot be put right. In the USA around 130 people on death row have been found to be innocent since 1973. The country joins some reprehensible regimes such as China, Iran, Vietnam and Saudi Arabia which use the penalty against huge numbers of its citizens – in the case of China an unknown number since it is a state secret but it is believed to be thousands.

Sources: Death Penalty Information Center; NBC News; The Attorney General’s office; AP News; The Oklahoman.

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Madleen Mission and the Crisis in Gaza: A Symbol of Solidarity


Events happening thick and fast

June 2025

Two major events have happened in the past few days in relation to the worsening situation in Gaza. A boat trying to make a symbolic visit to Gaza with food and other aid was intercepted in international waters by Israel. Today (10 June) the UK government joined others in sanctioning two members of the Israeli government. The Secretary General of Amnesty said:

By forcibly intercepting and blocking the Madleen (pictured) which was carrying humanitarian aid and a crew of solidarity activists, Israel has once again flouted its legal obligations towards civilians in the occupied Gaza Strip and demonstrated its chilling contempt for legally binding orders of the International Court of Justice

The operation carried out in the middle of the night and in international waters violates international law and put the safety of those on the boat at risk. The crew were unarmed activists and human rights defenders on a humanitarian mission, they must be released immediately and unconditionally. They must also be protected from torture and other ill-treatment pending their release. 

During its voyage over the past few days the Madleen’s mission emerged as a powerful symbol of solidarity with besieged, starved and suffering Palestinians amid persistent international inaction. However, this very mission is also an indictment of the international community’s failure to put an end to Israel’s inhumane blockade. Activists would not have needed to risk their lives had Israel’s allies translated their rhetoric into forceful action to allow aid into Gaza

Israel’s interception of the Madleen despite global calls for it to be granted safe passage underscores the longstanding impunity Israel enjoys which has emboldened it to continue to commit genocide in Gaza and to maintain a suffocating, illegal blockade on Gaza for 18 years. 

Until we see real concrete steps by states worldwide signalling an end to their blanket support for Israel, it will have carte blanche to continue inflicting relentless death and suffering on Palestinians.

Agnès Callamard, Amnesty International

UK government announces sanctions

Today, the UK government announced sanctions against two members of the Israeli government, Itamar Ben-Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich for their various statements about the conflict in Gaza. Smotrich is quoted as saying:

“Gaza will be entirely destroyed” as a result of an Israeli military victory, and that its Palestinian population will “leave in great numbers to third countries”

raising fears of ethnic cleansing in the occupied territory.

He is also quoted as saying that he wants life for the Palestinians to be as dire as possible by confining them to a narrow strip of land:

“They will be totally despairing, understanding that there is no hope and nothing to look for in Gaza, and will be looking for relocation to begin a new life in other places.”

These and other quotes are not from a hot-head or someone on the fringes of Israeli society but from the Security Minister (Gvir) and Finance Minister (Smotrich). Nor are they isolated statements said in the heat of the moment but part of a pattern of similar statements. The Israeli foreign affairs minister said it ‘was outrageous that elected representatives and members of the government are subjected to these kinds of measures [UK sanctions]’,

The UK government has been under a huge amount of pressure to act especially as the blockage and its appalling effects began to be seen. Shooting people desperate for food after weeks of a blockade has been widely condemned.

Neither event will have much of an impact on Israel so long as America continues its unwavering support. More and more countries, under pressure from people who are outraged by what they see, are beginning to take a tougher line however. There are no viable peace talks taking place at present. The word ‘genocide’ is being used more and more: the deliberate and systematic killing or persecution of a large number of people from a particular national or ethnic group with the aim of destroying that nation or group. Just under 55,000 thousand have died in Gaza.

Sources: Jerusalem Post; Palestine Chronicle; Haaretz; Guardian.

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Gaza Chaos: Controversial Israeli Arms Strategy


Netanyahu’s decision to arm gangs in Gaza is deeply cynical, shocking and counterproductive
Latest vigil

June 2025

Rumours emerged from within Israel that Shin Bet and Netanyahu were arming gangs in Gaza, who were engaged in looting aid supplies, in a deeply cynical move designed it is claimed to counter Hamas. Up till now, the Israelis have repeatedly claimed it is Hamas which is looting supplies from the UN and other agencies – for which little evidence is provided and which has been repeatedly denied by the UN – so news that it is Israel itself which is supporting and arming gangs is profoundly shocking.

The story was revealed a few days ago by former Israeli Defense minister Avigdor Lieberman and it has not been denied by the prime minister’s office. Lieberman declared the programme to be ‘madness’. In a statement the PMO said ‘Israel is working to defeat Hamas in a variety of different ways upon the recommendation of the entire defense establishment leadership’. Some may have seen the interview on Channel 4 with an Israeli spokesman, David Mercer, who showed a video of an armed man shooting at civilians. He claimed it was a Hamas terrorist firing at their own people. Although it is not certain, it may have been one of the gangs being supported by this new policy.

An editorial in Haaretz said it was an attempt to foment chaos in Gaza in the form of divide and rule. It is thought that one of the individuals involved is Yasser abu Shabab who is claimed to have links with ISIS and is engaged in various criminal activities.

The situation in Gaza is increasingly serious and this week, many died at the few places where food supplies were available. Around 54,800 are thought to have died in Gaza so far.

The policy has drawn widespread criticism including from within Israel. Actively to support lawlessness is likely to be counterproductive and will do little to end the conflict.

Sources include: CBS News, Haaretz; Middle East Eye; Guardian

Vigil

The 79th vigil took place in Salisbury on 7th June with 30 people in attendance.

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Censoring Palestine: documentary


Documentary this Friday 6th on this important topic

June 2025

PAST EVENT

The documentary, Censoring Palestine, will be shown at the United Reform Church in Fisherton Street on Friday 6th June starting at 7:00 for 7:30. It features Peter Oborne, Ken Loach, Alexei Sayle and others and will discuss issues around what we see and read about this tragic conflict and how censorship is active in the UK.

‘In war, the first casualty is truth’ attributed to the Greek philosopher Aeschylus applies in spades to the conflict in Gaza. Indeed, truth has long been a casualty in this conflict which predates the horrific attack on October 7th. The first casualty is that it did not start on October 7th but to the events of 1948 and ’49 when hundreds of thousands of Arabs and Palestinians were cleared from their villages and many were killed in the process. It also has roots in the Balfour Declaration of 1917. It is thought that between 750,000 and a million were displaced by the Jewish immigrants. Many of those, and their children, now live in Gaza. Hundreds of villages were blown up or destroyed by the Hagana.

Today, the Israeli government will not allow foreign journalists into Gaza to witness events there. The Israeli spokesman David Mercer said on Channel 4 recently (3 June) when challenged why Israel will not allow independent journalists into Gaza said ‘we are concentrating on getting our hostages out not on getting journalists in’. A weak answer since the two are unconnected. They claim that they are bombing hospitals, homes and other structures because Hamas terrorists are using them as control centres but no evidence has ever been produced. The killing of those desperate for food was because, the Israeli spokesman said on Channel 4 news last evening, IDF soldiers were ‘threatened’ by the surging crowds. The footage we saw was of crowds of people, with not a weapon in sight, hoping to get some food after weeks of the blockade. IDF soldiers are fully armed and there were tanks and quadcopters used to shoot people from the air. Quite how their soldiers were threatened Mr Mercer did not explain (he was asked). In a way the Israelis have hoist themselves by their own petard: we are asked to believe their claims but they prevent any independent verification. 54,600 have now died in Gaza.

British media have a poor record in this conflict. The BBC has been frightened of the anti-Semitic, anti Israel accusations that David Mercer hinted at with Guru Murthy last evening. Its policy of balance has severely let it down. There are some signs of toughening up however. The problem is that the West generally, and America in particular, have supported Israel in all sorts of ways: political cover; weapons; blocking UN resolutions and simply turning a blind eye. Combined with Netanyahu’s need to keep the war going to keep his coalition alive has meant the nation feels it can act with impunity. And it has to be said – they’re not wrong. Until now. The images coming out of Gaza will shock the hardest of hearts. Children sobbing over the bodies of their dead parents and desperately waving pots at food points must surely force some kind of change. Emaciated infants are distressing to behold. It does seem that the coverage is changing and the bland repetition of Israel statements is being more forcefully challenged.

Government failings

Our government has also deceived us in many ways. The Foreign Secretary, David Lammy for example claiming on a BBC programme and in parliament that he had stopped some arms sales when analysis of Israeli records shows that sales have increased. He was lucky to be interviewed by Evan Davies who failed to challenge him. The RAF is conducting hundreds of flights over Gaza the purpose of which is unclear. Yet call this fact up in a search engine and there is very little reporting of it by our media. Quite what they are up to is unclear but the lack of transparency is telling in itself.

The government is keen to use its new powers – gifted to them by the previous government – to arrest or frustrate protestors at the Israeli arms firm Elbit Systems near Bristol, who, their website claims, make the UAS [drones] which are the ‘backbone of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF)‘. They denied this in court.

The tragedy of all this is that it will not solve Israel’s problems. Those children left homeless and without parents will prove to be the breeding ground for the next generation of people who will have a hatred of what Israel has done to them.

We hope you can come to this documentary.

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British man held in Egyptian prison


Abd El-Fattah remains in prison despite being unlawfully detained

June 2025

The case of the British citizen Abd El-Fattah is gaining more publicity and his mother, who has been on hunger strike for 245 days, has just been admitted to a London hospital as her medical condition is now critical. The Egyptian government has behaved atrociously throughout and has denied consular access to him in breach of the Vienna Convention. Appeals by the current and previous prime ministers and the Foreign Secretary have been ignored.

Mr Fattah’s ‘crime’ was to mention that someone was tortured in an Egyptian prison and his campaigning

for human rights in the country more generally. He established the Adalah Center for Rights and Freedoms. He is held in very poor conditions in Tora Maximum Security 2 Prison in Cairo (pictured). He is in an airless cell, denied a bed or mattress, not allowed to exercise and is not allowed books or other reading material.

Egypt continues to crush dissent and stifle civil society, arbitrarily arrests thousands including journalists, opposition politicians and peaceful protestors.

His case was debated in parliament in December last year initiated by John McDonnell MP. The Parliamentary Under Secretary John Falconer said:

I re-emphasise, both to Alaa’s family and to the House, that his release remains a priority for the UK Government. I recognise the profound impact that his imprisonment has had on him and his family. The Government, and I as the Minister responsible, are doing all we can to find a resolution. Our priority remains to reunite him with his family, and until that happens, we are working to ensure that he is allowed consular access and support. As I said earlier, supporting British nationals overseas is at the heart of our work at the Foreign Office. That includes dual nationals and more recent British nationals such as Alaa.

Amnesty and two dozen human rights groups have campaigned on his behalf but to no avail. There seems no likelihood of his release since sentences in Egypt are simply rotated. He has been incarcerated for 10 years now. Alaa is part of the Middle East problem more generally and Egypt is seen as important in the issues surrounding Gaza (on its border) and with Iran. The government has been urged to consider sanctions or tougher action but is clearly reluctant to do so. The current Labour government, with its emphasis on growth, is unlikely to take actions which would limit that. The result is that he remains in prison for the foreseeable future. We hope his 69 year old mother, Laila Soueif, survives her ordeal.

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Vigils: photo exhibition


Exhibition of photographs of the vigils held in Salisbury for peace in Gaza

June 2025

We have posted many times concerning the vigils held in Salisbury Market Place each Saturday at 5pm. Nearly 80 have now been held and there is a regular attendance of around 40 who attend and never less than 30. There is an exhibition of photographs of these vigils starting on 23 June and ending on 19 July at the Methodist Church in St Edmunds Street, Salisbury. They are available to view from 09:30 to noon and at other times when the church is open. We attach a flyer below and if you live in the Salisbury/South Wilts area we ask that you consider displaying it please.

The horror continues with the Independent reporting that 30 were killed by Israeli fire at one of the food points yesterday 31 May. Israel will not allow independent journalists into Gaza so claims are often hard to verify.

The current estimate is that 54,000 have now died in Gaza including many women and children.

Vigil poster 2025 copyDownload
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