Good attendance at vigil


December 2025

UPDATED

A good attendance at the 106th vigil in Salisbury with around 40 of us there. We were joined by some by some passers-by which is always encouraging.

News about Gaza has been eclipsed by the continuing war in Ukraine and the appalling attack on Jews on Bondi Beach killing 15 people on Sunday 14th. The Australians say this is not a terrorist attack but the motives remain unclear.

Current Gaza situation

The Catholic Standard reports that ‘blanket bombing has ceased’ although there are still skirmishes and attacks. There is still insufficient aid reaching the strip they report. The UN reports that there is now a risk of flooding with the problem of large numbers living in tents and inadequate accommodation. Al Jazeera has warned of the problems of building collapse. Since many structures are badly damaged if not demolished completely, people are sheltering in dangerous conditions. There is a combination of rain and instability.

The latest death toll is 70,117. More medical facilities are becoming partly functional again the UN reports but nowhere near adequate for the needs of the people living there.

CBS say the talks are at ‘a critical moment’ with only one deceased hostage yet to be handed over to the Israelis. Around 500 have been killed in the last month or so seeking food and a report in Haaretz that IDF soldiers have been told by their commanders to shoot at unarmed [Palestinians] seeking food has been strongly denied by Benjamin Netanyahu and the Defense Secretary Israel Katz as a ‘blood libel’.

A statement by the IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamin saying that the “Yellow Line is a new border line” is a matter of concern. The line with reports of it being fortified, swallows around half of Gaza and cordons off nearly all the arable and cultivable land leaving only sand and the coast for the Palestinians. Any chance of a viable state of Palestine seems remote if this becomes a permanent situation and will only act as a source of future conflict.

There is still no sign of the local MP, Mr John Glen, at any of the 106 vigils nor any mention of them in his weekly column in the Salisbury Journal. He is reported to be a member of the Conservative Friends of Israel lobbying organisation.

Picture from the vigil courtesy of Peter Gloyns

Video of the vigil

Recent posts:

Thought of becoming a subscriber?

Featured post
Featured 0

Minutes and Newsletter, December


Minutes of our December meeting

December 2025

We are pleased to attach our minutes and newsletter for the December group meeting thanks to group member Lesley for compiling them. They include several reports some of which appear elsewhere on this site with links to other sites of interest.

Item 12 refers to upcoming events which if you are interested in joining us are a good opportunity to make contact.

December minutes (Word)Download

Previous posts:

Featured post
Featured 0

UK Human Rights Report: Current Threats and Government Actions


Monthly report on human rights in the UK

December 2025

Amnesty has for many years, focused its efforts on human rights issues overseas. Recent actions by governments of both persuasions have meant a greater focus on the threats to rights here in the UK. Only this very week, the prime minister and other ministers are in Europe trying to seek agreement to a ‘modernisation’ of the ECHR arguing it is necessary to tackle the immigration ‘crisis’. In this post, we review aspects of our rights which are current or under threat.

Freedom of Expression

The outcome of November’s High Court hearing of the legal challenge mounted by Liberty and Amnesty to the ban on Palestine Action is still pending.  Amnesty’s Director of Communications claims that ‘the Government’s ban is a disproportionate misuse of the UK’s terrorism powers and breaches articles 10 and 11 of the European Convention on Human Rights – which protect freedom of expression and freedom of assembly and association.

“We have seen the chilling consequences of this decision across the country – with thousands of arrests in recent months.  These mass arrests, and the silencing that organisations and individuals have felt, is a clear and frightening example of how the UK is misusing overly-broad terrorism laws to suppress free speech. Terrorism powers have never been used against what was previously direct-action protest and if this precedent is allowed to stand, it opens up a bleak future for protest rights in the UK.” 

Amnesty is seriously concerned at reports of the worsening condition of members of the Filton 24 who are on hunger strike after the damage to two aircraft at Brize Norton last year as protest against the Israeli Elbit Systems’ involvement in Gaza. None of the prisoners have been charged under the Terrorism Act but prosecutors have said both offences had a “terrorism connection”.  Amnesty has consistently opposed the use of anti-terrorism powers in these cases claiming they have been used to justify excessively lengthy pre-trial detention and draconian prison conditions.   

Arrest of Britons overseas

Amnesty International is urging the UK Government to develop a clear and consistent approach to the unjust imprisonment of British people overseas, including a new strategy that should include as a minimum:

  • the Government calling for an arbitrarily-detained person’s immediate release (including publicity where requested by the family)
  • pressing for access to a lawyer, a fair trial and medical care where relevant
  • demanding consular access insisting that UK officials be able to attend trials
  • regularly meeting with family members to outline the Government’s overall approach in the case.

The UK Government’s failures on this issue, highlighted in a recent BBC drama and documentary on the case of Nazanin Zaghari Ratcliffe, continue today.  British nationals, including Ahmed al-Doush, are not receiving the level of diplomatic support required to secure their release.  Ahmed was arrested while on a family holiday in Saudi Arabia in 2024 for social media posts.  The Manchester-based father of four was convicted under terrorism legislation and sentenced to 10 years in prison, later reduced to eight.

The UK Government has failed to advocate for Ahmed, not taking a position on his case, despite being provided by information indicating that his detention is a freedom of expression case.  Amnesty International continue to campaign so that Ahmed can be reunited with his family and urges the UK Government to advocate for his release if he is being held solely for exercising his right to freedom of expression.

Use of Facial Recognition by police

A Government consultation into police use of facial recognition is set to launch imminently.

Liberty has been calling on the Government to follow the example of other countries which have introduced laws around police use of facial recognition technology – and has urged Ministers and police forces to stop expanding its use until those laws are in place.  Alarm has been raised at the finding that faces of children are included on the records of some police forces.

Liberty wants the inclusion of the following safeguards:

  • The independent sign off before facial recognition is used
  • Police to only use facial recognition technology to search for missing persons or victims of abduction, human trafficking and sexual exploitation; to prevent an imminent threat to life or people’s safety; to search for people suspected of committing a serious criminal offence;
  • Watchlists to contain only images strictly relevant to the purposes above;
  • However, Amnesty International wants a global ban on this technology on the grounds that it violates the human right to privacy, it inaccurately targets minorities, especially people of colour and women; it intimidates people from free expression of views;
  • It cites racist bias in examples of the use of mass surveillance technology by US policing of black communities, and also Israeli policing of Palestinians.

Change declared to European Convention on Human Rights

After the UK recently joined Denmark and Italy in pressing for a rethink of aspects of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR), especially in relation to migration law, the Council have now taken the first steps to reshape how European courts interpret human rights.  Amid fierce debate over the balance between ECHR and national migration controls, ministers made a joint declaration which will now task 46 foreign ministers with drafting a political declaration to be adopted at the next meeting in May 2026.

The Council oversees the ECHR while its court enforces those rights across 46 member states including all 27 EC countries.  Greater national flexibility is demanded in response to human smuggling, border security and the expulsion of offenders.

Sir Keir Starmer and other heads of state have restated that, while wishing to see some ‘modernisation’ of the Convention, there is no intention of abolishing it.  The move is seen as a response to protest from far-right groups across Europe and ‘uncontrolled’ immigration and the perception that the right to family life inhibits states from deporting convicted foreign criminals.

Human rights groups are raising concerns at the dilution of the original Declaration of Human Rights as non-negotiable, universal and inclusive of all minorities. 

Featured post
Featured 0

Analysing the Shift in UK Migration Figures: What It Means


Net migration figures halved

December 2025

In a week where the focus has been on European discussions about the European Convention on Human Rights, actual migration has taken a back seat behind probable ever-tougher measures against those arriving here (the expected next French president Jordan Bardella is talking of letting UK Border Force push small boats back to France). At the same time, the National Audit Office has surveyed the workings of the existing UK asylum processing system and found it failing in a number of areas – not to mention its view that current government proposals will have unintended consequences.

On the legislative front, the Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Act has received the Royal Assent. During its passage through Parliament, some changes were made, including a partial lifting of the ban on anyone arriving “illegally” being allowed to stay and some reduction in the power to keep electronic data of applicants.

Net migration figure halved

From a UK point of view the most dramatic news has been the more than halving of the net migration figures year-on-year. This has mostly been achieved by reducing visas for prospective workers, but the ending of help for refugees from Ukraine, Afghanistan and Hong Kong has made a substantial difference. To June 2025, the yearly excess of immigration over emigration was 204,000 (down from 649,000).

The new Home Secretary has declared her policy, including making intending settlers take more stringent tests and wait 20 years to get residency. “Earned settlement” is to be subjected to consultation up until February, with new rules  expected around April. It has been observed that Mahmood’s ideas were tried in Australia in the 90s, with little success ; they were abandoned in 2023.

Some useful reports have come out in the last month. Probably the most interesting is from the Mixed Migration Centre of the Danish Refugee Council on people smugglers. Interviews with migrants and smugglers have revealed that stricter law enforcement has tended to fuel demand and increase fees. Only 6% of interviewed migrants said they had been recruited by smugglers, most taking the decision to move on their own or with family members. Alarmingly, almost half the smugglers admitted being in contact with border officers or police.

The PCS union and Together With Refugees have a new report entitled “Welcoming Growth,” looking at the economic consequences of a possible change to the current system. If the immigration rules were to:

  • Make all asylum claims proceed within 6 months
  • legal assistance at all stages
  • Give English language support from day 1
  • Give employment support from day one.

They calculate that a total contribution from refugees could amount to £260,000 per refugee over 12 ½ years, giving a net benefit to the public purse of £53,000 per person, after costs. 16 MPs have signed a motion welcoming the report.

Other notes:

Following the pause, the UK is now accepting asylum claims from Syrians again.

European organisations (notably Eurodac) are concerned that AI usage is resulting in misreadings of migrants’ personal data.

Thousands of Ukrainians have been ejected from Israel as the offer of asylum has ended. Their future is unclear.

Total number displaced in Sudan is now 13 million.

200,000 have fled homes in Eastern Congo amid ongoing fighting.

Finally, the Refugee Week people are moving ahead. They have updated what they call their Theory of Change (by which they mean their mission statement, essentially), which is a good summary of an arts-led campaign. They are offering to make available the film The Light That Remains (a documentary of life in Gaza under stress).

AH

Featured post
Featured 0

Death penalty report


December 2025

We are pleased to attach our monthly death penalty report thanks to group member Lesley for the work in compiling it. Contains a lot about America, or specifically the US the only nation on the continent still to have the penalty. Note as usual that there is no mention of China which is believed to execute more of its citizens than the rest of the world put together but the statistics are a state secret.

Oct – Nov 2Download
Featured post
Featured 0

‘They think it’s all over …’


Vigil 105 makes it clear it ‘ain’t over yet’

December 2025

The title comes from the 1966 World Cup and in that case the final goal sealed the match. Today, in Gaza the privation and death continue but at a lower level. Vigil 105 was well attended with around 30 including some visitors from Portsmouth. A video, produced by Peter Gloyns can be seen here. We continue because injustice continues, and Israel continues to oppress the Palestinians seemingly without let.

As we noted last week, attention has shifted back to Ukraine which is suffering a steady bombardment from Russia with no realistic or reasonable likelihood of peace on the horizon. From President Putin’s point of view, he seems to have the American ambassador Steve Witkoff where he wants him, the Europeans are too weak and divided to do anything so he can continue the war of attrition for some time to come.

Risk of illusion

The ‘ceasefire’ ‘in Gaza has now been in place for 2 months and since that time, 360 Palestinians have died, 70 of whom were children. Amnesty alleges that Israel is still committing genocide in Gaza but the international attention has diminished much to the relief of the Israeli government. It contends that the very term ‘ceasefire’ ‘risks creating a dangerous illusion that life in Gaza is returning to normal’.

Israel has created a ‘green zone’ which contains most of the arable land and any Palestinian entering it is likely to be shot. The Palestinians have been left with around 40% of their previous territory. The good news is that the number of trucks entering has increased although Unwra is still banned.

The plain fact is that misery still persists with little sign of a realistic end. Negotiations take place but without Palestinians being present. They are still being killed albeit at a lower rate. They share with Ukraine the fact of being a nuisance as far as President Trump and the Americans are concerned. The master deal maker – allegedly – wants the problem solved and ideally for the Palestinians to somehow disappear so the real estate development can start as though no one was there before. Negotiations take place between tyrants with those affected not present.

To note that the local Member of Parliament, Mr John Glen, has never attended a vigil nor referred to them in his weekly column in the local paper. He is reported to be a member of the Conservative Friends of Israel group. We discussed in a previous post the unedifying remarks by the other local MP, Mr Danny Kruger.

Church Times article

Readers might like read a piece in the Church Times by the Dean of Salisbury, The Very Revd Nicholas Papadopulos, DL who attends the vigil from time to time. A report of a talk given by the Dean can be seen here.

Previous posts:

Featured post
Featured 1

Prisoner of conscience signing


Salisbury group held its Write for Rights in the Cathedral

November 2025

The Salisbury group held a successful Write for Rights in the Cathedral Cloisters today and there was an unbroken file of people agreeing to sign. We highlighted two individuals and one group of individuals. The latter were Guerreras por la Amazonia who call themselves the ‘daughter of the earth’ who despite threats and intimidation, continue to demand climate justice for their communities. Climate issues are being seen more and more in human rights terms in recent years. The activities of resource firms who are deforesting large chunks of the Amazon, are having a dramatic effect on the wildlife and on he indigenous peoples. The group took action against Chevron-Texaco to limit the methane flares they emit.

We highlighted Sai Zaw Thaike from Myanmar where the military junta still holds sway although a little less confidently these days. He is a photo journalist who was arrested 3 years ago and sentenced to 20 years of hard labour, tortured and held in solitary confinement for exposing what happened after cyclone Mocha.

Sonia Dahmani (pictured) from Tunisia was our third person. Sonia is a lawyer who has spoken out about racism, migration and prison conditions. She has been harassed and accused of spreading false news. She is under arrest and one of several who have been treated this way by the authoritarian president Kais Saied.

[Since preparing the Write for Rights, it appears that she has been released in the past few days. This is good news]

View of the signing.

Our thanks go to group members Andrew for arranging the event with the Cathedral, Fiona for organising the signing itself, and Tony, Val, Peter and Lesley for assisting on the day.

Latest posts:

Featured post
Featured 0

Good attendance at vigil 104


Strong attendance at the latest vigil

November 2025

Despite the cold, around 35 attended the latest vigil and the level of attention was quite high. Most attention is focused on Ukraine and the situation there looks dire. With mass desertions from the army, the West and the US failing to provide adequate arms and intelligence, and a quite massive corruption scandal reaching almost to the top, Ukraine looks soon to be doomed. How long Zelensky can remain is moot. Here is a video of the vigil.

Both Gaza and Ukraine seem to symbolise the death of the post war new world order. These tragic events were not supposed to happen. But Russia has gratuitously attacked a sovereign nation and the combination of support from China and India is able to gradually destroy Ukraine, piece by piece.

Europe is divided and ineffective. As ever it is the ordinary people who suffer deprivation and death. The creation of the United Nations and the agreeing of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 1948 was supposed to usher in a world where the atrocities of WWII were never to be repeated. As we reported in our previous post, a supposed civilised nation which boasts western values, is engaged in barbaric torture and mistreatment of the Palestinian people including women and children. Another country – a member of the Security Council no less – attacks another nation, uses torture and abducts children. There is a new world order, just not the one intended in 1942.

Photo: Peter Gloyns

Featured post
Featured 0

UN report on torture in Israel is horrific


The UN report into how Palestinians are treated is deeply troubling

November 2025

The UN has published its sixth periodic report on Israel (along with other countries) and contains a great deal of extremely troubling material. The scale of abuse and torture is huge and the methods truly barbaric. It seems to reveal a state which thinks it can act with impunity against Palestinians no doubt reflecting on the uncritical support of the US and only feeble commentary from countries such as the UK. Below are some of the extracts (paragraph numbers at the end of each extract).

  • Israel it notes does not accept jurisdiction for those held under its jurisdiction but outside its territory (8)
  • The UN urges Israel to incorporate the use of torture as a specific crime into its domestic law (11)
  • Palestinians do not receive fundamental legal safeguards. [This is a reflection of the apartheid system operating in the country] (12)
  • All detainees should be informed of their rights, the charges made against them and a right to a lawyer. They also have a right to medical attention. (13)
  • Expresses concern about mass arrests and the use of administrative detention. (14)
  • In the same vein it is concerned about mass arrests of women, children, pregnant women, older persons on the basis of ‘real or perceived group characteristics.’ Palestinians often held incommunicado.
  • Palestinians held in very poor conditions, without sanitation, with no ventilation, running water or natural light. They are denied access to medical care. (18)
  • There are reports of prisoners being blindfolded at all times, shackled to a bed, fed through straws and forced to wear incontinence garments due to their immobilisation. Women are denied feminine hygiene products, are separated from their babies and not allowed to breast feed them. (18)
  • Children are arrested, blindfolded and subject to torture and ill-treatment. Many children are held without charge and in solitary confinement. (22)
  • The government was unable to provide information about the numbers of deaths in custody. It is believed to be at least 75 since October 7th, 2023. Haaretz in its report on this topic says 98 have died in custody but we do not know the time period. It appears to be an abnormally high number of Palestinians who have died. The bodies show signs of torture and extreme malnutrition. Independent autopsies have not been carried out. (24)
  • The International Red Cross has not been allowed to inspect prisons. (26)

THE NEXT EXTRACT IS DEEPLY TROUBLING AND CARRIES A WARNING

The UN were troubled by reports about ‘organised and widespread use of torture and ill-treatment’ of detainees. The methods used included severe beatings, dog attacks, electrocution, waterboarding, use of prolonged stress positions, sexual violence, threats against detainees and their families, insults to their personal dignity, made to act like animals and being urinated on, use of restraints such that amputations were needed, performance of surgery without anaesthetic, sexual abuse of both men and women, rape, attempted rape, beating of genitals, electrocution of genitals and anus [..] (28)

Five Israeli human rights organisation have contributed evidence. Israel sought to argue that there are adequate controls but the committee was unpersuaded. Israel has 1 year to respond. If true, then the report describes a system out of control and casts a large shadow over the nation. These do not appear to be isolated incidents but a systematic and organised abuse of Palestinian people being held often without charge in Israeli prisons. The appalling treatment of women and the torture of children is especially troubling.

Full UN report

UN report NovDownload
Featured post
Featured 1

Impact of Trump’s Peace Deal on Gaza’s Aid Crisis


Uncertain ‘peace’ in Gaza. 103rd vigil takes place

November 2025

Cold, wet, dark and miserable was the setting for our 103rd vigil with around 25 in attendance. Gaza has dropped out of the news now that there is supposed to be a peace deal and attention has switched to the terrible events in Ukraine. Drone and rocket attacks are increasing in intensity with little sign of an end despite another of President Trump’s one-sided peace deals which has to be agreed by this Thursday.

Both Gaza and Ukraine demonstrate similar characteristics namely, Trump’s seeming admiration for tyrants and bullies. The Gaza peace process looks precarious and one report suggests 310 Palestinians have been killed in the past 6 weeks. Aid is still only entering in small quantities.

One major effect of the peace deal is a significant drop off in aid. One charity has reported a 51% fall in contributions and another used to sent $5000 per week now can only send $2000. Other charities report similar falls.

Other reports to emerge in recent weeks concern the appalling conditions Palestinians are held in. Some are in an underground prison never to see daylight for months at a time. The prison in question is Rakefet.

Sources: BBC, B’Tselem, Public Committee Against Torture in Israel, Guardian.

A video of the vigil thanks to Peter Gloyns.

Previous posts:

Featured post
Featured 8

Shocking remarks by Danny Kruger MP


The Reform MP is asked about Israel and Gaza

November 2025

Danny Kruger is the MP for East Wiltshire (part of a county in England) and was voted in as a Conservative candidate in 2024. He switched just over a year later to become a Reform MP. He has a range of largely bizarre views and was interviewed by a Guardian journalist the results of which were published on 22nd of this month.

Our concern is not with his overall political views but on the specific remarks he made in answer to questions about Israel and Gaza which have implications for human rights. The journalist is Charlotte Edwardes. That section is as follows:

“[…] We move on to the conflict in Israel and Gaza, because he’s declared Palestine woke and I’d like to know how. He says the position of Israel is important to our politics in the UK, but also to the west in general, “because it stands for the idea of the nation and of western civilisation being something worth defending. [Israel] is fighting the battle for all of us in the Middle East”.

“Kruger does not believe Israel is committing genocide in the region: he says all the deaths in Gaza are the responsibility of Hamas. Nor does he feel Benjamin Netanyahu’s government has gone too far. “The children wouldn’t die if Hamas was not a security threat to Israel” he argues. “I can’t judge the precise tactics of particular IDF operations. I can well imagine there have been atrocities and excesses, as happens in wartime.” Is there no price too great in terms of human life for the elimination of Hamas? “Well, if that price is the elimination of Israel, then nothing is too great […].”

Normally, statements such as these would go unremarked being just one of many foolish statements made by a variety of MPs. But Kruger is advising Nigel Farage, the leader of Reform who, current polls predict are in a good position to form a government in the next election. He is thus someone who is influential and may be in a position to influence policy if Reform are successful in forming a government. A reading of the whole article – the result of three interviews – sees another journalist struggling to make sense of his remarks.

Comments
  • His comments are simplistic. To say ‘all the deaths in Gaza are the responsibility of Hamas’ is a gross distortion. It is accepted that Hamas is a terrorist organisation and the attack on October 7th was horrific. But Israel’s response has been wholly disproportionate making Gaza a wasteland and killing 70,000 Palestinians – many of them women and children.
  • He shows no sign of recognising the history of the conflict. It did not start on October 7th as so many of the Israeli cheerleaders want us to believe but its roots lie in the events following 1948/9 and the brutal expulsion and murder of at least 750,000 Arabs and Palestinians. He makes no reference to the system of apartheid operating in Israel making non-Jews second class citizens. As someone who has a DPhil degree from Oxford, it might be expected to see a greater understanding of historical causes of conflict.
  • It displays a degree of callousness to the suffering of the people of Gaza. To say ‘the children would not die if Hamas was not a security threat to Israel’ is crass not to say offhand. Elsewhere in the interview (and in other interviews and commentary) he makes great play of his Christian faith yet there is no sign of this in these comments.
  • Denial. He denies that Israel is committing genocide. He echoes the Labour government’s position on this which is no recommendation. How would you describe the deaths of 70,000, the deliberate destruction of all the hospitals, schools and water treatment plants, preventing food, water and medicines to enter the area? Perhaps there is another word Mr Kruger would like to deploy?
  • ‘Palestine [is] woke’ means what exactly? The interviewer does not get an answer.
  • The use of weasel words and phrases. ‘I cannot judge the precise tactics of IDF operations …’ is trite although he admits there have been atrocities and excesses. He has been quick to condemn Hamas (does he know the ‘precise tactics’ of their operations?) but tries to excuse IDF operations with these weasel words. The use of cluster munitions, using massive 500lb bombs to blow up entire buildings with no concern for who’s inside, parking remote control vehicles packed with explosives outside apartment blocks and blowing them up ditto.
  • His statement that Israel ‘stands for the idea of the nation and of western civilisation being something worth defending’ and that the country is ‘fighting the battle for all of us in the Middle East’. Can this really be true? How does apartheid fit into that? How does attacking olive farmers and destroying their trees count as civilised? Gangs attacking Palestinian villages at will with the police and army standing by – is this fighting the battle for all of us? The murder of many Palestinians in Israeli prisons. Holding over a thousand Palestinians in sometimes underground cells and the use of vile torture methods – are these values Mr Kruger wants us to support?
  • Finally, no mention or recognition of the violence on the West Bank.
  • His answer to the question ‘is there no price too great … ?’ is especially damning.

What emerges is someone who has a surface view of history and seemingly no understanding of the conflict or its roots. It is a combination of naivete and surface thinking. He seems to have swallowed Israeli ‘talking points’ wholesale. It lacks balance. Perhaps the most shocking part of the interview is the shear callousness concerning the death of children in vast numbers. We could add those who have lost limbs or have starved to death. This throwaway remark seems to be widely at odds with his purported Christian beliefs. He may be in an influential position in government after the next election when these beliefs will matter.

The full Guardian interview can be read here.

Recent posts:

Featured post
Featured 1

Steep rise in Florida executions


Darkness seems to reign in the Sunshine state

November 2025

UPDATE: 21 November. Randolph was executed yesterday making it the 17th in the state. Further background can be read in a Tallahassee Democrat post. There is also material on Floridians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty FADP.

There has been a big increase in executions in Florida – 15 so far this year and another one due to take place today (20 November) of Richard Barry Randolph. This compares with 1 last year and a downward trend in the US as a whole. The reason for this surge is hard to determine but much of the US media and opinion seems to point to the Governor Ron DeSantis. It is alleged that this sudden surge is part of his campaign to run for president in 2028 at the end (?) of the Trump era.

There are many troubling aspects about the executions. Florida is almost unique in allowing the governor

to have the final decision. Other states now leave this to the judiciary. But there is also disquiet about the secrecy of the decision making process. ‘Florida’s gov­er­nor has no cri­te­ria, pro­ce­dure, or guide­lines in place for select­ing who lives and who dies…Granting the gov­er­nor unfet­tered dis­cre­tion has, in prac­tice, led to a com­plete­ly arbi­trary process for deter­min­ing who lives and who dies‘ [attorney for Thomas Gudinas]. De Santis has offered no explanation for this sudden increase in executions.

High level of mistakes

Anyone who has read Clive Stafford-Smith’s book Injustice will know the inefficient court process in the US particularly for poor people. The level of mistakes in the state is high. Since 1989 there have been no less than 93 individuals wrongfully convicted and exonerated. Needless to say, if someone has already been executed it’s a mistake that cannot be rectified.

The judicial process seems to offer little confidence with 6 or the seven justices on the Florida Supreme Court appointed by the governor. The jury system has been altered so that only 8 out of the 12 jurors is needed for a guilty verdict. The results are clear to see with 35% of those on death row are Black whereas they represent only 17% of the population.

There is no evidence that the death penalty is a deterrence. As we have noted, mistakes cannot be afterwards rectified. It would appear that this sudden rise is due to the Governor’s desire to raise his credibility with a view to the presidential election in 2028. As the Palm Beach Post notes, ‘the system is riddled with issues ..’ (18 November).

Sources: Palm Beach Post, WUSF, The Conversation, Guardian, FADP

See our monthly Death Penalty Report

Recent posts:

Featured post
Featured 0

West Bank violence now a cause for concern


102nd vigil attracts strong attendance

November 2025

It almost doesn’t seem possible that for 102 weeks a group of people turn out of a Saturday evening to hold a silent vigil against the violence and death in the middle east most particularly in Gaza. Over 40 did so this Saturday (15th November) even with a number of the ‘stalwarts’ away for various reasons but their places taken by new people. A video can be viewed here.

Media attention has shifted away from Gaza for the moment and more attention is being paid to the violence in the West Bank. This has increased to frightening levels and news programmes showed settler gangs roaming Arab and Palestinian villages, destroying cars and houses at will. A BBC report showed an attack on a Bedouin village and business. There is little sign of police or IDF protection and previous footage shows them just standing by whilst the violence continued. Bizarrely, any Palestinian who protested would themselves be arrested. The attack on a dairy shows the same kind of tactic used in Gaza where the basic facilities of life – water, electricity, hospitals and food supplies – were consistently attacked and destroyed. President Herzog has said that this violence must end.

It is important to emphasise that many Israelis are appalled at this increased level of violence and intimidation. We are now into the season where olive are harvested and this has become a flashpoint in the West Bank in recent years as extremist Israeli settlers regularly threaten and physically harm Palestinian harvesters. This year, “the situation on the ground is out of control,” Anton Goodman of Rabbis for Human Rights said on a Haaretz Podcast.

“We have never seen anything like this,” Goodman emphasized, noting that in the past, “We’ve seen settler attacks, and we’ve seen unnecessary army aggression and restrictions, but we’ve never seen such a peak moment of violence affecting so many communities.”

By not clamping down on the gangs and standing by while the violence is carried out, Israel has created a problem for itself. Emboldened and supported by the hard liners, it is difficult now to rein in their activities.

Sources: BBC, AP, Haaretz

Video and image from the vigil courtesy of Peter Gloyns.

Next vigil on Saturday 22 November at 17:00 by the Library.

Previous posts:

Featured post
Featured 0

November 2025 Human Rights Newsletter Highlights


November 2025

We are pleased to attach the minutes and newsletter for November thanks to group member Lesley for compiling them. They contain reports from other group members and are of general interest to followers of human rights issues. There is a report on immigration for example a topic which continues to make political waves in the UK. It makes the point that whereas the main focus of political ire and furious editorials and commentary is the number of arrivals on boats, the actual number is relatively tiny in proportion to the total number of immigrants.

There is also a report on human rights issues in the UK a matter of increasing concern. Both the Conservative and Labour governments do not like protests and have – or are planning to – introduce more and more legislation to hamper, ban or severely restrict protests and demonstrations.

There is a list of forthcoming activities which would provide an opportunity for anyone interested in joining to make themselves known.

November minutes (Word)Download

Recent posts:

Other Amnesty groups are free to use content.

Featured post
Featured 0

Israel proposes death penalty for Palestinians


First reading passes in the Knesset

November 2025

Israel’s intention to introduce the death penalty has been met with widespread alarm and criticism form both within and outside the country. The bill was introduced by Itama Ben-Gvir who afterwards distributed baclava pastries to celebrate. The last time Israel used the penalty – which has been on the books since the country was founded – was in 1962 for the Nazi Adolf Eichmann.

“An indelible stain on Israel” Haaretz editorial 3 November

The law as proposed, is drafted in a way to apply only to Palestinians and is another example of the

apartheid system which operates in the country. It will be administered by military courts peopled often by individuals who have little or no judicial experience.

Neither will the court have discretion since the sentence will be mandatory. It is Ben-Gvir’s claim that the penalty will be a deterrence. There is next to no evidence for this and the same arguments against the use of the penalty apply here as to the rest of the world. It is barbaric and reduces the state to the level of the perpetrators. Mistakes cannot be rectified. It is not a deterrent. One of the few notionally civilized countries which retains and uses the penalty is the US. A study there between the States with the penalty and those without found no difference in murder rates. In fact, murder rates are higher in states with the death penalty.

Amnesty International’s Senior Director for Research, Advocacy, Policy and Campaigns, Erika Guevara Rosas, said:

“There is no sugarcoating this; a majority of 39 Israeli Knesset members approved in a first reading a bill that effectively mandates courts to impose the death penalty exclusively against Palestinians. While the text of the bill does not specifically single out Palestinians, the mental element required for the offence concerned signals its primary victims are going to be Palestinians and would include those who committed the punishable offences before the law is passed.

“Knesset members should be working to abolish the death penalty, not broadening its application. The death penalty is the ultimate cruel, inhuman, and degrading punishment, and an irreversible denial of the right to life. It should not be imposed in any circumstances, let alone weaponized as a blatantly discriminatory tool of state-sanctioned killing, domination and oppression. Its mandatory imposition and retroactive application would violate clear prohibitions set out under international human rights law and standards on the use of this punishment.“

Sources: Knesset, BBC, CNN, Haaretz; le Monde, Amnesty

Latest posts:

Thought of subscribing?

Featured post
Featured 0

Stories from the Small Boats Crisis


Notes from a talk at the Cheltenham Literature Festival

October 2025

This was the title of an extremely interesting talk given by three different speakers at the Festival on the the vexed subject of the small boats crossing the Channel. You would have to be living in a cave in the UK not to know that the boats crossing the Channel is causing huge political waves in the UK. Politicians are scrambling to come up with solutions to stop the crossings. The tabloid and right-wing newspapers keep up a seemingly never ending series of stories on the subject. Some communities are sufficiently angry to stand outside hotels where asylum seekers are housed. The nation as a whole seems very angry.

It was interesting therefore to go to a talk where there was a different take on the subject give by the three speakers. They were:

  • Nicola Kelly, an investigative journalist but had worked for the Home and Foreign offices before leaving
  • Horatio Clare an author and
  • Mir Rahami who at 13, had to flee Afghanistan.

There were a number of points made as you would expect. The ‘crisis’ as it has come to be called was presented as a crisis for us rather than a crisis for those on the boats. The sufferings of such people and the privations they have experienced has got lost in all the invective hurled at them by a number of politicians and journalists. The rights of the people arriving seem to have got lost.

If there were no wars there would probably be no refugees, or least fewer of them, it was claimed. We have noted in previous posts that the UK has been happy to sell arms and issue open licences for such arms with only weak controls on where they end up. There is a kind of irony in this activity which causes deep distress and mayhem in the countries involved while the same politicians complain about those escaping arriving on our shores.

The similarity to Brexit was discussed. Misinformation promoted by some of the same individuals making much noise over the crossings. A balanced view never seems to emerge either from them or those elements of the media which support them. Another aspect of Brexit was mentioned. It is often a complaint that we do not know who the immigrants are and that some may be people with criminal pasts. This is made worse because we no longer have access to the databases having left the EU. Brexit in other words has made the problem worse.

One interesting point – a point you seldom hear discussed – is that money and investment can go where it wishes. Goods can be traded internationally largely without let or hindrance. But people cannot. So the forces which cause economic imbalances are unfettered but those affected are not permitted to respond by leaving.

A major part of the government’s response is to ‘smash the gangs’. There is a lot of talk on this topic but always with the assumption that the gangs are in the Continent. What about the gangs operating here about which there seems to be silence? Might it be part of the UK being a victim in some way of the lawless gangs? That gangs which operate here don’t fit that narrative.

A major point made – a lament really – was the lack of politicians willing to speak out in favour of immigration and the benefits they bring. There are problems but there just seems to be a constant flow of one way talk about the ‘crisis’. It became self-fulfilling. The ex-Home Office speaker said the department were obsessed with the media and tried to come up with sensationalist material to show they were on top of the subject.

The presentation was well received.

(Image, BBC)

Featured post
Featured 0

25th Anniversary of HRA


Today marks the 25th Anniversary of the Human Rights Act

October 2025

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

But today (2nd) we celebrate.

Recent posts:

Featured post
Featured 0

We are 50!


The Salisbury group is 50 this year

September 2024

NOTE FOR YOUR DIARY

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

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

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

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

Come and join us on 3rd!

Featured post
Featured 1

Salisbury Group at 50!


Group is 50 this year!

February 2024

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

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

A long time has passed however and today, we see successive Conservative governments seeking to end or curtail the Human Rights Act. Laws have been passed making protest more difficult and the police have been given more powers to arrest those protesting. Much of the media keeps up a steady campaign denigrating human rights and suggesting they are a means for terrorists and serious criminals to escape justice because their ‘rights’ have been infringed. We are made less safe they claim because of the act rather than the precise opposite. The benefits the act has brought 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.

Featured post
Featured 0

Write for Rights


Cathedral signing this Sunday

November 2025

The group will be hosting a signing in the Cathedral cloister on Sunday 30 between 12 noon and 3 pm. We aim to do this every year and it is an opportunity for people visiting the Cathedral – for a service or other reason – to stop for a few moments to sign. There are many, many people who are imprisoned or under house arrest for their beliefs or because they are human rights defenders.

0

Blog at WordPress.com.

Up ↑