Author: welland2

Supreme Court decision – Rwanda


Supreme Court declares government’s Rwanda plan ‘unlawful’

November 2023

This morning, 15 November, the Supreme Court in the UK gave its unanimous decision on the government’s plan to send asylum seekers to Rwanda, declaring it unlawful. This puts a flagship policy in jeopardy and it is not clear what will happen next. Huge political capital has been vested in this decision and it had massive, if totemic, significance for the government. One of its motivations was that it would act as a deterrent to the huge numbers crossing the Channel in small boats, something it was never likely to do.

The first flight was planned in June this year and it was due to take off from Boscombe Down airfield (pictured) in Wiltshire just a mile or so from where this post is being written. At the last moment, the European Court ruled it unlawful and the aircraft took off empty the following day.

The court’s decision was based on the human rights situation in Rwanda. The key principle is refoulement: that someone should not be sent back to their country of origin if there is a risk of mistreatment. The situation in Rwanda is poor with extrajudicial killings, use of torture and enforced disappearances a regular feature. The court also took into account that individuals from Yemen, Syria and Afghanistan have all been returned to their home country where they will be at severe risk of mistreatment or death. Other individuals have been clandestinely moved out of the country.

This decision and the whole vexed story of immigration, refugees, the boat crossings, use of hotels and related issues is extremely high profile in the UK. Considerable anger is expressed by many on the subject and it is a regular source of hostile front pages of the tabloid press and outlets such as GB News. It is said to be as a result of the public’s anger on the subject but this is not altogether true. Many it is true, are angry and want the government to deport the boat people forthwith. Other views are more nuanced. It is not always clear whether the ceaseless headlines on the subject and the somewhat one-sided treatment is itself stimulating the public to its hostile attitudes.

This decision, and the previous one to halt the flight in June, will add to those in the Conservative party who have been seeking our departure from the European Convention. This was a threat expressed by the previous Home Secretary who lost her post on Monday. However, the court made clear that it wasn’t just the European Convention that was the key law in this regard. They pointed out there were other aspects of law, as well as international treaties which the UK has signed, all of which had a bearing on the question of refoulement. This has not prevented – in the words of Open Democracy – the ‘marginally less deranged’ members of parliament who are calling for us to abandon all international covenants. One such is Danny Kruger the member for Devizes in Wiltshire, another is the deputy chair of the party Lee Anderson.

It is important to recognise that the court ruled that the policy of deporting asylum seekers is not unlawful. What was at issue was the human rights in Rwanda itself. So the policy lives on and the Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said in the Commons today that he was willing to “revisit domestic legal frameworks” in their desire to pursue this policy. This might mean the Human Rights Act (one of the acts the high court referred to) comes under attack again, a long time goal of the Conservative Party.

Such is the level of political capital involved in this issue and its place in the Prime Minister’s five priorities that they cannot allow it to go away quietly. We will have to see what emerges in the coming days and weeks. If the decision to remove ourselves from the aegis of the European Court, that will be a retrograde step. We will have to leave the Council of Europe, it will weaken our voice internationally and will hinder our efforts at improving the rule of law around the world.

Photo: Boscombe Down. Salisbury Amnesty

UPDATE: Prime Minister announces they will conclude a new treaty with Rwanda which will override the Supreme Court decision (which he does not agree with) and will enable refugees to be sent there.

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Obituary: Benedict Birnberg


Pioneering lawyer who campaigned for the abolition of the death penalty in the UK

November 2023

This post based on an obituary in the Guardian, 14 November 2023

Younger and foreign readers may not have heard of Derek Bentley who became a cause celebre in the UK and was one of the last people to be executed. He and an accomplice Christopher Craig were engaged in robbing a warehouse in Croydon, south London when they were spotted by a policeman who was shot by Craig. Bentley shouted ‘let him have it, Chris’ and these words were sufficient to see him hang. Of course these words are open to considerable interpretation since they can mean both shoot him or they can mean give him the gun. They were sufficient to see him hang.

Birnberg pursued the case relentlessly until in 1993 a royal pardon was issued revoking the death sentence because Bentley had been denied a fair trial and because of a partisan summing up by the judge Lord Goddard. His 30 year campaigning led, 30 years later in 1969, to the death penalty being abolished for nearly all crimes.

The case illustrated that where the penalty is used mistakes can never be rectified. It is one of the reasons Amnesty campaigns for the death penalty to be abolished around the world. Each month, we publish a report on the use of penalty around the world.

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November minutes and events


November 2023

We are pleased to attach the minutes of our November meeting thanks to group member Lesley for preparing them. We do not produce a newsletter but the minutes are comprehensive and cover a lot of ground. There are details of our forthcoming activities including the carol singing and schools work. If you live in the Salisbury or south Wiltshire area and are thinking of joining, then coming to one of our events and making yourself known is a good idea.

CORRECTION: Carol singing is on 18th December not as stated in the minutes.

November 2023 (Word)Download
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Death penalty report


Report for mid October to mid November

November 2023

We are pleased to attach the death penalty report for the period mid October to mid November thanks to group member Lesley for the work in compiling it. An interesting item is the shift in opinion in the USA away from the use of the penalty. Once again, we note that China – believed to be the world’s largest user of the penalty – does not feature as all details are a state secret.

October – November report (Word)Download
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Refugee report: November


Reports focus on destitution and the need for cooperation concerning asylum

November 2023

We are grateful to group member Andrew for his work in compiling this report on the current state of affairs with refugees and asylum seekers. A quiet month on the legislative front, but much noise from certain quarters. It was noted that the Home Secretary’s complaint against “tent-dwellers” included the aside “many of them from abroad”, with its implication of illegal immigrants joining in the supposed lifestyle choice. This was roundly condemned by a number of refugee charities, along with homelessness support groups. 

The Joseph Rowntree Trust have published a report on destitution in the UK. Among its findings was the fact that 28% of destitute households were migrants, and rates for that group were 35% higher than the national figure. Such households also tend to have more children. 

The Institute for Public Policy Research (a centrist think tank) has also published a report, “Charting New Waters”, on dealing with those crossing in small boats. Like the Safe Passage report mentioned last month it is concerned with developing safe routes, an organized Europe-wide system to share the responsibility, and a reform of the asylum processing system. The report does not give much detail, but reinforces the feeling that the government needs to engage with our neighbours in finding solutions to the issue. 

On that topic, the numbers of asylum seekers crossing the channel has been lower this month, mainly because of the weather 

We still await the High Court decision on the Rwanda plan, but the feeling is that the government is prepared to lose the case. This would, of course, put the European Court of Human Rights in the firing line, at least with the Home Secretary. The decision is expected in the first half of December. 

Many Afghans who were promised a safe passage to the UK after the Taliban takeover are still waiting; 3000 who have been promised asylum in the UK are in UK-funded hotels in Islamabad, but the Pakistan government is ejecting all Afghan refugees. There has been no government statement, as far as we know. 

The Home Office has rolled out a new “asylum decision-making prioritisation”. This is really a pushing ahead in trying to reduce the backlog of cases awaiting decision. The government has argued that the backlog has been reduced, but in fact the total has increased due to new cases, while the “legacy” cases from pre-2022 are indeed being reduced. 

Migration lawyers have noted with pleasure that the number of refusals of claims of trafficking by new arrivals has fallen, following a change in the regulations. 

The Home Office announced this week that the number of asylum seekers to be held on the barge Bibby Stockholm is to be reduced from 500 to 425, following a fire risk assessment. This would likely make the provision 10% more expensive than housing claimants in hotels. 

On the campaigning front, next year’s Refugee Week will be from 17th to 23rd June. The theme will be “Our Home.” 

AH

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Jagtar Singh Johal


Jagtar Singh Johal remains in custody in India on trumped up charges

November 2023

Jagtar was abducted off the street in 2017 and held incommunicado for a number of days during which time he was subjected to brutal treatment and was almost certainly tortured into signing a confession. His ‘crime’ as far as the India government was concerned was to represent the Sikh community and because of his human rights activity and his faith according to the UN.

He has now been in custody for 6 years and concerned lawyers have written to the UK Foreign Office minister Lord Ahmad, asking him to retract his comments saying that Jagtar will receive ‘due process’ in India. Manifestly he has not.

Many MPs were disappointed that the prime minister Rishi Sunak did not do more at the recent G20 summit when he met the India prime minister on the fringes of the meeting. Shockingly, it was revealed that the British security services MI5 and MI6 gave their Indian counterparts a tip-off which led to his arrest and torture. MPs and human rights organisations have criticised the UK government repeatedly over this affair and arrest of a British citizen. They have said the the government has been reluctant to press the Indian government over his arrest and mistreatment and have repeatedly failed to call for his release. The latest claim that he will be subject to due process flies in the face of all the evidence.

There is the suggestion that the ‘government’s timidity and reluctance to press his case too strongly relates to the desire to secure various arms deals with India. A Foreign Office spokesman is quoted as saying that it was committed to resolving his case ‘as soon as possible’.

Sources: Reprieve; Guardian; Independent; Amnesty International

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Urgent Action – Texas


Urgent Action concerning unsafe conviction in Texas

November 2023

UPDATE: 10 November. Brent was executed on 9th.

Brent Brewer is scheduled to be executed in Texas on 9 November 2023. His 1991 death sentence was
overturned in 2007, but he was resentenced to death in 2009. In 1991 and again in 2009, the prosecution relied on unscientific and unreliable, but influential, testimony of a psychiatrist who asserted that Brent Brewer would likely commit future acts of violence, a prerequisite for a death sentence in Texas. Nineteen years old at the time of the crime, Brent Brewer is now 53. He has been an exemplary prisoner, with no record of violence during his three decades on death row.

Full details and the action to take can be found on this link https://www.amnesty.org.uk/files/2023-10/UA09323.pdf?VersionId=aoSL1YL8VaIBdDlzj2fhUXdafmJZky1_

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Middle East war


UN Secretary General’s statement on the conflict

October 2023

The Secretary General of the UN, António Guterres, created an international diplomatic storm when he called for a ceasefire in the Middle East. If such a ceasefire was agreed it would prevent – at least technically – Israel’s stated intention to enter Gaza and eliminate Hamas as a terror organisation. But what has roused the Israelis to considerable anger is his comments about the factors leading up to the outrage on October 7th. The actions by Hamas were appalling and have been almost universally condemned. The key passage is below:

The attacks by Hamas did not happen in a vacuum, he noted, with the Palestinian people being subjected to 56 years of suffocating occupation, during which they saw their land devoured by settlements; their economy stifled; their homes demolished; and their hopes for a political solution vanishing.  However, the grievances of the Palestinian people cannot justify the appalling attacks by Hamas.  “And those appalling attacks cannot justify the collective punishment of the Palestinian people,” he said, emphasizing:  “Even war has rules.”  At this critical hour, he appealed to everyone to pull back from the brink before the violence claims even more lives and spreads even farther.

Guterres clearly links the history of the post 1948 settlements to the events of today. The central argument is whether the barbaric actions of Hamas terrorists can ever be justified by what has taken place over the past 56 years? Guterres says not but clearly recognises that the treatment the Palestinians received over these decades is clearly a factor. He also says that the actions taken against the citizens of Gaza, which are ‘collective punishment’, are not justified by the Hamas attack. A copy of the full UN statement is available here.

On a purely practical level, invading Gaza is likely to be neither effective nor good politics. It will be a bloody affair with heavy losses of life on both sides. It is unlikely, not to say impossible, to achieve since although it may be possible to kill Hamas people, it is impossible to kill an idea or ideology. Around the world, there was a high degree of sympathy and shock at the awful deaths of Israelis on 7th. The death toll mounts in Gaza, including hundreds of children, some of the hospitals are closing for want of fuel and water. Only tiny amounts of aid are entering the enclave. The sympathy which the Israelis received after the terrible killings, may begin to dissipate as time goes by.

Events like these always have causes. Violence seldom if ever springs out of nowhere. Years of apartheid and persecution will have had their effects. What is clear that two wrongs don’t make a right. Palestinians have suffered great wrongs as Guterres and others have said but that does not justify the actions of Hamas. The actions of Hamas in turn do not justify the Israelis taking punitive action against an entire people. This is particularly so as Israel is a modern, heavily armed state with overwhelming military superiority. As Human Rights Watch puts it ‘Condemn the Crimes, Comprehend the Context’

One thing which has become clear is that these events have shone a light on various western nations including the UK. Neither Rishi Sunak, the British prime minister, nor Sir Keir Starmer, the leader of the opposition party, are having ‘a good war’. The former has been too partisan offering unqualified support for Israel and saying very little about human rights. The desire to score political points has swamped the need for a statesmanlike and impartial approach. Sir Keir has been particularly disappointing: as an ex human rights lawyer and director of the DPP, he must know that cutting off supplies of water, electricity and fuel to Gaza is a war crime yet he defended their actions in doing this [Update: Sir Keir denies this is an interview today]. He seems to be too desperate to shake off the anti-Semitism his party was accused of under the previous leader. This seems to have led him to refrain from saying anything which might be construed as critical of Israel. At serious moments like this when we want calm judgement and measured responses, both leaders have fallen short.

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Israel – Palestine conflict


Statement by the head of Amnesty UK

October 2023

We enclose verbatim, a statement by the chief executive officer of Amnesty UK concerning the conflict in Israel/Palestine.

We are horrified by the escalating violence in recent days and the mounting civilian death toll in Israel and Gaza, and the rest of the Occupied Palestinian Territories.

Hamas’s shocking summary killings and abductions of civilians displayed a chilling disregard for life and for international law. Deliberate attacks on civilians & hostage-taking are war crimes & cannot be justified under any circumstances. Hamas and other armed groups must end deliberate attacks on civilians, the firing of indiscriminate rockets, and hostage-taking. They must release civilian hostages immediately.

Relentless Israeli air strikes are now pounding Gaza, obliterating entire families and destroying whole neighbourhoods. Once again civilians in Gaza have nowhere to seek safety. The Israeli authorities’ illegal 16-year blockade on the Gaza Strip, a key part of its system of apartheid, means 2.2 million Palestinians are trapped, plunged into darkness, and without access to essential needs.

The collective punishment of Gaza’s civilian population by Israeli authorities amounts to a war crime – it is cruel and inhumane. 

Palestinian civilians are not responsible for the crimes of Hamas and other Palestinian armed groups, and according to international law Israeli authorities must not make them suffer for acts they have played no role in and cannot control.  

Families and survivors deserve justice.

As the situation is so fast moving, Amnesty is publishing the latest developments via publications on the press releases page of the AIUK website, which you can see here https://www.amnesty.org.uk/press-releases. 

In solidarity, 

Sacha Deshmukh
Chief Executive Officer
Amnesty International UK
 
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Group minutes and reports


The group’s minutes and reports for October 2023

October 2023

We are pleased to attach the minutes of the group’s meeting on 12 October 2023 thanks to group member for compiling them.

Minutes: October 2023 (Word)Download
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