View Amnesty International’s review of 2020 – a tumultuous year by any reckoning.
Sport and human rights
The use of sport to sanitise regimes with atrocious human rights records may be increasing
The use of sport and ‘sports wash’ to give favourable publicity to regimes engaged in a range of human rights abuses is probably on the increase and has been particularly noticeable this year. Sport is now a major international business and involves huge amounts of money. Some sport is international in scope and has audiences numbered in the millions. With such a captive audience, it is small wonder that countries who want to sanitise their reputations and present wholesome images of themselves, turn to sport to deliver those images.
Sport is also closely connected with the media and there are sometimes frenzied negotiations to get rights to publish or transmit sporting events. With so much invested in securing rights and harvesting the advertising which goes with it, there is little time, space or inclination to question too much what goes on behind the scenes. Sports pages live at the back of most newspapers and exist in a kind of private world. Pages of dramatic photos of footballers, cricketers, rugby players and others are displayed seemingly detached from the rest of the world.
Abuses are many and include the terrible conditions workers endure building stadia in the Gulf for the football world cup. Athletes themselves are subject to abuse by their trainers and coaches and British Cycling has been subject to allegations of this kind by a whistle-blower. Drugs have been a perennial problem and infect many sports.
In recent years, we have seen more examples of sports wash. We featured the attempt by Saudi Arabia to fund the Newcastle Football Club as part of its campaign to present a better image of the country. A feature of that campaign was the encouragement it received from the the club’s supporters.
Holding this rally is ‘grotesque’
Today (6 January 2021), attention has focused on the Dakar rally which will pass close to the prison where Loujain al-Hathloul is held for campaigning for the right of women to drive. The regime has been going through some contortions to get itself out of a PR mess of its own making. The threat to imprison her for a lengthy jail term were dropped and with suspended sentences she should be released in a few months. Loujain was kidnapped, held without access to a lawyer and tortured. The rally is organised by the Amaury Sports Organisation whose website does not appear to make claims about human rights adherence.
A tweet from Grant Liberty says:
It is utterly grotesque that at the same time Saudi authorities will host a motor sport event — including women drivers — the heroes that won their right to drive languish in jail. 5 January
Loujain’s sister said in a tweet:
No-one should be fooled by the Saudi regime’s attempts at sportswashing … Racers might not know it, but their participation there is to hide and whitewash the host’s crimes. Lina al-Hathloul, Loujain’s sister 5 January
These trends suggest that sport needs to take greater interest in human rights and what is happening in the countries they compete in. If they are being used to sanitise the reputation of regimes who torture, arrest opposition leaders, human rights defenders, lawyers and generally ignore the human rights of their citizens, they must ask themselves ‘is this what sport is for?’ Huge interest was generated when the footballer Marcus Rashford was influential in forcing the government to change its mind over school meals. In some areas therefore, sport is beginning to use its power and its huge following to effect change.
But all too often, the lure of big money and a willingness to look the other way, seems to be the prevailing ethos.
Post Brexit trade deals
UK likely to abandon human rights concerns in its rush for trade deals
News today (3 January 2021) that the government has agreed a comprehensive trade deal with Turkey has set alarm bells ringing about the future for human rights in further deals. Following our departure a few days ago from the EU, the government is trying hard to secure trade deals around the world to replace any problems which might occur limiting trade with them.
The human rights situation in Turkey is dire. Journalists and human rights defenders have been jailed on vague charges of the terrorism kind. Newspapers have been closed. Torture is common in police stations and there is a culture of impunity for the security forces. Thousands of people are denied work accused of being terrorists or aiding terrorists. Essentially the rule of law has all but broken down.
We do of course have to trade around the world and if we only did so with those with clean hands, business would be rather thin. We do not have to sell them arms however to make the region less stable and enhance the president Erdogan’s ability to control his people. Liz Truss’s unquestioning enthusiasm for a trade deal seemingly at any cost is to be deprecated.
Does regaining sovereignty mean selling anything to anyone?
Will this be repeated around the world with all sorts of regimes who mistreat their citizens, use torture routinely and are indifferent to human rights? Time will tell but it is to be hoped that the desire to secure deals at any price, no questions asked, does not become the norm. Is this what ‘regaining our sovereignty’ means? Freedom to sell arms and other sensitive materials to some of the world’s worse regimes?
Peter Curbishley
Lockdown carols
Last evening we went carol signing in Albany and Belle View Roads in Salisbury with a group of singers from the Farrants. It was a bit touch and go whether we would do it this year and we certainly had to scale things down. The singers had to observe distance rules and of course we could not go close to doorways. We were delighted with the response though and several family groups stood in their doorways to enjoy carols sung by a choir of dedicated singers. With thanks to the Farrants, group members Jonathan, Joanna and Lesley for helping. This is around the 15th year we have sung carols in this area of Salisbury.
We would like to wish all our supporters and followers, a Happy Christmas and a safe New Year.
19 December 2021
Salisbury MP accused of ‘kowtowing’ to China
John Glen, the MP for Salisbury, has been accused by the ex-leader of his party of ‘kowtowing’ to China
This accusation was made in the Mail on Sunday, a Conservative supporting tabloid paper, in an article on 24 October 2020. Mr Glen, a Treasury Minister, gave a speech at an event organised by the 48 Group Club which was set up to promote Sino-British relations. Mr Glen is alleged to have said that ‘Britain and China are natural partners and that the two sides have broad prospects for cooperation in financial services and the ‘Belt and Road’ initiative.’ [No text of the speech is available on the 48 Group Club’s website or on the Treasury site.]
Pursuing increased commercial contact and encouraging greater trade was a creditable endeavour. Greater understanding was always to be supported and many of the 500 or so individuals who are members of the Club are likely to have had that in mind when joining.
But since Xi Jinping came to power, things have changed markedly. China has become a repressive state with a catalogue of infringements against international norms. It’s justice system is plagued by unfair trials and the use of torture. Repression of whole areas of the country including Tibet and Xinjiang is severe. The Government continues to harass, intimidate and prosecute human right defenders. All media and the internet are rigorously censored. There is little religious freedom with churches, mosques and temples destroyed on government orders. China executes more of its citizens than the rest of the world combined.
Over the past year, attention has focused on the treatment of Uighurs, a million of whom are incarcerated in so-called training establishments which nevertheless are surrounded by high walls and watchtowers and are closed to outside observers. Recently, concern has been expressed at the use of forced labour to produce cotton and western companies are being urged to ensure cotton produced using such labour is not used in their products.
In July a book was published by Clive Hamilton and Mareika Ohlberg Hidden Hand: Exposing How the Chinese Communist Party is Reshaping the World’ (One World Press) which claims that the 48 Group Club is a hub ‘through which Beijing grooms Britain’s elites’. Looking into the group does seem to reveal some curious issues. It claims many members of the political establishment some of whom say they have no knowledge of joining. Who funds them is not explained on their website.
48 Group is a hub ‘through which Beijing grooms Britain’s elites’ book claims
Mr Glen cannot claim ignorance of the appalling human rights situation in China since many members of the Salisbury Amnesty group have written to him on many occasions. He will be aware of the concerns about China’s increasing bellicose actions against Taiwan and border conflict with India. China has reneged on the Hong Kong agreement and is tightening its grip on the state. However, we know from the They Work for you site that Mr Glen ‘generally voted against laws to promote equality and human rights’. Many countries are beginning to review their relations with the country in view of the policies of the communist regime and the threats they pose.
Mr Duncan Smith claims that the speech was written for him which, as it does not seem to have been published or made available, we cannot know. It does suggest however, that the government is anxious to press on with closer commercial contacts with China despite the increasing risks and despite the appalling human rights situation there. It is perhaps an inevitable result of the Brexit decision (supported by Mr Glen) and the shock that will give to the economy: we must seek business where we may and not be too squeamish about with whom.
That may be so, but for Mr Glen allegedly to praise President Xi, as the Mail on Sunday claims, to a suspect lobbying organisation, raises many uncomfortable questions.
Sources: Mail on Line [accessed 15 December 2020]; Endole; Daily Express; upnewsinfo.com; Amnesty International. Sites searched but with no reference to the speech: Salisbury Journal; Treasury; John Glen MP’s website [all accessed 18 December 2020]
Human rights activist faces lengthy jail term in Saudi
The human rights activist, Loujain al-Hathloul, faces a lengthy jail term in Saudi Arabia for advocating the right of women to drive a car and for campaigning for the end of the male guardianship system.
In 2018, she was abducted and arrested for defying the ban on women driving and for her campaigning against the male guardianship system. She was held for many months incommunicado, and in prison was beaten, sexually assaulted, tortured with electric shocks and waterboarded. Human rights groups, including Amnesty, and the UN Human Rights Committee, have urged for her to be released.
The latest news is that at a hearing in a terrorism court, the judge said the sentence would be announced on Monday.
Prince Mohammed bin Salman claimed when he first assumed power, that he would reform the justice system in that country. There has been little sign of that since with arrests of opponents, routine use of torture, harsh crackdowns on anyone opposing the monarchy and widespread use of the death penalty. He faces little pressure to change however, with the UK and other western countries all too ready to fawn over the prince in their desire to secure lucrative arms deals. Astonishingly, the UK government was active behind the scenes in securing a place for Saudi on the UN’s Human Rights Council.
See also the Grant Liberty website.
Death penalty in America: CNN interview
This is an interview on CNN of Helen Prejean who is an active campaigner against the death penalty in the USA. Helen is a Roman Catholic, born in Baton Rouge Louisiana, and was chair of the National Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty up to 1995. She is the author of a book, Dead Man Walking.
The interview was made because of President Trump’s programme of carrying out a string of Federal executions in the lame duck period before President elect Joe Biden takes over in January. The number of these is unprecedented.
Airbnb and Israeli settlements
Airbnb continues to list properties illegal settlements
Last year Airbnb shamefully reversed its decision to remove listings in Israeli settlements from their online platform, exposing the hollowness of their claims to be a company that values human rights. They continue to promote these listings, despite knowing that these settlements are illegal under international law, and a war crime.
Settlements are at the root of a wide range of human rights violations against Palestinian communities. Airbnb are acting in direct contradiction with international law and their own corporate standards.
Earlier this year, the United Nations released a report on companies with specific links to Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank which included Airbnb. Naming the businesses which profit in the context of this illegal situation sends a clear message that Israel’s settlement enterprise must never be normalized.
Now Airbnb has started the process of becoming a publicly listed company on the US stock exchange and hopes to raise billions of dollars to grow and expand its tourism operations around the world.
Amnesty International has extensively documented the ways in which digital tourism companies like Airbnb contribute to human rights violations against Palestinians and we continue to call for Airbnb and others to stop all activity in Israeli settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories.
Extraordinary secret Swiss deal with China
Newspaper exposes an extraordinary secret deal made between Switzerland and China
Switzerland is a country which has seldom appeared on this site. It has an image of being a peaceful, civilised country with a close attachment to laws and rules. Indeed it is something of an example to the rest of the world having avoided wars for centuries. It never joined the EU. Several human rights based organisations are based in Geneva. The only thing said against it is the secret nature of its banking system which enables billions of dollars to be secreted away out of sight of the host country.
So it has come of something of a shock to discover that it has signed a secret deal with China to facilitate the repatriation of Chinese nationals back to that country. Readmission agreements as they are called are common and Switzerland itself has around 60 of them including one with the UK. These are published or otherwise available and the personnel involved have to be validated by both countries. Not so in the case of China.
The Swiss agreement allows officers from the Ministry of Public Security, which is implicated in widespread, systematic and wide-ranging human rights abuses, free and secret access to the country. Their agents are accused of crimes against humanity. Yet they roam free in Switzerland carrying out unsupervised interviews and operations in their attempts to track down Chinese nationals and repatriate them to China. The Swiss do not check on their activities or know who is being sent back. Of those who have been sent back, their whereabouts are unknown.
Details of this extraordinary story was revealed by the newspaper NZZ amSonntag in August and a fuller story has appeared in Safeguard Defenders. It was kept secret it has been claimed, because it was ‘an administrative agreement’. Now that some Swiss parliamentarians have become aware of it, how long it will last we shall have to see. But it seems to be another example of some western countries craven attitude towards the Chinese despite increasing knowledge of their multiple human rights abuses.
Sources: Swiss Info.ch; Safeguard Defenders; Guardian; NZZ amSonntag
Death penalty Report: Nov- Dec
This months Death Penalty report is now available thanks to group member Lesley for putting it together. Two cases in particular are noted and links to those can be found below. Note that China executes more of its citizens than the rest of the world put together but details are a state secret.
Amnesty in Salisbury & South Wiltshire 