These are the minutes of the October group meeting – thanks to Karen.
#Nigeria #stoptorture
We held a stall in the Library tunnel on Saturday 11 October in aid of the #stoptorture campaign and in particular, to highlight the case of
Moses Akatugba in #Nigeria. He was arrested for allegedly stealing mobile phones, shot in the hand and tortured by the Nigerian Army. He has been in prison now for eight years and is on death row awaiting execution. Torture is routine in Nigeria and it is reported that police stations even have a ‘torture officer’.
We collected 189 signatures in three hours which is a good haul for a difficult subject which has received next to no publicity. We shall be sending the cards in two batches to the Governor of Delta state in Nigeria where Moses is being held. We have sent a report of the signing to the Nigerian Embassy in London (see under Update below).
If you would like to know more about this case then you can find it here: Nigeria fact sheet
We are grateful to all those who stopped to sign a card. The great majority of passers-by did not to sign it has to be noted for
reasons that are never clear or revealed. 155 countries around the world have signed the UN protocol against the use of torture but according to Amnesty International figures, it is still practised in 141 of them. In other words, they sign treaties to end it but continue to use it.
Thanks to all the Salisbury Group’s team for taking part and their help in making this a success: Michael; Jonathan; Andrew; Lesley; Peter; Fiona; Eddie; Cynthia; Tony and Karen.
UPDATE 13 October Nigerian Embassy letter
#deathpenalty report
This is the monthly death penalty report thanks to Lesley.
General
- UK
- 19th Sept – A Death Row Pop Up Restaurant offering a ‘last meal without the nasty execution bit’ was due to open in
Hoxton, London. Condemned by Amnesty as ‘in appallingly bad taste’, the owners initially issued an apology but later withdrew it, saying ‘all over the world there are attractions that have the potential to offend’ - LC spoke with Kate Allen at the recent Stop Torture Campaign Skills Day and raised the Group’s concern that the Death Penalty was no longer a distinct campaign. Kate noted our concern, but said AI needed to look more to local groups to take the campaign forward.
- Pakistan – Mohammed Asghar, the British Pakistani 70 year old with paranoid schizophrenia, sentenced to death for ‘blasphemy’ was shot and badly injured in his prison cell by a prison guard. There is an on-line 38 Degrees Petition calling on David Cameron to press his case with the Pakistan Government.
- USA
- 21st September – the third anniversary of the execution of the execution of Troy Davis. An excerpt from the statement issued by the National Coalition for the Abolition of the Death Penalty reads: ‘……. I am Troy Davis. And we are 90 million strong. You, Xxxxx, are Troy Davis, and we are 90 million stronger – because of you. Together we are building the ground-game state by state and nationwide to fulfil Troy’s wishes: to keep fighting this battle until we end the death penalty once and for all.’
- Texas – News today (9 October) that Manuel Velez was released from prison following 6 years on Death Row and 9 years in prison. Convicted and sentenced to death in 2008 for the killing of his girlfriend’s child, in 2012 his death sentence was thrown out because of false testimony during the sentencing phase. A new trial was ordered because of inadequate legal assistance in his original trial. The DA’s office continue to maintain, however, that he contributed to the child’s death. See a separate post on this subject.
- Afghanistan – Despite attempts by AI and other Human Rights Organisations to persuade the new President, Ashraf Ghani, to stop the execution of 5 men convicted of rape, they were hanged on 8th October. There were accusations of a lack of evidence and forced confessions.
Death Penalty Statistics for 2013
- 778 executions were known to have been carried out in 22 countries
- 1,925 people in 57 countries were known to have been sentenced to death
- 23,392 people were known to have been on death row world-wide
- These figures do not include the thousands of executions likely to have taken place in China where they are a state secret.
Urgent Actions
- Iran – UA 85/14 – (update) Reyhaneh Jabbari – her execution date of 30th September was deferred, but she remains at risk as the family of the man killed (who Reyhaneh claims sexually assaulted her) could request her execution at any time. David Cameron has spoken out on her behalf to President Rouhani, and been criticised for ‘unacceptable remarks’. Circulated to DPLWG; posted on the Group’s blog – 1.10.14. This month’s Group Urgent Action.
- Bahrain – UA 252/14 – Maher Abbas Ahmad – sentenced to death in February for the premeditated murder of a policeman at a ‘gathering’, has lodged his final appeal and could be at risk of execution. He told his lawyer he was tortured into making a confession. Circulated to DPLWG 9.10.14.
Campaigning
- World Day Against the Death Penalty – 10th October. The Group are asked to sign cards to be sent to Reggie Clemons
- Death Penalty Stall – A signing event will take place on Saturday ll1th October from 9.00-12..00 mid-day in the Library Covered Way. We will be asking the public to sign cards calling for justice for Moses Akatugba, the young Nigerian tortured and sentenced to death for the alleged theft of three mobile phones.
Stop Torture campaign
The local group will be manning a stand on 15 November to highlight the #stoptorture campaign which was launched by Amnesty in May this year. The practice is alive and well throughout the world and Amnesty has recently ramped up its campaigning to stamp out the practice with the Stop Torture campaign.
Ahead of its launch, Salil Shetty, Amnesty International’s Secretary General said governments around the world are “two-faced on torture” – prohibiting it in law, but facilitating it in practice”.
He added: “Torture is not just alive and well – it is flourishing in many parts of the world. As more governments seek to justify torture in the name of national security, the steady progress made in this field over the last thirty years is being eroded.”
Stop torture will be a key part of the Amnesty display as part of the Magna Carta events at the Cathedral next year.
Nigeria
On Saturday 11 October we shall be manning a stall in Salisbury market to highlight the human rights situation in #Nigeria. In particular, the case of Moses Akatugba who was tortured by Nigerian police to secure a conviction. He was 16 when arrested, shot in the hand, beaten, and hung in an interrogation room for hours. Pliers were used to extract his finger and toe nails. His alleged crime was to steal three mobile phones. Unfortunately, this ill-treatment is now a commonplace in Nigeria and there are reported to be ‘torture officers’ in police stations.
Executions were resumed in June last year when four men were executed in Benin city. The bodies were not returned to the families for burial nor is the location of the graves known.
Amnesty has serious concerns about the increasing use of torture and other cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment or punishment in Nigeria. Recent research by Amnesty indicates that police and military personnel routinely use torture and other ill-treatment to extract confessions and to punish and exhaust detainees.
Nigeria fact sheet (pdf)
You can also read about corruption in Nigeria here: Human Rights Watch: Nigeria
We look forward to seeing you in the market place on 11th.
Film: Omar
Each year we team up with the Salisbury Arts Centre and host a film which has a human rights element to it. This year the Oscar nominated film is #Omar which is set in the occupied territories of Palestine. Omar is a freedom fighter who is used to dodging bullets to cross the separation wall to visit his girl friend, Nadia. After he is captured after a deadly act of resistance he is tricked to act as an informant. The film is directed by Hany Abu-Assad.
The film will show in the evening of 4 December at the Arts Centre and early booking is advised.
Meeting: update
UPDATE: The full minutes are now available here
We held our monthly meeting on 11 September and a number of items were discussed some of which will be separately posted [P].
- the treasurer reported we had around £334 in the bank. The funds promised from one of the school groups have not arrived
Amnesty logo however and he will chase this up
- North Korea. We have a speaker – Bona Shin – for the November meeting so we will hold it in Sarum College [P].
- Lesley presented the death penalty report which will be separately posted. Executions continue apace in Saudi Arabia, Florida and Texas [P].
- Peter gave an update on progress with the Magna Carta celebrations next year and said that we have held our third meeting with Seif at the Cathedral and arrangements were proceeding well. Caroline was hoping to prepare tapestry with all the regional groups contributing a panel each to illustrate an aspect of the Human Rights Act. Fiona is working with S Wilts on the idea of a film.
- Cathedral service. Jonathan will liaise with the Praecentor about dates and a speaker.
- there is to be a coffee morning on Saturday 20 September in St Thomas’s starting at 09:30.
- the second Citizenship day is to be held next month on 23 October run on similar lines to last year. There is to be a repeat of the competition with 3 prizes totalling £100 from a supporter. Peter is to contact the sixth form colleges and schools in the area [P].
- the forthcoming campaign against torture stall was discussed and will take place on 15 October in the Cheese Market [P].
- the film will take place again on 4 December at the Arts Centre and will be on the subject of Palestine. The speaker is Samiha Abdeljebar [P].
Full minutes will be posted soon.
Meeting with John Glen MP: update
The Salisbury group invited John Glen MP to speak to the group following his comments in the Salisbury Journal that – in common with other MPs, the Prime Minister and the Home Secretary Teresa May – he would like to scrap the Human Rights Act [HRA] #HRA. The Conservatives in their election manifesto had said they wanted to enact a Bill of Rights [BoR] and appointed a Commission to review the matter. It failed to reach an agreement and there the matter has rested with no current work being done to draft a BoR. Nevertheless, there is still political agitation to abolish the #HRA. A key theme of the evening was trying to determine what would the difference be between a new Bill of Rights and the existing HRA. In other words what would be included and what left out.
Andrew – chair of the local group – welcomed Mr Glen who began by saying he was a keen supporter of human rights. He was a member of The Westminster Foundation for Democracy and had recently visited Iran, Egypt and the Maldives. In the first two countries he discussed the plight of Christians with the authorities. He had recently asked a question* in the House of Commons concerning the Israel/Palestine conflict.
As far as the HRA was concerned the main issue was the question of the interaction with the European Court: Strasbourg [rulings] should be taken into account, not be binding. A proposal for a British BoR will possibly be in the party manifesto. He was concerned about some of the claims made using the act and he mentioned the issue of equipment in Afghanistan. Various points were put to Mr Glen by members:
- The HRA was passed into UK law to enable claims to be made in this country and to reduce the need to go to Strasbourg. JG said this may have been the intention but was not always the case in practice
- If a Bill of Rights is to be introduced, how would it in fact be different from the HRA as it is?
- The HRA was of enormous benefit to ordinary people – some of whom are [your] constituents. For example, art. 8 protects the elderly and vulnerable. The problem is made worse for many by the reductions in legal aid. JG said he saw people every day with these problems and he was not happy with the Justice reforms. But he was concerned at perverse outcomes and it needs the will of Parliament. It was pointed out that the HRA was by will of Parliament.
- He was asked if the point of a BoR was to fetter the judiciary and again, how will it be different from the HRA?
- It was reported that Strasbourg was concerned at the risk of the UK abandoning the HRA. As we (the UK with France) were the countries behind the original convention, it would concern them if we turned our back on it. The convention had had enormous beneficial effects in Russia and Belarus who might be less keen to change if we were not there. It was also pointed out that the FCO web site was a keen supporter. JG said that without knowing what would replace the act this was a hypothetical question.
- The point was made several times that the positive effects of the act and the cases which fail in the courts, rarely receive publicity. JG agreed with this point. For the most part, there was an anti-attitude fostered by the tabloid press. JG said he was not following a tabloid agenda. He had to read them to know what would be in his post from constituents. He felt had demonstrated his commitment to human rights through his overseas work.
- Prisoner voting rights were a topic that caused a lot of anxiety. Would it not be appropriate to allow prisoners the vote towards the end of their sentences to help prepare them for re-entry into society? JG talked about the importance of education in prisons. He was reminded that funding had been cut for this.
In conclusion, he said he would reflect on the problem of a lack of balance in the public dialogue. He will also consider how refinements to the HRA might obviate the need for a Bill of Rights.
Group members were no clearer on what would be the difference between a Bill of Rights and the HRA but welcomed Mr Glen’s statement that his comments on the latter would be more balanced in future.
UPDATE
Reported on 17 July that the Conservatives are planning to introduce a British Bill of Rights in their manifesto.
View the South region site of Amnesty International
*John Glen’s question in the House:
Meeting: update
We held our monthly meeting this evening Thursday, 10th July. Among the matters discussed were the following:
- Market stall. This took just over a £100 and is well below the results of previous years. The usual crowd of people waiting for us to open and almost climbing into our cars, was absent this year. The main reason was lack of stock.
- Death penalty #deathpenalty. Lesley reported it was relatively quiet this month. The ‘World Day Against the Death Penalty‘ is coming soon and a meeting will be held in the Black Horse at Great Durnford to plan actions. [The DP report will be a separate post here in a few days]
- North Korea. Karen said there were plans to invite a speaker and October 9th or November 13th were likely dates.
- John Glen. #HRA The meeting with him [was] on Friday 11th July (details in the previous blog) and he had noted this in his ‘View from the Commons’ piece in the Journal. Open to Amnesty members and supporters – at the Methodist Church, 7:30. Lesley circulated a leader in the Guardian commenting on the relevance of the Human Rights Act
- Conference. The planned conference in September was not gaining a head of steam Peter reported. The City Council had given their funds to the Cathedral and were unable to help in other ways such as free use of the Guildhall.
- Magna Carta #magnacarta. Peter had held a meeting with Seif el Rashidi and this had been very positive. They were keen for our involvement and various ideas were discussed. A group was set up to take these forward. Once we have a draft plan then we can approach AIUK for help and assistance. The Cathedral is willing to help with graphics and has offered us a stall. The involvement of Kate Allen and the discussion between her and Rob Key who is the chair of the Cathedral group was discussed. Caroline, the regional rep. said that it had been a brief conversation only and that Kate Allen was delighted that the Salisbury group were involved and that they were best placed to take things forward.
- Strategic issues. There was a long discussion on strategic issues with Caroline and group members voiced various concerns about lack of response from AI. Lack of materials was an issue; finding out what was available was difficult; and lack of response another problem. Caroline responded by saying that the restructuring had had major effects with many staff leaving or being made redundant. It had also consumed a lot of senior management time. She will raise these issues nationally and she said they were similar to concerns raised by other groups. Southern region news can be found here.
- Web site. 217 views of the site since launch. Most from the UK as expected with 12 from USA and 11, Brazil. People from 19 countries were now shown as viewing it. There 18 blog followers; 8 twitter followers and 3 from Facebook.
- Stop Torture. A possible date for a stall on 15 November was discussed.
- Citizenship. This to be taken forward with Bishop Wordsworth. The competition will be repeated this year with more schools involved.
Minutes will be posted soon.
View the South region site of Amnesty
Amnesty in Salisbury & South Wiltshire 