We held our coffee morning in St Thomas’s Church in Salisbury this Saturday 5th July
This is a fund raising do but it is an opportunity to meet the group if you are thinking of joining us. The issue of human rights is ever present with mass violations around the world some of which we have featured in previous posts. But it is also a rising issue in the UK with the legislation passed by the previous Conservative government curtailing various freedoms and increasing police powers to limit demonstrations, which are still on the statute book. The Labour government shows not sign of repealing them. The threat by the Home Secretary to prohibit Palestine Action is also of concern.
Members of the Salisbury group will be at the People in the Park event this Saturday 17th from around 10:00 and we would be delighted to see you. It would be a good opportunity to say hello if you are interested in joining us. To get an idea of what we are doing, have a glance at our last set of minutes and news. Look forward to seeing you there.
We are pleased to attach the minutes and news of the group’s activities thanks to group member Lesley for the work in preparing them. There is a list of future events at towards the end and if you are thinking of making contact, one of those would be a good opportunity. We shall be at People in the Park in Elizabeth Gardens, Salisbury on Saturday 17th from around 10:00 all day.
We were in Salisbury market square on Saturday 3rd, with our market stall. Thanks to group members Tony, Fiona, Rose, Eddie, Andrew, Val, Lesley and Peter for turning out to help. New photo added (5.v)
We are pleased to attach our minutes of the group’s meeting in April thanks to group member Lesley for preparing them and for various group members submitting reports for inclusion. They are a kind of ‘hybrid’ style of minutes as they contain narrative material which we hope readers will find of interest. At the end you will find a short list of upcoming events the group will be running or participating in.
These are the activities planned for the coming months
April 2025
This is a list of forthcoming events the Salisbury group will be engaged in over the coming months. Each of them would be a good opportunity to approach us if you were thinking of joining. To join us is free but to become a member of Amnesty International UK there is a membership fee. The group, as well as campaigning for prisoners of conscience, is increasingly concerned with the erosion of rights in the UK. Britain has a proud history of protest and such activity has led to a number of reforms: a look at this list will give you a taste of the numbers that have taken place over the centuries. The essential truth is that those who have power do not like relinquishing it. Recent governments have introduced legislation making it harder to protest and have given the Police even more powers to arrest or interrupt demonstrations. It is more than ever important to be part of organisations like ours to stand firm against governments and their paymasters who want to clamp down on opposition.
Several of our local MPs are reported in They Work for You website as ‘generally voting against’ human rights matters. Danny Kruger, the MP for the newly created East Wiltshire constituency (which starts about a mile north of Salisbury), would like to see the Human Right Act abolished. Protecting our rights is therefore truly important as we cannot rely on our elected representatives to do it for us.
Events
Market stall in the Market place, Salisbury on 3 May starting at 9am and finishing at 1pm. If you have any items for the stall, please bring them along on the day.
People in the Park where we will have a stand on 17 May for most of the day. This would be an ideal opportunity to make contact.
We are continuing with our school visits (this won’t be an opportunity to drop by of course) and something we see as important*. The last one of the current programme is in June.
A presence on the EcoHub stall in the Market place on a Tuesday. Dates to be confirmed but likely to be late summer/autumn. Dates will be posted on here, on Facebook (@Salisburyai) and on Bluesky once agreed .
A coffeemorning at St Thomas’s Church Salisbury on 5 July from around 10am. Home made cakes available and in the centre of the City.
Don’t forget that we take place – with other groups in Salisbury – in the vigils which take place in the Market place by the Library every Saturday. They are for peace in the Middle East and in particular Gaza where over 50,000 have now died, the majority of whom were women and children. Thousands more are unaccounted for under the rubble. We have just held our 70th such event. They start at 5pm for half an hour.
Later in the year we will be holding:
Death penalty action on the World Day Against the Death Penalty – see Amnesty’s recently published report for 2024 – on 10 October. See also our monthly reports on the death penalty the latest of which has just been posted.
Write for Rights will be on 30 November.
Other events which are not yet settled are:
Evensong at the Cathedral. The Cathedral has the Prisoner of Conscience window and the Amnesty candle on display. Agreed date under discussion.
Refugee Week. Details not known yet. See our latest Refugee report.
*If by chance you are a teacher reading this at a school in South Wiltshire and would like to discuss a visit as part of your school’s citizenship programme, please get in touch.
We are pleased to attach our minutes (and almost a newsletter) from the March meeting of the group thanks to group member Lesley for compiling them. They contain details of future events (towards the end) as well as items on the death penalty, refugees and other items of interest. The meeting took place on 12 March.
Salisbury group assembles to mark planting of its tree
March 2025
Last year (2024) marked the fifty years since the group was founded and here we are, still going strong if sadly the only group left in Wiltshire. We had the opportunity for a tree to be planted in honour of this anniversary and today (4 March) some of the local group assembled for a photograph in Victoria Park. We were delighted to welcome two surviving members who formed the group half a century ago.
The need to keep human rights issues on the agenda is needed now more than ever. It was perhaps the belief all those years ago that the need for a human rights group would slowly melt away in the wake of the post war ideal of the new world order following WWII. This has not been the case. Rights are being slowly chipped away at home as governments have not liked protest groups drawing attention to their climate and environment failings and continued arming of Israel for example. The previous government introduced several pieces of legislation reducing rights, increasing police powers and limiting access to justice. The new government shows little inclination to repeal them. Some MPs – including both our local ones – generally vote against human rights matters according to the They Work for You website.
Overseas – well, where to start. China continues to persecute the Uyghurs and western firms continue to buy cotton produced by effectively slave labour. War and destruction continues in Sudan and other parts of sub Sahara Africa. The situation in Burma continues with the military attacking people and villages of minority groups. We continue to sell them jet fuel to enable them to carry on. The terrible death toll continues in Gaza.
So the need to keep the spotlight on human rights is needed today as it was 50 years ago. Power, in whatever form, does not like giving it up and will go to great lengths to keep it for themselves and their supporters.
If you would like to join us you would be welcome. See a list of current and future events where you can come and make yourself known. We welcome people who want to pursue a particular human rights theme – more rights for women for example.
Amnesty in Salisbury & South Wiltshire 