Here are the minutes of the January meeting with thanks to Karen for producing them. Notes that copies of this and previous minutes are also in ‘About us’.
Two extras links have been added to the list of organisations at the bottom of the page.
#SaudiArabia
UPDATE: 18 January
The second bout of 50 lashes was postponed following huge worldwide protests. Kate Allen of Amnesty International contrasted the willingness of (UK) Ministers to condemn the Charlie Hebdo massacre but are strangely silent when it comes to the Saudi actions.
50 lashes and only 950 to go …
Over the last few days, the world’s attention has been focused on France and the events following the massacre at the Charlie Hebdo offices last week. World leaders, including David Cameron, went to Paris on Sunday to join in the demonstration and to show solidarity with the French people.
Also last week, Raif Badawi received the first of his 50 lashes in a square outside the Juffali Mosque in Jeddah to a cheering crowd. His crime is to run a blog called Saudi Arabian Liberals which criticised the religious police. Among the charges was ‘insulting Islam’ and the original sentence was 600 lashes. Judges subsequently increased that to 1 000 lashes and a fine of a million Riyals equivalent to around ¼ m US dollars. His lawyer has also been condemned to 15 years in prison. His wife has fled the country and lives in Canada. Bizarrely, the Saudi Government has condemned the killings in Paris whilst suppressing free speech in their own country.
Saudi Arabia ratified the UN Convention against the use of torture or other cruel and unusual punishments in 1997 but, in common with many other countries, ignores it.
This sentence and the punishment has been condemned around the world.
Sources: Amnesty International; Human Rights Watch; The Guardian; Independent
Paris
The world has been shocked by the events in #Paris and the murder of journalists and cartoonists at the offices of Charlie Hedbo. It was an appalling attack of freedom of speech and the right of journalists to be rude and to attack politicians, religions and all those in positions of power. We pride ourselves on our ability to speak reasonably freely and we cherish the right to say what we like about all manner of topics. This right is limited of course by laws of defamation and such matters as not stirring up racial hatred. But lampooning or satirising power in all its forms does not in any way justify going into someone’s offices and gunning them down in a cold blooded attack.
But at times like this we have to be careful that those who wish to limit our freedom in different ways do not use these frightful and frightening events to seek greater powers to control our lives. It was no doubt a complete coincidence that Andrew Parker, the head of MI5, gave a speech the day after the Paris massacre arguing for yet more powers. The claim is that they needed these powers to tackle the increased risk of terrorist attacks in this country. In similar vein, the ‘snooper’s charter’ is back in the frame with the Home Secretary trying to reintroduce it.
We have to be very careful however not to lose basic liberties because of knee jerk reactions to events such as the Paris massacre.
We all of us want to be safe and we are happy to allow the security services to go about their business to keep us so. There is however a risk of ever greater intrusion and surveillance which can be misused to do things which are nothing to do with defeating terrorism. Revelations about the miner’s strike¹ where the security services were involved in framing Arthur Scargill and the role of the government of the day’s involvement in that, are a reminder that we need to keep a careful watch on their activities. Levenson showed the unholy alliance between the Metropolitan police and the press with information being sold by corrupt police officers. Undercover police officers are another example.
There is – or should be – a kind of contract in place. We say to the security services that we accept that if they have concerns about an individual or group of individuals, then they can intercept messages, emails, post and such like to find out what is happening. But there must be some political oversight to this. The Home Secretary should issue warrants and a close watch kept on the results. The Intelligence and Security Committee must also keep a watchful eye on our behalf. Another link in the chain is the press who should be keeping a critical eye on the politicians.
The Snowden revelations showed the huge extent of existing penetration of communications by GCHQ in the UK and the NSA in America. Names of all sorts of programs were revealed showing the shear scale of penetration. Of course this does not mean that everyday conversations are being listened to: that is impossible. But meta-data is collected and phone and email records are matched up to link individuals together who might be involved in potential criminal activity. Through all this hardly a word was seen in our media about it. After Snowden, there was scarcely any coverage in our press (in the UK) with the sole exception of one newspaper. The BBC and other broadcasters were largely silent.
It seemed to be a shock also to the Intelligence and Security Committee (ISC) chaired by Sir Malcolm Rifkind. Sir Malcolm’s shortcomings and seeming blindness cannot be expressed any better than this quote from the Guardian (14 December 2014) following the torture allegations:
‘[…] Malcolm Rifkind, who chairs the ISC, cannot by any figment of the imagination be deemed independent, nor is his committee. Why is this discredited committee allowed anywhere near an investigation into the spy agencies and torture? Nick Clegg says he wants to know the truth about torture. What is desperately needed is the appointment of a respected and credible panel of independent people to seriously investigate what GCHQ has been up to while hiding behind the NSA cloak of subterfuge.’
The Committee has failed to investigate, or show proper oversight, of the security services and their wholesale penetration activities, rendition or the contracting out of torture to countries such as Libya. Thus a key link in the chain is not there. The Committee is not fit for purpose. The near silence of the press is also disappointing. The tabloid press repeated the need for greater intrusion with little sign of critical analysis.
We all want security but as everyone has said following the Paris outrages, we live in a free society. The intelligence services have an important role to play but we must not lose our liberties in a panic reaction to those events.
1. see The Enemy Within by Seumas Milne, Verso, 2014
North Korean film
#northkorea
Sony Picture’s film The Interview, which was not screened due to the alleged hacking attack by North Korea, attracted considerable publicity at the end of last year. It represented a flagrant attempt by North Korea – if indeed they are the culprits – to silence the screening of a film about the fictional attempt to assassinate the leader of that country, Kim Jong-un.
Amnesty International has released The Other Interview which features the story of Park Ji-hyu who fled starvation in North Korea and was then trafficked into China and sold as a slave to a farmer. She was reported to the Chinese authorities as a defector and was forcibly returned to North Korea. She was sent to one of their hellish prison camps where she faced starvation and torture. She eventually managed to escape.
Amnesty International’s UK Director Kate Allen said ‘Sony has every right to make a comedy about North Korea. We should all be worried when blackmail, threats to cinemas, and the hacking of private data are being used to censor and silence.
‘In reality, many people in North Korea are subjected to an existence beyond nightmares. The population is ruled by fear with a network of prison camps a constant spectre for those who dare step out of line.
‘Thousands of people in the camps are worked to death, starved to death [or] beaten to death. Some are sent there just for knowing someone who has fallen out of favour.
‘Amnesty is releasing The Other Interview so that people all over the world can hear first-hand how people in North Korea are suffering appallingly at the hands of Kim Jong-un and his officials.
‘They don’t want you to see it which is precisely why you should.’
A preview can be seen on YouTube. We do not know if this film will be shown in Salisbury but we will see if we can arrange a viewing somewhere.
This is being written while the dreadful events are playing out in France following the assassination of journalists and cartoonists in the offices of Charlie Hebdo magazine in Paris. This is another attempt – this time by violent means – to silence criticism and the particular kind of satire that this magazine goes in for.
The Salisbury group’s North Korean YouTube video clip can be see here.
Death penalty report
This is the monthly #deathpenalty report with thanks to Lesley for compiling it. One interesting fact is that
Indonesia has suspended an execution following the airline crash which has meant the eyes of the world’s media is upon them.
We have added the Death Penalty Information site to list of links at the bottom of the home page
Urgent Action: #NorthKorea
We attach an urgent action concerning North Korea. Nine people have been forcibly returned to NK and
are at risk of torture and/or execution. We are pleased to see the country receiving a great deal more attention over the last year or so and there is now greater understanding of the ghastly conditions that people experience in the camps. Please write if you can.
Monthly meeting
UPDATE
The last meeting was on Thursday, 8th January. An agenda is attached. The minutes of the December meeting are also attached. Note that you can see all recent minutes by going to the ‘About Us’ tab on the front page.
We discussed:
- the results of the carol singing which had been very successful
- there was the December Death Penalty report
- we discussed North Korea and the increasing interest in that country, and in particular the human rights situation there, was noted
- the website numbers were given and that we now have 60 followers
- there was an update on the Magna Carta events and there is to be a meeting soon with the Cathedral to start doing more detailed planning
- the complete lack of interest by any of the sixth forms in the area to submit an essay was noted. This was extremely disappointing in view of the efforts made with leaflets and contacting the schools ahead of time to promote it.
- details on the Cathedral service are awaited
Minutes will be posted here as soon as they are available.
2014 in review
The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2014 annual report for this blog.
Here’s an excerpt:
A San Francisco cable car holds 60 people. This blog was viewed about 1,400 times in 2014. If it were a cable car, it would take about 23 trips to carry that many people.
Carol singing
Last night the Salisbury group went carol singing around several streets in the city. The singing was done by members of the
Farrant Singers which meant residents were treated to high quality singing from one of the finest choirs in Salisbury. To fortify us, we started the evening with a glass of vin chaud kindly provided by Michael and Chantal and afterwards, we all repaired to their house for home made soup, cheese and mince pies. A most successful evening and thanks to Michael and Chantal for their hospitality, Jonathan and Thomas for leafleting the houses the evening before and to the Farrant Singers themselves. Also to other group members who played a supporting role.
A happy Christmas to all our readers and followers around the world.
CIA torture #stoptorture
The world was shocked – briefly – last week with the publication of Dianna Feinstein’s report into the use of torture by the CIA around the world in its ‘war against terror.’ The report examines in great detail the methods and effectiveness of those methods and also the effects it will have on the United States’ reputation around the world. In her words:
‘[It has done] immeasurable damage to the United States’ public standing, as well as the United States’ longstanding global leadership on human rights in general and the prevention of torture in particular.’ (p16)
When we have campaigned in the street against the use of torture most people hurry on by, after all we don’t use torture in the UK do we? Some find the subject distasteful and even those who stop to sign a card will often decline to take a fact sheet with the details of what is happening to someone described on it. The fact remains that it is still widely used around the world despite the great majority of countries having signed UN pledges otherwise.
It has to be said in the United States’ defence that they are one of the few countries which could enable an investigation take place and then publish the results, despite redactions, for all to see. The United Kingdom who, along with other countries around the world, aided and abetted the CIA in its activities has gone to great lengths to frustrate, delay and otherwise prevent details of its involvement becoming known. It is to be hoped that over the coming months and years details will emerge to show our complicity in this sordid activity.
The report goes into great detail of the use and effectiveness of the methods used. The world was especially shocked to learn of ‘rectal feeding’. Precious little evidence is provided of any effectiveness. It notes that a lot of useful information was provided before suspects were then tortured and that many of the claims about counter-terrorism successes were ‘wrong on fundamental aspects’ (p2).
So how has this come about? Torture is of course as old as the hills. But there are several aspects which keep it alive in the modern state. Firstly a belief in its effectiveness despite evidence to the contrary. Part of the blame is a kind of Hollywood view of terrorism. The report quotes the TV series ’24’ the first of which showed a man being fearsomely tortured to reveal the vital secret which our hero then spends the next 24 hours dashing about trying to frustrate. Buried within this is the assumption that an individual has a key piece of information and once sufficient pain has been inflicted, he (or she) gives it up. But how does anyone know? The problem being that people will say anything to get it to stop so just because a piece of information is finally revealed, how does anyone know how accurate it is? This kind of thinking is demonstrated in the familiar question ‘if you knew someone had a key piece of information which could save hundreds of lives but he won’t tell you, wouldn’t you torture him to get hold of it?’ But how do you know it is key? The report notes that seven of the 39 detainees they looked at produced no information at all despite relentless beatings, waterboarding, starvation and sleep deprivation.
Another familiar Hollywood feature of crime series like CSI and NCIS for example, is the copious amounts of information that the officers seem to have at the press of a button. A screen suddenly appears on a wall with flashing dots to show where the culprit is and they all dash off to apprehend him. It is part of the technological view of crime detection. This engenders a belief that simply getting the information will enable the law enforcement agencies to close in on a terrorist cell. The problem was that the record keeping by the CIA was so poor combined with their lack of cooperation with other agencies such as the FBI, meant that little of value was derived from the activity. (p13) The reality of what actually happens on the ground is miles away from the fantasy world of TV series.
This Hollywood inspired view of the world goes someway to explain the public’s attitude to the revelations. It is seen as a regrettable necessity when a war is being fought against a terrorist enemy. If it keeps us safe, then what does it matter if someone is deprived of sleep for a few days to get them to talk? The end of saving hundreds of lives justifies the means of bad treatment of a handful of detainees. We cannot afford to be too squeamish when dealing with fanatics after all.
But the activity has corrupted the governing process. It was ineffective so lies were told about valuable information being gained when next to none was. People like Secretary of State Colin Powell were kept out of the loop. The media was deceived into believing that terrorism plots were being interdicted when in reality few if any were. The White House was lied to and up and down the CIA deception was practised. When some detainees died as a result of their torture no one was brought to account. Foreign governments were dragged into the process to provide locations known as ‘black sites’ where individuals were taken to be tortured. Foreign governments such as the UK government lied about ‘rendition’ flights through the UK, in particular Prestwick. The use of Diego Garcia which the USA leases from the UK, is a story which may slowly unravel over time.
Torture is widely practised around the world. It is routinely used to coerce people and to inhibit opposition parties. If the world’s leading nation – the United States – does it then the moral force they might apply to the nations who routinely use it is dissipated. Let us hope the Feinstein Report results in an end to the practice in the States.
Amnesty in Salisbury & South Wiltshire 