December 2023
Our monthly meeting is today starting at 2pm in Victoria Road. Supporters and new members welcome.
75th anniversary
Today – 10 December – is the 75th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights
December 2023
Today marks the 75th anniversary of one of the world’s most ground-breaking global pledges: the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR). This landmark document enshrines the inalienable rights that everyone is entitled to as a human being – regardless of race, colour, religion, sex, language, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status.
In one sense, we should be celebrating what was a great event. Yet surveying the world today, one wonders to what extent its aspirations are being followed. In many parts of the world, people are denied rights because of colour, race, religion or social status. Millions have been displaced and live in camps with only limited facilities. A war rages in Gaza. In China, around a million Uyghurs suffer persecution because of their faith.
Here in the UK, instead of celebration, we await a vote this week to see if parliament will agree to disapplying parts of the Human Rights Act – a child of the Declaration – and some within the Conservative party wish to see us leave the European Convention. Parts of the media carry out a regular assault on the act blaming it for many of our ills and allegedly providing a safety net for terrorists and criminals. There are many in positions of power who would like to see the act abolished or at least seriously curtailed. A sad commentary after three quarters of a century.
Today (10th) we shall be in the Cathedral for our annual Christmas signing for prisoners of conscience. From 10:00 till noon.
Write for Rights
This Sunday, 10 December at the Cathedral
December 2023
Past event
Members of the Salisbury Group will be at the Cathedral cloisters from around 10 o’clock on Sunday for our annual Write for Rights and people in Salisbury are invited to come and sign. We must not forget that many people are in prison or at risk of execution often for no more than disagreeing with the powers that be in their country. They have committed no crime but have may said something disobliging or critical of a president, king or other leader and frequently without trial, can end up in prison for many years. Human Rights defenders, lawyers or journalists are all caught up in this activity.
United Kingdom
The situation in the UK is fast approaching a kind of crisis concerning the issue of deporting people to Rwanda. The government will be tabling a bill next week to disapply sections of the Human Rights Act to enable the deportation of immigrants to Rwanda. Previous plans were blocked by the Supreme Court because the human rights situation in Rwanda is unsatisfactory. Refugees sent there were at risk of refoulement that is being sent back to a country where they would be at risk of bad treatment of some kind. A plan last June to despatch a plane load from Boscombe Down, an airfield a mile or so from where this is being written, was halted by the European Court.
The issue of the ‘boat people’ has become a major issue for the government being one of the Prime Minister’s 5 objectives. Although only a small part of the overall level of immigration, it has assumed huge significance to the point where there might be a confidence vote next week if the bill is not passed. Ostensibly, it is partly due to anger around the gangs involved in organising the crossings. The hope is that if the Rwanda deportations can get underway, this will act as a disincentive to people wishing to cross the Channel. There are many who view this as wishful thinking.
Critics, including Conservative politicians, point out that the bill – even if it becomes law – will not prevent claimants appealing to Strasbourg thus delaying the deportation process until way beyond the likely date of the General Election. This is leading some politicians to demand that we leave the European Court as well.
A leading proponent of this is Danny Kruger the MP for Devizes in Wiltshire, who is co-founder of the ‘New Conservatives’ whose ten point plan is built around immigration matters.
The whole matter has reached almost absurd levels. The Supreme Court looked carefully at the evidence and concluded that Rwanda is not a safe country. Critics and journalists are frequently detained and tortured in detention. Opposition is effectively banned. There are disappearances. A new treaty has been signed between the UK and Rwanda a few days ago which claims to overcome these human rights problems identified by the Supreme Court and clear the way for deportations to take place.
It is almost an example of national hysteria combined with false promises coming home to roost. It was claimed that Brexit would enable the UK to regain its sovereignty a benefit of which was to stop boat crossings and reduce immigration generally. Yet recent figures show immigration at a record 745,000. The vast majority are here legitimately and are needed in a range of sectors such as health, horticulture and care homes. These organisations would find operating without them almost impossible. Yet hysteria has been ratcheted up by the media with its focus on the boat crossings. New proposals will prevent family members joining those already here which will cause great anguish in many, many cases.
We have now arrived at a situation where the government wished to disapply parts of the Human Rights Act and even contemplate departing from the European Convention to join Russia which was ejected in 2022. The statements around this matter by local MP Danny Kruger are to be regretted.
Attacks on UK human rights
Human Rights Watch warn of risk of authoritarianism in the UK
November 2023
The latest Daily Brief from HRW warns of a deteriorating situation with regard to human rights in the UK which they say is ‘worsening’. The right to protest peacefully is under threat as we saw recently with the Palestinian march which the then Home Secretary was keen to ban. She attempted to force the police to ban the march which they declined to do.
They say that we are beginning to move towards a place where the government feels it can undermine the integrity of the judiciary, undermine or scrap human rights laws that don’t serve the current political agenda and to create new laws that do. It is ‘beginning to look very much like authoritarianism’.
A lot of this activity has been driven by two forces: the arrival of the ‘boat people’ across the Channel and the activities of climate protestors. The Palestine marches have recently reinforced this. In all cases, there has been a major outcry from the right wing media joined recently by Talk TV and GB News and this may have led the government to respond the way they have. There is an inherent dislike of protest and the publicity it is able to generate. Despite the march being largely peaceful, it did not stop them being described as ‘hate marchers’ by some. Members of the governing party, including the deputy chair, and soon Boris Johnson, have their own programmes on these channels to promote their views.
Danny Kruger, MP for Devizes in Wiltshire, is joint leader of the ‘New’ Conservatives pressing for the abolition of the HRA and for our departure from the European Convention.
Plan to block HRA
Plan to disapply the Human Rights Act reported
November 2023
A report in the Guardian suggests the government proposes to disapply the HRA and block its use to enable the deportation of asylum seekers to Rwanda. This follows the Supreme Court’s decision last week that Rwanda is not a safe country and individuals sent there would be at risk of refoulement. The government is under considerable pressure from the right of the party and in particular the ‘New’ Conservatives jointly led by Danny Kruger MP who is the member for Devizes in Wiltshire.
Human Rights Watch on UK events
HRW comments on the extraordinary events yesterday in the UK
November 2023
This is a piece from today’s (16 November) from HRW.
| A Welcome Decision in the UK Regular Daily Brief readers may recall our story on the UK government’s obsession with cruelty, shown by its intention to ship asylum seekers to Rwanda, a country with a terrible rights record. I’m happy to report a good-news update to this story: yesterday, the UK Supreme Court said Rwanda is not a safe country for the government’s plans. As my UK colleague Emilie McDonnell writes, the decision was “a huge victory that will protect the rights of countless people who have come to the UK seeking safety.” In a unanimous judgment, the UK’s highest court drew attention to Rwanda’s poor human rights record, including threats to Rwandans living in the UK, alongside extrajudicial killings, deaths in custody, enforced disappearances, torture, and restrictions on media and political freedoms. The Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has responded by vowing to introduce emergency legislation “to confirm Rwanda is safe. ”Instead of arguing with reality, he would be wiser to ditch the government’s unlawful Rwanda deal. |
Arms trade news
Campaign Against the Arms Trade’s latest newsletter is disturbing
November 2023
When we see the latest conflict on our screens, we almost do not notice the weaponry being used to cause the death and destruction. Ukraine has for the moment been displaced by the problems in Palestine and Gaza and the advance of the IDF into that territory. Yemen has taken a back seat in recent months and it is true there is currently a truce in place. A key supplier of arms is the UK and the Campaign Against the Arms Trade (CAAT) newsletter, Autumn 2023, sets out some of the data and statistics concerning our role in these conflicts. We highlight two current issues.
In the case of Saudi Arabia, we are a major supplier of weaponry and BAE has 6,300 employees based there. Saudi bombing of civilian targets has caused untold misery among the population of the poorest country in the world. The Saudi prince, Mohammed bin Salman is due to come to the UK to meet the Prime Minister which has caused the relationship between ourselves and the kingdom to be put under the spotlight and has caused outrage among a number of campaigning groups. The UK claims it puts human rights at the centre of its discussions but there is no evidence of this.
Another conflict is in Gaza following the horrific attack on Israeli settlements on 7 October 2023. The UK has ‘consistently sold arms to Israel’ CAAT reports despite the illegal and growing number of settlements on the West Bank. Between 2018 and 2022, we exported £146m in arms via Single Issue Export Licences. However, they report there are a large number of Open General Export Licences which include components for the F35 stealth combat aircraft. This would imply a value of $72m in 2022. As the conflict has progressed and the misery inflicted on the people of Gaza increases, the morality of our continued sale of arms to Israel is called into question.
When we see these conflicts unfold around the world, we should always be aware that, as one of the world’s largest exporters of military equipment, a proportion of the weapons being used were provided by the UK. As bad as that is, it could be mitigated a little if the UK exerted tight control over the issue of licences and how, and upon whom, the weapons are used. Do not forget that it is always women and children who suffer the most in these conflicts not just from immediate injuries from shells or shrapnel, but long term trauma from having witnessed scenes we would not wish on anyone. Modern weapons are capable of considerable destruction that will take many years to rectify when the conflict is over. The evidence seems to be that the desire by our government for exports and the need to create employment, trumps considerations of humanity or human rights.
CAAT has been campaigning against the Defence and Security Equipment International arms fair which takes place each year at the Excel Centre. It is supported by the government with several ministers speaking and civil servants on hand to meet and greet. “Put simply” CAAT comments “DSEI is where war begins”. The countries attending include a roll call of oppressive regimes keen to secure the latest technology. Our support for this fair and the help offered to arms companies to secure deals with oppressive regimes, means we are complicit in the denial of rights and the continuation of conflicts around the world.
Source: CAAT News, Issue 267 Autumn 2023
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.
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.
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.
Amnesty in Salisbury & South Wiltshire 