Amnesty in Salisbury & South Wiltshire
Promoting human rights from Salisbury UK
Three year report on the group’s activities is published
The three year report, prepared by our chair, is published and shows what we have achieved over this time. It is always interesting to look back and review progress and for a small group, we have done a lot in the last 3 years.
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The death penalty report is now available thanks to group member Lesley for the work in putting it together. The report covers several countries but it must always be remembered that China leads the world in executing its citizens.
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The march was a huge success and was attended by at least 15, 000 people. A fuller report and pictures will be posted soon.
Women, men and children around the world are fleeing war, persection and torture. They have been forced into the hands of smugglers and onto dangerous journeys across the sea in rickety old boats and dinghys. Many have lost their lives. Those who have made it often find themselves stranded in makeshift camps in train stations, ports or by the roadside.
And still, politicians across Europe fail to provide safe and legal routes for people to seek asylum.
Meanwhile, ordinary people have responded with extraordinary displays of humanity and generosity. They’ve been moved to act after seeing thousands of people drowning in the Mediterranean, the continuing misery of camps in places like Calais, and images of the brutal conflicts across the world.
We need to tell the Prime Minister Theresa May that we want to help.
The UK government must do more – let’s call on them to:
The march starts at 11:30 outside Green Park station and ends in Parliament Square.
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On the BBC last night (6 September) there was an item concerning arms sales by Britain to Saudi Arabia. Readers of this blog will be no strangers to this item and we have been highlighting this trade for some time. The weapons are being used to bomb Yemen and targets include hospitals, schools and even wedding parties. British service personnel are involved in the command centre doing what is not entirely clear.
At last the Commons Committee on Arms Export Controls is asking questions and a leak of their report said:
The weight of evidence of violations of international humanitarian law by the Saudi-led coalition in Yemen is now so great that it is very difficult to continue to support Saudi Arabia while maintaining the credibility of our arms licensing regime
Oxfam is among the agencies who have been critical of this trade and the results in Yemen. At least 4,000 have died, many have had to flee their homes and among the dead are women and children. Oxfam said:
The UK government is in denial and disarray over its arms sales to the Saudi-led coalition bombing campaign in Yemen. It has misled its own parliament about its oversight of arms sales and its international credibility is in jeopardy as it commits to action on paper but does the opposite in reality
Even now, the Foreign Office continues to defend the sales and Boris Johnson has reportedly defended the Saudis saying:
They have the best insight into its own procedures and will be able to conduct the most thorough and conclusive investigation
Will be able to but will they?
Of course this is linked to the powerful lobbying by the arms firms themselves and countries like Saudi (who have a representative Adel al-Jubeir here to try and persuade the Committee not to recommend banning arms sales). The current version of Private Eye (1246) has a lengthy report on what is called the ‘revolving door,’ that is the huge numbers of senior civil servants, ex-ministers and senior military people who move from their posts into companies and firms linked to their previous roles. It makes the point that sound government is eroded if ministers and other senior people are hoping to hop into a lucrative directorship or consultancy once they leave government or the services. In a four page report it lists the shear numbers moving out of government or the services into commercial posts usually linked to their previous roles. How likely are they to stop sales to Saudi if it could jeopardise their post ministerial employment?
The Committee meets today so it will be interesting to hear what they decide.
Sources: BBC; International Business Times; the Sun; Oxfam; Amnesty International
We attach the latest monthly death penalty report with thanks to group member Lesley for compiling it. A fairly full report with a big section on Turkey which is contemplating reintroducing the death penalty following the recent failed coup.
August 2016
Harassment and trials of over 230 human rights lawyers and activists are underway in China. This is part of a crackdown started by the Chinese government in July of 2015. The trials are extremely dubious with suspects turning up and uttering robotic statements in court reminiscent of the Soviet trials decades ago. People are arrested, denied access to lawyers and detained in unknown locations. This by a country which is on the Security Council of the UN.
The charges include nebulous statements such as ‘harmed national security and social stability’. The courts are sealed off and foreign journalists are not allowed entry being blocked by large numbers of police.
The US embassy in Beijing has said:
[the] US remains concerned by the Chinese governments continuing efforts to harass, intimidate and prosecute defense lawyers and human rights activists for their work.
The prevailing narrative concerning China is that of a country growing stronger. True the relentless predictions of when it would overtake the USA have disappeared of late but nevertheless, stories about its military buildup and foreign investments still fill the pages. But this activity of cracking down on dissenters, the strange abductions of Hong Kong booksellers, a strictly controlled press and the Chinese internet wall do not speak of strength but of a leadership which is fearful. The one party system has delivered so far but with more and more Chinese travelling the world and finding ways to circumvent the internet wall, there must come a time when sufficient people realise the fictions told to them are just that.
Last year the Chinese premier was given a shameless welcome in the UK as part of the government’s policy of cosying up to China in the hope of receiving their investment. It is interesting that Theresa May has paused the Hinkley Point power station investment – with substantial Chinese money – and one of the concerns is security. With Stuxnet in mind (where software was introduced into Iranian centrifuges to get them to burn out) the worry must be that the Chinese government will introduce a deliberate flaw in the design to activate if need be.
The Chinese government has managed to achieve world wide condemnation for these trials and they are to be deplored. Let us hope that a more robust attitude is adopted to the Chinese government in future and the craven approach by George Osborne and David Cameron is no more.
Sources: Amnesty UK; Los Angeles Times; Washington Post; The Guardian
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We attach an urgent action just issued by Amnesty concerning individuals in Kuwait. If you can find time to write or get in touch that would be appreciated.
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There is something of an execution spree going on in Indonesia at present with a number of people already executed by firing squad and more likely to follow. This is a message sent out by Amnesty UK: –
I’m getting in touch with sad news. Last night, Indonesian authorities killed four prisoners by firing squad. All four had been convicted of drugs crimes, their families only told yesterday morning that their loved one would be killed that night.
Indonesian Fredi Budiman, and Nigerian prisoners Humphrey ‘Jeff’ Jefferson Ejike, Michael Titus Igweh, and Seck Osmane had their right to life taken from them in the depth of night in the middle of a raging storm. They were shot dead by a firing squad on Indonesia’s infamous ‘execution island’.
But ten more prisoners received a last-minute stay of execution.
The lives of ten more people hang in the balance. And we need to make sure the Indonesian authorities do not go ahead with these executions.
Thanks to [Amnesty supporters] contacting the Indonesian authorities and sharing the story, the tragic execution of four people last night made headlines around the world. All we can do now is keep calling for justice and for an end to the executions – with the hope that pressure from around the world will save the ten lives at stake.
Do please share our action to stop the remaining executions. Go to the Amnesty UK site for more details on how to take action.
action@amnesty.co.uk
For most of this year we have been commenting on the war in Yemen and the human rights situation in Saudi Arabia. We wrote to the Salisbury MP John Glen, who replied enclosing a bland statement from the Foreign Office Minister, Tobias Ellwood. We have noted the government’s activities in getting the Saudi’s onto the UN’s Human Rights Council and the continued supply of arms to the Saudis despite their use in Yemen on civilian targets, schools and medical facilities. We have also noted the steady softening of policies to make it easier – it is believed – for arms companies to ply their trade. The Telegraph reported in an article in February, the difference between Syria and Yemen. In the former country, bombing of a MSF hospital led to outrage by press and politicians in the UK: by contrast, bombing of MSF hospitals in Yemen is greeted by a deafening silence :
Alas, this is not merely about Western indifference but about complicity and collusion. Last October, Britain and the US successfully blocked plans for a UN independent investigation into potential war crimes committed by Saudi Arabia in Yemen. This was a unique opportunity to hold all sides of the conflict accountable for their actions. Instead, Saudi Arabia has been allowed to investigate itself through its own internal commission. (24 Feb 2016)
Then, on Thursday 21st July when parliament rose, there was a curious statement issued by the FCO. It has been forced to retract numerous written and oral statements to parliament which said ministers had assessed that Saudi Arabia was not in breach of international humanitarian law in Yemen.
The admission led to calls by the Liberal Democrats for an investigation into Saudi behaviour in Yemen and a suspension of UK arms sales. The Liberal Democrats have repeatedly claimed that the Saudi military campaign has targeted civilians. We also drew attention in a previous blog to the presence of British service personnel in Saudi control rooms. The Foreign Office said the incorrect statements – made by three different ministers, some as far back as six months ago – were errors and did not represent an attempt to mislead MPs over its assessment of the Saudi campaign.
It stressed that other written answers had made clear that the UK government had made no assessment of whether the Saudis were in breach of humanitarian law.
The last day of parliament is a favourite time to slip out inconvenient statements since there is no time for questions or debate to take place. The FCO simply said it had been reviewing the correspondence.
The government is facing a court case arguing that it should ban arms sales to Saudi Arabia. The Guardian newspaper said:
In its written answer published on Thursday, the Foreign Office said written answers in February 2016 had stated: “We have assessed that there has not been a breach of IHL (international humanitarian law) by the coalition.” The correction said these should have stated: “We have not assessed that there has been a breach of IHL by the coalition.”
The Foreign Office also corrected a written answer by the then foreign secretary, Philip Hammond, who stated on 4 January 2016: “I regularly review the situation with my own advisers and have discussed it on numerous occasions with my Saudi counterpart. Our judgment is that there is no evidence that IHL has been breached, but we shall continue to review the situation regularly.”
This is something of a volt face and to issue such a statement on the last day of parliament is shameful. It achieved its object however with next to no media coverage. Why does it matter? We are currently suffering a severe threat from ISIS with a recent outrage in Nice said to be inspired by the group. Saudi Arabia’s activities in Yemen, supported by US and UK weapons, personnel and political cover, provide an ideal recruiting ground for this terrorist group. At present all eyes are on Syria but how long will it be before our activities in Yemen come under the spotlight?
The minutes of the July meeting are available here thanks to group member Lesley for preparing them. A full meeting in which we discussed the death penalty report; the results of the stall; the film at the Arts Centre; social media statistics; the meeting at the Cathedral and the BBQ in August. We also discussed the letter sent to John Glen about the Maldives (reply awaited).
Amnesty in Salisbury & South Wiltshire 