Amnesty in Salisbury & South Wiltshire
Promoting human rights from Salisbury UK
The group’s death penalty report for June – July 2016 is now available thanks to group member Lesley for
compiling it. USA features strongly where there are a number of struggles going on. The Maldives appear and we have written to our local MP Mr John Glen, who has a special interest in the country, to intercede.
China remains the country which executes the most followed by Iran and Saudi Arabia. Details of executions in China are a state secret.
UPDATE 23 JULY
The following letter has been sent to John Glen MP concerning the imminent use of the death penalty in the Maldives. Mr Glen has spoken and written often about the human rights situation there.
[…] You may remember that, when you came to speak to our Group about HumanRights, you told us of your particular interest and involvement in the issuesaround Human Rights in the Maldives.I am sure, therefore, you will have been concerned, as was our Group, to readof the Maldives Government’s confirmation of the sentencing to death of ayoung man found guilty of the killing in 2012 of a lawmaker. I understand that,days before this ruling, the Government had amended the rules to allowexecution by lethal injection or hanging. This would bring the Country’sdecades-long moratorium on capital punishment to an end.I would be grateful if you could let me know whether our Government will bemaking any intervention in this man’s case, and expressing their concerns atthis change of policy. You will also, I am sure, be aware that the decision iscontroversial, and has resulted in the resignation of the Country’s ForeignMinister, Dunya Maumoon. We would like to ask whether you would be ableto use your influence with any of the Government contacts you will have madein the course of your work in relation to the Maldives to support thecommuting of this man’s death sentence to a term of imprisonment, and areversal of the new policy.[…]
[..] I do remain closed involved with monitoring the situation in Maldives and I believer that there are number of issues there give give cause for grave concern.You may have seen reports about the recent return to Salisbury of Anni Nasheed, the democratically elected president of the Maldives, who has recently been imprisoned in his home country on entirely spurious grounds. I am pleased that I was able to see him while he was here and bring myself up to date with the latest developments.As you will know, the UK opposes the death penalty in all circumstances as a matter of principle and the government continues to call on all countries around the world that use the death penalty to cease its use.As you say, this apparent selective reintroduction of the death penalty is deeply worrying. A group of colleagues and I are committed to keeping the Maldives in forefront of the minds of Foreign Office ministers and I will certainly ensure that specific pressure has been brought to bear around this case.[…]
It seems hardly credible that someone who has spent 34 years on death row should now be at risk of execution but that is the case with John Wayne Conner in Georgia. The details are below and if you are able to write we would be grateful. This is URGENT however.
Amnesty is opposed to the death penalty. China remains the country which executes more than any other country. See our monthly report.
Human rights groups around the world have condemned the decision by the U.N. to remove Saudi Arabia from a blacklist of countries which are accused of abusing children’s rights. This arises from their bombing activities in the Yemen conflict but also the general treatment of children in Saudi. In Yemen, 1,953 children were killed and it is estimated that 60% of these deaths are as a result of Saudi bombing. Britain is a major supplier of weapons to the regime and British service personnel are advising the Saudis.
The kingdom, who routinely violates their own citizens’ human rights on a daily basis, threw a fit when the UN published its report and threatened to withhold funding from the organisation.
Foreign Policy reported that:
senior Saudi diplomats told top U.N. officials Riyadh would use its influence to convince other Arab governments and the Organization of Islamic Cooperation to sever ties with the United Nations.
On Monday, Ban Ki-moon said
The Saudi coalition would be removed from the list, pending a review. Saudi U.N. Ambassador Abdallah Al-Mouallimi insisted the removal was “irreversible and unconditional.”
Human rights groups, including Amnesty, have rightfully condemned and blasted the UN for their reversal:
It appears that political power and diplomatic clout have been allowed to trump the U.N.’s duty to expose those responsible for the killing and maiming of more than 1,000 of Yemen’s children,
Sajjad Mohammad Sajid, Oxfam’s country director in Yemen, said in a statement:
The decision to retract its finding is a moral failure and goes against everything the U.N. is meant to stand for.
Philippe Bolopion, Human Rights Watch deputy director for global advocacy, said that the office “has hit a new low by capitulating to Saudi Arabia’s brazen pressure” and “Yemen’s children deserve better.”
Amnesty International’s UN office claimed:
…if the U.N. doesn’t start standing up for human rights and its own principles then they will become part of the problem rather than the solution.
Saudi Arabia will not be the first country to browbeat the UN – at one time or another all countries have done it especially where embarrassing national interest is a stake. This does seem to have been an especially egregious example however as the Saudi state’s crimes against children, and others, is well documented. Combined with the bizarre election of the Saudi’s onto the Human Rights Council of the UN – supported shamefully by the UK Government – it begins to make a mockery of this international body.
The minutes of the June meeting are now available thanks to group member Lesley for typing them up. We discussed the stall on Saturday; the film at the Arts Centre; the video based on North Korea and the death penalty among other things. The full minutes can be read below:
At its meeting on Thursday evening, the group decided that the profits from the stall which will take place in the market square in Salisbury tomorrow – Saturday – will go to this month’s Amnesty Urgent Action. In the event we took £234 so over £460 will go the the African state. Thanks to all those who helped on the stall and who bought things from us.
This action concerns the treatment of women in Burkina Faso and in neighbouring Sierra Leone. They are subject to forced marriages often to men who are up to 50 years older than them. Some can be married as young as 10. They have no choice over these marriages nor when nor whether to get pregnant. Some have babies at such a young age that their lives can be threatened or they experience lasting medical complications including incontinence. Female Genital Mutilation is also common.
The Department for International Development DfID has agreed to match any funds raised by Amnesty for a programme of education in those countries.
You can read further details if you wish
UPDATE: 23 June
Report sent to the Salisbury Journal and was published 23 June can be read here:
The funds raised by the Salisbury group of Amnesty International at their stall last Saturday are to be sent to Burkina Faso in Africa as part of a programme to help girls and women in those countries.The group managed to raise over £234 and this will be doubled by the Department for International Development to make £468. In Burkina Faso, whether you are a girl or a woman, you are prevented from making crucial decisions about marriage and whether or when to get pregnant. Some girls as young as 10 are married and their partners can be as much as fifty years their senior. Physical and sexual violence against women and girls is common and a particular concern is the large number of pregnancy complications and death among girls who bodies are not yet ready to bear children.Amnesty in Burkina Faso is working with 5 of the shelters which house girls who have been subject to early forced marriage or female genital mutilation.Andrew Hemming, the chair of the local group said “we are delighted to have contributed to this scheme and for the funds to go to such a good purpose. The doubling of the monies raised by DfID makes it extremely worthwhile.” Further details can be found on the group website
A former Swindon Amnesty member and lawyer, Catherine Dunmore, has secured funds from a crowdsourcing site to enable her to go to the state of Florida in the USA to work on first degree murder cases. She has been there three weeks now and she has a blog which is worth reading. Florida is one of the states still using the death penalty.
We hope you will follow her blog and also be moved to send funds to her crowdfunding site.
This is the text of a letter sent to the Salisbury Journal but which was not published:
The Salisbury Group of Amnesty International is campaigning to end the use of the death penalty around the world. Of particular concern to the local group is its use in countries like Iran to execute juveniles.As the report recently published by Amnesty shows, around the world at least 1,634 people were executed last year, a 54% increase on the previous year. This excludes China where the numbers are a state secret.Frequently, after a high-profile murder or terrorist action in this country, someone will call for the death penalty to be re-introduced. When emotions run high it’s almost understandable, but it would be a mistake. The Amnesty report shows how in nearly every country where they still apply capital punishment, trials are grossly unfair, defendants are mistreated in prison, and legal representation is shockingly poor. In the USA, defence lawyers have fallen asleep during trials. In Iran, hearings may last only ten minutes. In China, where torture is rife, thousands are executed. This is not a club we want to join.Further details can be seen on the Group’s web site http://www.salisburyai.com/ and we would welcome anyone who would like to join us in our campaign to end the practice of the execution of juveniles in Iran.
We attach the monthly death penalty report, this time for 2 months, prepared by group member Lesley. China doesn’t figure in the report as its executions are a state secret but is believed to be the world’s leader in the numbers executed.
The group meets this Thursday 9 June at 7.30 at 4, Victoria Road as usual. The agenda is below:
1 Apologies
2 Minutes of last meeting
3 Treasurer’s report
4 Update on Campaigns
5 Social Media
6 Market Stall (Saturday)
7 Monthly Action
8 Arts Centre Film (15/12)
9 School Citizenship day (October)
10 Other forthcoming events (inc possible venue for coffee morning, barbecue)
11 AOB
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Amnesty in Salisbury & South Wiltshire 