Amnesty in Salisbury & South Wiltshire
Promoting human rights from Salisbury UK
June 2024
We are pleased to attach the minutes of our June meeting thanks to group member Lesley for producing them. We have noted before that they are rather longer than normal minutes but as we do not produce a newsletter they act as a kind of replacement for that.
As we are the only group in Wiltshire now, any ex-members of the Marlborough or Devizes groups who might just pick up on this are welcome to get in touch. Also north Dorset. You would be welcome to come to our summer party.
June 2024
We are pleased to attach the report for mid May to mid June 2024 thanks to group member Lesley for compiling it. It covers many areas including African states and the shocking number of executions in Iran. As ever to note that China is believed to execute more of its citizens than the rest of the world combined but the numbers are a state secret.
May 2024
We are pleased to attach our latest monthly report covering the period mid April to mid May thanks to the work of group member Lesley in compiling it.
April 2024
We are pleased to attach this month’s report for the period mid March to mid April thanks for group member Lesley for the work in compiling it. Reports include those from USA, Congo, Pakistan and Russia.
March 2024
We are pleased to attach the minutes of the group’s meeting in March thanks to group member Lesley for producing them. As we have explained before, they are lengthier than one would expect from normal minutes but as we do not produce a newsletter, they provide information of possible interest for recipients and supporters.
Due to a misunderstanding of WordPress statistics, previous reports of visitor numbers were erroneously reported and in fact are at a much higher level than realised. This arose because ‘visits’ are in fact visits by new people. Existing visitors – those whose IP address will be recognised – are not included in the figure.
March 2024
We are pleased to attach the February – March death penalty report thanks to group member Lesley for the work in compiling it. Note as ever, there are no details from China which is believed to execute more of its citizens than any other country, because the information is a state secret.
February 2024
We are pleased to attach this months death penalty report covering the period mid-January to mid-February thanks to group member Lesley for the work in compiling it. It contains details from Iran, which has gone on an execution ‘spree’ to try and silence protests, Japan, Zimbabwe and China but note that it is believed to be the world’s largest executioner but details are a state secret.
January 2024
Kenneth Smith was executed yesterday (25 January) in Alabama after serving over 30 years on death row. What brought the execution to world-wide attention was the use of nitrogen hypoxia as the chosen method. Reports seem to show that the execution was prolonged and took over 20 minutes to complete. One report said he ‘thrashed violently’ while dying. This is the first time the gas has been used to execute someone and is as a result of pharmaceutical companies, in America and elsewhere, being reluctant to supply the drugs needed for lethal injection.
The jury in his trial voted for a life sentence but the judge in the case overruled them.
This was not the first attempt at executing Smith: there was an attempt in November 2022 by lethal injection but which failed after several unsuccessful efforts to find a vein. Smith suffered considerably during and after that attempt.
Executions are declining in the USA, the only country in the Americas which still executes its citizens.
Amnesty is opposed to the use of the death penalty in all circumstances.
Sources: BBC; Death Penalty Information Center; Montgomery Advertiser; Birmingham Real-Time News
January 2024
We are pleased to attach the minutes of our last meeting held on Thursday 11th January with thanks to group member Lesley for preparing them. They give details of forthcoming activities. New members are always welcome and perhaps the best thing if you are thinking of joining is to come to one of our events and make yourself known. It is free to join the local group but if you wish to join Amnesty International UK there is a fee.
January 2024
We attach the latest monthly death penalty report around the world for the period mid December 2023 to mid January 2024 thanks to group member Lesley for its preparation. We note as usual that there is no information from China – believed to execute more of its citizens than the rest of the world combined – because the information is a state secret. It is noted that in 2023, the USA was the only G7 country to execute people with Texas the state carrying out most executions.
Amnesty in Salisbury & South Wiltshire 