Amnesty in Salisbury & South Wiltshire
Promoting human rights from Salisbury UK
UPDATE: 8 October. Richard Glossip has been given an indefinite stay of execution
We attach the monthly death penalty report for September thanks to group member Lesley for compiling it. China remains the world leader in the use of the death penalty.
We now have a tumblr site which can be found at salisburyai.tumblr.com. There isn’t much there at present but give it time …
The minutes of the September meeting are now available thanks to Lesley. We discussed North Korea, the death penalty (see separate post on this), the forthcoming vigil on 17 October and agreeing to write to John Glen concerning his failure to reply to our letter of 5 August.
Letter in today’s Guardian (8 September):
The government would do much better to raid the export credit guarantee scheme [rather than the overseas aid budget] and other subsidies to the arms trade. This would raise funds for refugee provision and reduce arms sales to Middle Eastern states, impacting directly on the latter’s ability to wage war on their and other populations in the region.
Benjamin Selwyn, Director, Centre for Global Political Economy, University of Sussex
Last month, we wrote to John Glen MP asking that his government take a more robust line with the Saudi Arabian government in view of the large increase in executions and floggings, many of which are carried out in public. We noted that the French president Francois Holland had spoken publicly against the practice despite large arms sales in the offing. The British government has said it prefers to lobby in private and to pursue a policy of quiet diplomacy. By contrast, the Swedish government has ended arms exports to the country. As policies go, it is one which is conspicuous by its failure to achieve anything at all and in other contexts would be declared ‘not fit for purpose’.
A recently published report by Amnesty shows that Saudi Arabia is one the top three world executioners after China (which executes thousands but the statistics are a state secret) and Iran. Between January 1985 and June 2015, 2,208 were put to death. 102 have been executed in the first 6 months of 2015. Crimes include ‘witchcraft,’ ‘sorcery’ and ‘apostasy’. In some cases relatives are often not notified of the execution.
The FCO’s July in-year update on Saudi says:
We remain concerned about the continued use of the death penalty in Saudi Arabia, including the fact that trials and executions do not meet the minimum standards which the EU advocates in countries where the death penalty is applied. We regularly raise the issue with the Saudi authorities, bilaterally and through the EU, and will continue to do so. There has been a significant rise in the number of executions this year. While no official figures are published, according to statistics reported by NGOs over 100 people have been executed since 1 January. NGOs report that the majority of executions were for murder and drug-related offences
In response to our letter to Mr Glen, we received a letter from a FCO minister, Mr Tobias Ellwood, which assured us that the Foreign Office was doing all it could to end the practice and that ‘the abolition of the death penalty is a human rights priority for the UK’. The HMG Strategy for Abolition of the Death Penalty (2010 – 2015) states:
Promoting human rights and democracy is a priority for the UK. It is a long standing policy of the UK to oppose the death penalty in all circumstances as a matter of principle (p2)
Within days of receiving this letter however, we discovered that it is no longer an explicit FCO policy. The new policy has dropped any reference to abolishing the death penalty. We also noted that Private Eye had a piece on the very same Mr Ellwood who had been a guest of the Saudi Government on a £6,000 fact-finding visit sponsored by a defence forum.
It’s hard not to come to the conclusion that defence sales matter far more than the dreadful human rights situation in countries like Saudi Arabia which – apart from public floggings and beheadings – tortures its citizens and has severe restrictions on the lives of its women. Saudi Arabia is the leading destination for UK arms sales amounting to £1.6bn in 2014.
Nicholas Gilby of the Campaign Against the Arms Trade (CAAT) reported on the high level of corruption in this industry:
This paper examines the Government’s approach to corruption within the UK arms industry and shows it has very dirty hands …
… civil servants told to ‘look the other way’ and not ask awkward questions.
Chemring, which has one of its factories just outside Salisbury, had sales to Saudi Arabia of £47.8m last year and £97.6m in 2013 (source: annual report).
UK governments have invested a lot into the arms trade. Support includes marketing support via DESO (Defence Exports Services Organisation); export credit guarantees; around £26m in R&D costs and something called ‘launch customer support’ which is buying weapons from a UK supplier even though overseas suppliers are cheaper. There are also missions by ministers and members of the Royal family to foreign countries like Saudi.
Could it be that the Foreign Office was embarrassed by such an explicit policy in the face of a rising tide of executions in countries such as Saudi Arabia; Pakistan and India, all countries where arms sales are important?
Successive governments have claimed a devotion to human rights and a commitment to end the death penalty. The reality it seems is that arms sales trump this commitment and in dropping the express statement of policy, the FCO is at least being honest.
Following the change of wording by the FCO which seemed to be in contradiction to the assurances given to us by the minister and Mr Glen, we wrote again asking why the policy had changed. We await a reply…
UPDATE: 3 August
At the end of this blog we wrote ‘it seems therefore that nothing will change’. How wrong can you be as it has just been announced that the FCO will no longer be specifically campaigning for the abolition of the death penalty. The FCO message to us was dated 6 July and Mr Glen’s covering letter dated 14 July. So in the space of a few weeks abolishing the death penalty world wide has gone from ‘a human rights priority for the UK’ to being no longer a policy. The group plans to write to Mr Glen again to seek clarification.
July 2015
The Salisbury Group wrote to the local MP, Mr John Glen to ask for a more robust response by our government to the barbaric activities of the Saudi government in particular the increasing number of executions which are taking place. In our letter we said:
[we are writing] to you in connection with the increasing level of executions currently taking place in Saudi Arabia. (Over the course of the first five months of this year, the number of executions has equalled that of the whole of 2014).
You will no doubt be aware that on his recent visit to the country, President Francois Hollande made a public statement to the effect that all executions, not just those of his own nationals, should be banned, and called for the abolition of the death penalty in Saudi Arabia.
M. Hollande was prepared to do this, despite the fact that France – as does the United Kingdom – has significant financial interests in the its dealings with Saudi Arabia. The British government, however, has never seen fit to raise the issue in public, preferring to pursue a policy of ‘quiet diplomacy’. This policy has manifestly had no effect. Numbers continue to rise, and the Saudi Government have now advertised for eight additional executioners – ‘no particular skills required.’
As a group, we are asking that your government should take a much more robust line over the issue with the Saudi government.
Whereas the government – including the Prime Minister – has been vocal in its criticisms of the Islamic State for its appalling behaviour and of Russia for its activities in Ukraine, they seem strangely silent when it comes to Saudi Arabia. This contrasts with France which has openly criticised them and Sweden which has decided no longer to sell them arms.
Mr Glen replied, enclosing a letter from the FCO minister, and said:
“I enclose correspondence from the FCO minister Tobius Ellwood in reply to your recent letter about the UK’s apparent reticence when it comes to condemning the use of the death penalty in Saudi Arabia.
“As you can see, the approach taken by the government is not in any way indicative of an equivocal view on this practice, which is as barbaric as it is ineffective.
“However, the government recognises that its abolition is not a matter of mere legal reform but would require a seismic societal shift. It has therefore taken an approach which it feels is most constructive – engaging behind the scenes rather than inflaming the situation and triggering a backlash through outspoken public critique”.
The letter from the Foreign and Colonial Office is as follows:
“[…] The abolition of the death penalty is a human rights priority for the UK. The UK opposes the death penalty around the world because we believe it undermines human dignity and there is no evidence that it works as a deterrent.
“Saudi Arabia remains a country of concern on human rights, because of its use of the death penalty as well as the restricted access to justice, women’s rights, and the restrictions of the freedom of expression, freedom of assembly and freedom of religion or belief.
“Ministers, our Ambassador, and the Embassy team in Riyadh frequently raise the issue of the death penalty with the Saudi authorities, bilaterally and through the European Union. As it is part of Sharia Law, we must recognise that total abolition of the death penalty is unlikely in Saudi Arabia in the near future. For now, our focus is on the introduction of EU minimum standards for the death penalty as a first step, and supporting access to justice and the rule of law.
“The British Government’s position on human rights is a matter of public record. We regularly make our views well known including the UN Universal Periodic Review process and the Foreign and Colonial Office’s annual Human Rights and Democracy Report. We also raise our human rights concerns with Saudi Arabian authorities at the highest level. But we have to recognise that the human rights situation in Saudi Arabia reflects widely held conservative social values and that our human rights concerns are best raised in private rather than in public”.
It seems therefore that nothing will change. It is important to recognise that behind the scenes lobbying can be constructive. However, the policy of raising matters ‘in private rather than in public’ does not appear to be working. Successive governments have courted the regime and Saudis are free to invest in London and elsewhere in the UK.
It would be naïve not to recognise the reality behind this reluctance to criticise the Saudis and the importance to the government of the sale of arms and the supply of oil. Saudi Arabia is a key market for the UK and much effort is put into promoting sales including by members of the royal family – see the Guardian article: Human rights are of secondary concern.
As long as these interests are paramount, it is difficult to see how the toll of executions can be checked in the near future.
The Salisbury group, along with other groups around the world, has been campaigning on behalf of Moses Akatugba in Nigeria. He was accused of stealing three mobile phones and then subjected to torture and sentenced to death. Regrettably, torture has become endemic in Nigeria and police stations even appoint ‘torture officers’ to carry it out.
We have held many signings in Salisbury and a large number of cards were sent off to the Nigerian authorities. We are pleased to report that this campaigning effort has been a success and he has been granted a total pardon. Unusually, the Governor of Delta State mentioned the Amnesty campaign in his Facebook page.
Moses himself made a statement:
I am overwhelmed, I thank Amnesty International and their activists for the great support that made me a conqueror in this situation. Amnesty International and activists are my heroes.
I want to assure them that this great effort they have shown to me will not be in vain by the special grace of God I will live up to their expectation.
I promise to be a human rights activist, to fight for others. I am thanking the Governor for his kind gesture and for keeping to his words.
Further details of our campaign can be read on the fact sheet below;
The monthly death penalty report is available here thanks to Lesley for compiling it. A great deal of interest in the subject in the past month especially the executions in Indonesia. The use of hair evidence by the FBI in America – which has led to a number of people being executed or dying on death row – has now been discredited. Another interesting development is the criticism by the French President Francois Hollande of the use of the death penalty in Saudi Arabia. Like the UK, France has big arms sales contracts with the kingdom but unlike the UK, feels free to criticise them for their barbaric public beheadings. The Willie Manning case is also featured.
UPDATE: Piece in the Salisbury Journal
On Monday, June 15, celebrated actor Edward Fox will read extracts from Magna Carta at Salisbury Playhouse as part of a panel discussion investigating the relevance of the historic document today.
We are pleased to announce an event at Salisbury Playhouse called Magna Carta Now on 15 June at
2pm. It will involve Edward Fox OBE who will read parts of the Magna Carta and there will be a panel discussion on the relevance of these readings in the politics today.
The event is particularly relevant in view of the announcement by the new government of their plans to scrap the Human Rights Act (or the ‘hated’ Human Rights Act as some would say), details of which are expected in the forthcoming Queen’s Speech on 27th. We have waited several years now for the promised British Bill of Rights which we understand from press comment has gone through at least 8 drafts but has still not been published.
The panel is a distinguished one:
Tickets are available from Salisbury Playhouse www.salisburyplayhouse.com (24 hours) or phone 01722 320333 or at the Playhouse itself.
We hope local Amnesty supporters and others will come along to what promises to be an interesting event. We should add that there will be an opportunity for audience participation at the end of the event.
The April meeting minutes are here thanks to Karen. They contain a lot of useful information about the death penalty and North Korea in particular. There is a group meeting this Thursday 14th
It has been revealed in the last week or so that FBI analysis of hair samples is seriously flawed and that as
many as 32 people have been sentenced to death based on this evidence, of whom 14 have been executed or have died in prison . The problem has arisen because of sloppy work by FBI examiners who have made claims about the ability to identify people from hair samples that are scientifically unsound. It is, according to the Washington Post, possibly the largest forensic science scandal in America’s history. Another 1,200 cases remain to be investigated.
Our view of the American justice system is strongly influenced by programmes like CSI and NCIS where clean cut, young, handsome and amazingly certain forensic examiners solve cases by clever scientific means. Stories often centre (or should we say ‘center’ for our American readers) around one of them poring over a crime scene and finding a tiny piece of evidence. Then back to the lab where they announce that said tiny piece of evidence is crucial in identifying the killer. Forensic scientist and police officers dash about the place and sure enough, find the killer who has a matching piece of evidence tying him to the scene. There seldom seems to be any doubt in what they say and we are left at the end of the episode with the right man or woman ‘going down’.
The problem is that not all science is like that. There is not always that degree of certainty, merely probabilities. When it comes to condemning a person to death – the ultimate penalty from which there is no retreat – then it is necessary to be certain. The problem is made worse because defendants who are poor are not able to employ lawyers able to challenge the evidence properly. Some lawyers may be doing their first capital trial and have little relevant experience.
You might think that having admitted a major flaw in the evidence given by FBI experts, speedy reviews would be underway to put matters right. Well no, not in every state there isn’t. Appeal courts often refuse to look at newly discovered evidence because claims of actual innocence are never grounds for habeas corpus relief.
The USA is the only country in the Americas with the death penalty and the southern states are the keenest users of it. As we have commented before, it may seem unfair that we frequently highlight the use of the death penalty in the States: China is the worlds biggest user of the death penalty, the precise number is unknown because it is a state secret, but it runs into thousands. Iran is close behind. The difference is that the States is the de facto leader of the free world. But there is a point here that China is a closed society which severely limits access to the internet and curtails a free press. America by contrast is a more open society and newspapers like the Washington Post are able to publish this information. So we can read about it and comment on what we see.
Amnesty is opposed to the use of the death penalty in all circumstances. It is the ultimate cruel and degrading punishment. It is not a deterrent and there is plenty of evidence to show that it acts against the poor and those least able to defend themselves. That one of the main methods of condemning people is flawed is yet another plank in the argument to end the use of this penalty in the USA.
Sources:
Washington Post: 18 April
Guardian: 23 April
Wikipedia
Social Science Research Network The Shifted Paradigm: Forensic Science’s Overdue Evolution from Magic to Law. William Tucker Carrington, University of Mississippi and M Chis Fabricant, Innocence Project Inc.
