Amnesty in Salisbury & South Wiltshire
Promoting human rights from Salisbury UK
We attach the death penalty report for this month thanks to Lesley for her work on this. The news about 
Reggie Clemons is most welcome after years of campaigning, with the decision to ‘vacate’ the previous judgement. It shows that persistent campaigning does work. The decision by Mongolia to end the death penalty is welcome especially when you consider the barbaric activities of their neighbour.
On the dark side, Saudi continues to execute with a promise to put 50 people to death.
Last week we had the debate in Parliament about bombing the Islamic State IS or Da’esh as some call it. This was occasioned by the outrage in Paris and the massacre of ordinary people in that city. Parliament voted in favour of bombing and since then we have had recriminations in the Labour party between those who voted for and those against.
It is timely therefore that a report has been published by Amnesty International called Taking Stock: the Arming of the Islamic State. All politicians should read it. As we have noted several times on this blog, one cannot but help notice that when pictures are shown of IS fighters, they are well equipped and armed to the teeth. So where do all these arms come from? The report explains where and how in great detail.
The major source is Iraq supplemented by materiel taken from the Syrian army. The Iraq weapons were supplied by the coalition forces but because they were irresponsibly guarded, it was easy for them to be stolen or looted. As the report puts it, ‘there were decades of irresponsible arms transfers to Iraq principally by Russia, France and China.’
The supply and transfer of weapons was governed by a global treaty adopted by the UN in 2013. It places international human rights law, humanitarian law and criminal law standards alongside other international benchmarks for assessing the authorisation of exports and other transfers of conventional arms.
The report documents the astonishing amount of weaponry possessed by IS (the range and types are listed at the end). Although a total of 25 countries have been identified as suppliers – including some from the former Soviet Union – it is the Security Council members P5 who are the main culprits.
The Iraq invasion cast a long shadow over the region. Arms were poured in and in the chaos, thousands of weapons were lost to the militants. The Arms Trade Treaty was designed to put a stop to irresponsible activity and it will take a long time to take effect. We noted in an earlier blog that the UK and the US continues to supply Saudi Arabia which is bombing Yemen creating fertile ground for the next wave of insurrection.
It is much to be regretted that the House of Commons would not be packed or buzzing with excitement if the question of arms supplies was being debated. Yet unless and until arms supplies are curtailed to regions such as the middle east, organisations like IS will prosper in the chaos. Bombing the result seems a little pointless.
December 7, 2015
My family and I wish to thank the Missouri Supreme Court for vacating our son Reginald Clemons’ convictions and sentences and remanding his case. I want to thank the Court for pursuing the path of due process in our son’s case and for the appointment of Judge Michael Manners as Special Master, and for the additional work done by Judge Lisa White Hardwick from the Missouri Court of Appeals sitting as a Special Judge of the Court. Our faith and confidence has been renewed in our judicial system.
– Vera Thomas, Reggie Clemons’s mother
We are delighted to report the good news concerning Reggie. All of those who have worked tirelessly for justice on behalf of Reggie Clemons are simply thrilled by today’s opinion (24th November). Today the Missouri Supreme Court has upheld Mr. Clemons’s constitutional right to a fair trial, which is all he has sought from the beginning. Campaigners said they were deeply grateful for the Court’s decision, and its willingness to protect the Due Process rights of Mr. Clemons and citizens everywhere.
The Salisbury group has campaigned on behalf of Reggie for several years now and only last week, we sent him some cards in prison. This is excellent news and shows that persistent campaigning can be successful.
This is a factsheet (pdf) we prepared two years ago. Note: the website address on the factsheet has been changed, it is now http://www.salisburyai.com
A report from St Louis Channel 5 including a video clip from the courtroom.
This week we have been treated to speeches in Parliament and a great deal of press interest on the question of bombing Isis. The political temperature rose after the terrible events in Paris and the indiscriminate killing of people sitting in cafés and at a pop concert.
The government would now like the UK to join in the bombing campaign against Isis positions and David Cameron gave a lengthy speech in Parliament setting out his justifications for that course of action.
Meanwhile, in Yemen, another terrible conflict is in progress and yet this receives almost no coverage in the press. Thousands have died (one estimate is 5,700) including an estimated 400 children, and airstrikes by Saudi Arabian forces are bombing the country on a daily basis. Schools and hospitals are bombed and cluster bombs are being used in contravention of international treaties.
The difference is that Saudi Arabia is a big buyer of our weapons – indeed an estimated half of all weapons sales by the UK go there – so they are an important customer. Little is said to criticise them and readers of this blog will be aware of our attempts to get our government to take a more robust line in view of their multiple human rights abuses.
Amnesty and HRW have criticised the US government for agreeing to sell an unbelievable $1.3bn (£860m) of further ordinance to replenish stocks used in the campaign. This is in breach of the Arms Trade Treaty since the weapons are being used against civilians. Médecins sans Frontières report:
… ordinary people are bearing the brunt of an increasingly brutal conflict. Severe water shortages combined with airstrikes, sniper attacks and a fuel blockade have rapidly turned this conflict into a humaniitarian crisis, with over one million people displaced from their homes. The need for food, water, shelter, sanitation and medical care is growing daily.
Many clinics and hospitals have been destroyed, and those that are still functioning are in urgent need of more medical supplies. Yemen: A country under siege
AI and Human Rights Watch are in no doubt that UK and US supplied munitions are being used to cause this mayhem in Yemen. Up until now we have received nothing but bland assurances from the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and from our MP. But recent events including changes to the Ministerial code and a downgrading of human rights in policy matters, seems to indicate that it is profit before humanity which is the key factor.
This might change because now that British made weaponry is turning up in Yemen thus causing some concern in the FCO. They are beginning to question the wisdom of supplying the Saudis who then use the stuff to kill ordinary civilians. We could just be indicted for war crimes. They are also worried that we are helping create the conditions for an Isis type organisation to establish themselves in Yemen.
So while speeches are made about bombing Isis, we are busy supplying the weaponry to create another catastrophe on the Saudi peninsular…
Sources:
MSF; The Independent; Belfast Telegraph; Business News; HRW
We attach our latest report into the use of the death penalty around the world thanks to group member Lesley for compiling it.
Correction: the Death Penalty Vigil took place on 17 October and not November as stated in the report
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.
UPDATE: 8 October. Richard Glossip has been given an indefinite stay of execution (Oklahoma)
We attach an urgent action on behalf of Richard Glossip with whom visitors to this site will be familiar with. He has won a temporary stay of execution. His legal team has presented new evidence to the appeal court. The evidence against him is weak as we have pointed out before and relies partly on a plea bargain by the man who committed the actual murder. Oklahoma is a hard line state as far as the death penalty is concerned.
We hope you can find time to write. See also this month’s death penalty report.
Richard Glossip’s execution has been deferred by two weeks only hours before he was due to killed. This was an urgent action by Amnesty International and members of our group have written to the Oklahoma authorities. You can read the full report in the New York Times here.
There is no physical evidence linking Glossip to the scene and a major part of the evidence is a plea bargain by Sneed who admitted to the murder but escaped execution by implicating Glossip.
Amnesty is opposed to the death penalty and this case reveals one of the reasons: flimsy evidence combined with a plea bargain means the likelihood of a wrongful conviction leading to a man’s death with no prospect of putting it right in future if fresh evidence appears.
The group is holding a vigil against the death penalty on 17 October in Salisbury starting at 12.45. Further details here and on Twitter soon.
The death penalty report for September is now available thanks to Lesley for compiling it. Links to other blog posts and in particular the continuing correspondence with John Glen MP concerning the government’s policy change on the death penalty.
Death penalty report, September
Report on possible reductions in the use of the death penalty by India and China. This is to be welcomed although we cannot verify the situation in the latter country because the numbers executed are a state secret.
We attach an urgent action on behalf of a man called Glossip (52) who is due to be executed on 16th of this month. The case against him is circumstantial and seems quite flimsy. He has been on death row since 1998 – around 17 years. If you can find time to write or email, that would be appreciated. Full details are here: Case file (pdf)
There is also a web site the accuracy of which we cannot warrant:
See also USA death penalty site with further information and a petition [You will find it on their Facebook page and there is a wealth of statistical information on the site as well. There is a permanent link to the site at the bottom of this site]
Amnesty in Salisbury & South Wiltshire 