Welcome to the latest newsletter. We hope you enjoyed the summer. The next meeting  is on Thursday 13th September 2018, 7.30pm  at Moordown Community Centre. On the agenda:-  letter writing, planning future events and an update on campaigns.

Some Good News August has been a good month, seeing the release of two of the human rights defenders we featured in this newsletter. Taner Kilic, one of the founding members of Amnesty Turkey and its Chairman, was released on bail on 16 August 2018, after 432 days in jail. Taner was arrested on 6 June 2017 and was sent to jail three days later charged with ‘membership of a terrorist organisation’ – a ridiculous claim made over and over again by the Turkish government to justify its attempt to silence human rights defenders. On 20 August, following a royal pardon, Cambodian human rights defender Tep Vanny  was released from prison having endured two years behind bars (pictured above). Tep is known for her campaigning against the forced eviction of her community from Boeung Kak Lake, Phnom Penh. A construction project on the site has seen thousands of families lose their homes. Very sadly, Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe’s three-day leave from prison was not extended, however, Amnesty International will continue to fight until she is permanently released. Please take action here… https://www.amnesty.org.uk/actions/help-get-nazanin-zaghari-ratcliffe-home

[Read more…]

This newsletter includes amongst other matters:  troubling statistics regarding killings of human rights defenders in Colombia and police killings in Rio de Janeiro.  There are also concerns regarding the plight of environmental defenders in Ecuador, Venezuela and Brazil. Chile is criticised for misusing its anti-terrorism law. A vote on abortion in Argentina had a disappointing outcome and there are calls to solve a case relating to a particular disappearance in this country.  UN agencies have expressed concern about the crisis due to  people fleeing Venezuela. There are two urgent actions (Paraguay and Venezuela).

ARGENTINA

After a marathon 16-hour debate, Argentina’s Senate have voted against legalizing abortion during the first 14 weeks of pregnancy.  For now, people who need to terminate pregnancies in Argentina will have to continue to risk death or incarceration.  But, in this article, the Executive Director of Amnesty Argentina argues that the vote was a stepping stone, not a setback.

One year on from the disappearance and subsequent death of Santiago Maldonado, Amnesty has called on the authorities to solve the case and comply with their obligation to guarantee the rights of his family to truth, justice and reparation.  Maldonado disappeared following a violent raid on a Mapuche community by the Argentine National Gendarmerie.  He had arrived in the territory of the community the day before to assist in its suit to reclaim tribal lands.

CHILE

Ex-President Michelle Bachelet has been nominated as the new United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights.  Bachelet, who served two terms, was Chile’s first (and so far only) woman President.  Following the 1973 coup that brought Pinochet to power, she and her mother were detained, interrogated, tortured and then released before going into exile.

Amnesty has issued a report criticising Chile’s use of its anti-terrorism law to prosecute Indigenous Mapuche people seeking to defend their land rights.  An English translation of the report should be available shortly.

PARAGUAY

Amnesty has issued an Urgent Action about Amada Martínez, a human rights Indigenous defender who was threatened by three armed men wearing uniforms of the Itaipú Binational (Paraguay-Brazil) hydroelectric plant.  Amada Martínez has been campaigning for the rights of her community, who have suffered displacement from their territory by the construction of the hydroelectric plant.   You can still take action here. [Read more…]

We have good news from Chile and Paraguay this month, but human rights violations in Colombia  continue to deteriorate with new killings of HR defenders and more forced displacements as armed groups roam the countryside. There are petitions on Argentina and Brazil for you to sign as well as 3 urgent actions (Chile, Paraguay and Colombia)

ARGENTINA

Hundreds of thousands of Argentinians have taken to the streets in support of the bill approved by the Chamber of Deputies in June to decriminalise abortion.  The bill is very close to having enough support in the Senate to be passed. Amnesty has organised a petition that will be delivered before the Senate vote.  Sadly since the newsletter was published the vote narrowly failed.

CHILE

Good news! Mapuche Indigenous spiritual leader Machi Celestino Córdovahas ended his hunger strike after the Chilean authorities granted him access to his ceremonial altar to carry out a renewal ceremony, essential to guaranteeing the Mapuches’ psychic and physical well-being.  Thank you to all those who wrote to the Chilean authorities.  No further action is required.

Amnesty has issued an Urgent Action about Chilean lawyer Karina Riquelme, who was followed and surveilled by police intelligence agents because of her work as a defender of Mapuche Indigenous rights.  You can still take action here. [Read more…]