Amnesty International Bournemouth Poole Christchurch Group

local news & events Amnesty International group for Bournemouth, Poole & Christchurch

Newsletter July 5th 2014

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Hello

Welcome to the latest news from your local Amnesty Group
Our next meeting is Thursday, 10th July 2014 at 7.30pm at Moordown Community Centre, Bournemouth. We didn’t appoint a “Chair” at the recent AGM, as Ted Stevens has stood down. Hopefully we will resolve this issue at the meeting next week.  Please come along if you possibly can.

Remember, we have no meeting in August

Cuban Urgent Actions

Sue Bingham, country coordinator for Cuba, returned to give a fascinating talk and update at our May meeting.  Sue has done a tremendous amount of work, and visited Cuba numerous times, to ensure we are kept up to date with campaign work. Ironically, since her visit, Amnesty International has issued two Urgent Actions relating to prisoners of conscience in Cuba. Sue has sent us some model letters, plus the original Urgent Action details, and urged us to do something if we can.

Please go to our blog http://amnestyat50.co.uk/cuban-urgent-actions for the downloads [Read more…]

Cuban Urgent Actions

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For some years our group has focussed on Campaigns and Actions relating to Cuba – Amnesty has always encouraged groups and individuals to focus their energies on particular countries or individual cases.  The country coordinator, Sue Bingham, last visited the group in 2010, so we were delighted to welcome her back for an update at our May meeting in Moordown.  Sue has done a tremendous amount of work, and visited Cuba numerous times, to ensure we are kept up to date with campaign work.

Ironically, since Sues visit there have been updates and now two Urgent Actions. This is a message from Sue last week when she enclosed the first action…

“I visited Cuba on holiday in May, and it is very chilling for me to receive this Urgent Action, as Roberto was assaulted in the street in broad daylight in the neighbourhood where I was staying. As Amnesty is not officially allowed in Cuba, I did not make contact with any dissidents or attempt to do any Amnesty related research. I did chat to lots of people informally though, of course, and there were several occasions when strangers (e.g. bookseller, guesthouse owner) told me freely that Cuba is a highly controlled society, with no freedom of information or expression. This has never happened before on my previous trips.

The streets seemed busier with a wider range of cars, now that restrictions have been lifted on buying/selling them, but the “pop-up” shops in people’s houses with imported clothes had gone, following the backtracking by the authorities on the new economic freedoms, replaced with tourist T shirts and souvenirs.”

Sue was in touch again a couple of days ago with the second case….

“Three brothers who have been in pre-trial detention in Cuba since late 2012 have now been tried and are due for sentencing. They are at risk of being sentenced to between three and five years’ imprisonment. Amnesty International believes they are prisoners of conscience, detained solely for exercising their right to freedom of expression.”

Sue has sent model letters:-  UA 20 Jun 14 Journalist attacked model letter

and   UA 27 jun 2014 POCs await sentence model letter

These are the original urgent actions:-

UA 15914 UK Cuba journalist threatened 20 jun 2014

and UA 20113 prisoners of conscience awaiting sentence

Do try to find time to download these letters, personalise, and send to Cuba and/or the UK Embassy. You can also email them if you prefer.

Summer Quiz 2014

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Quiz nights have been a major social event and fundraiser for many years now. And for  at least a decade we’ve relied on the Ye Olde George in the centre of Christchurch for our spring quiz – despite their function room being somewhat gloomy (and grubby) and their charging for the privilege.

quiz at starre
ye olde starre inn proved a pleasant venue

But with the George converting their function room into a restaurant we were left without a venue. Having energies focussed on the Art Exhibition it took a while before we managed to find “ye Olde Starre Inn”, not far up the road from the George. What was great is we had their restaurant area for free and it appeared ideal for our purposes.

David Brown again proved an excellent host, and more than a match for Uruguay v Costa Rica in the adjoining bar! With England starting their campaign later in the evening – that moment of soon to be dashed hope and expectation – it was perhaps unsurprising numbers were a bit lower. We had also raised prices, and of course were in a new venue on the  edge of our “catchment” area.  But we managed to raise £157, much welcome after some of the expenses for the Art Exhibition.

Thanks again to David (and May for the raffle) and to all who turned out.

May 2014 News Update – South America Region

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As a local group we are signed up to the South America Region Network. Their coordinators focus specifically on the countries featured below and send us actions when they turn up.

In this update we focus on Brazil as we build up to the FIFA World Cup. We bring great news about an indigenous community in Paraguay. We report on the Colombian presidential elections, including letters sent to the 5 presidential candidates. We report on the continuing crisis in Venezuela. We remind you of the launch of the Stop Torture campaign on 14th May at the Human Rights Action Centre.

Brazil

This week sees the launch of the online yellow card action on Brazil to coincide with the FIFA World Cup. The UK petition is now live.   https://www.amnesty.org.uk/actions/brazil-protests-world-cup-rio-2014

The aim is to raise over 10,000 UK signatures with your help. We also supply an off-line petition where you can ask members of the public to sign. The lead up to the World Cup has prompted widespread protests and demonstrations in Brazil. By asking members of the public to sign the petition we send a message to the Brazilian government that protest is not a crime.

Please look out for Eric Cantona’s new documentary ‘Looking for Rio’. The UK premiere of former Manchester United legend Eric Cantona’s compelling new documentary about the passion and fury surrounding football in Rio de Janeiro will take place at Amnesty’s first ever football film festival, Sidelines, from Friday 6 – Sunday 8 June at Hackney Picturehouse, London just before the start of the World Cup in Brazil.

We are opening a new Brazil case file: Alexandre Anderson de Souza is the president of a fishermen’s association in the state of Rio de Janeiro. We hope to recruit several groups to work on it. If so, please contact Richard Crosfield. [Read more…]

Newsletter April 22nd 2014

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Welcome to the latest news from your local Amnesty Group
Our next meeting is Thursday, 8th May 2014 at 7.30pm at Moordown Community Centre, Bournemouth. We have a speaker, Sue Bingham, who is Amnesty Country Coordinator for Cuba. Sue gave an excellent talk to the group in October 2010, and we have continued to work on various actions relating to Cuba since. Please come along if you possibly can.quiz night

Early Summer Quiz

A combination of putting on the Art Exhibition and our previous venue closing their function room meant the Spring Quiz didn’t happen. However, we have now organised a Quiz on June 14th 2014 at Ye Olde Starre Inn, 7 – 9 Purewell, Christchurch BH23 1EH.  They have given us their restaurant area, which appears ideal for our purposes (i.e. its right next to a bar). They have a small car park, but they’re a very short walk from the 2 Riversmeet Leisure Centre car park (which is free after 7.00).

For those unfamiliar, our quizzes are informal but competitive! Teams of up to 6, which can be formed on the night. Singles and couples get added  to other teams, usually leaving teams with at least 4.

After at least a decade at £3, we have taken the rash decision to increase entrance to £5. Hopefully it will still prove great value and an excellent way to support Amnesty. Pay at the door.

David and Rosemary Brown will return as hosts, so put it in your diary now. 7.30 for 8.00 prompt start – will finish in time for England v Italy in the World Cup at 11.00 (you can always stay at the pub which is open till 1.00….)

Bric-a-Brac

jewelleryIn the past we held many stalls at Trade Union Conferences when they visited Bournemouth, plus we had our own Garden Party. Times have changed, but May and Ted still keep the flag flying at a few Community Fairs – such as in Winton, Boscombe and now Muscliff  Funday!
So if you have any second-hand books, jewellery (even broken), scarves, handbags (particularly evening), bric-a-brac or other knick-knacks in any condition that you wish to donate, please let May Stevens know (01202) 510886. They can collect.

AGM

Normally passes peacefully, with no changes! However, Chairman Ted Stevens has announced he wishes to step down from this role – which he has occupied for over fifteen years.  He will be a very hard act to follow, and at the moment with a lack of a volunteer to step into the post he is continuing as “Acting” Chair.

The AGM also flagged up we have very few paying members – membership was set at £5 a year many years ago.  We have many supporters who follow us on Facebook (700+), via this newsletter (125) and/or turn out for street collections, quiz nights, etc.  So only a small percentage actually come to the monthly meeting in Moordown.

As a lot of Group energy has been directed towards the Art Exhibition, particularly over the past 6 months, the two items above take on greater significance.  Amnesty Local Groups come and go, and (in your editors opinion) don’t get huge support or direction from AIUK.  We are a relatively strong group, but without a clear sense of purpose and leadership, could flounder like others.

Any feedback on this (or anything else) is, as ever, very welcome.  Likewise any nominations for Chair or membership fees if you’d like to be a member rather than a mere supporter!

Art Exhibition

Has finished! It’s difficult to summarise both the huge amount of work that has gone on over the past 18 months – likewise very difficult to judge the impact it has had.  But we had four large venues filled with a high standard of art work over four weeks, with a further week at the Metropolis.human rights art exhibition

Your editor was primarily stewarding at Christchurch Priory where there was a constant stream of visitors (they average about 100 per half day this time of year), most of whom took in our exhibition and were exposed to the different interpretations of human rights. There was positive feedback at all venues and as a “consciousness raising” exercise it was an undoubted success.

Many thanks to the artists who took part, the venues for their cooperation, the mayors for their presence and the Echo for our mentions. Thanks to all of you for helping out – special mention to Genevieve Talon for thinking of the exhibition in the first place and then leading us through the past 18 months. We will miss the constant barrage of emails!!

We need to add that we are holding a photographic exhibition in the Autumn at the Lighthouse in Poole. We have a curator lined up, but beyond that have not actually done anything to encourage exhibits. Any thoughts – or volunteers to help organise?

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