Welcome to the latest newsletter. Human Rights Day is observed every year on 10 December – the day the United Nations General Assembly adopted, in 1948, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. You may like to bring this to people’s attention as you go about your day … Our next meeting  is on Thursday 13th December 2018, 7.30pm  at Moordown Community Centre. As usual in December we dedicate the meeting to….

Write for Rights

Every year Amnesty International has encouraged and helped groups send greetings cards to prisoners of conscience around the world in December. Traditionally there were just half a dozen names selected.  In recent years Amnesty has branded this as “Write for Rights” (W4R) and produced much more informative information leaflets, covering many more prisoners of conscience. We have always made this a mainstay of our December meeting.If you have been tempted to try one of our meetings, but never quite got there, this is an ideal opportunity.  We bring along seasonal “nibbles”, have a raffle and basically write cards to the various prisoners of conscience who have been selected. We also try to have a public event in Bournemouth.  For the past few years we’ve been at Castlepoint – there is a “pod” you can book outside Marks and Spencers. This has partly due to difficulties doing anything in Bournemouth Square without having to pay! However, we have found a location where we can…  Join us or call and see us under the large clock next to MacDonalds, Old Christchurch Road, Bournemouth on Saturday morning, 15th December 2018 For more information about W4R, and details of the cases if you want to work on them at home or elsewhere, go to the AIUK site:- https://www.amnesty.org.uk/write-rights-getting-started

Autumn Quiz

Thanks to everyone who turned out for last months quiz at the Brunswick Hotel, Charminster. Over 40 people battled it out and the winning team triumphed by just 1/2 a point!Thanks to David Rogers for setting the questions, Lucy Freeman for running the raffle and Sally Hawksworth for being Master (or mistress?) of ceremonies on the night. Thanks again to the Brunswick for providing us with an excellent function room.We raised £250. With overseas postage now starting at £1.25 this is a great boost to our funds. And much more fun than doing a street collection! If you missed out, below are five of the more challenging questions to have a go at:-“The Silent Child” won an Oscar this year for best Short Film. It was written and directed by actors from which UK TV soap? Singer Aretha Franklin died in August. She only had one film role where she played a character called Mrs Murphy and wore pink fuzzy slippers. Name the film (or its sequel)?  Born in Cardiff in 1948, singer Michael Barratt, the UKs biggest selling singles artist of the 1980’s, is better known as who? He’s appearing at Bournemouth Pavilion next March.  Which is the only country in the world where cars drive on the right, but virtually every vehicle has right hand steering?The film “the Lost World” (adapted from a Arthur Conan Doyle novel of the same name), was released in 1925 and got its place in history for what? Was it? (1) First X rated film (2) First colour film on public release (3) First film used as in flight entertainment on a plane? answers below

Seyi Akiwowo ~ Abused Online for Defending Women

Seyi Akiwowo is a women’s rights activist who received a wave of online abuse after a video of her speaking at the European Parliament went viral. She reported more than 75 instances of abusive posts to social media companies, including Twitter. But Twitter failed to acknowledge or respond to her reports at the time. Seyi Akiwowo is featured in W4R. However, you can send her a message of support online, or add your name to a petition asking Twitter’s CEO Jack Dorsey to make Twitter a safe space for all users by enforcing its own rules on hateful conduct and abuse. https://www.amnesty.org.uk/write-for-rights/action/seyi-akiwowo

Quiz answers (1) Hollyoaks (2) the Blue Brothers (3) Shakin’ Stevens (4) Myanmar (Burma) (5) three – First film used as in flight entertainment on a plane. Links to the full quiz (and answers) are on our blog https://amnestyat50.co.uk/autumn-quiz-2018

This month there is good news from  Chile regarding the passing of a gender identity law  and four former police officers being arrested regarding a fatal shooting. Moreover, in Guyana  transgender activists are celebrating a ruling by the Caribbean Court of Justice. There is also a reminder regarding the opportunity to continue to work on two South American Write for Rights cases at the conclusion of the campaign. A submission has also been made to the Foreign Affairs Select Committee.

This newsletter also includes concerns  expressed by a  Special Rapporteur in relation to Ecuador and another  Special Rapporteur has urged the authorities  in Paraguay to discontinue a particular prosecution. There are statements issued by Amnesty  regarding the  situation in Colombia and  further reports regarding the large number of human rights defenders killed and the number of displacements in that country.

In relation to Brazil,  we  report  on the concerns of the Inter-American Commission of Human Rights after its recent visit.  There is also an urgent action.  The call by Amnesty to the Argentinian authorities regarding  predicted demonstrations coinciding with the G20 summit and some positive news on  Venezuela’s health crisis are also reported.

COLOMBIA

Amnesty issued a statement two years on from the Peace Accord with the FARC rebels, noting how little of the accord has been fulfilled for the rural communities which have suffered most from the conflict.

‘Entrenched political forces representing private interests in the Congress continue to defend the status quo and seek to shield high-ranking officers in the military from accountability for their involvement in serious human rights violations.

The deficit is clear. People defending human rights in their territories continue to be killed. At the same time, more people are becoming victims of forced displacement, as is the case of the more than 1,000 people driven from their lands in Catatumbo by fighting between the ELN and the EPL guerrilla groups and the lack of an effective state response. Paramilitary groups continue, as before, to operate with total impunity.’

 In another statement, Amnesty denounced the authorities for prohibiting some 500 member of indigenous communities from entering the Plaza de Bolivar to stage their protest. ‘The Colombian authorities must fulfil their obligation to implement the Peace Agreement and guarantee the rights to life and physical integrity of Indigenous Peoples and ensure the protection of their territories. The national and Bogotá city authorities must guarantee the right to demonstrate peacefully in Plaza de Bolívar, without repression and without restrictions. It is shameful that the authorities have sought to block their own people from entering the capital, restricting their rights to freedom of expression and peaceful assembly.’

The Colombian NGO Somos Defensores (We are Defenders) reports that in the last nine years 563 human rights defenders and community leaders have been killed – but in only 48 cases have the courts condemned the perpetrators.

The Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre has reported that 139,000 people were forcibly displaced in Colombia in 2017, bringing the total number of people now displaced in Colombia to 6.5 million. While recognising the importance of the Peace Accord, the Centre notes that ‘obstacles to durable solutions remain, and include victims’ compensation, land and property restitution, as well as implementation of the different points agreed upon in the peace deal related to issues such as integral agricultural reform, trust, justice, reparation and non-repetition.’ [Read more…]

Welcome to the latest newsletter. The next meeting  is on Thursday 8th November 7.30pm  at Moordown Community Centre. On the agenda:-  planning upcoming Quiz and  Write 4 Rights events, new case files and letter writing.

This is now definitely organised for Friday November 16h, 7.30 for 8.00 prompt at the Brunswick Hotel, 199 Malmesbury Park Road, Charminster, Bournemouth BH8 8PX. There was a slight hiccup as we had to change from our original date, but all is now well. For those unfamiliar, our quizzes are informal but competitive! Teams of up to 6, entrance £5 a person. Due to popularity, and past overcrowding we are now obliged to limit total numbers to 50 via a “virtual ticket” system.  Please go to eventbrite to reserve tickets. Don’t leave till the last minute and be disappointed… https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/amnesty-international-quiz-night-tickets-51113875979

[Read more…]

This month we have good news from Uruguay and four Urgent Actions (Colombia 2, Venezuela and Ecuador 1 each). We report on the possible consequences for human rights of the newly elected presidents of Brazil and Colombia and the continued harassment, threats and killings of environmental rights defenders and indigenous people in Colombia, Chile and Ecuador.

COLOMBIA

Amnesty International has issued an Urgent Action on behalf of the Wayúu indigenous people of La Guajra department. The National Indigenous Organization of Colombia reports that on 10 October several threatening pamphlets against Wayúu indigenous organizations defending human rights were found on the streets and railroad tracks of Uribia in the department of La Guajira. The pamphlets state that organizations defending human rights in the department of La Guajira “hinder the development of the country” and threaten that they will be attacked. Please download the UA here and write to the authorities.

AI has also issued an Urgent Action on behalf of Alfamir Castillo, a member of the Committee of Women Sugar Cane Harvesters. In the past 2 weeks she has received death threats. Alfamir is seeking justice into the extrajudicial execution of her son Darbey Mosquera Castillo by members of the Counter Guerrilla Battalion 57 Martires de Puerres of the VIII Brigade of the Colombian army. This extrajudicial execution was part of the Colombian “false positives” scandal, in which members of the armed forces unlawfully killed thousands of civilians, most of whom were presented as “guerrilla killed in combat”. Please write to the authorities in the attachment.

Amnesty welcomes a new decision by the Constitutional Court on abortion rights. Prior to 2006, abortion was illegal in Colombia. Since 2006, abortion in Colombia is legal in the following circumstances:

1. The continuation of the pregnancy constitutes a danger to the life or health of the mother;
2. The existence of life-threatening foetal malformations;
3. The pregnancy is the result of rape, non-consensual artificial insemination or incest.

However, clinics raise barriers to avoid complying with the law. Several organisations, including an amicus curiae brief by Amnesty International, contested this practice. The Constitutional Court maintained its 2006 ruling on abortion, adding that Congress should legislate to eliminate the barriers that some clinics use to prevent legal abortions and to ensure that women have access to the health system for legal abortions. [Read more…]