South America Newsletter June 2018

June 4, 2018 by zarganar

We report on the further deterioration in the livelihood of Venezuelans and continued violence in Colombia, where we ask you to respond to 2 urgent actions. If you haven’t done so yet, please sign the petition on environmental defenders in Peru and Paraguay. There is also a new petition asking for justice for 10 Brazilian field workers murdered by the police last year. Graham and Richard report on visits to the FCO and Colombian embassy. And we have good news from Venezuela.

PERU AND PARAGUAY

Last month, we sent you a link to a new Amnesty report A Recipe for Criminalization: Defenders of the Environment, Territory and Land in Peru and Paraguay and encouraged you to share it on social media. Please also sign the petition here

On 11 May Graham called on the FCO desk officers for Peru and Paraguay and handed over a request that the British Embassies in those two countries urge their host governments to adopt a policy of protection towards land and environmental defenders and implement the recommendations in the report.

Separately, Amnesty has called on the Peruvian authorities to stop misusing the criminal justice system to harass human rights defenders, following the decision of a regional High Court of Justice to overturn a judgement of acquittal and initiate new proceedings against three environmental defenders from the southern province of Espinar. Oscar Mollohuanca Cruz, Herbert Huamán and Sergio Huamaní are accused of endangering public safety, obstructing public services and causing civil unrest. The charges are based solely on their role as community leaders, thus automatically considering them the organizers of the protests and responsible for all criminal activity or damage caused. The three defenders were acquitted last year due to lack of evidence but the Public Prosecutor’s Office appealed the decision. More information here: [Read more…]

Refugee Week and Photographic Exhibition

May 30, 2018 by zarganar

Refugee week is 18 – 14 June. We had originally hoped our photographic exhibition at Bournemouth Library would coincide, but we had to make do with the whole of April instead. The Mayor, Councillor Lawrence Williams, and Mayoress of Bournemouth opened our the exhibition – they are pictured, below, next to the Tapestry created by Amnesty groups in the South.

The main focus of the exhibition was the historic plight of refugees and features 30 photographs taken by photographers from the Magnum agency over the past 70 years. The photographs document some of the issues surrounding refugees from the mass upheaval and displacement of the post-war years to the present-day crisis in Syria, Afghanistan and South Sudan. It also ties in with AIUK’s current “Refugees Welcome” campaign.

The Tapestry depicts the 30 articles of the United Nations Declaration of Human Rights (UNDHR). This was originally created to mark the 800th anniversary of the sealing of Magna Carta in 1215 and to highlight the continuing importance of the protections afforded by the UNDHR. The Tapestry spent 6 months adjacent to the Magna Carta at Salisbury cathedral. Since then it has travelled to other venues around the south.

As this year also marks the 70th anniversary of the signing of UNDHR, we think this is a great opportunity to display the Tapestry and bring attention to the 30 articles.

Throughout the exhibition we had a video loop, compiled by Tom Wilson. This had several short videos highlighting some of the issues and reasons Amnesty International exists. Two of the most powerful, by Save the Children, are below. As refugee week approaches, do watch them and share – at 90 seconds and 2 minutes they won’t take long, but you won’t forget what it must be like for a refugee child…

Wareham Street Collection 2018

May 13, 2018 by zarganar

We don’t usually post about street collections, but this was a bit of an exception. At the best of times, street collections are not exactly fun events. If you want to experience the feeling of being invisible, without consuming anything illicit, stand on a high street holding a collecting tin. However, historically we have still managed to collect around £500 from the three street collections we have traditionally held each year (in Bournemouth, Christchurch and Wareham). It’s worth adding that street collections are quite tightly managed by the respective councils. You have to apply some time in advance for a permit and are allocated whatever day is available. The regulations also stipulate what you can and cannot do (no shaking!!) and where you can collect.

It’s worth pointing out that Bournemouth council have sold off the Square to a private company and Christchurch council have done likewise with Saxon Square. Consequently these areas our out of bounds when doing a collection (Bournemouth Council also forbid collecting in the Gardens). But the main problem with street collections has been a poor showing from the kind people of the respective towns. They seem to have forgotten (or never been taught or told) their role in a street collection: – you stop, you rummage for some change, you apologise for how little you’ve got, you clumsily try to get it through the too small slot in the tin, you accept the offer of a sticker (mainly so you can pass other collectors without guilt), you either proffer a finger, shoulder or bag to affix sticker to (and not a chest!). Simple…

After poor returns – particularly in Bournemouth – we haven’t applied for permits on Bournemouth or Christchurch this year. We should add that the problems listed above have been exacerbated by having fewer volunteers willing to take part in this increasingly unproductive ritual. We had also missed out on Wareham for a couple of years for other, more logistical, reasons. But, despite the distance some volunteers would have to travel, we decided to give Wareham another go. The residents of Wareham had always been very receptive – hopefully they would remember their role in proceedings.

We needn’t have worried. We were only on the streets of Wareham for two hours, with four collectors, but raised a fantastic £92.35. This may not sound a huge amount, but a couple individual collectors got over £25, which compares with an average of less than £10 for two hours in Bournemouth. What’s more, people were genuinely friendly, often keen to talk and aware of some of the issues (and who Amnesty International are). Some even commented they’d missed seeing us recently! Interest has also been shown in setting up a Wareham group.

So, a big thank you to Wareham, we enjoyed our morning. And we’ll be back.

Group Newsletter May 2018

May 13, 2018 by zarganar

Welcome to the latest newsletter.
The next meeting is on Thursday 10th May 2018, 7.30pm at Moordown Community Centre. On the agenda – Review of campaigns; Feedback on Photography Exhibition, Bourne Free, Summer events, letter writing….

Wareham Street Collection

Is this Saturday! After quite a low turnout and return from the Bournemouth and Christchurch collections in 2017, this year we are just going to focus on Wareham (where traditionally they have been very generous.) If you wish to help please let us know, by replying to this newsletter, rather than just turning up.

Wareham Street Collection (High Street) Saturday (am only) 12th May 2018

The Spring Quiz has been and gone. A highly competitive event it ended on a tie breaker. David & Rosemary Brown set some fiendish questions, as ever. We learnt, among other facts, that Tasmania is pretty big (90,758 km²) – although Australia’s smallest state is still bigger than more than half the countries in the world! So actually bigger than Belgium (30,528 km²) and Wales (20,735 km²) put together and also bigger than Ireland (84,421 km²).

We raised £240, so thanks to everyone who came along and joined in. Thanks to Lucy Freeman for running the raffle and thanks, as ever, to the Brunswick for letting us use their fantastic function room for free.

But special thanks to David & Rosemary. After 20 years of running quiz nights for our group they have called time and this will be their last. For quite a while they were doing two quizzes a year, so a conservative estimate is they have raised over £5000 for Amnesty International. We will miss them.

Does anyone fancy taking over – either setting a quiz or hosting (or both)? David Rogers and Sally Hawksworth have been running the Autumn quiz for a few years now, but it’s a nice opportunity for others to get involved. Quiz nights are a significant source of revenue for the group – and far more fun than street collections.

[Read more…]

South America Newsletter May 2018

May 7, 2018 by zarganar

SUMMARY

We have a lot to report this month including new Amnesty reports on the rise in attacks on Human Rights Defenders (HRDs) in Colombia and on the tactics used by the authorities in Peru and Paraguay against land and environmental activists. Amnesty Brazil have a petition to demand a thorough investigation into the murder of Marielle Franco and her driver in Rio. We also report on the visit to Argentina by Amnesty’s Secretary General and draw attention to two new Urgent Actions for Chile and Venezuela. There is some good news from Peru and Ecuador and we report concerns about the use of conscientious objection to obstruct access to abortions in Chile.

COLOMBIA

Amnesty has released a new report on the rise in attacks on HRDs. It notes “This disheartening situation is largely the result of the power vacuums left following the demobilization of the FARC guerrilla movement and the lack of action by the state to increase its presence in historically neglected territories which were weakened by the armed conflict.”

The report pinpoints the failures of the State to provide accurate information, while denying that the increase in killings is related to the leadership positions of HRDs. The Ombudsman reports 148 killings of HRDs between January 2017 and February 2018, a big increase on the previous period. The National Protection Unit offers little or no effective help to many of the HRDs who are targeted and does not recognise the risk borne by entire communities.

Amnesty notes that there is no special provision for women HRDs and they have lost custody of their children due to the extraordinary risks they face, which extend to their families. In these cases, the authorities only consider the option of removing children from the nuclear family, which is a violation of their human rights and further proof of the state’s lack of interest in providing a comprehensive, differentiated response.

There is a further concern about areas of the country, such as Chocó, where the dynamic of paramilitaries forcibly dispossessing local communities of their land for economic reasons has returned.

In a setback to the peace process, one of the leaders of the FARC negotiating team (known as Jesús Santrich) was arrested at the request of the USA. The US claims that he and others are responsible for trafficking 10 tons of cocaine to the US last year after the signing of the Peace Accord, thereby negating the impunity he was offered. According to Colombia Peace Monitoring, more than 10% of the FARC guerrillas have returned to their former activities. FARC dissidents continue to operate on the border with Ecuador, where they have taken 4 people captive.

In a victory for local communities, AngloGold Ashanti has accepted the result of a referendum in Tolima, Cajamarca, whose people voted overwhelmingly against the extraction of gold in their territory. AngloGold has withdrawn from the territory. This follows 10 years of protests by local inhabitants.

After the assassination of one of the witnesses to the trial of former President, Alvaro Uribe, Human Rights Watch has called for greater protection for the remaining witnesses in this case. The Supreme Court is investigating the possible manipulation of witnesses in a case alleging Uribe’s connection to paramilitary leaders. [Read more…]