Amnesty International Bournemouth Poole Christchurch Group
local news & events Amnesty International group for Bournemouth, Poole & Christchurch
Our recent blog posts have featured the launches of the Art Exhibition at Christchurch Priory and Bournemouth Library. As we are now well into the second half of the Exhibition, here is a selection of images from the Red Hose Museum, Christchurch and St Peters Church in Bournemouth.
So do find time to visit before 4th April 2014….
Two days after the successful launch at Christchurch Priory – with the Christchurch Mayor – we had a successful launch of the Bournemouth end of the Exhibition at Bournemouth Library.
The Mayor of Bournemouth, Councillor Dr Rodney Cooper, accompanied by the Mayoress, showed great interest in the exhibits as he was shown around by local group members. The library did a great job in helping to organise the launch and in their providing hospitality.
Thanks also to June Power for the photographs and to the many artists both for submitting their work and turning out in great numbers to launch the event.
After 18 months of hard work, our Human Rights Art Exhibition is now live. Last night (Tuesday 11th March) we welcomed the Mayor of Christchurch John Lofts to offically open the Christchurch end of the exhibition.
Many of the artists who had submitted work turned out, along with group members, friends and well-wishers.
We had quite a crowd, as you can see below. Thanks to the staff of Christchurch Priory for their help in hosting the launch, and for letting us have the church as a venue. They have many visitors who come to admire this beautiful, historic place of worship, so allowing us space in a venue not designed for pictures (you can’t nail or screw into 900 year old walls!) was particularly nice of them.
Going back a couple of decades, the group was an active participant in a Regional Action Network involving Paraguay, Argentina, Brazil and Uruguay – although 90% of the work centred on Brazil. This has gradually evolved into the South America Region and we get periodic updates and actions from the hard working voluntary coordinators. We thought you may find it useful if we shared the updates to give you a feel for some of the ways Amnesty currently works and the campigning that is being done. At the end of the report is a link to an Urgent Action and sample letter:-
In early July AIUK coordinators and staff at the International Secretariat were able to brief the new UK Ambassador to Paraguay, Jeremy Hobbs, before he departed to take up his post. The Embassy closed in 2005 and is just now reopening. We were able to brief the Ambassador on the human rights situation in Paraguay and, in particular, the two case files of indigenous communities removed from their lands, Yakye Axa and Sawhowyamaxa.
On 14 June Judge Alfiuni was released from detention. In December 2009 she released banker Eligio Cedeño in accordance with Venezuelan law and was herself arrested the following day. Amnesty International has consistently denounced her detention as undue political interference and arbitrary in nature, in contravention of the independence of the magistrates and judges. The conditions imposed on her release are harsh: she may not leave the country, speak to the press or communicate on social networks.
In theory, paramilitarism ended with the demobilisation process. However, groups continue to operate with impunity. Since our last update a paramilitary plan to kill human rights activists has been exposed. Members of the National Movement of Victims of State Crimes in Sucre (MOVICE) have been threatened and attacked by paramilitaries. These and other organised crimes have been planned from within prison. On 3rd June the police commander of the Department of Sucre in northern Colombia received an e-mail saying paramilitaries (believed to be the bloque Héroes de los Montes de María) were intending to kill human rights defender Juan David Díaz, his wife and another person. His father Eudaldo was killed after he denounced links between paramilitaries, local politicians and the Armed Forces in February 2003. [Read more…]
There never seems an ideal time to do this as things are moving at a huge pace. But we’ve finally hit the Bournemouth Echo – twice!! – so it must be happening. Thanks to Genevieve Talon for her persistence, as there was a good article on Monday. This followed a short piece the previous week – as in the photo below.
If you are new to the whole concept of an Art Exhibition, firstly check out the Art page. Following our successful music event in 2011 we decided to follow up with something else that would attract the interest and attention of the wider public – not just Amnesty followers. An Art Exhibition appeared an ideal medium, as the theme of human rights would also given opportunity to create discussion and debate around Amnesty Internationals work.
Over the past 8 months a small sub-committee has got the project off the ground. From our initial enquires it became clear that the event couldn’t happen in 2013, as most venues were already booked. But we have now lined up venues such as Christchurch Priory, Red House museum, St Peters Church and the Lighthouse in Poole – with negotiations continuing with others. The main exhibition looks set for Spring 2014 (the Lighthouse may well be Autumn – wait for updates!).
Energy has also been spent contacting 6th Form College Art Tutors and professional and amateur artists and art groups. We have distributed our leaflet far and wide. We have started to get enquiries about how to submit entries. Its happening! [Read more…]
