Our next meeting is on Thursday 7th March 2024, 7.30pm – 9.00pm at Moordown Community Centre. We will catch up on campaigns, letter writing, and discuss new ideas about campaigning.
We will also plan our involvement in next months Iftar, as explained below…
Iftar in Bournemouth
In conjunction with Feed our Community we will be hosting an Iftar on 21st March. This will be at the Garden Rooms café in Boscombe. An Iftar is the evening meal with which Muslims end their daily Ramadan fast at sunset. It is a significant religious observance during the holy month of Ramadan, symbolizing the breaking of the fast.
We’re still at the planning stage, but Nabila Hanson, Amnesty International UK country coordinator for China, and Professor Bonnie Ling, from Work Better Innovations, have been booked as speakers.
If interested in attending please keep an eye on our Events page, which we will keep updated. https://amnestyat50.co.uk/event
Marielle Franco, murdered in March 2018
South America Newsletter
The latest South America Newsletter has updates on Colombia, Brazil, Peru, Chile, Argentina and Venezuela. Our group have taken part in several campaigns since the repressive response to the 2019 protests in Chile, calling for an end to impunity for those who were in charge. Now an indictment has been filed against three current and former senior commanders of Carabineros de Chile, including the the current Director General of Carabineros, Ricardo Yáñez. Amnesty International considers this development a step towards justice for the grave and widespread human rights violations committed during the response to the protests.
The newsletter also has an update on the murder of human rights defender and politician Marielle Franco (above) and her driver Anderson Gomes. Its now almost six years since their assassination. Again, this is a campaign our group has frequently worked on. https://amnestyat50.co.uk/south-america-newsletter-february-2024
Welcome to the latest newsletter.
Please note we won’t be meeting at Moordown In December, as we are gathering for two Write 4 Rights (W4R) events instead (see below). Our next meeting at Moordown Community Centre is on Thursday 4th January 2024, 7.30pm – 9.00pm.
Write for Rights 2023: Justyna Wydrzyńska
W4R 2023
It’s great to announce that Bournemouth library have welcomed us back to hold not one, but two W4R events. We are booked for Friday 8th December 1.30 – 3.30
Saturday 9th December 1.30 – 3.30
W4R is Amnesty International’s annual campaign, sending greetings cards to prisoners of conscience, their families and other human rights defenders around the world. Worldwide several million messages of support and appeal letters are now sent during a W4R campaign. They made a big difference to the people and communities confronting injustice and facing human rights violations.
We have tried numerous venues around Bournemouth over past 20 years, most outside and invariably cold or wet, sometimes both. Please stop by and send a card.
One case featured is that of Justyna Wydrzynska. Her story is heavily featured in the latest Europe Newsletter (and the AIUK coordinator has organised a demonstration outside the Polish Embassy in London on Saturday 2nd December). But you can also help Justyna – sentenced to 8 months’ community service for helping a pregnant woman to access abortion pills in Poland – by sending a message to the Prosector General
You can find comprehensive details of all ten W4R cases on our website – including videos, addresses and sample letters. You can also download the W4R booklet. The two other cases featured by AIUK are below. https://amnestyat50.co.uk/write-for-rights-2023
Welcome to the latest newsletter.
Our next meeting is on Thursday 2nd November 2023, 7.30pm – 9.00pm at Moordown Community Centre. This is a reminder our quiz night is next week on…
Friday 10th November 8pm at the
The Brunswick Hotel, 199 Malmesbury Park Road, BOURNEMOUTH, BH8 8PX
Our quizzes are informal but competitive! We are returning to one of our favourite venues, The Brunswick Hotel. Sally Hawksworth will again be reading the questions and keeping order!
Please help planning by reserving your tickets via Eventbrite. As ever you pay on the night, but we need to ensure we don’t exceed the room limit (50). Do be quick as we usually sell out some time before the event. At the time of sending this newsletter over two-thirds have gone.
Teams of up to 6, entrance £5 a person. If you aren’t in a team they can be adjusted/formed on the night to ensure no one’s on their own. As ever we will have a raffle (prize donations very welcome). https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/quiz-night-tickets-730232534167
Europe Newsletter
The latest newsletter has updates on Cyprus, Greece, Türkiye and Poland. This includes a sample letter to the Cypriot Ambassador relating to attacks on refugees; the upholding of sentences against the “Gezi 7” defendants in Türkiye; planned demonstrations in December outside the embassies of Greece (deaths at sea of refugees) and Poland (rights of women to have access to safe and legal abortions)
There is also a link to a petition for a treaty to regulate the trade in policing equipment. Whilst tear gas, rubber bullets, pepper spray, and batons are promoted as safer alternatives to firearms, all too often these weapons are used unlawfully (see also Gustavo Gatica below) to harass, intimidate, punish, or drive away protesters, undermining their right to peaceful assembly. https://amnestyat50.co.uk/europe-newsletter-october-2023
