Welcome to the latest newsletter from your local Amnesty International group. We meet a week today, Thursday  February 3rd, at Moordown Community Centre, 7.30 – 9.30pm.

Urge Your MP to Speak Up Against the Policing Bill The Policing Bill threatens to crack down on peaceful protest, harm minoritised groups and jeopardise our freedoms. Act now to oppose the Bill and protect your rights and freedoms.Last week, because of huge collective action across the country, the House of Lords removed some of the worst parts of the Policing Bill. But, the fight is not over. While the Bill has suffered a setback, MPs could vote to put some parts back in. Will your MP be on the right side of history? Take Action https://www.amnesty.org.uk/actions/policing-bill-demand-action

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Here is our latest Newsletter with updates and actions.

Stop violence against women in Turkey

On 22 December 2021 Amnesty International published a new briefing document setting out an analysis on the current situation regarding violence against women in Turkey, including a summary of the obligations of the State to respect, protect and fulfil women’s right to be free from violence. Entitled “Turkey, Turn Words Into Actions” it provides an overview of the incredible pressure that women are under in Turkey and sets out the government’s obligations to protect women’s human rights based on a review of Turkish legislation, the recommendations by UN treaty bodies, the Council of Europe, and other relevant international organisations, as well as consultations with women’s rights organisations in Turkey.

Please do have look at the full document which can be accessed through the link shown below:

https://www.amnesty.org/en/documents/eur44/5109/2021/en/

Osman Kavala

On Monday 17 January a Turkish court extended the detention of a civil society leader, Osman Kavala ignoring a deadline from Europe’s top human rights body to release him.

Osman Kavala,  64-year-old businessman and philanthropist, has been held without a conviction since October 2017 for allegedly financing the Gezi Park 2013 anti-government protests and playing a role in an attempted coup against President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan in 2016. But an İstanbul court on Monday turned down a motion from Kavala’s defence for his release, scheduling a new hearing for Feb. 21.

Turkish authorities now have until 2 February before the Council of Europe will serve formal notice of its intention to refer Turkey back to the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) for infringement proceedings.

In its last Human Rights meeting in early December, the Committee of Ministers (CM) of the Council of Europe voted on majority to initiate infringement proceedings against Turkey and gave the authorities until 19 January 2022 to provide a report about Osman Kavala’s imprisonment until this Wednesday to release him from pre-trial detention in line with the December 2019 Kavala v Turkey decision of the European Court of Human Rights.

In the absence of the implementation of the decision, the CM is expected to send the non-implementation of the binding Kavala decision back to the ECtHR at its next meeting on 2 February 2022. It is only the second time since the introduction of the infringement procedure in 2010 that a country is being referred back to the Court for non-implementation of its decisions.

The refusal to release Kavala in line with the ECtHR ruling and nine decisions of the CM since May 2020, and the start of the infringement proceedings indicates a very serious deterioration in of the Human Rights situation in Turkey. The case is undoubtedly souring Turkey’s ties with its traditional Western allies. Please follow the link below for a local report on case: https://bianet.org/english/law/256322-gezi-trial-osman-kavala-not-released-again?bia_source=rss&utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter [Read more…]

Thank you for following us and taking actions on human rights’ issues this past year. This month we bring you news from Paraguay, Colombia, Venezuela, Brazil and Chile. We have a new Urgent Action to free a prisoner of conscience in Venezuela, a petition to sign on sexual violence against children and adolescents in Paraguay and good news from Brazil. We report on the continued violence in Colombia and further criticism from international agencies on police repression of the National Strike. There is good news for indigenous communities in Paraguay while in Colombia the IACHR finds them at great risk.

PARAGUAY

On 1 December, Amnesty published a new report about sexual violence against children and adolescents in Paraguay.  For girls, this often results in forced pregnancies, truncated childhoods and abandonment of their future ambitions. Here are eight facts to underline the seriousness of the issue. According to the findings, the highest authorities in Paraguay are not listening to professionals working on the issue.  You can support the accompanying campaign by signing this petition and by posting on social media using the material available here.

According to this news report of 28 December, the Paraguayan Government has granted land titles and financial compensation to several indigenous groups who have lost possession of their ancestral lands.  This includes the Yakye Axa and the Sawhoyamaxa, for whose rights many of you have campaigned in the past.  We will report further as more information becomes available. [Read more…]

Turkey

Osman Cavala

As reported in the last Europe Team Newsletter, entrepreneur and philanthropist Osman Kavala who was arrested in 2017 and charged with involvement in the Gezi Park protests and plotting to overthrow the state was due back in court on 26 November. Regrettably, at that hearing the court refused to release him from pre-trial detention and has scheduled the next hearing for 17 January 2022.

In the meantime at their meeting between on 2 December the Council of Europe’s Committee of Ministers (COM) have voted to commence infringement proceedings against Turkey because of its failure to implement what is, theoretically, a binding judgement of the European Court of Human Rights that Osman Kavala should be freed. This is good news because such a decision is incredibly rare (only taken once in the history of the Council). If Turkey does not comply it will again be referred back to the European Court of Human Rights on 20 February 2022 and this process could leads to Turkey having its voting rights removed or even expulsion from the Council.

We wait to see the response of the Turkish Government to this ruling.

Poland

Human Rights Defenders

The trial against brave Human Rights Defenders: Ela, Anna and Joanna starts 8^th December.

Amnesty Poland will be following the trial , reporting on Twitter, we will keep the Facebook/AmnestyUKEurope page updated with the outcome.

Elżbieta, Anna and Joanna are outspoken activists and human rights defenders from Poland. They have stood against hate and discrimination for many years and are fighting for a just and equal Poland. They have been targeted by the Polish authorities just because of their peaceful activism. Their demand for justice continues. Now, they need you to fight for them, once again.

In March 2021, Elżbieta, Anna and Joanna were acquitted after spending months on trial accused of ‘offending religious beliefs’, simply for distributing posters of the Virgin Mary with a rainbow halo, the colours of the LGBTI pride flag. The ‘not guilty ‘verdict brought a moment of huge celebrations, but their relief was short-lived. The Polish authorities are now appealing against their acquittal, so the three women’s fight for justice continues.  Once again, they now face up to two years in prison, just for standing up for LGBTI rights in a climate of hate and discrimination in Poland. Sadly, their case is another example of the constant harassment activists and human rights defenders face in Poland for carrying out peaceful activism. The appeal against their acquittal shows the irrational determination of Polish authorities to use the criminal justice system to that end. Having, creating, or distributing posters such as these is not a crime; it is freedom of expression, a basic human right. [Read more…]

Welcome to the latest newsletter from your local Amnesty International group. We next meet at Moordown Community Centre on January 6th; but a week today you can join us at Bournemouth Library for…. Write for Rights 2021 We are delighted to announce that Bournemouth library have welcomed us back to hold Write for Rights (W4R) in their foyer.. We are booked on Saturday 11th December 2021 11am – 1.00pm W4R is Amnesty International’s annual campaign, sending greetings cards to prisoners of conscience and other human rights defenders around the world.  In 2019, more than 6.5 million messages of support and appeal letters were sent during the 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. Our W4R in Bournemouth library in 2019 was by far our most successful. So after last years enforced break it will be great to be back. Please let us know if you would like to help, or just come and say hello and sign a card yourself. Bournemouth Library Entrance Foyer, The Triangle, Bournemouth  BH2 5RQ Imoleayo Michael – “I’m not a criminal. I only protested for the betterment of my fatherland.” Imoleayo Michael, featured in the  the W4R Campaign In October 2020, Imoleayo was among scores of young people who took to the streets in Nigeria to protest against violence, extortion and killings by the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS).As a professional computer programmer, Imoleayo used his skills to promote the protests on Twitter and Facebook, using the viral hashtag #EndSARS.Two weeks later, in the middle of the night, 20 armed men raided his home. They smashed his bedroom window and pointed a gun at him. After seizing his mobile phones and computer, they then locked his wife, elderly mother and seven-month-old son in a room and cut off the power supply to the streetlights around his house. They took Imoleayo to state security service headquarters where they held him in an underground cell for 41 days without access to a lawyer or his family. While there, he was cuffed, blindfolded and chained to a steel cabinet. He was also forced to sleep on the floor and security officers interrogated him a total of five times. [Read more…]