Group Newsletter December 2017

Welcome to the latest newsletter.
The next meeting  is on Thursday 14th December 2017, 7.30pm  at Moordown Community Centre. On the agenda –  Write 4 Rights! This meeting is dedicated to the Write 4 Rights campaign – details below. Don’t forget seasonal nibbles and raffle prizes…
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. As well as dedicating the meeting to sending cards, we also have a few seasonal nibbles and an exciting raffle. Do join us if you can.

Autumn Quiz

Thank you to everyone who supported our Autumn Quiz on 24th November.  We raised over £300, over £100 of that from a raffle, which showed the generosity of those involved. Also thanks to Sally Hawksworth, seen in the picture as “Quizmistress”, David Rogers for setting the questions and Lucy Freeman for organising the raffle.

Special thanks to the newly refurbished Brunswick Hotel; their function room is now superb.  This is the 5th quiz we have held at the Brunswick in recent years, all with no charge. These have raised £1322 between them.

South America Newsletter

The December edition of the South America Regional Newsletter is now on the blog. Our group has focused on South America since its inception, which is also reflected in our case file – see below. The 3 volunteers who run the network for AIUK – and produce the newsletter – do a huge amount of work on our behalf.

Human Rights Defenders

Tep Vanny is locked up in Cambodia simply for standing up against a luxury tourist construction project in her home town that’s seen thousands of families lose their homes. She is not a criminal. She does not deserve to be treated this way by her own country.

Read more and send her your message of support.

Jorge Lázaro Samba Nunes dos Santos

A case file is an AI action that focus on one individual or situation. This long term narrow focus ensures a constant pressure on authorities to take action. We have been writing to authorities in Bahia State, Brazil on behalf of Jorge Lázaro, for about two years now.

Two of his seven children have been murdered. Jorge Lázaro has been under huge pressure since the first murder in 2008 : he is seeking justice for the killings of his sons, trying to keep himself and his family safe, and providing necessary minimum living conditions such as a home and food.
To add to the tragedy of two murdered sons, on July 10th 2016 Jorge’s youngest son, Denilson was shot whilst walking home.  Luckily Denilson survived and is currently recovering.
There are downloadable letters you can adapt on our take action page.There is also a link so you can send him a message of support via AIUK.