Do give us feedback if you would like to take part in an online letter writing Zoom. We could set this up for February if any interest. And do share any other ideas you have. The impetus for planning “real” events has diminished at the moment – hopefully to return in the near future!

Protect Maria, Jani, Joel and Danelly

María, Jani, Joel, and Danelly are brave people who have been among the voices and protectors of our environment and natural resources in Colombia. In a country where the attacks that they suffer from usually go unpunished and authorities appear ambivalent about their safety, they are forced to risk their life on a daily basis to defend the water, oxygen, and food that we all depend on to live.

The Colombian Congress has the power to monitor that human rights defenders have the guarantees necessary to continue protecting the environment. Take action and call on the Colombian Congress to guarantee their safety and protection.
https://www.amnesty.org/en/get-involved/take-action/protege-a-quienes-nos-protegen/

Write for Rights

Thanks to everyone who joined us on Zoom for our Write for Rights event. Very different to last year at Bournemouth library and Moordown Community Centre. We worked through some of the featured cases together. Clearly not as eventful as most years as there has been no opportunity to engage the public in signing cards, which is a big feature of Write for Rights. But it was nice to collectively do this activity together. And it was a sobering reminder of the sacrifices and risks taken, and the dire plights of some of the people we were sending cards to.

Whilst the Write for Rights card sending campaign has finished, you can still take actions on behalf of all those featured.
https://www.amnesty.org/en/get-involved/write-for-rights/

Europe Newsletter

Decembers Europe newsletter from Ulrika Schmidt and her colleagues is now online. This goes into some depth on a variety of campaigns, particularly in France, Poland, Hungary, Malta and Roma families across Europe. There are links to reports and petitions and email actions.
https://amnestyat50.co.uk/europe-newsletter-december-2020

Poland – Drop charges against Elzbieta, Anna and Joanna

We featured the plight of Elżbieta Podleśna and colleagues a few times last year. Their trial is now due to start next week. There is a large amount of background information within the Europe newsletter, above.

Please urge the Polish Prosecutor General to ensure the charges against the three women activists for “offending religious beliefs” are dropped immediately, and that they are allowed to carry out their peaceful actions without harassment and reprisals by the authorities This is a quick email action you can take here:-
https://www.amnesty.org/en/get-involved/take-action/poland-activist-elzbieta-podlesna/

South America Newsletter

The January 2021 edition has been received, but a technical problem with our site is stopping your editor from publishing it. Hopefully this will be resolved in the next couple of days – do visit https://amnestyat50.co.uk to find it.