Group Newsletter October 2019

Welcome to the latest newsletter.
The next meeting  is on Thursday 10th October 2019, 7.30pm  at Moordown Community Centre. On the agenda –  Quiz night, letter writing, planning schools conference and Write 4 Rights
This is now organised for Friday November 15th, 7.30 for 8.00 prompt at the Branksome Liberal Club, 1 Salisbury Road, Upper Parkstone, BH14 0DP
For those unfamiliar, our quizzes are informal but competitive!  We have a new venue, The Branksome Liberal Club, which successfully hosted our speaker event (see below). 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.
Teams of up to 7, 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- but last years quiz was won by the smallest team (in numbers not height!).
https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/amnesty-international-bournemouth-group-quiz-night-tickets-74972090541
Agatha Vitoria Sales Felix killed on 20th September 2019

South America Newsletter

The October 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 files and the letters we write. Whilst the newsletter contains several items of good news, some remains dire. 8 year old Agatha Felix, above, is one of 1249 people  killed this year by security forces – just in Rio de Janeiro State.
Ulrike speaking at the Liberal Club

Shrinking Spaces for Human Rights in Europe

Ulrike Schmidt gave a fascinating but chilling talk on changes that affect human rights across Europe. She illustrated her talk with several examples, and those attending had the opportunity to write or sign letters at the end of her talk. There are links to some of these campaigns on the blog report on her talk.
https://amnestyat50.co.uk/shrinking-spaces-for-human-rights-in-europe
Nazanin and daughter Gabriella

Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe

You may have read over the weekend that imprisoned British-Iranian woman Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe is sending her daughter back from Tehran to be schooled in England, saying the separation will leave her a “desolate mother ready to burn like a desert dune”. Zaghari-Ratcliffe, who was arrested in Tehran on espionage charges in 2016, had kept her daughter, Gabriella, now five, in the city with her grandmother in an effort to minimise the trauma of separation.
It’s hard to imagine what she must be going through with this heartbreak to add to the ongoing pain of over 3 years false imprisonment. Please add your name to this petition:-
https://www.amnesty.org.uk/actions/help-get-nazanin-zaghari-ratcliffe-home?

Schools Conference

One of our group members, Tom Wilson, has been involved in the organisation of a Schools Human Rights Conference. This will be at Talbot Heath School on 5th November. We will be running an information stall. If anyone would like to help with this stall, please reply to this newsletter.