Welcome to the latest newsletter. Our next meeting is on Thursday 2nd October 2025, 7.30pm – 9.00pm at Moordown Community Centre. We will have updates on campaigns, letter writing and planning future events.
South West England Amnesty Network
This is a new initiative that aims to enhance human rights activism and awareness across South West England, encompassing both national and global issues. Local groups have been at the heart of Amnesty International UK from its inception and have been a vital part of its activism. Unfortunately, the number of local groups has declined gradually, leaving parts of the country without a means to connect with others and participate in campaigning. The Bournemouth, Poole and Christchurch group is now the only local group left in Dorset. Find out more about the network. It will launch on…
Thursday, 14th October, 7.30, with a Webinar.
Luiz Aberbuj from Breaking the Silence will expose the reality of life for Palestinians in the West Bank. Founded in March 2004, Breaking the Silence is an organisation of veteran soldiers who have served in the Israeli military since the start of the Second Intifada and have taken it upon themselves to expose the Israeli public to the reality of the horrendous conditions faced by the Palestinians in the West Bank. They endeavour to stimulate public debate in Israel about this and, through their work, aim to bring an end to the occupation. Free tickets to the webinar are now available.
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/1659755616729?
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Europe Newsletter
The latest Europe Newsletter has just been published. Human rights defender Enes Hocaoğulları was detained upon his return to Türkiye from a Council of Europe conference in Strasbourg. He is charged with ‘publicly disseminating misleading information’ and ‘inciting the public to hatred and enmity’. This follows a short speech he delivered in March at the 48th session of the Council of Europe’s Congress of Local and Regional Authorities, where he spoke about rights violations during mass protests following the detention the Istanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu. Amnesty is calling for him to be immediately and unconditionally released. No one should be prosecuted for peacefully exercising their right to freedom of expression and speaking out against human rights violations. Please take action, either online or use this letter we sent at our recent group meeting.
https://amnestyat50.co.uk/europe-newsletter-august-2025
South America Newsletter
The latest South America Newsletter has just been published. A new study details how lithium mining in Argentina, Bolivia, and Chile has caused severe and ongoing human rights impacts, especially for indigenous peoples. The report highlights failures both by states and companies to respect, protect, and fulfil rights, and calls for urgent structural reforms and international accountability. The “lithium triangle”, where the three countries meet, has huge reserves and mining industries ready to exploit, at a time when demand for lithium is surging for its use in batteries.
https://amnestyat50.co.uk/south-america-newsletter-september-2025
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Urgent & Activist Actions
We know that many of you take actions arising from campaigns highlighted in this newsletter. Thank you, please keep going (we know activism can be hard to sustain when you don’t get feedback or noticeable results from what you do).
At our group meetings we usually catch up on the latest Urgent Actions on the AIUK website. Urgent Actions are normally international, mainly individuals at risk, and usually quite time limited.
* There is now an UK Urgent Action to the Directors of Public Prosecutions, urgeing him to uphold UK’s human rights commitments and drop the charges and not pursue prosecutions against all those who participated in peaceful protests in support of ‘Palestine Action’.
Once you click Take Action on a particular case you usually have a choice of email or letter, enter your details and complete the action. Unfortunately with letters you still have to print off and post – sending just one letter overseas now starts at £3.20…
https://www.amnesty.org.uk/urgent-actions
A relatively new feature from AIUK is Activist Actions. These tend to be generated by activists withing the UK, such as Country Coordinators, rather than by the International Secretariat. There are currently two Activist Actions with petitions.
https://www.amnesty.org.uk/activist-actions
