Amnesty International Bournemouth Poole Christchurch Group

local news & events Amnesty International group for Bournemouth, Poole & Christchurch

South America Newsletter April 2025

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This month we bring you news from Colombia, Venezuela, Peru, Paraguay, Argentina, Ecuador and Brazil.

Highlights are:

  • Colombia: Amnesty has a new Urgent Action calling on President Petro to stop making stigmatising statements about civil society organisations in Catatumbo
  • Venezuela: Venezuela has reached an agreement with the United States to resume the flights carrying migrants to Venezuela.
  • Peru: Amnesty has issued a new Urgent Action calling on the President not to enact amendments to a law passed by the Congress.
  • Paraguay: Amnesty has issued a new Urgent Action urging the Prosecutor’s Office to drop charges against environmental defender, Vidal Brítez.
  • Argentina: An Urgent Action has been republished calling on Congress to guarantee an adequate standard of living for older people.
  • Ecuador: Amnesty has condemned a decision by Ecuador’s Constitutional Court to dismiss an extraordinary action for protection brought by the “Guerreras por la Amazonia” (Warriors for the Amazon).
  • Brazil and Paraguay: Brazil’s Supreme Federal Court has endorsed a settlement agreement in a lawsuit seeking redress for human rights violations suffered by indigenous communities in Brazil during construction of the Itaipú Dam.

COLOMBIA

Amnesty has issued a new Urgent Action calling on President Petro to stop making stigmatising statements about civil society organisations in Catatumbo and instead be open to dialogue and to the participation of local organisations in the implementation of human rights centred solutions to the Catatumbo crisis.  This follows a statement by President Petro on 3 March claiming that civil society organisations in Catatumbo were “permeated” and “subordinated” to armed groups.  Amnesty said that, besides being unjustified and unacceptable, this statement endangered the members of these organisations and legitimised the violence that they, as well as the civilian population of Catatumbo in general, have been enduring since mid-January. This is a letter we sent at our April meeting you can use.

VENEZUELA

Russian President Vladimir Putin and Venezuelan President Maduro have agreed that the two countries are “strategic partners“, announcing that they intend to expand ties. It comes after US President Donald Trump’s decision to revoke a sanctions waiver permitting US company Chevron to operate in Venezuela. Putin is one of the few leaders to have recognized Maduro’s re-election, widely seen to be fraudulent.

Venezuela has reached an agreement with the United States to resume the flights carrying migrants to Venezuela. The agreement comes after a diplomatic argument between the countries after the United States deported Venezuelan migrants to El Salvador. The flights are being challenged. The US’s deportation drive is under challenge in US courts.

The Venezuelan army is alleging that it uncovered a US plot seeking to fabricate an incident in the Essequibo region, as a ruse for military action. The resource-rich Essequibo region, currently recognised as part of Guyana, is disputed by Venezuela. The claims come after US Secretary of State Marco Rubio travelled to the region and reaffirmed the US’s commitment to Guyana’s security.

The Urgent Action issued at the end of February remains active. At least four human rights defenders are currently arbitrarily detained for defending human rights: Javier Tarazona, detained in 2021; Rocío San Miguel, Carlos Julio Rojas, and Kennedy Tejeda, all three detained in 2024. They are prisoners of conscience and must be released immediately and unconditionally. We demand Nicolás Maduro ensures they are released as a matter of urgency. Whilst in state custody they should not subjected to torture and remain safe.

[Read more…]

South America Newsletter March 2025

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This month we bring you news from Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador, Uruguay, Argentina, Chile and Suriname

Highlights are:

  • Colombia: Amnesty has issued a new Urgent Action calling on the National Police to guarantee the safety of members of the fishers’ association FEDEPESAN and to prevent their forced displacement
  • Ecuador: Amnesty has issued a new Urgent Action calling on the Attorney General to undertake a search for 23 men whose whereabouts remain unknown following military operations carried out during 2024 and to investigate these events as possible cases of enforced disappearances.
  • Uruguay: Uruguay’s new president, Yamandu Orsi, has taken office. Orsi, who is regarded as centre-left, narrowly won last November’s election against the ruling centre-right coalition.
  • Suriname: The government is considering legislation that would finally establish territorial rights for Indigenous and Tribal communities.
  • Argentina: President Javier Milei temporarily appointed two Supreme Court judges by decree, bypassing Congress during its summer recess in a move seen as an overreach of executive power.
  • Chile: Five adoptees flew from the USA last month to reunite with their birth families in Chile for the first time after they were stolen as infants during the Augusto Pinochet dictatorship
  • Venezuela: Amnesty International has issued a new Urgent Action calling for the release of four human rights defenders arbitrarily detained.

COLOMBIA

Amnesty has issued a new Urgent Action calling on the National Police to guarantee the safety of members of the fishers’ association FEDEPESAN and to prevent their forced displacement.  On 15 February, FEDEPESAN announced that they felt forced to carry out a collective displacement from the lakes and rivers surrounding the city of Barrancabermeja.  In recent years, including the first two months of 2025, FEDEPESAN members have been subjected to numerous instances of harassment, threats, robbery, extortion, and even attempted murder by armed groups.

A new report from the United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) details how armed groups use violence to exert control over the population, furthering their own economic interests and undermining governance. According to the report, the situation disproportionately affects Indigenous Peoples, Afro-descendant communities and peasants.  The OHCHR urges the authorities to prioritise the protection of civilians emphasises the need to strengthen governance in a number of regions of the country.

[Read more…]

Group Newsletter February 2025

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Welcome to the latest newsletter, in which we share some good news stories.
Our next meeting  is on Thursday 6th March 2025, 7.30pm – 9.00pm at Moordown Community Centre. We will have updates on campaigns, letter writing and planning future events. In particular our second Iftar next Saturday…

Iftar in Bournemouth

After last years successful event we will be co-hosting an Iftar on

Saturday 8th March from 5pm.

This will be alongside Feed our Community.  An Iftar is the  evening meal with which Muslims end their daily Ramadan fast at sunset. It is a significant religious observance during the holy month of Ramadan, symbolizing the breaking of the fast.
Last year we had a few false starts with a venue, but we are returning to

Ensbury Park Community Centre, Ensbury Avenue, BH10 4HG

Please contact us if you would like to attend or help
We are delighted share the news that Neth Nahara, featured in last years Write for Rights (W4R) is finally free after more than a year of arbitrary imprisonment.
Neth was arrested on 13 August 2023 in her home in Luanda, Angola, simply for broadcasting a TikTok video criticising President Lourenço. During her time in custody, she was denied vital HIV medication, which caused her health to deteriorate significantly. Neth was later hospitalized due to the condition that worsened during her detention.
Thousands of supporters demanded her release through W4R 2024. Following this global campaign, Neth Nahara and four other Angolan activists were finally freed in the first week of January 2025.
Salma al-Shehab, 36, a Leeds University PhD student and mother of two, was arrested on 15 January 2021 for tweeting and retweeting Saudi women’s rights activists on Twitter. Based on these tweets, she was charged, amongst other things, with “disturb[ing] public order, [and] destabiliz[ing] the security of society and the stability of the state.”
In March 2022, the Specialized Criminal Court (SCC) sentenced Salma al-Shehab to six years in prison. At her appeal trial in August 2022, the prosecution demanded a harsher punishment, and the SCC drastically increased her prison sentence to 34 years. Salma appealed that judgement and the court reduced her sentence to 27 years’ imprisonment.
We featured Salma al-Shehab on our stall at Increase the Peace, May 2023. Her release last month is fantastic news.
After more than four years of wrongful imprisonment for peacefully exercising her human rights, Dorgelesse Nguessan has finally been released.
In September 2020, over 500 people including Dorgelesse, were arrested for participating in protests in several cities across Cameroon.
Having never been politically active before, Dorgelesse joined her first protest in Douala due to her growing concern about Cameroon’s economy. Charged with “insurrection” and “public demonstrations” among other charges, she was then sentenced to five years in prison by a military court on December 7 2021.
In 2022, she was featured in W4R. On January 16 2025, she was finally released.

Europe Newsletter

Februarys newsletter also contains good news.  Three of the GEZI defendants have been acquitted, overturning their previous 18-year prison sentences. But the other four defendants remain in prison serving long sentences for attending peaceful protests. Osman Kavala is serving a life sentence.
Since the newsletter was published Taner Kılıç  a founding member of Amnesty International Türkiye and its former Chair, has been released from prison. He was convicted of “membership of a terrorist organisation” and sentenced to more than six years in prison. The end of the almost eight year ordeal for Taner Kılıç comes amid a new wave of detentions in Türkiye, in  which rights defenders, journalists, political activists and others have been targeted.
https://amnestyat50.co.uk/europe-newsletter-february-2025
https://amnestyat50.co.uk/turkiye-acquittal-of-taner-kilic

South America Newsletter

The latest South America Newsletter has updates on Venezuela, Colombia, Argentina, Chile and Suriname. There is a new Urgent Action for Venezuela, calling for the release of four human  defenders currently arbitrarily detained for their activism.  At our last meeting we sent letters to the Colombian Minister for the Interior. This is regarding the safety of civil society organisations, and the communities, of the Magdalena Medio region. They continue to be under persistent threat from armed groups, who have labelled them as collaborators and declared the community a “military objective”.
https://amnestyat50.co.uk/south-america-newsletter-february-2025

[Read more…]

Türkiye: Acquittal of Taner Kılıç

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Acquittal of Taner Kılıç after eight-year ordeal comes amid new wave of repression of rights defenders

The case of Taner Kılıç, who was finally acquitted today after a judicial process that has lasted almost 8 years, is a stark example of the Turkish authorities’ politically motivated attempts to criminalize human rights defenders, said Amnesty International.
Taner Kılıç, a refugee rights lawyer and former Chair of Amnesty International’s Türkiye section, was arrested in June 2017 and detained in prison for more than 14 months. Despite a complete absence of any credible evidence, in July 2020, he was convicted of “membership of a terrorist organisation” and sentenced to more than six years in prison. The end of the almost eight year ordeal for Taner Kılıç comes amid a new wave of detentions in which rights defenders, journalists, political activists and others have been targeted.
His acquittal follows the Court of Cassation’s rejection of the prosecution’s appeal against its previous decision to overturn Taner’s baseless conviction.

“Today, as we mark the end of Taner’s agonizing ordeal, our feelings are bittersweet. The cruelty inflicted on Taner – the years stolen from him and his family – can never be forgotten. His tenacity and resilience, coupled with our determination to undo this injustice, demonstrates that when we come together, we can move mountains,” said Agnès Callamard, Amnesty International’s Secretary General who spoke with Taner by video call today.

“For me this nightmare that has gone on for almost eight years is finally over. My imprisonment for more than a year has caused great trauma to my family. This unfair trial was like a sword of Damocles hanging not just over me but over the head of the entire human rights community in Türkiye. While it was for the prosecution to prove my guilt, this case went on for years despite my repeatedly proving my innocence,” said Taner Kılıç.

“The ordeal has created huge uncertainty in my life. The only thing I was sure of throughout this process was that I was right and innocent, and the support from all over the world gave me strength. I thank each and every one who stood up for me.”

In May 2022, the European Court of Human Rights reaffirmed that the authorities in Türkiye did not have “any reasonable suspicion that Taner Kılıç had committed an offence” when they remanded him in pre-trial detention for over 14 months in 2017/18. It found that his imprisonment on terrorism-related charges was “directly linked to his activity as a human rights defender”.
In November 2022, the Court of Cassation in Turkey ruled to overturn the conviction of Taner Kılıç on the grounds that the investigation was “incomplete”. The trial court agreed with the Court of Cassation ruling in June 2023, but the prosecutor appealed the decision, insisting that Taner Kılıç’s conviction should stand. With this latest and final decision, the Court of Cassation rejected the prosecution’s appeal, ending the ordeal for the human rights defender.

“Taner’s protracted prosecution is emblematic of how Turkish courts have been weaponized to silence critical voices and of the ongoing crackdown by Turkish authorities on rights and freedoms and those who defend them. The flagrant miscarriage of justice he was subjected to for so long is sadly just one of many. But we will take strength from Taner’s acquittal in our fight against the curtailing of human rights in Türkiye, and on behalf of those who refuse to be silenced by the authorities’ threats,” said Agnès Callamard.

The acquittal comes amid a crackdown in which more than 1,600 people have reportedly been investigated for their alleged links to the Peoples’ Democratic Congress, a platform for civil society organizations and political parties. Last week, at least 50 people were detained in several provinces and 30 among them unlawfully remanded in prison on ‘terrorism’ related allegations after being questioned about their peaceful activities dating from more than a decade ago.
Background
Taner Kılıç is a founding member of Amnesty International Türkiye. Over the last 20 years, he has played a crucial role in defending human rights as part of the organization and the wider human rights community in Türkiye.

Europe Newsletter February 2025

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Human Rights are under threat even more than before but sometimes there are some good news: Our Europe country coordinator team has been enriched by our newest member : little Petar, born just before Christmas to our wonderful Western Europe coordinator Jovana.

There is also some good news from Turkiye : three of the GEZI defendants have been acquitted. And in Greece court proceedings into the action of the Greek coastguard regarding the deaths of over 600 people are slowly progressing. Campaigning works, but Greek civil society who are pushing for justice for the victims of the Pylos shipwreck need our solidarity. I will be back with proposed actions soon. A new report into surveillance and suppression of civil society in Serbia makes disturbing reading, and I am in conversation with the International Secretariat on campaigning guidelines.

And most importantly, please take Urgent Action  for Nimet Tanrikulu who has been imprisoned on baseless accusations.

Turkiye

by  Chris Ramsey

Urgent Action      Nimet Tanrıkulu

There is a revised Urgent Action, calling for the release of human rights defender Nimet Tanrıkulu.

The update is because Nimet’s prosecution was transferred from Ankara to Istanbul although she is still being held in Ankara’s Sincan prison. The first hearing in her trial will take place on 4 March 2025 at the Istanbul Heavy Penal Court No. 24.

On 26 November, prominent human rights defender Nimet Tanrıkulu was detained from her home by the police in Istanbul. After a short period of detention at a police station, she was transferred to the anti-terrorism branch of the Ankara Security Directorate. Following four days in police custody, Nimet Tanrıkulu was remanded in pre-trial detention on 30 November, accused of “membership to a terrorist organization”.

She is still held at Ankara’s Sincan women’s prison. Amnesty International believes that her detention on what appear to be baseless accusations is arbitrary, and she should be released immediately.

Gezi Prisoners of Conscience

at last some good news!

The  acquittal of three Gezi defendants on 11 February brings one part of a chronicle of injustice to an end 

Three defendants in the Gezi Park trial have been acquitted after a retrial following the Court of Cassation’s decision to overturn their previous 18-year prison sentences. Mücella Yapıcı, Ali Hakan Altınay, and Yiğit Ali Ekmekçi (who was not part of the original Gezi 7) were acquitted today by the İstanbul 13th Heavy Penal Court due to lack of evidence.

The defendants were not present in court, but their attorneys attended the hearing. Necla Saadet Durdu, representing the General Directorate of Security, was also present.

In his final opinion, the prosecutor stated that there was no clear, concrete, or material evidence proving the defendants committed the alleged crime, and therefore recommended acquittal. The defence lawyers supported this assessment and asked for a ruling in line with the prosecutor’s opinion.

The court ruled that there was insufficient evidence to convict Yapıcı, Altınay, and Ekmekçi on charges of “attempting to overthrow the government of the Republic of Turkey or obstruct its functions.” The panel concluded that the defendants should be acquitted on the grounds that no definitive and legally admissible evidence was found.

Reacting to the acquittal at the retrial of Gezi PoCs Mücella Yapıcı, Hakan Altınay (and Yiğit Ekmekçi), whose initial convictions and 18-year prison sentences in connection with mass protests in 2013 were overturned by the Court of Cassation in September 2023, Milena Buyum, Amnesty International’s Senior Türkiye Campaigner, said:

“Today’s decision brings an end to the politically motivated prosecution of Mücella Yapıcı, Hakan Altınay and Yiğit Ekmekçi, and the chronicle of injustice they have suffered. Over the course of more than seven years, prosecuting authorities repeatedly failed to provide credible evidence to substantiate the baseless charges laid against them. They should never have been subjected to any charges, let alone spent any time in prison.

“Their unfair prosecution – and that of the other five Gezi Park defendants – not only resulted in grave violations of their rights, but also became a shameful example of the way in which Türkiye’s justice system is used as a tool of political repression.

“Their acquittals must now be followed by the immediate release of Osman Kavala and the other four Gezi prisoners of conscience who remain behind bars.”

Speaking to Amnesty International, Mücella Yapıcı said: “It is very hard to feel happy when all the others are still behind bars. Why are they still imprisoned when they are as innocent as us? I want to thank everyone who stood by us and supported us during this thoroughly unfair prosecution.” [Read more…]

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