Local Elections 2021

Local Elections and the Human Rights Act

The Norwich Amnesty group is asking for your help in this campaign about maintaining the Human Rights Act (HRA).

The Act is very relevant to the local elections which are taking place on 6th May as it involves many rights which must be protected at a local government level.

We have prepared a short briefing paper on the key issues of the Human Rights Act that you can send the candidates to ensure they see the full impact of the Act, which you can download below.

It is likely that there will be a debate in the House of Commons in June this year on it’s future and before this date Amnesty intends to campaign vigorously to protect the Act in it’s present form.

In the meantime you are invited to contact your local candidates within the city or county to ask for their views, and we hope support, in maintaining the Act as an important protection of our civil and human rights locally and nationally.

This will increase it’s profile as a key part of local politics.

Norfolk and Norwich Local Elections

In Norfolk 75 seats will be contested and in Norwich 13 seats will be contested, a third of the total.
We hope you will take part in this campaign by contacting your candidates by email, letter or by using other social media before the election date.

We have prepared some text, which you can download below, which you may wish to use in making contact with your local division candidates.
Please feel free to use your own wording and of course include the briefing paper.

Candidates

There is no direct email contact with a candidate, so you will have to contact them via the details on the campaign literature you will have been sent or the local party website.

You can find election information and a list of Candidates for Norfolk and Norwich seats via:

Local Party Websites

You can also find your current local Councillor via https://www.gov.uk/find-your-local-councillors

Police and Crime Commissioner

The election for the Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) is also taking place on the same date. The committee will try to contact them on your behalf so you need only to concentrate on your division candidates.

You can view Candidates and more information for the PCC election via https://www.norfolk-pcc.gov.uk/key-information/pcc-elections/

Downloads

If you have any queries on this matter please contact us on info@norwichamnesty.org.uk

Good campaigning,

The Committee
Norwich Amnesty

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Write for Rights 2020

We ask our supporters to take action to support people who find themselves under threat for standing up for human rights.

Their actions put pressure on people in power to stop human rights violations.

Appeals to presidents, governors, justice ministers and other decision-makers show them that the world is watching.

Last year, hundreds of thousands of people around the world took part in Write for Rights 2019, sending more than 6.5 million messages of support and appeals to authorities.

Read and take part in this year’s cases

write for rights

Download Write for Right 2020 Cases Booklet

Gustavo Gatica

Gustavo Gatica was studying psychology in the capital, Santiago, when protests broke out across Chile over rising prices and inequality.

Like millions of others, Gustavo took to the streets in demonstrations that lasted for weeks and made global headlines.

But at 4pm on a Friday afternoon, Gustavo was shot in the face by police.

From a distance of no more than 30 metres, special forces fired rubber-coated lead bullets into Gustavo’s eyes.

“I felt the…water running from my eyes. It was the blood.” – Gustavo

Gustavo permanently lost his sight. But the police responsible for the shooting have never been held to account.

Gustavo wants justice, will you stand with him?

Email the Chilean authorities demanding a proper investigation.

Take Action

Nassima

For much of her life, Nassima campaigned for women’s freedoms in Saudi Arabia. In doing so, she’s lost her own.

She was one of several prominent activists demanding women have the right to drive and the right to carry out their daily business without the permission of a male “guardian”‘.

Saudi Arabia’s guardianship laws required women to seek a man’s permission to go out. While these laws have been eased, women like Nassima who campaigned to end the guardianship system remain behind bars.

“When a woman feels that she can’t carry out basic tasks…without her male guardian, this restricts her humanity.” – Nassima

Nassima was arrested for her peaceful human rights work in July 2018. While in jail, she was ill-treated. She was placed in a cell alone, in complete isolation for an entire year.

She is allowed only one weekly phone call with her family, but is not allowed any visits – not even from her lawyer.

Her detention is part of a recent wave of arrests that target Saudi women human rights activists.

The UK government has influence, which is why we’re urging them to use the G20 this month to publicly call for the release of Nassima and other Saudi women rights campaigners.

Take Action

Melike and Özgür

From day one, students Melike and Özgür dedicated themselves to defending lesbian, gay, bi-sexual, transgender and intersex (LGBTI+) rights at their university.

As prominent members of the LGBTI+ Solidarity Group at Middle East Technical University (METU) in Ankara, they’ve organised numerous marches and events. They’ve engaged with an ever-growing number of students, against a backdrop of increasing homophobia and restrictions on freedom of expression in Turkey.

“We need your support, all around the world to defeat this homophobia and transphobia around us.” – Melike

The group of students have organised an annual Pride march on campus since 2011. Over the years, Pride on their campus grew in size and visibility.

However, in 2019, the university’s management told the students the Pride march that they had planned could not go ahead on campus. Undeterred, the Solidarity Group staged a Pride sit-in instead.

In response, the university called the police who used excessive force, including tear gas, against the peaceful protesters. Police arrested at least 23 students – including Melike and Özgür – and an academic. Some of those detained hadn’t even taken part in the protest.

Despite simply exercising their right to peaceful protest 18 students and the Academic are on trial. If found guilty, they face up to three years in prison.

Email the Minister of Justice urging them to drop the charges against the students.

Take Action

Germain Rukuki

Do you champion human rights? If the answer is yes, you could be sentenced to 32 years in prison for “rebellion”.

That’s what happened to Germain in Burundi. For three years, he hasn’t seen his family. He has never even met his third child.

In 2017, Germain was arrested and taken to prison. He was found guilty of “rebellion” among other charges.

He was sentenced to 32 years in prison. “I feel the suffering that breaks the hearts of my sons…unfairly separated from their dear Daddy.” – Germain

Germain’s wife, Emelyne, gave birth four months after his imprisonment, meaning Germain has never held his child.

The prison where he is detained is overcrowded. He shares a space of 10m x 10m with more than 120 others.

There are reports of multiple Covid-19 deaths but authorities haven’t taken any action to reduce the amount of prisoners.

Burundi has a new President this year. Contact President Evariste Ndayishimiye calling on him to release Germain.

Take Action

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Amnesty Local Groups – September 2020 Edition

Fears of abduction for Thai activist in exile

 

Wanchalearm Satsaksit, a Thai activist in exile, was reportedly abducted by unknown persons from outside his apartment building in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. A known dissident in Thailand, who often exercised his right to freedom of expression online in exile, Thai authorities issued a warrant for his arrest in 2018.  Wanchalearm Satsaksit is among nine Thai activists who sought exile in neighbouring countries, that have gone missing in recent years. Two of them are confirmed to have been killed. Cambodian authorities must thoroughly and effectively investigate his disappearance and seek to establish his whereabouts, as provided by the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance.

Take Action

Lebanon Blast

 

Shortly after the devastating explosion in Beirut, Amnesty International called for an independent, international investigation, a crucial step towards ending the corruption and impunity in the country. We are currently working cosely with Lebanese human rights defenders to support them in their work and amplify their voices here in the UK. Please read and share these two blogs: “20 Minutes of Life and Death in Beirut”, by Rana Khoury, and “Lebanon: Drastic Problems require Radical Solutions” by Jon Dagher. We will keep you posted on how the work on Lebanon further develops.

Read More

Hello from the Europe team!

 

We are three country coordinators: Helen, Anna and Ulrike, covering all of Europe including  the Balkans and Turkey. We are campaigning for Women’s rights and LGBTQI Rights which are under threat in Poland. We are campaigning against discrimination and forced evictions of Roma communities throughout Europe and against police and vigilante violence. We are standing up for the rights of Refugees and Human Rights defenders and for justice and rule of law. One of our long term cases is Eren Keskin, a brave and principled Human Rights lawyer in Turkey. Eren has faced repeated harrassment from authorities just for doing her job, and she is now at risk of impriosnment. Another is Elzbieta Podlesna , fearless LGBT rights campaigner and activist charged with ”insulting religion”  and threatened with 2 years in prison on absurd charges.

Take Action

Updates

Art as activism

 

Covid-19 stopped the Southampton City group meeting up, but not campaigning together.  They collected photos on their daily walks and built three mosaics of  Marielle Franco – the subject of one of the group’s case files. Marielle was a courageous human rights defender, she worked tirelessly to defend people’s dignity, especially that of the most marginalized. She was murdered in 2018. We are campaigning for an investigation to be carried out fully and transparently. The mosaics have been deposited in the ‘Covid-19 Stories’ collection of Southampton’s SeaCity Museum.

Local groups under lockdown

 

Local Groups have been forced to innovate during lockdown and many have managed to develop and learn. Ian Myson has written a blog for us explaining how the Banbury group have managed virtual meetings, the pros and cons, and talks us through the impact.

Read more

Israel/ Palestine campaigning opportunity

We have had some positive developments in our local campaigns to bring about a prohibition of trade with Israel’s illegal settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories. Now seems like a good time to approach your local authority on this issue, and we have prepared a template letter as well as a legal opinion. If this is a campaign you and your group are interested in, please contact Rebecca, Crisis and Tactical campaigner.

Get in Touch

Step up your activism!

The work of our Country Coordinator team is fundamental to what we all do as a part of Amnesty International. Working directly with Amnesty researchers, with local groups and with communities, our forum of around 50 Country Coordinators lead on almost all of our country work and Individual at Risk cases that fall outside of our priority campaigns, driving real human rights change worldwide. Do you want to get more involved with running campaigns across the UK? We’re currently recruiting for several positions in the CC forum.

Take a look

Annual General Meeting Key Dates

  • Board Q&A:
    14 – 27 September
  • Resolutions virtual discussion:
    Saturday 19 September 9am –6pm
  • Proxy votes deadlines:
    Vote opens 21 August / Vote closes 9am on 8 October
  • Date of the AGM:
    Saturday 10 October 10 – 11am

Visit amnesty.org.uk/agm for all AGM information or contactagm@amnesty.org.uk

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Amnesty Children’s Network News and Actions

Good News from South Sudan

 

Last week we heard the good news from South Sudan that Magai Matiop Ngong’s death sentence has been quashed by the South Sudan Court of Appeal.

Magai was sentenced to death in 2017, when he was just 15 years old. In recent years South Sudan has executed at least two people who were children at the time of the crime, despite this being contrary to South Sudanese law and international law. Magai’s case was included in the annual Write for Rights campaign in 2019 and many of us took action.

Read more details

USA: Families in Immigration Detention Action

USA: Families in Immigration Detention

The judge-imposed deadline for all children to be released from family detention facilities, described by the judge as “on fire” with Covid-19 is now 7thAugust. As outlined in our previous mailing, there are concerns over family separations, if ICE chooses not to release parents along with their children. Family separation in this way would violate rights to liberty and family unity and the requirement to prioritize the best interests of the child.

Take action by sending an urgent email, calling on the US authorities to release all families together.

Add your Voice

Yezidi child survivors of ‘Islamic State’

 

Amnesty International has published a new report on the plight of Yezidi children who were held captive by the armed group calling itself Islamic State (IS). From 2014 to 2017 IS committed war crimes and crimes against the Yezidi community in Iraq, which a UN Commission of Inquiry concluded in 2015 amounted to genocide.

Thousands of children were killed, abducted, enslaved, tortured, forced to fight, raped and subjected to other egregious human rights violations. Hundreds of child survivors now face significant challenges including:

  • The serious impact on physical health for many who were starved, tortured or forced fight, including debilitating, long-term injuries, illnesses of conditions and whose health needs not being met.
  • Insufficient psychosocial services and programmes to meet the mental health of children affected by terrible trauma. The most common conditions experienced by the children are reported to be PTSD, anxiety and depression.
  • Many Yezidi girls experienced sexual violence, but it is reported that existing programmes for survivors of sexual violence have largely neglected girls and focussed on adult women.
  • Many children face language barriers, being unable to speak or even understand the dialect of Kurdish spoken by their families.
  • Particular challenges accessing education after missing years of schooling during captivity, and struggling to access programmes to help due to a lack of awareness, or extensive levels of bureaucracy to do so.
  • Significant barriers obtaining new or replacement documentation that is needed, e.g. ID cards, residence cards, ration cards, birth certificate.
  • Yezidi women who gave birth to children as a result of sexual violence have faced difficulties due to many factors – forcing then into the position of either keeping children and giving up their families and community, or giving up their children and reuniting with families and community.

Amnesty is calling on the authorities, with support, to address health and psychosocial needs of children; provide language training and increased access to learning programmes; and remove barriers in obtaining documents.
Furthermore, women with children born of sexual violence must be supported to remain or reunite with their children if they wish to do so and international organisations such as UNHCR should cooperate with other governments to prioritise and fast-track them for resettlement or humanitarian relocation.

Read more information / Read the Full Report

Teenager Tortured and Imprisoned in Egypt

Aser Mohamed was arrested in 2016 when he was just 14 years old and subjected to torture and enforced disappearance.

Last October he was sentenced to 10 years in prison following an unfair trial with confessions extracted under torture used against him.

 

He is currently imprisoned without family visits or regular alternative means of communication during the Covid-19 pandemic, and with health issues including a chronic allergy that causes respiratory difficulties and puts him at particular risk of severe Covid-19.

Take Action

Call on the Egyptian authorities to quash Aser’s conviction, immediately release him and launch investigations into his enforced disappearance and torture allegations.

Also call on them to ensure that, pending his release, he is provided with means to communicate with his family and lawyers and ask them to take measures to protect the health of all prisoners amid the covid-19 pandemic.

Download Template Letter to send to Egypt’s President.

More Details

Amnesty International has called for the quashing of his sentence given the gross violations of his rights to a fair trial, including the use of confessions extracted under torture as evidence against him.

On 10 March the Egyptian authorities suspended all prison visits as a measure to prevent the spread of Covid-19. They failed to introduce regular alternative means of communication between detainees and their families and lawyers, such as bi-monthly phone calls, as prescribed by Egyptian law. Since the suspension of the visits Wadi al-Natrum prison authorities allowed Aser Mohamed’s family to send him food and a letter twice on 23 April 2020 and 14 May 2020.

Aser’s relatives were last able to visit him on 2 March 2020. His family reported that he was suffering from depression, and that he also suffers from a chronic allergy that causes respiratory difficulties. This condition puts him at particular risk of severe covid- 19 according to the World Health Organisation’s list of vulnerable groups. Well-documented concerns about overcrowded, unhygienic and unsanitary conditions in Egyptian prisons aggravate risks of the spread of covid-19 infections.