Your local voice for Amnesty International
Life and Death Row This 20-episode BBC documentary series tells the story of capital punishment through the eyes of young people whose lives have been shaped or ended by it in the USA. Covering the crimes committed, experiences of family and community violence, and long legal battles, the series shows how youngsters on death row…
Continue reading Worth Watching
Amnesty International’s Report: They Don’t Treat us Like Humans – Unlawful Returns of Afghans from Turkey and Iran According to the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, more than 180,000 Afghans in need of international protection have arrived in neighbouring countries since 1 January 2021, but there are considerably more left behind. This report presents Amnesty’s…
Continue reading Focus on Afghanistan
The legal challenge against the deportation of refugees and asylum seekers to Rwanda is currently being heard in the High Court. The government is relying on the Asylum and Immigration (Treatment of Claimants etc.) Act 2004 which gives ministers the power to send asylum seekers to safe countries. Their QC, referring to the Refugee Convention…
Continue reading Deporting Refugees and Asylum Seekers to Rwanda
This Bill has had its third reading in the House of Commons and is now at its second reading in the House of Lords. The Northern Ireland Troubles was a conflict that occurred c. 1968 to 1998 and claimed the lives of over 3,600 people and injured 40,000. In most cases, no one has been…
Continue reading Update on the Northern Ireland Troubles (Legacy and Reconciliation) Bill
This webinar on 20 September had initially been planned to devise strategies to campaign against the proposed Bill. It was led by Laura Treveleyan, campaign manager – human rights team, and Ian Southerden, programme director – law and human rights, who began with some background. Reviewing the Human Rights Act has been in the Conservative…
Continue reading Amnesty’s Webinar on the Bill of Rights
The good news is that this Bill, intended to replace the Human Rights Act, has been shelved for the time being. It would have given supremacy to the Supreme Court and explicitly entitled it to disregard the rulings of the European Court of Human Rights. The bad news is that the ‘principles and objectives’ have…
Continue reading Update on the Bill of Rights
On the day Liz Truss was announced as the leader of the Conservative Party and the next Prime Minister, Amnesty provided her with a to do list, including: keeping the Human Rights Act, abandoning the Northern Ireland Troubles (Legacy and Reconciliation) Bill, starting to respect the rights of refugees and migrants, stopping the curbs on…
Continue reading Amnesty’s ‘To do’ List for the Prime Minister
Until 12 December the North London Freedom from Torture Group is running a competition for photographers of all skills, ages and nationalities to tell in a picture ‘what home means to you’. A selection of photos will be included in Freedom from Torture’s digital gallery and the three winning entries in each age group will…
Continue reading Calling All Photographers: ‘What Home Means?’
From 14 October to 16 April 2023 the Museum of London in Docklands has an exhibition featuring stories about the executed and those who witnessed executions, as well as objects and paintings. Amnesty’s Anti-Death Penalty Project contributed an interview about the legacy of London’s public executions and the current global position with respect to state…
Continue reading Exhibition on Public Executions in London
You will recall the so-called ‘Colston Four’ pulled down the statue in Bristol of Edward Colston, responsible for shipping more people to be used as slaves than any other trader, in a protest against racism. All four were acquitted of causing criminal damage in January. However, in an appeal triggered by the current Home Secretary Suella Braverman when…
Continue reading Court of Appeal and the ‘Colston Four’