Our monthly action focused on the Human Rights Act. Often attacked, rarely championed, and surrounded by myths and misconceptions, the HRA is vitally important. As the election approaches, Amnesty’s April Monthly Action is to make people aware of this. What, for example, is our prospective Parliamentary candidates’ attitude to the HRA?
The Act incorporates into English law most of the rights in the European Convention on Human Rights. The Convention was created from the ashes of WW2, and inspired by the desire to protect individuals against those abuses happening again. It drew on British ideas – British lawyers drafted most of it, and the UK was the first to sign up to it in 1951. Don’t let those efforts go to waste!
Our meeting heard reports on, among others, the Mansoura Three in Egypt (3 young women caught up in the violence in 2014 – their appeal was being heard on April 12), letters written for those on Death Row in Pakistan, Belarus and Bahrain, and the possibility of a new Burmese Prisoner of Conscience.
At our May meeting Andy Moody, Amnesty’s China Country Co-ordinator, will be coming to speak on that country – do join us if you can. We meet on the second Tuesday of the month at 8pm in the Silver Street Baptist Church.
Amnesty International Taunton Local Group 
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