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All are most welcome to join us for campaign updates, news and actions and to find out more about human rights and the work of Amnesty International. Our monthly action is for the My Body My Rights campaign and we’ll also
Our next monthly meeting is on Tuesday 12th May at the Silver Street Baptist Church, Taunton, TA1 3DH. 8pm start.Report from our April meeting
28 Apr
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.
Next monthly meeting Tuesday 14th April
7 Apr
Our next monthly meeting is on Tuesday 14th April at the Silver Street Baptist Church, Taunton, TA1 3DH. 8pm start.
You are most welcome to join us for campaign updates, news and actions and to find out more about human rights and the work of Amnesty International.
We look forward to seeing you there.
Note: there is parking at the rear of the church; ring the bell at the rear entrance if there is no-one there to let you in. Check the board by the entrance door for which room we are in.
Report from our March meeting
23 Mar
Help turn the lights back on in Syria and bring its people out of darkness!
For the fourth anniversary of the start of the Syrian conflict Amnesty International, along with many other international NGOs, is pressing to prioritise a political solution with human rights at its heart. For our March Monthly Action, we’ve been asked to plan a light-filled vigil to mark the occasion. Find out more about this campaign at www.withsyria.com.
This month Amnesty member Nicky Saunter, CEO of Transform, gave a thought-provoking talk about their work. Transform is a charitable think tank that campaigns for the legal regulation of drugs both in the UK and internationally; currently drugs are criminalised, but there is no system of regulation. The human rights implications are considerable. Prohibition cannot be judged a success on any front. Handing control of the drug trade to organised criminals has had disastrous consequences across the globe. Transform therefore works to get drugs under control by advocating for strict regulation of all aspects of the trade.
We also signed letters on behalf of our Mansoor University cases in Egypt; Death Penalty letters to Florida for a case where key testimony has been retracted; the long-running case of Hakamada Iwao in Japan, who could be put back on Death Row; and on behalf of Liu Ping in China, who was imprisoned for campaigning for senior officials to reveal the sources of their wealth.
Members of the Group recently met with Rachel Gilmour, prospective Taunton parliamentary candidate for the Liberal Democrats, to hear her views, especially on issues that concern Amnesty; we’ve already met Conservative and Labour candidates.
Our next meeting is Tuesday 14th April at 8pm in the Silver Street Baptist Church, Taunton. We’re always delighted to welcome newcomers.
Next Taunton Amnesty Group Meeting Tues 10th March
3 Mar
Our next monthly meeting is on Tuesday 10th March at the Silver Street Baptist Church, Taunton, TA1 3DH. 8pm start.
All are most welcome to join us for campaign updates, news and actions and to find out more about human rights and the work of Amnesty International.
We will be starting with a talk from Nicky Saunter, who is a group member and a committed Amnesty activist; she will be telling us about human rights issues relating to the work of Transform – Getting Drugs Under Control www.tdpf.org.uk/about-transform which she recently joined as Chief Executive.
Our monthly action is for Syria and we’ll also have a report from the Amnesty Regional Conference last month.
We look forward to seeing you there.
Note: there is parking at the rear of the church; ring the bell at the rear entrance if there is no-one there to let you in. Check the board by the entrance door for which room we are in.
Report from our February meeting
23 Feb
The meeting began with the Taunton Group’s AGM; we decided which of Amnesty’s campaigns we should focus on this year. These include Stop Torture and the Death Penalty, and a focus on country campaigns: a new Burmese prisoner of conscience now that Dr Tun Aung has been released, a new interest in China, and a continuation of our work for the Mansoura Three in Egypt (pictured). We signed letters to the Egyptian authorities on behalf of these three women who were caught up in protests in 2014 and face years behind bars.
This month’s group action took an ironic look at typical Valentine’s Day messages against the background of the ‘My Body, My Rights’ campaign. Being able to make our own decisions about our health, body and sexual life is a basic human right. Yet all over the world, people are persecuted for making these choices – or prevented from doing so at all.
We meet on the second Tuesday of the month at 8pm in the Silver Street Baptist Church, Taunton. Everyone is most welcome to join us.
Next Taunton Amnesty Group Meeting Tues 10th February
3 Feb
Our next monthly meeting is on Tuesday 10th February at the Silver Street Baptist Church, Taunton, TA1 3DH. 8pm start.
All are most welcome to join us for campaign updates, news and actions and to find out more about human rights and the work of Amnesty International. Our monthly action is for the My Body My Rights campaign and we’ll also
be discussing our casefile on the Mansoura women in Egypt.
Note: there is parking at the rear of the church; ring the bell at the rear entrance if there is no-one there to let you in. Check the board by the entrance door for which room we are in.
We look forward to seeing you there.
Good news from Burma
21 JanDr. Tun Aung
We have received confirmation that our group’s ‘adopted’ prisoner of conscience in Burma, Dr Tun Aung, was released at about 10am GMT on Monday and is now with his family. Our group Chairman, Martin Shirley, said: ‘We are delighted to hear that Dr Tun Aung had been released from his unjust sentence, and hope that there will soon be no more prisoners of conscience left in Burma’s prisons. Heartfelt thanks to everyone who has written on behalf of Dr Tun Aung since we took up his case just over two years ago. This is very much part of what Amnesty is all about.’
Next Taunton Amnesty Group meeting Tuesday 13th January
5 Jan
Our next monthly meeting is on Tuesday 13th January at the Silver Street Baptist Church, Taunton, TA1 3DH. 8pm start.
All are most welcome to join us for campaign updates, news and actions and to find out more about human rights and the work of Amnesty International.
Note: there is parking at the rear of the church; ring the bell at the rear entrance if there is no-one there to let you in, and check the board by the entrance door for which room we are in.
We look forward to seeing you there.
Next Amnesty Taunton Group meeting Tuesday 9th December
3 Dec
Join us at our next monthly meeting on Tuesday 9th December at the Silver Street Baptist Church, Taunton TA1 3DH. 8pm start.
We will be writing greetings cards to prisoners of conscience for Amnesty’s Write for Rights campaign, making decorations for our tree at the United Reformed Church’s Christmas Tree Festival (12-14 December), and consuming a mince pie or two!
All are welcome to join us.
Amnesty International Taunton Local Group 