Tag Archives: 2014

Report from the July meeting of Amnesty Taunton Group

15 Jul

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 Where is Syrian human rights lawyer Khalil Ma’touq?

A human rights lawyer for many years, he’s defended hundreds of political prisoners. He disappeared on his way to work in October 2012 and has not been seen since.   At July’s meeting of Taunton Amnesty International Group, we remembered Khalil Ma’touq and joined many others in pressing for news of what has happened to him. 

Susan Mew of the Minehead Group came to talk to us on the Human Rights in the UK. The European Convention on Human Rights was mainly drafted by British lawyers and civil servants and was fully supported by the Conservative government of the time. It expresses core British values and beliefs and diminishing UK rights will affect our ability to argue for them elsewhere.

Over the past month, group members have continued campaigning for prisoners of conscience in the Middle East and North Africa, for Dr Tun Aung of Burma, for those condemned to death in the US, China and Iran, and for the plight of protesters in Brazil.

Our next meeting, on Tuesday 12th August at 8pm, will be an informal meeting held at the Racehorse Inn, East Reach, TA1 3HT.

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Next Amnesty Taunton group meeting Tuesday 8th July @ Silver Street Baptist Church

1 Jul
Our next monthly meeting is on Tuesday 8th July 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.
This month’s meeting includes a workshop on Human Rights in the U.K.

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Stop Torture Casefile: Nigeria: Moses Akatugba

28 Jun

Moses Akatugba

On 27 November 2005, 16-year-old Moses Akatugba was awaiting the results of his secondary school exams when his life changed forever. He was arrested by the Nigerian army and, he says, shot in the hand, beaten on the head and back, and then charged with stealing mobile phones.

When he was unable to name a dead man shown to him by soldiers, they beat him. After being transferred to Epkan police station in Delta State, Moses was tortured again. He said that the police beat him severely with machetes and batons, tied him up and hung him for several hours in interrogation rooms, and used pliers to pull out his finger and toe nails to force him to sign two ‘confessions’.

Moses was convicted solely on the basis of the alleged victim’s statement and ‘confessions’ Moses made under duress. After eight years in prison, he was sentenced to death by hanging and remains on death row. His claims of torture have still not been investigated.

‘The pain of torture is unbearable. I never thought I would be alive till this day. The pain I went through in the hands of the officers was unimaginable. In my whole life, I have never been subjected to such inhuman treatment,’ Moses, February 2014

Take Action: How you can help

1) Write to the Governor of Delta State, urging him to commute Moses Akatugba’s death sentence and institute an independent investigation into his allegations of torture.

Address: His Excellency Dr Emmanuel Uduaghan, Governor of Delta State, Office of the Governor, Government House, Asaba, Delta State

2) Let Moses know you are thinking of him and support his struggle for justice.

  • Address: Moses Akatugba, c/o Human Rights, Social Development and Environmental Foundation, P .O. Box 1800, Diobu, Port Harcourt, Rivers State, NIGERIA
  • Preferred language: English
  • Suggested message: I am thinking of you and support your fight for justice
  • It is ok to mention Amnesty, include a return address and send a religious card if you wish.

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Report: Amnesty Taunton group meeting June 2014

24 Jun

Amnesty has become increasingly concerned about the policing of large scale demonstrations in Brazil.  We wrote letters on behalf of Edison Silva dos Santos and Douglas Rafael Pereira da Silva, two unarmed young men who were shot dead during demonstrations.  No one has been held accountable for their deaths, and Amnesty International continues to receive reports of excessive and unnecessary violence by the police.

Read more here and call on the Brazilian authorities to defend human rights at the World Cup.

We discussed Amnesty’s Stop Torture campaign and our work to end the Death Penalty.  We learned of the success of ex-MEP Sir Graham Watson in getting a response from Baroness Ashton about EU actions for prisoners of conscience in Burma, with particular reference to our prisoner Dr Tun Aung.

Watch (and listen!) out for our group in Taunton Town Centre, supported by the Blackdown Samba Band, on Saturday 28th June.

Our next meeting is at 8pm on Tuesday 8th June at the Silver Street Baptist Church and will include a workshop on the Human Rights Act in the UK. All are most welcome.

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Petition: Protect survivors of sexual violence

19 Jun

In Algeria and Tunisia, the law allows rapists to escape prosecution by marrying their teenage victims. Morocco recently did away with a similar law, two years after 16-year-old Amina Filali committed suicide having been forced to marry the man she said had raped her.  

There are many other laws in Morocco, Algeria and Tunisia which fail to protect female survivors of sexual violence, such as making the severity of punishment for rape dependent on whether the victim was a virgin.

Sign the petition here asking the Algerian, Tunisian and Moroccan authorities to end discriminatory rape laws and protect survivors of sexual violence.

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Action against the death penalty: Stop execution of Osama Jamal ‘Abdallah Mahdi

15 Jun

At the June meeting of Amnesty International Taunton group, members wrote to Iraqi authorities on behalf of father-of-two Osama Jamal ‘Abdallah Mahdi.

He is detained in Kadhimiya Prison, northern Baghdad, following his conviction for killing an Iraqi army officer in 2008.

He is at imminent risk of execution and his case has now been forwarded to the President’s office, which has the authority to ratify the sentence, commute it or grant a pardon.

During his trial, Osama Jamal ‘Abdallah Mahdi withdrew “confessions” extracted from him under torture, but this was not accepted by the court.  Witnesses confirm that he was at work at the time of the killing, 120km from where it took place.

Click here for details of how you can to write to the Iraqi authorities, asking for this execution to be permanently halted and the allegations of torture investigated.

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Video

Stop Torture: Survivors and experts expose the truth

2 Jun

Q&A session streamed live on 14 May 2014

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Torture In 2014: 30 Years of Broken Promises

29 May

Electric shocks. Beatings. Rape. Humiliation. Mock executions. Burning. Sleep deprivation. Water torture. Long hours in contorted positions. Use of pincers, drugs, and dogs.

The very words sound like the stuff of nightmares. But every day and across every region of the world, these unimaginable horrors are the reality for countless men, women and children.

Salil Shetty, Secretary General, Amnesty International

Click here to read the report from Amnesty USA

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Stop Torture Casefile: Mexico: Claudia Medina Tamariz

25 May

Claudia Medina Tamariz woke at 3am on 7 August 2012, to find marines had broken into her home in Veracruz City. They tied her hands, blindfolded her and took her to the local naval base where she says she was given electric shocks, beaten and kicked. She was wrapped in plastic to disguise the marks from the beating. Claudia, a mother of three, was accused of being a member of a violent criminal gang, which she denies.

The day after her arrest, she was blindfolded again and taken with other detainees to the Federal Attorney General’s Office. When the blindfold was removed, she realised her husband and brother-in-law had also been arrested. A prosecutor interrogated Claudia and a marine pressured her into signing a statement that she wasn’t allowed to read.

In court, she retracted her statement and described the abuse inflicted on her in detention. All the charges against her except one (carrying an illegal weapon) were dropped, and she was released on bail.

A judge ordered the Federal Attorney General’s Office to investigate her allegations. But to date no specialist medical and psychological assessment has been conducted, even though Mexico is obliged to do this under UN guidelines for investigating torture, nor has anyone been held to account for Claudia’s torture.

 Take Action: How you can help

1) Write to the Federal Attorney General, calling on him to investigate the alleged torture and ill-treatment suffered by Claudia Medina Tamariz, make the results public and bring those responsible to justice.

Address:  Federal Attorney General Jesús Murillo Karam, Procuraduría General de la República, Av. Paseo de la Reforma 211-213, Col. Cuauhtémoc C.P. 06500, Mexico D.F., MEXICO

2) Let Claudia know that you are thinking of her and support her struggle for justice.

  • Address: Claudia Medina Tamariz, Centro de Derechos Humanos, ‘Miguel Agustin Pro Juárez’, Serapio Rendón 57-B, Colonia San Rafael, D elegación Cuauhtémoc 06470, Mexico D.F., MEXICO
  • Preferred language: Spanish
  • Suggested message: Estimada Claudia, Te envío mi solidaridad por la difícil situación que has tenido que vivir desde 2012. Quiero que sepas que estoy contigo y que te apoyo en la lucha que has decidido emprender ( Dear Claudia, I am concerned about your situation and support you in your fight for justice.
  • Please do not send a religious card. It is ok to mention Amnesty and include a return address if you wish

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How safe would you feel if you were taken into custody?

24 May

How safe would you feel if you were taken into custody?

Enough is enough – join our campaign and help us stop torture http://amn.st/Stop-Torture

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