This month we discussed and wrote letters for a variety of Prisoners of Conscience. Every month we hear of cases in Egypt. This month it’s an Egyptian musician Rami Sidky who has prominence. In May 2018, Egyptian authorities arrested him at Cairo International Airport. He was detained in connection with a satirical music video, which had gone viral ahead of the March 2018 presidential elections, and appeared to poke fun at President El-Sisi. According to his lawyer, Rami Sidky took no part in writing, producing or performing this, but along with his co-defendants is facing the trumped-up charges of ‘membership of a terrorist group’ and ‘insulting the president’.
We wrote too for the even worse case of Nasrin Sotoudeh (pictured), an Iranian Human Rights lawyer imprisoned for 38 years and sentenced to 148 lashes. She has dedicated her life to peaceful human rights work. This extraordinarily harsh sentence (a death sentence in fact if carried out) suggests the authorities in Iran are stepping up their repression.
A report from our Death Penalty coordinator highlighted the fact that in California a moratorium has been called on the DP by the State’s governor. In Malaysia there was hope the DP would be completely repealed, but at least the mandatory element of it has been removed.
Our Book of the Month is “I Will Never See the World Again”, a wonderful memoir about his arrest, captivity and urge to create by imprisoned Turkish novelist Ahmet Altan; his sentence ‘life without parole’.
We meet at 7.30pm on the second Tuesday of the month at the Friends’ Meeting House, Bath Place. Visitors are always very welcome.
Ordinary people, extraordinary achievements: Susan Mew of the Minehead Group came to talk to us about Amnesty’s BRAVE campaign. Launched last year, this aims to strengthen the recognition and protection of human rights defenders around the world. 
Our next meeting is on Tuesday 10th April at the Friends Meeting House, Bath Place, Taunton from 7.30-9.30pm (nearby parking behind Boots). We are pleased to welcome Amnesty trainer Susan Mew to talk about the BRAVE campaign for Human Rights Defenders.
Water theft? A phrase that seems incredible in the UK, but which is a real and pressing threat in some parts of the world. In an arid region of central Chile, Rodrigo Mundaca is defending community access to water and exposing its illegal extraction by politicians and businesses. He and his colleagues have received death threats, been physically attacked, and taken to court.
Amnesty International Taunton Local Group 