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|[pic] |Amnesty International Salisbury Group | |

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| |Minutes of the Monthly Meeting on Thursday 9th May 2019 | |

| |7.30 pm 4 Victoria Road | |

|1 |Chairman’s Welcome |AH |

| |Present: Andrew, Tony, Eddie, Fiona, Ria | |

| |Apologies: Peter, Lesley, Michael P | |

|2 |Minutes of previous Meeting – These were agreed. |LC |

|3 |Treasurer’s Report - £810.29 (Bank Account) |MP |

| |£30.06 (Cash) | |

|4 |Campaign Reports | |

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| |Death Penalty |LC |

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| |Note: This is an Interim Report for Mid-End April 2019 | |

| | | |

| |Please see the Salisbury Group Website for the full international update covering the UK,| |

| |the USA, Equatorial Guinea, Saudi Arabia and Indonesia. | |

| | | |

| |Of particular note: | |

| | | |

| |In Saudi Arabia 37 citizens across the country were executed on one day for alleged terrorism-related crimes.| |

| |This was the largest mass-execution in a single day since January 2016, when 47 people were killed, including| |

| |a prominent Shia cleric, whose death prompted protests and the ransacking of the Saudi embassy in Iran. | |

| |Note: 3 of those executed had been arrested as teenagers and tortured into confessions – Mujtaba al-Sweikat, | |

| |Abdulkarim al-Hawaj and Salman Qureish. | |

| | | |

| |In Iran, cousins, arrested at 15 and convicted of rape charges following unfair trial and abuse allegations, | |

| |have been flogged and secretly executed. Mehdi Sohrabifar and Amin Sedaghat, who were 17, were unaware they | |

| |had been sentenced to death until shortly before their executions. Their families and lawyers were not | |

| |informed in advance and were deeply shocked to learn of their deaths. Note: Amnesty has recorded the | |

| |execution of 97 individuals in Iran who were under 18 at the time of their alleged crimes between 19990 and | |

| |2018. More than 90 remain at risk of execution. The fact that the cousins’ executions were not made public | |

| |adds to concerns that the real number of juvenile executions is higher than previously believed. Iran | |

| |executes the highest number of children in the world | |

| | | |

| |A poll of UK MP’s, carried out by YouGov for Yahoo News, has found that 18% of Conservative MP’s strongly | |

| |support bringing back the death penalty and 13% ‘somewhat’ support doing so. In contrast, no Labour MP’s | |

| |said they supported such a move. Kate Allen has responded that capital punishment was a ‘cruel relic of the | |

| |past…… The vast majority of countries in the world have stopped using the death penalty in recognition of its| |

| |cruelty and ever-present danger of miscarriages of justice. We would urge any MP still hankering after a | |

| |return of the grotesque ritual of cold-bloodedly condemning people to be hanged to consultant our latest | |

| |global report on the death penalty.’ . | |

| | | |

| |It was reported that the US agreed not to seek the death penalty against Julian Assange in a ‘back channel’ | |

| |negotiation with Ecuador in an attempt to see him evicted. | |

| | | |

| |In South Carolina, following advice from prison officials that the State did not have the drugs needed for | |

| |execution by lethal injection, South Carolina lawmakers are considering legislation that would allow | |

| |prisoners on death row to choose the firing squad. The House Criminal Laws Sub-Committee has also approved a| |

| |Senate proposal that changes the State’s default method of execution to the electric chair. Note: | |

| |Mississippi, Oklahoma and Utah allow the choice of a firing squad if lethal injection is not available. | |

| | | |

| |In Indonesia The Books for Tomorrow Initiative was launched at Jentera Law School in Central Jakarta. The | |

| |aim is to collect books for death row prisoners across Indonesia, including Nusakambangan Penitentiary in | |

| |Central Java. Amnesty have revealed there are more than 300 prisoners on death row in Indonesia, the ninth | |

| |highest in the world. Many libraries in Indonesia penal centres are short of books, and there are concerns | |

| |about both the range and quality of those that are available. Books are considered to provide one of few | |

| |diversions available while prisoners await their execution or freedom. | |

| | | |

| |Urgent Actions | |

| | | |

| |Sri Lanka - After 43 years without using the death penalty, the President of Sri Lanka, Maithripala Sirisena,| |

| |is reportedly planning to execute prisoners on death row. There is complete secrecy around identities of the| |

| |prisoners who are expected to be imminently executed. No information about their case histories has been | |

| |shared. It is unknown whether the individuals had fair trials, access to lawyers or whether they were able to| |

| |engage in a meaningful clemency process. Appeals are to be sent to the President on behalf of 13 prisoners. | |

| |(Circulated to DPLWG 15.4.19.) | |

| | | |

| |Saudi Arabia – An appeal was received from Reprieve in connection with the executions that took place in | |

| |Saudi Arabia, focussing in particular on three young men who had been arrested as teenagers, with a petition | |

| |to Teresa May, calling on her to take action. (Circulated: 24.4.19 – This month’s Group Urgent Action.) | |

| | | |

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| | | |

| |Campaigning | |

| | | |

| |Anti-Death Penalty Project – AGM Report Back – Follow the link for information about the Project’s workshops | |

| |at the AGM and its new Singapore Tourist Campaign. Postcards have been produced to send to Singapore stating| |

| |the unacceptability of the death penalty for a tourist destination. [NB Postcards were received, but the | |

| |group were unimpressed by the wording and took the view that individual action against Singapore would be | |

| |more suitable] | |

| | | |

| |Workshops included one raising concerns about developments in Egypt, where the hundreds of opponents of the | |

| |Al-Sisi regime are being convicted and sentenced to death. | |

| | | |

| |Amongst the presentations and talks, the Amnesty Tree action for last year’s World Day Against the Death | |

| |Penalty was specifically highlighted in the focus on activism. | |

| | | |

| |World Day Against the Death Penalty – 10th October, 2019 – The World Coalition will celebrate the 17th World | |

| |Day against the Death Penalty by focussing on the rights of children whose parents are sentenced to death or | |

| |executed. In time for the 30th Anniversary of the International Convention on the Rights of the Child on | |

| |20th November, this year’s theme serves as a reminder that the death penalty constitutes a widespread | |

| |violation of human rights, impacting even those unseen victims. (Source: World Coalition against the Death | |

| |Penalty.) Plans will in due course be put in hand for the Salisbury Group’s Action for the WDADP. | |

| | | |

| |Also for the calendar – | |

| | | |

| |50th anniversary of the abolition of the death penalty in the UK – 16th December | |

| | | |

| |North Korea | |

| | | |

| |TM gave an update on the current situation with North Korea. Kenny Latunde – Dada had reported that Lord | |

| |Alton had raised a Lords question on Chinese repatriation of DPRK refugees. He will let us know the outcome | |

| |of the universal periodical review just completed by the UN Resident Coordinator on North Korea. | |

| |Note the Amnesty site on NK | |

| | | |

| |Refugees | |

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| |Please see Monthly Action below for an update regarding the Football Welcomes initiative | |

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| |At this stage there is no further information regarding proposed activities for Refugee Week – 17th-23rd | |

| |June. A follow-up Vigil would be a possibility. | |

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| |It was suggested that a new campaign might be considered to replace the Refugees campaign. To be discussed at| |

| |next meeting. | |

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| | |TM |

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| | |AH |

|5 |Social Media Report |PC |

| | | |

| |Web and other media statistics, April 2019 | |

| | | |

| |A much busier month with some more content. All platforms showing greater activity. | |

| | | |

| |Web site | |

| |The figures are: | |

| |Oct | |

| |Nov | |

| |Dec | |

| |Jan | |

| |Feb | |

| |Mar | |

| |April | |

| | | |

| |193 | |

| |177 | |

| |166 | |

| |132 | |

| |135 | |

| |157 | |

| |281 | |

| | | |

| | | |

| |Views | |

| |All time: 13,061 | |

| |A small net increase in followers to 383, so we may have 400 before long. | |

| | | |

| |Top 2 country views: | |

| | | |

| |April | |

| | | |

| |UK | |

| |148 | |

| | | |

| |USA | |

| |41 | |

| | | |

| |India | |

| |17 | |

| | | |

| |Germany | |

| |14 | |

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| |Most views are from the UK and this has been a feature recently. UK and USA were often level peggings. | |

| |Other countries showed very small numbers. | |

| |Top posts: | |

| |Yemen: Britain’s hidden war. This was a write up of the Despatches programme on C4. This is the second | |

| |month this has been the top view | |

| |=2 About us | |

| |=2 Meeting minutes | |

| | | |

| |Twitter | |

| |A quieter month with one tweet achieving a lot of interest. Impressions: | |

| |Oct | |

| |Nov | |

| |Dec | |

| |Jan | |

| |Feb | |

| |Mar | |

| |April | |

| | | |

| |1310 | |

| |1624 | |

| |1593 | |

| |1401 | |

| |1550 | |

| |4870 | |

| |2710 | |

| | | |

| | | |

| |The top tweet: | |

| |Despatches programme on C4 about Saudi Arabia | |

| |An increase in followers to 152. | |

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| |Facebook | |

| |A much quieter month with a reach of 250 | |

| | | |

| |Feb | |

| |Mar | |

| |April | |

| | | |

| |160 | |

| |376 | |

| |250 | |

| | | |

| | | |

| |Top posts: | |

| |Stop arming Saudi Arabia achieved more interest than any other | |

| |Tumbler | |

| |We have 9 followers and 17 following – no change | |

| |YouTube & Flickr | |

| |No major changes to report. The YouTube North Korea video has had 2,070 views and 1,074 views on Flickr and | |

| |the still image, 5,175. So total video views are 3,144. It may be worth our while thinking about a video | |

| |since this one activity continues to tick away. Ideas? | |

| | | |

| |Group | |

| |Web site: | |

| |Twitter: salisburyai | |

| |Facebook: salisburyai | |

| |Tumblr: salisburyai. | |

| |Content always welcome! | |

|6 |Monthly Action |All |

| | | |

| |Refugee Week – Groups are asked to celebrate by writing a poem to tie in with the Families Together | |

| |Campaign. The poems will then be collated for handing in to the Government | |

| | | |

| |Football Welcomes Weekend – Though date has passed, the possibility discussed between the Syrian Vulnerable | |

| |Persons Relocation Scheme and Salisbury Football team that local refugees might receive an invitation to | |

| |attend a match. This is still ongoing between parties. | |

| | | |

| |Rise Up – A campaigning training course for young people between 16 and 24 from Sep 2019 to June 2020. Group | |

| |felt that it would be worth notifying schools we visit about this. | |

| | | |

| |Other items mostly as last month | |

|7 |AGM 2019 – 13th-14th April | |

| | | |

| |RW reported back that this year’s event was much better than 2018 with more dynamic workshops than last year |RW |

| |and a more positive feel about the event. | |

| |FD is going to the South West regional AGM in Exeter on Saturday 11th May. In the absence of an active South| |

| |region, this is the nearest regional event. |FD |

|8 |Market Stall |All |

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| |The date is confirmed for Saturday 8th June. No rota has been created, but members are encouraged to arrive | |

| |early at around 8 a.m. | |

|9 |Talk by Paul Mason |PC |

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| |This has been confirmed for Monday 24th June at 7.30 pm at Salisbury Methodist Church. The event will be | |

| |free with a retiring collection. | |

| | | |

| |PC provided a chart of the state of play on publicity and promotion. AH will send press release to Valley | |

| |News this week, posters will be distributed this month to usual sites. | |

|10 |Coffee Morning |All |

| | | |

| |This will take place at St Thomas’s on Saturday 7th September. The cost will be £45.00. FD will check the | |

| |Insurance with JP. Cards to sign or a petition will be available, together with an HR film running on a | |

| |loop. Request for cakes will be on the agenda for July! | |

|10 |Citizenship Day |AH |

| | |FD |

| |A further meeting will take place on 28th May to enable PC to co-ordinate the slides. |RW |

|11 |Evensong |AH |

| | | |

| |AH is awaiting a response from the Dean, and the new Precentor taking up her post (note – she was installed | |

| |on 5th May). Benedict Rogers has been suggested as the Speaker. | |

|12 |Arts Centre Film |FD |

| | | |

| |FD is awaiting a response from the Arts Centre regarding the suggested film. It is hoped that it can be | |

| |shown in November. | |

|13 |Write for Rights |AH |

| | | |

| |AH has written to the Dean regarding a possible venue for the card signing and is awaiting a response. AH | |

| |will also pursue the Outreach person at the Cathedral. | |

|14 |AOB |All |

| | | |

| |AH has received response from Ice and Fire regarding items within their programme which might be suitable for| |

| |schools, but will discuss with Alastair Endersby’s replacement at BWS before recommending any specific | |

| |programme. | |

| | | |

| |PC will continue to explore options for a replacement banner. | |

| | | |

| |It was suggested that we join Amnesty’s Children’s Human Rights Network. | |

| | | |

| |LC received a notification from Amnesty Rainbow Network re joining local Pride events. The group agreed to | |

| |have a presence when the date was known | |

|15 |Forthcoming Events | |

| | | |

| |Market Stall – 8th June - am | |

| |Refugee Week – 17th-23rd June | |

| |Paul Mason’s Talk – 24th June | |

| |Coffee Morning – 7th September | |

| |World Day Against the Death Penalty – 10th October | |

| |Citizenship Day – TBC | |

| |Evensong - TBC | |

| |Arts Centre Film – November – film and date TBC | |

| |50th Anniversary of the abolition of the death penalty in the UK – 16th December | |

| |Write for Rights – TBC | |

| |Carol Singing – TBC (this may be dependent on JP’s new position). | |

| |Next Meeting: Thursday 9th May 2019 | |

| |Time: 7.30 pm | |

| |Venue: 4 Victoria Road | |

| | | |

| | salisburyai | |

| |Should you wish no longer to receive Minutes of meetings, or other communications from the Group, please let | |

| |us know by emailing our Group Secretary at Donovan.fiona@ | |

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