Tomorrow’s meeting, sleepout, gig night and ceilidh!

February 27, 2012 in events, news, photos by Catherine

Hello Amnestiers!


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See the full set of photos here!

Thank you and well done to all those who took part in the Arms Trade Treaty campaign on library hill on Friday. Your enthusiasm paid off as we collected dozens of signatures and more importantly, raised lots of awareness and interest.

This week’s meeting

This week’s meeting is in Committee Room 1 in the QMU, Tuesday at 5pm. In preparation for International Women’s Day next week (follow this link for more info: http://www.internationalwomensday.com/), we’re focusing on women’s rights in Saudi Arabia and on Amnesty’s new campaign to fight against the women’s driving ban in Saudi Arabia.

As well as this, we’ll take action for some urgent actions, and prepare a banner for the sleep-out on Friday!

Coming up

– Amnesty International and STAR sleepout, 2nd March on the steps of the Wellington Church: Our annual sponsored sleepout with STAR (Student Action for Refugees) is to raise money for Positive Action in Housing (http://www.paih.org/). Its a chilly but brilliant night full of chatting, singing and attempted sleeping! Here’s the Facebook event page: http://www.facebook.com/events/245263332220635/.

– GU Band Society gig in aid of Amnesty, Mon 5th March, 8pm, ยฃ4, 13th Note: The brilliant Band Society is putting on a gig in aid of Amnesty. We had one last year and it was a resounding success! Here’s the Facebook event page: http://www.facebook.com/events/153395158112770/.

– GU Amnesty, Red Cross and STAR ceilidh, Thurs 8th March, 7:30pm, ยฃ4/5, QMU: Get your dancing shoes on- the annual joint charity ceilidh is back! All the money raised will be going to help Refugees at the Glasgow Refugee service. Follow this link for the Facebook event page: http://www.facebook.com/events/115036801958974/ .

See y’all tomorrow!

Catherine

Valentine’s Day Meeting

February 12, 2012 in information by guamnesty

Valentine

Dear Amnestiers,

Our next meeting is on Valentine’s Day! ๐Ÿ™‚

The official Control Arms Campaign is launched tomorrow morning at 10 am, see http://www.facebook.com/events/224519010973945/

THIS WEEKS MEETING: Held in QM at 5pm on Tuesday the 14th. We let you know asap if it is in Qudos or Committee room 1.

To kick off the action for the Arms Trade campaign we will prepare a high-impact campus action during the meeting. This includes a quick catch-up on the essential facts of the arms trade, as well as getting our hands dirty and making eye-catching props (such as AK-47s). We are getting better and better at this, so I’m sure that the action/petition, which will be held next week, will be very successful ๐Ÿ™‚

COMING UP: Loads of fantastic opportunities for dedicated activists coming up the next few days!

This Tuesday: Love Equally March in Edinburgh http://www.facebook.com/events/330082897036724/ This is a march to campaign for Same Sex Marriage. The SRC provides dead cheap tickets to the march that you should get asap, and we can join forces with the Edinburgh AI society: http://www.facebook.com/events/304859242905191/ . If you are keen to go, get in touch with Jessie Duncan or Martin Lennon via facebook asap. Should be great fun and a good protest

Scottish AI Student Conference: This weekend 17th- 19th of February in Edinburgh. A great weekend for Student Activists from all over Scotland, see here http://www.facebook.com/events/319005194801339/. Everyone is welcome to attend and last year was very inspiring. Accommodation can be provided but it is totally fine to go for just one day. A couple of us are going, best get in touch with Jessie Duncan on facebook or on Tuesday.

AI UK Action for Change Student Conference in London: 02.-03.03.2012 at Amnesty Headquarters London. Only six of us can go so we will draw names out of a head on Tuesday so you can start booking your train etc. More info here: http://www.amnesty.org.uk/content.asp?CategoryID=11169

Hope this is getting you well excited, we’re half-way through term and still so much to look forward to. Other than this, we’ve got a ceilidh with STAR and the Red Cross in March, a band night and a club night in the pipeline; I’ll send you more details as I know them. As always, if you want to organise anything, have any ideas, or just want to get more involved, let us know! Also, our dear Catherine is going on a well-deserved break on Tuesday, so I and the rest of the committee are looking forward to be holding the next meeting.

Hope to see you there,

Sophie

(Image credit: Valentine by Nils Geylen)

Support a Bullet-Proof Arms Trade Treaty

February 9, 2012 in events by Rob Hallam

Monday 13th February, Boyd Orr LT D, University of Glasgow, G12 8QQ
Wanted – a bulletproof global Arms Trade Treaty

Scottish arms control campaigner, David Grimason, will be joined by politicians, campaigning organisations and activists at Glasgow University on Monday 13 February, to launch Amnesty Scotland’s campaign for a global Arms Trade Treaty.

David Grimason, who has pushed for tighter controls on the arms trade since his two year old son Alistair was shot and killed in a Turkish cafe in July 2003, will speak about his experiences and involvement in nearly ten years of arms control campaigning.

Read the rest of this entry →

Ball Success and This Week’s Meeting

February 6, 2012 in events, information by Rob Hallam

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Hi everyone!

The Secret Policeman’s Ball on Saturday night was a huge success! It was packed out and we made an amazing £1672.35 update: £2007.35!

A massive thank you to everyone who helped plan, promote, sell and came along- we did ourselves proud! We’re going to throw a wee celebration party sometime soon so I’ll keep you all in the loop about that, and some of the pictures are already up on Flickr.

This week’s meeting

We’re in committee room 1 in the QMU, Tuesday at 5pm.

We started watching Lord of War last week so we’ll continue watching that to keep in the Arms Trade Treaty mood! (see below for info about our upcoming event).

Coming Up

We’re hosting this Amnesty International Scotland event on campus. I’ve posted the official e-mail below:

Monday 13th February 2012, 10am – 11am.

WANTED: A BULLETPROOF GLOBAL ARMS TRADE TREATY
Scottish campaigners launch Amnesty campaign

Scottish arms control campaigner, David Grimason, will be joined by politicians, campaigning organisations and activists at Glasgow University on Monday 13th February, to launch Amnesty Scotland’s campaign for a global Arms Trade Treaty.

David Grimason, who has pushed for tighter controls on the arms trade since his two year old son Alistair was shot and killed in a Turkish cafe in July 2003, will speak about his experiences and involvement in nearly ten years of arms control campaigning.

David Grimason said:

“It is incredible to think that we may finally be on the brink of delivering something that will prevent the devastating impact that the arms trade has on families around the world. After nearly a decade of governments saying that something must be done, now is the time to finally do it.

“It is up to our politicians to ensure that they put people’s lives ahead of profit, but it is also up to the people of Scotland to make their voices heard and demand that the UK is at the forefront of championing a comprehensive treaty on the sales and transfer of weapons.

“Every day more than 1500 people die from armed violence, the majority of these in countries which are not at war. This is a once in a lifetime opportunity to really make a difference to the lives of so many. We have one shot, we must not squander it.”

Shabnum Mustapha, Programme Director for Amnesty in Scotland, said:

” It is mind-boggling to think that we have international treaties governing the selling of postage stamps, bananas, and even dinosaur bones. But when it comes to weapons and the impact that an irresponsible arms trade has on the lives of hundreds of thousands of people around the world, there are no controls.

“We need the UK government to stay true to their word and ensure that a treaty governing the sale and transfer of arms is comprehensive, is enforced and puts human rights at its heart.”

Monday 13th February marks the first day of a week-long conference where countries will debate how the final negotiating conference will operate, as well as some of the content of the treaty including aims and objectives, scope and reporting mechanisms. The final scheduled Treaty negotiating conference will be held at the UN Headquarters in New York from the 2nd until the 27th July this year.

Amnesty International is urging the public to increase pressure on the UK government by writing to party leaders and asking them to publicly commit to lead the way in securing a robust Arms Trade Treaty – for more informationwww.amnesty.org.uk/arms

Amnesty International will be joined by Oxfam Scotland, Scottish Refugee Council and the Glasgow Human Rights Network. The event will include a panel discussion followed by a Q&A. Amnesty International will also launch its Scottish campaign briefing at the event.

Where: Lecture Theatre D, Boyd Orr Building, University Gardens, Glasgow G12 8QQ

When: 10am – 11am, Monday, 13 February 2012

So it sounds like a great, informative way to spend a morning’s hour! Other than this, we’ve got a ceilidh with STAR and the Red Cross in March, a band night and a club night in the pipeline; I’ll send you more details as I know them. As always, if you want to organise anything, have any ideas, or just want to get more involved, let us know!

Once again, thank you so much for all your help for The Secret Policeman’s Ball. All the hard work paid off – it was an amazing night!

See you tomorrow at the meeting!

Catherine

Website: http://www.guamnesty.org.uk/
Twitter: http://twitter.com/#!/guamnesty
Please join our Facebook group: http://www.facebook.com/groups/guamnesty/
Flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/guamnesty/

Secret policeman’s Ball 2012 Photos

February 6, 2012 in photos by Rob Hallam


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Thanks to everyone!