STAR-Amnesty National sleepout week is here and we’re taking to the street to stand up for destitute refugees and asylum seekers nationwide.

Tuesday 22nd February: Double Meeting. Amnesty and STAR are doubling up for a 2 hour meeting from 5pm-7pm in committee room 1 of the QMU ausual. The first hour shall be spent making banners and organising the photo action for Friday night. Then at 6pm we have Gary Cristie, the policy and research manager at the Scottish Refugee Council, joining us to talk about the causes of destitution for asylum seekers, and what we can do about it.

Friday 25th February: The Sleepout! 8pm, Wellington Church steps, University avenue. Speakers, entertainment and free food. Most importantly a vital opportunity to raise awareness on the situation of destituiton of asylum seekers.

Event details: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=202065543141659

Sponsor us at justgiving.com/starsleepout

See our old sleep out photos!

Happy New Year to you all. I hope you’ve had a nice relaxing time off and are back feeling refreshed for a new term filled with Amnesty fun! There are lots of exciting things coming up over the next few weeks and whilst essay deadlines and exams are still nice and far off, I hope you’re all as excited as I am!
What’s coming up?

* Tuesday 11th January – 8th Anniversary of the opening of Guantanamo Bay.

1. Refreshers Fair: 1pm – 5pm, Qudos, QMU. All help welcomed for half an hour here and there – we’ll be petitioning for those still detained in Guantanamo as well as hosting a stall to promote our society.
2. First Meeting: 5pm – 6pm, Committee room 1, QMU. We shall be a) making plans for Secret Policeman’s Ball preparation. b) Appealing to release Shaker Aamer from Guantanamo. Please bring along a postcard/photograph/something along those lines of your hometown for the action this week.

* Next Week: Exact dates TBC at Tuesday’s meeting-cake stalls and flyering for the Secret Policeman’s Ball.

* Saturday 22nd January: The Secret Policeman’s Ball, 7.30pm, £5, Qudos, QMU. Not to be missed!!! All information at http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=170131473022936

Thanks!

These letters can be printed off multiple times and must be printed of as an individual letters and not as a block of six. Once you have printed them off and signed them ,either hand them in at a meeting or put them in the postbox in the John McIntyre building. If you wouldn’t mind donating a few print credits/printer ink it would make a big difference. There is also a prize for the person who collects the most letters so when you have collected them put the together in an envelope with your name marked on the front. PLEASE DO NOT ADDRESS THE LETTER TO THE SENDER

Read on for the templates!

PS Hand written letters means double points….

Letters

I am deeply concerned for the health of prisoner of conscience, Ko Mya Aye, who is currently detained in Taungyi prison in Shane state.

Ko Mya Aye is suffering from a heart condition. Though his health has worsened in recent months – exacerbated by the poor conditions in which he is being held – he has been denied access to adequate medical treatment.

I urge you to take immediate action to ensure he is given immediate access to medical treatment. His heart needs close medical monitoring and he should be referred to a heart specialist without delay.

Finally I urge you to release Ko Mya Aye unconditionally as soon as he has received the urgent medical treatment he needs.

Sincerely,

Dear

You may already be aware, but I am writing to draw your attention to the fact that the pilot project enabling some of those women with no recourse to public funds to access refuge when fleeing violence, has been extended until March 2011.

As you will know Amnesty international UK, Southall Black Sisters and several women’s groups have been campaigning for an exemption to this rule for women fleeing violence for several years.

The pilot project was originally launched by the previous administration, shortly after AI UK held a mass lobby of Parliament, to run from December 2009 to February 2010 and was extended first until March then until August 2010 under the previous administration. It was extended again under the new administration first until September 2010 and now until March 2011. Theresa May has also committed to working to develop a more permanent solution thereafter.

We are delighted that all parties have shown such commitment and recognised the urgent need, and the human rights obligation under CEDAW, to ensure that women should not find themselves trapped in violence.

It is of course the case that the pilot only covers a very small proportion of those women with no recourse and that there are some flaws in the current operation of the project. We look forward to working with the new administration to help devise the best, most effective and comprehensive permanent proposals to prevent women being trapped in violence.

We are also pleased to note that in her recent speech at the Women’s Aid conference, Theresa May also stressed the need for an integrated approach to tackling violence against women and girls.

We are grateful to all those MPs who have supported us in this campaign and hope we can continue to work with you in the coming months.

Sincerely,

Dear Drs. Untung Sugiyono

I am writing to you with urgent concern for Johan Teterissa, who is serving a 15-year sentence in Lowokwaru prison for leading a peaceful public protest in Ambon. I understand that he has been seriously ill, and I am deeply concerned to learn that he has been denied access to the treatment he needs by prison authorities.

I urge the authorities to ensure that Johan Teterissa receives full and immediate access to proper medical care. I further urge that he immediately receives adequate food and clean drinking water, in line with international human rights standards and Indonesian regulations.

Johan Teterissa is imprisoned solely for peacefully expressing his views, and I therefore also call for his immediate and unconditional release.

Finally, I call on the authorities to ensure that prison conditions meet international standards, comply with Indonesian regulations and do not amount to cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment.

Thank you for giving this matter your urgent attention, I look forward to your response.

Sincerely,

Dear President Ilham Aliyev

I am writing to you with regard to Emin Fatullayev, the father of imprisoned journalist Eynulla Fatullayev. I am deeply concerned to learn that Emin Fatullayev received an anonymous phone call on 17 March, threatening him with death if he does not stop speaking out about his son. I am further concerned to learn that this is the third time that Emin Fatullayev has received threats by phone.

I urge the Azerbaijan authorities to take immediate action to protect Emin Fatullayev and his family, with protection measures determined in accordance with the family’s wishes.

Please also ensure that an immediate and impartial investigation is conducted into the deaths threats. The results of this investigation should be made public, and those responsible must be brought to justice.

I would also like to take this opportunity to note that Amnesty International considers Eynulla Fatullayev to be a prisoner of conscience, who should be released immediately and unconditionally.

My thanks for your urgent attention to this most serious matter – I look forward to your response.

Sincerely,

Dear Hon Giles Mutsekwa

I am writing to you to express my concern for the safety of prominent trade unionist Gertrude Hambira. Her home was attacked by armed men, her office has been raided by officers from the CID and she is now in fear of her life.

I urge you to provide her with effective protection and to carry out a prompt, full and impartial investigation into the circumstances of her attack in her family home. The perpetrators should be brought to justice in a fair trial. I also urge you to ensure that the Zimbabwean police immediately stop the harassment of Gertrude Hambira.

Finally I urge you to investigate and end the harassment and intimidation of human rights defenders and political activists by state security agents.

Thank you for giving this matter your urgent attention, I look forward to your response.

Sincerely,

Dear Bouasone Bouphavanh

I am writing to ask you to urgently review the cases of Thao Moua and Pa Fue Khang.

Both men were arrested in June 2003 in Xieng Khouang province and sentenced to long terms of imprisonment (12 and 15 years respectively) after an unfair trial. They are currently detained in Samkhe prison, Vientiane.

I believe Thao Moua and Pa Fue Khang are being held simply for assisting visiting journalists who had been researching a story on Hmong living in the jungle. They should either be released or, if there is sufficient credible evidence against them, given a prompt retrial which meets international fair trial standards.

In the mean time, please ensure that they won’t be tortured or ill-treated and guarantee that their conditions of detention meet the UN Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners, including access to lawyers, relatives and appropriate medical care.

Thank you for giving this matter your urgent attention, I look forward to your response.

Sincerely,

Good luck everyone!

Chen Guangcheng

An ad hoc legal adviser and his family are facing the very real prospect of starving to death in their own home in the Shandong province in China.

Since his release from prison on 9 September Chen Guangcheng and his family have been under house arrest imposed by village leaders in Dongshigu village, Shandong province. Chen Guangcheng is in urgent need of medical attention and he and his family are running out of food, but the authorities have refused to let them leave their home.

Get more information and take action here.

Please vote if you haven’t already!

A favour from each of you- we need to get a famous person to come to the rescue- currently trying to get Edith Bowman radio one DJ. Si if you can tune in everyday this week and text her about the Rescue.

GET EDITH TO COME TO THE RESCUE ON APRIL 25TH PRINCES STREET GARDENS- TO HELP PROTECT CHILDREN AS YOUNG AS 5 FROM BEING FORCIBLY RECRUITED INTO ARMED CONFLICT.

Thanks guys

the time to take action has finally arrived. It is exam time I realise this but please if you can spare some time tell everyone your close to about this event. We must must must let people know about it.

I am calling on all of you to gather at my flat on Thursday at 5pm so we can get a well known face to rescue Joseph Kony’s child soldiers. We will be dabbling with the force of you tube in ways you can’t imagine in order to get the doctor….yes the doctor to come and rescue us.

247 West Princes Street, Glasgow, 5pm- everyone will make their own version of the rescue plea to Mr David Tennant to ask him to come and help us with our rescue in Edinburgh on the 25th APRIL. Please if you can make it come along, we need as many faces as posisble to ensure he takes our plea seriously.

TO THE RESCUE

Rachel xx

Here is a list of our fab events that we have lined up for the upcoming weeks. There is plenty to choose from so hope you can make a few.

We are currently at the top of the leader board for the Raise-Off, however we need all the support we can get to ensure we win. Please check out these events if you can!

Control Arms: Arm Wrestling Competition

26th Feb (Thursday)

GUU

CEILIDH- Red Cross, STAR, and Amnesty International.

2nd March (Monday)

QMU

Stop Violence Against Women Party: GOT TALENT?

8th March (Sunday)

HALT BAR (Woodlands road)

Invisible Children Screening: When Children Become Soldiers!

15th March (Sunday)

Williams Room (SRC Building)
5pm

Dear —-

In one picture you will see chinese young policemen with Tibetan monk’s robe in their hands. We heard chinese policemen are dressing themselves as Tibetan monks and Tibetan laymen and trying to create roits and voilence between Tibetans and Han chinese living in Tibet.

With love, —-.

(click for larger version)

The insinuation is that there are Chinese servicemen who are mixing with the demonstrating monks who are then causing violence (which is subsequently seen around the world), so as to cast the demonstrators in a bad light.

The one particular image has circulated the internet to some extent already. There is a refutation on the China Daily website (link in English) which repeats CCTV claims that it was for a 2001 film, although this is of course problematic to verify. Essential Spirit also made mention of the image, and made the excellent point (in the comments) that even if that image is kosher – and it may or may not be – China is still suspected of dressing personnel as monks for disruption and evidence-gathering, and there are definitely ongoing abuses.

(click on the images for a larger size)

We aren’t sure what the other four images depict as no other information was given, though it seems to be some kind of military procession, possibly with demonstrators or other arrestees in tow. Make up your own mind, and if you have a better suggestion, leave a comment.

We have been sent other images, but these still need to be reviewed before they can be posted. The main point is to be aware that there are abuses ongoing in Tibet, and that all may not be as it seems (especially ‘rioting monks’).

The news comes after Home Secretary Jaqui Smith had stated that the terror threat to the UK was growing. In a statement to the News of the World, she said:

“We now face a threat level that is severe. It’s not getting any less, it’s actually growing. There are 2,000 individuals they are monitoring. There are 200 networks. There are 30 active plots. That has increased over the past two years. Since the beginning of 2007, 57 people have been convicted on terrorist plots. Nearly half of those pleaded guilty so this is not some figment of the imagination. It is a real risk and a real issue we need to respond to. We can’t wait for an attack to succeed and then rush in new powers. We’ve got to stay ahead.”

However, her views are at odds with the Conservatives, Lib Dems, a growing number of unhappy backbenchers, former attorney-general Lord Goldsmith and the Director of Public Prosecutions Sir Ken McDonald. There have been arguments made that the new proposal will create ill-will in the Muslim community and actually cause the amount of intelligence supplied to drop. Lord Goldsmith also commented that it could be percieved as an attack on the Muslim community and used as a recruiting tool for terror organisations.

However, Home Office minister Tony McNulty stated that he thought MPs ‘will buy‘ the new limit.

I find the language used by McNulty pretty scary:

“This is a very, very serious thing and I think once people understand the bulk of the model and the temporary nature then people do buy it.”

It (and other statements from the proponents of the proposals) rings very much of “There are lots of threats against all of us, but let us have have this for now and we promise it won’t be used too much…”. The law has to be renewed after two months (“The new limit would only be available to police for two months unless it was renewed“, source), but if it is passed the bar will be lowered and it will end up being renewed.

The proposals are a big step up from the (already too long) 28 days to a month and a half. These proposals have to be opposed. There is talk that if they are defeated it will be very damaging for Gordon Brown and so forth, but politics aside, they have to be defeated. The limit is too long already, and (without being alarmist) extension would be another blow against democracy in this country.