BBC report

Amnesty report

So, Amnesty says that Chinese human rights are getting worse ahead of the games, because they are ‘clamping down on dissent in order to portray a stable and harmonious image’.

This is just one of many views wandering around the internet, along with plenty of others in the pubs and meeting halls of the country as the Olympics, and by extension China, come into focus now that the torch is on it’s way around the world. I am certain that there will be plenty of protests along the way, in fact Amnesty have one planned for London on Sunday. The Chinese Ambassador is rumoured to have pulled out of the London torch relay, although that isn’t confirmed. The same article mentions the Chinese students who will be counter-demonstrating in support of the games.

On the one hand, China have recently allowed the English BBC website through their filters, a decision which provoked much interest from Chinese internet users – read some of their thoughts here.

On the other hand, there are riots in Tibet, Nick Clegg urging Gordon Brown to boycott the games, and politicians asking George Bush to do the same (mentioned in the report linked at the top).

So, are the Games improving things or not? It seems to me that on the surface, things will get better, for a little while. There will be a few highly publicised ‘improvements’. And then, when the games are over and the spotlight is taken away, China will go straight back to ignoring human rights like always. It is up to Amnesty, HRW and everyone of a similar mind to make sure that spotlight stays there and encourages real, long term change.

GU Amnesty and S.T.A.R are having a sleep-out outside the Wolfson Medical School building on Wednesday 5th March to raise awareness of the plight of refugees and failed asylum seekers.

If you’ve got a few hours spare or you feel like a chat on your way back from the pub, come along and join us for food and hot drinks, music and banter. It’ll be cold but fun!

We have a poster promoting the event:

Thanks to everyone who came to our ‘Back To Childhood’ party yesterday which was aimed at raising awareness of child soldiers. It was a fun night. There were many interesting and original costumes on display – the winner of the competition was Buzz Lightyear for effort and originality. Special mention to the two Indiana Joneses. It was great to see the effort people put into their costumes, and it gave the party a very fun atmosphere. We had a correct guess at how many sweeties were in the jar (611), and the raffle gave out six prizes. We hope the winners enjoy them.

Thanks to Rachel and everyone who organised the party, helped out, asked friends to come along, or even minded the door. Your work is appreciated.

We have two other big events coming up in the next week or two: we are having a sleep-out in front of the Wolfson Medical Building (to raise awareness of refugees); and a ceilidh, both of which we are doing in association with S.T.A.R. Watch this space for more information on both of these events.

More cages!

The stall

Tshirts, cages

Hello everyone,

Just thought I’d post up some information about Japans Human Rights record over the past year, in case anyone was thinking of going to the talk on Monday and wanted some backgroud information.

The title of the talk is ‘Japan’s Foreign Policy on Human Security’ and is part of the europe Japan public lecture series. I found this information about it (from http://www.edinburgh.uk.emb-japan.go.jp/europe__japan_dialogue.htm) :

Read the rest of this entry »

I was sent some more pictures of the stall, which include a close-up of our very own hand made cage + pipe cleaner figure. These may go on sale again in the future, but be sure to get there quickly when they do – they are very popular!

(click on the pictures for a larger image)

Cage close-up:

Another shot:

As you all should be aware, we recently had a stall to raise awareness of Guantánamo Bay being open for six years, and as part of the raise-off. The event involved distributing leaflets and giving out information on Guantánamo and unsubscribe; selling cakes and confectionary; and selling hand-made mini-cages (which were very popular!).

It also involved me (robert) and Jonny (see what we do) going down Byres Road to talk to people about it – and sell more cakes! The novel part was me being dressed in a bright orange jumpsuit and blindfolded for the journey. The response was surprisingly good, although Jonny informs me that a few people scattered when they saw us coming! Those that we talked to were very receptive, although perhaps they were a little perturbed by the blindfolded man casually chatting away about unsubscribe and Guantánamo. It was good fun though.

Thanks to everyone who took part in the stall and made it possible.

Hello everyone, and happy new year!

We’ve had a great start to the new term, our Raise Off stall on Friday raised around £130, which is a great kick off! Thank you to everyone who helped with that.

The aim for this month is £200, so we are hoping to have a film night, possibly next Wednesday, showing Taking Liberties and hopefully running a stress position challenge. It’ll be fun, so come along! More details to follow.

On the 11th of January 2008, Guantánamo Bay will have been running for six years.

Amnesty International is therefore stepping up its campaign for the closure of the base and the fair and safe transfer of all prisoners.

There are three things that they ask us to do:

Write to your MP or MSP

Check www.unsubscribe-me.org for actions and demonstrations.

Raise awareness by organising an event. We are running our Unsubscribe stall on the 5th of December, so if anyone is free to help out please let us know and if anyone has more ideas on spreading awareness, don’t be afraid to share.

Just to let everyone who wasn’t able to go know, the comedy night last night was a great laugh. The comedy was delivered by Gary Little, Kevin Bridges, Gus Tawse, Carly Baker and Parrot. There jokes were great and the crowd lapped them up. The raffle gave away an MP3 player, a DVD player, a bottle of champagne, two bottles of wine and the obligatory box of chocolates. We’re not sure how much it raised yet, but I’m sure all who came along enjoyed themselves. I certainly had great fun, and I’d recommend you catch any of the comedians if you can.

robert