AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL – Hornsey & Wood Green Group

Minutes of the meeting of 17thSeptember 2014

Attendance: Dennis Bradley,Jane Bywaters, Paul Duployen, Francine Miller,Louise Rendle, Herbert Trent.

Apologies: Ros Cranston, Maureen Paton Maguire, Jean Scott.

Minutes of the Last Meeting/Matters Arising: Andy Moody is pursuing the possibility of a petition to Westminster City Council to rename Portland Place (where the Chinese Embassy is situated) to reflect the names of our two Chinese POCs. Ros provided a written report that she has sent a packet of tea to Liu Xia, as Andy Moody suggested. She also noted that repression of dissidents continues in China, as shown by the closure of the Beijing Independent Film Festival on its opening day.

CAMPAIGNS:

Death Penalty: In Egypt the Grand Mufti has rejected the death penalty proposed for Mohamed Badie and other Muslim Brotherhood leaders. Judges of the Cairo Criminal Appeal Court have refused to hear a case against 494 defendants arrested for participating in a protest in which 97 people died. 400 of the defendants had been given the death penalty in a mass trial.

NAFRAN: The September edition of the E-zine contains lots of useful information, and a photograph of our group holding a banner about the campaign to Stop Making Excuses for Social Violence. The trial of Yara Sallam and 22 others is scheduled for 13th September.

Jean had sent a report which details recent actions. These have concerned:

  • July Task –Ahmad Mas’ad al-Ma’Dawi, an Egyptian arrested in Dubai.
  • August Task – acourt trying 494 protestors in Egypt.
  • September Task – Egyptian NGOs (the Egyptian Government is trying to restrict the activities of NGOs).

There was also an Urgent Action on Palestinian/Syrian refugees in Egypt.

Poverty & Human Rights – Women's Human Rights: Nothing to report.

Control Arms: Nothing to report.

Stop Torture: The September Monthly Action concerns the use of torture in Mexico. Dennis has sent the suggested letter to the Mexican President, who is reportedly committed to stopping torture in his country.

Correspondence

The Write for Rights Campaign will run as usual in November and December. We agreed to contact Enfield and Barnet Group to see if they would be interested in holding a joint event this year, as our previous joint events with the Green Party appear to have finished. Friends House would be a possible venue. We need to make a decision on this matter at the next meeting.

Finance/Fund-raising:

The current balance is £1,332.69p. We raised £845 at the summer concert at David Robinson’s house on Saturday, 26th July. It was a very successful event, with entertainment by Shazia Murzia among others. We agreed to make to make a further donation of £750 to AIUK. The next fundraising event is the London-wide Street Collection on October 11th.

Any Other Business:

Paul is now on the Governance Committee of AIUK, which advises about vacancies on various AIUK committees.

Diary Dates:

  • If you are interested in any of the following events, please contact Dennis for more details.
  • Tuesday, 14th October: Consultation on Amnesty’s Strategic Goals, at HRAC from 7 to 9 pm.
  • Thursday, 17th October: Pub Quiz organised by St. John’s Wood AI Group, at The Assembly House, 292-294 Kentish Town Road, starting at 7.30pm.
  • Saturday, 25th October: Embassy Crawl organised by Wandsworth AI Group – starting from Embankment Station at 10.45am.
  • Friday, 31st October: Folk and Blues evening organised by Croydon AI Group, at The Spread Eagle, Katharine Street, Croydon, starting at 8pm.
  • Tuesday, 4th November: Comedy evening organised by Hackney and Islington Group, at The Hackney Attic, 270 Mare Street, E1, starting at 7.30pm.
  • Saturday, 22nd November: Book Sale organised by Blackheath and Greenwich AI Group, at the Church of Ascension, Dartmouth Row, Blackheath, from 10am to 4pm.

NEXT MEETING: Wednesday, 15thOctober2014, at 8 p.m. at Friends Meeting House, Church Crescent, Muswell Hill, N.10.

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