Weekly Action and News 23/12/2022
Manchester Amnesty Weekly Action and News
Please do this action and make a difference
You will all know about the wave of repression that is sweeping through Iran in response to the nationwide uprisings that started after the death in custody of Mahsa Amini. Many have been killed while protesting, and many more have been arrested and detained. Amnesty have been monitoring the situation and have reported that two people have already been executed after grossly unfair trials. Numerous others have already been sentenced to death in sham trials, or are potentially facing execution for their part in the protests. At least three children are being held under threat of execution. The Iranian authorities are using the death penalty as a tool of political repression and to instil fear among the public, with a view to ending the popular uprising. Amnesty have published a new urgent action. If you are a UK constituent, please email or tweet your MP asking them to write to the Iranian Embassy in the UK demanding that executions are halted and convictions are quashed. Amnesty have prepared a letter for you, but you can also use it to write your own.
If you don’t have an MP, you can write directly to the Iranian Embassy, expressing your solidarity with the Women Life Freedom movement, with a few clicks
We’d like to take this opportunity to wish everyone a very happy and peaceful holiday season, and all the very best for 2023.
There will be no newsletter next week, so the next one will be on 6th January.
January’s monthly group meeting will take place online on Monday 9th January at 7pm. Details of the agenda and joining link will be emailed to everyone nearer the time.
News relating to one of this year’s Write for Rights cases
A High Court judge in Hong Kong has quashed the conviction of Chow Hang-tung, a prominent pro-democracy activist, and overturned her 15 month prison sentence. The judge ruled that the city’s pro-Chinese authorities failed to justify banning a candlelit vigil commemorating the Tiananmen Square massacre. However, Chow remains in custody pending an appeal by the Hong Kong government, and she is also facing two other charges under the sweeping national security law imposed by Beijing.
Good news
United States of America - On December 13, 2022, President Biden signed the Respect for Marriage Act, the law that guarantees nationwide protection for same-sex marriages.
Barbados - On December 13, 2022, the High Court issued a ruling decriminalizing consensual same-sex relationships. The Sexual Offences Act 1992, based on British colonial-era rules, provided for life imprisonment for “sodomy” and up to 10 years in prison for "gross indecency". After Antigua and Barbuda and Saint Kitts and Nevis, Barbados is the third Caribbean state to have adopted this measure during 2022.
United Nations - On 15 December 2022, for the ninth time, the General Assembly adopted a resolution calling for a universal moratorium on the death penalty by 125 votes in favour, two more than the previous one. The resolution recognises the devastating impact on the children of those sentenced to death, reaffirms the ban on death sentences for juvenile offenders and calls for transparency in access to information to ensure that defendants have due process.
United States of America - On December 13, 2022, the governor of the state of Oregon, Kate Brown, announced the commutation to life imprisonment of all 17 death sentences in the process of execution, declaring that capital punishment is immoral.
Manchester Amnesty Subgroups and other work
If you would like to join any of our subgroups, please contact the current convenors for joining details.
UAE – Kathryn Fletcher, bussk@btinternet.com
Anti-racism – Hazel Errey, hazelerrey@gmail.com,
Refugees – Alison Wearden, alison.wearden@gmail.com
Craftivism - Kathryn Fletcher bussk@btinternet.com
Other areas of work are led by:
Crisis and Tactical Afghanistan, Myanmar, Syria, Ukraine, Yemen Rebecca Shaw, r.h.shaw.7@gmail.com
Europe/ Turkey, Fatih Segmen, fsegmen@yahoo.com
Israel's Apartheid Against Palestinians Mike Reed mikewreed101@gmail.com
Individuals at Risk (quarterly letter writing) Anne Walker anne.walker9@ntlworld.com
Alison Wearden
Communications Secretary
Manchester Group of Amnesty International
Please contact me with items for our Weekly Action and News email, or with ideas for longer articles for the quarterly Manchester Amnesty Group Bulletin.
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