On Valentine’s Day members of the Ealing Amnesty Group campaigned outside the Zimbabwean Embassy on behalf of the human rights group Women of Zimbabwe Arise (WOZA), members of whom have been arrested and harassed.
As a result the group received 171 signatures to a petition calling on the Zimbabwean government to protect the group from harassment, and 12 signed red roses which were later delivered to the Zimbabwe embassy.
Thank you to everyone for supporting the Amnesty Group pub quiz held on Thursday 16th February at the Drayton Court, West Ealing. The Drayton Court’s quiz master Jimi is deserving of a very special mention for making the event possible.
The quiz and raffle raised a fabulous total of £239.00. Funds will be used to support the work of Amnesty International defending human rights, including buying stamps to write letters to prisoners of conscience.
Our December meeting is this Saturday, 10th December, 2.30-4.30 at Piccola Italia, Ealing Green, W5 5DA (about 20 yards down from Cafe Rouge).
We will discuss WOZA, other campaigns, and we will sign more cards for the Greetings Card Campaign.
A petition demanding justice for two Lao prisoners of conscience was handed in to the Laos Embassy in Paris by the Ealing group of Amnesty International. Five members of the Ealing group of Amnesty boarded the 5.25 am Eurostar service to Paris on 18 October 2011, to deliver the petition to the nearest Laos Embassy.
The petition bearing 1,188 signatures demanded that a new trial, upholding International standards, be given to Thao Moua and Pa Fue Khang,
The two men – members of the Hmong ethnic group – were recruited as guides by two European journalists willing to write a story on the plight of the Hmong minority in Laos.
Ealing Amnesty group members were met by Paris Amnesty group members Guy and Giselle
Outside the Lao Embassy in Paris after delivering the peition
As they emerged from the forest, on 4 June 2003, the Lao police forces arrested the journalists and their guides.
The journalists and their guides were given a two–hour pre-determined “farce” trial that resulted in sentences ranging between 12 and 15 years in prison.
The foreign reporters were released thanks to international pressure, but Thao and Pa Fue remain incarcerated in deplorable conditions.
Amnesty International believes that the trial did not uphold international standards of fairness and is likely to have been politically motivated.
Many of the signatures were collected by the group at the Ealing world music festival in July earlier this year.
Send a card direct to a prisoner of conscience!
As part of the Write for Rights campaign (the Greetings Card Campaign) in which cards are sent direct to prisoners of conscience we will be signing cards at Piccola Italia (21 The Green, W5 5DA) on Sunday 6th November, Saturday 19th November and a further date to be decided (if Piccola Italia is closed we will be in Cafe Rouge, nearby). We bring the background information and writing materials. This is totally informal, people drop in anytime between 2.30 and 5.00 for a few minutes or the whole two and a half hours.
Please pop in if you can. All welcome!
Latest: we got 420 signatures on our petition for Thao Moua and Pa Fue Khang at the festival!
The Ealing Amnesty group will have having a stall at the annual Blues festival on Saturday 23rd July and World Music day on Sunday 24th July.
The event is held in Walpole Park, Ealing
Details of how to get there, the line up etc can be found at
http://www.ealing.gov.uk/info/200247/ealing_summer_festivals
We hope as a result of having a stall to reach our target of 1,000 signatures on our petition to free Laos prisoners thao Moua and Pa Fue Khang.
We look forward to seeing you there.
The group is fortunate to have Benny Wenda coming to speak to the group about the human rights situation in West Papua.
Amnesty have published this digest about the dreadful Human Rights situation in West Papua.
A big thank you to Jimi at the Drayton Court pub and everyone who came and supported the quiz night on 24th March.
We raised a fabulous £156.24p from entry fees and a collection.
Thank you again to everyone who took part.
When : Tuesday March 1st 7pm
Where: St John’s Church, Mattock Lane, W13 9LA
The Vine room – the entrance is in Broomfield Place, take the stairs or ramp from the street directly into the room. Full disabled access
Lead by a trainer from Amnesty HQ this workshop will help the group to understand the ways in which we can take action on behalf of individuals.
It will help us to take a fresh look at our casework so we can involve more people and think more creatively for individuals at risk.
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