BBC News – FGM: UK’s first female genital mutilation prosecutions announced
March 21, 2014 in Human Rights News by Ruth
by Ruth
by Ruth Committee Elections 2014-2015
March 20, 2014 in main, news by Ruth
Tuesday 25th March is our AGM and the following positions will be elected:
President
Vice President
Secretary
Treasurer
Campaigns Coordinator
Fundraising Officer
Publicity Officer
Press Officer
Website Manager
**2 x Ordinary Board Members will be elected at the beginning of the academic year.**
The current committee have given a short description of their role in the hope of giving you a good idea of what each entails, however, there is always the opportunity for committee members to expand the roles if that person has other ideas and/or new projects arise.
If you want more information, please drop us an email! mail@guamnesty.org.uk
President (Ruth Brown)
The president has overall responsibility for the activities of the group and chairs the weekly committee meetings. Much time is dedicated to supporting each committee member in their role so it is necessary to have a good knowledge and interest in all aspects of how the society is organised and operates. The President facilitates the society meetings but all committee members play an important role in organising and running these meetings. Each week a newsletter must be written and sent to the membership detailing the group’s upcoming activities as well as promoting relevant events. It is also up to the President to take responsibility for all the resources (awards, materials, banners etc) that are passed on to each new committee.
This year has been so successful that it’s hard to choose one event that I enjoyed the most. For the campaigns, I liked hearing from all of our guest speakers, and also taking part in the various photo actions. As for the fundraisers, I thought Jamnesty was fantastic!
Vice-President (Debbie White)
As Vice-President, I support the President, feed in ideas and generally help with the organising of meetings and events. In the first few weeks I helped to lead meetings as we had so many people we had a splinter group in Committee Room 2.
This year, I took particular responsibility for organising the Secret Policeman’s Ball and managing the SPB sub-committee, which was great fun! (It isn’t always the VP’s responsibility; last year, our Vice President organised the Scottish Students’ Conference instead)
Secretary (Jana Sweeney)
Secretary mainly does a lot of the behind the scenes organisation. You’ll be in control of the email account, checking and responding to emails, making sure people are aware of various events and checking their own emails. If there is letter writing, you’ll be the one to post the letters, so you’ll creep out your local post office by constantly posting letters to various Heads of States! Also have to take minutes at all the committee meetings! During the summer, you’ll be dealing with all the affiliation documents and over the year you’ll be checking our post cubby in the SRC. You also have to assist any other member of the society with admin tasks they need doing and just generally running a lot of small tasks throughout the year!
My favourite thing this year was running the Pub Quiz with Duncan!
Treasurer (Duncan McNab)
The role of treasurer involves managing the group’s finances, collecting and depositing money that has been fundraised, and keeping an accurate record of expenses and the like. It generally more technical/practical stuff. The majority of my  in the role is away from meetings in terms of counting money going to the bank and so on. Beyond that you’re kind of free to help however you can in the group.
My favourite amnesty thing I was involved with this year was probably writing and hosting the pub quiz with Jana. It was good fun. Also counting money is quite therapeutic.
Campaigns Coordinator (Ali Cooper)
Campaigns Coordinator has responsibility for investigating and planning our various campaigns that run throughout the year.  Keeping on top of emails and researching changes and updates in the relevant areas is crucial.  Coming up with interesting ways to promote campaigns and (importantly) thinking of specific ways GU Amnesty can confront these issue is key. Providing a support role to other committee members in research/investigation is also important.
I really enjoyed the challenge of organising the panel discussion “Syria: I can still see hope”. Â I got to meet some fantastic speakers and whilst getting them initially involved was challenging it paid off and the event was a great success. Â *** Dom needs a mention here! – I only took on the role from him recently from him and I had big shoes to fill: Coca-cola petition on Change.org, Jamnesty etc!
Fundraising Officer (Maisie Peebles)
The role of fundraiser involves the managing of events that raise money for Amnesty International UK. This person must organise fun and exciting events that bring people along and are a financial success. Therefore, it includes liaising with the unions and various managers of venues and bands in order to find the best possible places and people to take part in our many fundraisers. It involves a lot of emailing and researching in order to draw together the most effective plan for the event. This year we have had a pub quiz, Jamnesty, carol singing, Secret Policeman’s Ball, cake stalls, sponsored hillwalk on Arran and there is still a ceilidh and Amnestea in the Park to come!
I enjoyed the Love is a Human Right Gig Night the most as it was the best way to chill after the stress of organising it.
Publicity Officer (Nikola Cabanova)
Publicity Officer promotes the activities of the society.This person takes care of the Facebook page, Twitter and Tumblr (posting updates about meetings, Amnesty activities, photos from the events, creating events). Although some of the tasks are often shared between the members (if someone is busy) it is publicity officer who is required to make some of the promoting material such as making the poster, flyers and sharing these on social media.
E-mailing is a big part of each of the committee member’s role. The Publicity Officer uses it to communicate with other university societies, student bodies and institutions about possible ways of promoting Amnesty events and causes. A big part of this role is also all the crafts. This consists of storing the material, buying new one (paint, brushes, cards etc.), organizing the banner and poster making part of the meetings and making sure the material is used well, is not wasted and nothing gets lost.
I would say that my favourite part was going to the Art store, where we got most of our craft material from, seeing people getting their hands all dirty and climbing on the tables while painting banners and carrying our massive LGBTQ+ posters around the campus to give it to each respective student body who supported our campaign while it was extremely windy. One piece of advice: no task is ‘done’ until it is really done. If you get a task at the beginning of the year which is not extremely urgent it does not mean you can push it down or even out of your ‘to do’ list.
Press Officer (Ellen MacAskill)
This role involves writing about all the great stuff we do every week. The blog on our website is the most regular task. It’s anything between 500-1000 words about what we did at the meeting, or any other campaigns and events. It is also up to the press officer to get our news out and about in other publications. This could be by going along to pitch meetings for Qmunicate and the Glasgow Guardian, or by emailing press releases about our events to wider outlets. Starting this year, there will be a GU Amnesty magazine which the Press Officer will help put together and more recently, there has been an opportunity to get involved with Subcity Radio.
Basically you’ll be the one scribbling away furiously during talks, then finding an appropriate use for said notes later on. The role is relatively new so there is all sorts that you could do with it. There are some press-related guidelines from Amnesty UK which I’m happy to pass on when necessary.
Website Manager (Rob Hallam)
I am responsible for keeping the website up and running- from posting photos (that I take mostly!), to emailing newsletters, to online ticket sales. The aim is to ensure the website contains an up-to-date record of all the great things we’re doing through the year!
One of my personal highlights – you could pick any part of the year and it would qualify – would be getting the brand-new ticketing system up and running. Not only was this one automated more than the previous system, generating and sending the tickets without intervention; it gave us proportionally more money. Bonus! Not to mention it got me a mention – complete with an unforgettable ‘Captain Website’ slide – at the SPB.
[To be elected in October 2014]
Ordinary Board Member (Alex Pancheva)
As one of the Ordinary Board Members, I had the chance to do many small things such as researching campaigns, emailing speakers, publicizing events, and arranging meetings. Your main responsibility will be to help the other committee members but at the same time you can take the tasks that you would enjoy the most. This position will give you insight of how the society functions, and you will get an idea which position would be suitable for you in the future.
This year has been amazing, and we’ve done a lot, so it’s difficult to choose one favourite moment or event. In terms of campaigning, I enjoyed the demos (for example, going around the campus in an orange jumpsuit is a must). As for the fundraisers, I enjoyed both Jamnesty and the SPB.
Ordinary Board Member (Domi Bacanskaite)
Initially as an ordinary board member I wasn’t sure what my responsibilities were, but now that I think of it, one of the best things about this position is that you can help out with many different things and see what it is you enjoy doing most – and what you are best at! It’s a good place to start with the committee and later on you know what other positions you’re interested in. I was the Amnesty representative in the International Women Week’s committee, and organised two events: a talk by our previous member and a qualified Amnesty speaker Elena Soper about women’s rights in Afghanistan, together with a workshop by our president Ruth about the socialisation of young people and the media; and ‘Consent’ film screening with a guest from Rape Crisis Scotland.
My favourite moments must have been those of Jamnesty though – I was stressing out beforehand, but everything went well and we ended up listening to a lot of great music (and raising money at the same time!).
by Debbie White Secret Policeman’s Ball 2014 – Response to Feedback
March 18, 2014 in main by Debbie White
I’d like to start by thanking everyone who came to the Secret Policeman’s Ball 2014 and helped us to raise so much money for such a good cause. It’s the biggest event in the GU Amnesty calendar and we’re always very happy to see it so well attended.
One thing we did a little differently this year was that after the event, we released an online survey form to get your feedback on how you feel it went. A huge thank you to everyone who filled this in; we’ve now compiled and gone through the responses and as a result of this, we wanted to let you all know our responses to some of the criticisms levied at the event. If you have further responses to make, or didn’t get a chance to fill in the survey, please contact us on spb@guamnesty.org.uk and we’d be happy to discuss any feedback (both negative and positive) further.
We’re really glad that the majority of attendees who gave us feedback enjoyed the event; most of the acts were well received, the merchandise and snacks stall appreciated (so appreciated, in fact, that we ran out of popcorn after the first act!) and the decorations admired. The photo petition was well engaged with – thank you to everyone who took part and to our photographers!
Despite this, no event is perfect and we feel it would be wrong of us to neglect some of the criticisms that emerged from the feedback, and we wanted to address these as transparently as possible.
Many people pointed out the issues with microphones; this particularly affected some of the sketches, and we apologise that some attendees were unable to hear and fully enjoy the comedy as a result. We did look into hiring individual mikes for our performers due to this same issue arising last year. However, the cost we were quoted for this was prohibitive; we wanted to ensure that as much money was raised for Amnesty International as possible and thus decided against this extra expense. This will be something we consider again next year, perhaps looking into cheaper ways of sourcing the necessary equipment.
We were asked whether it would be possible to provide a line up list so that the audience were aware of what acts were coming up. We appreciate that, particularly due to the length of the show, knowing what acts are coming next would be helpful for some people and so this is something we would like to consider for next year, with the caveat that often last minute line-up changes occur making this difficult! For example, this year, the running order was changed just half an hour before doors opened.
The major issue that came out of the feedback, and something that we as the organising committee felt, was that the content of some of the acts was inappropriate and, at times, offensive. We apologise unreservedly to those of you who raised issues with the style of some of the humour and would like to make absolutely clear that we do not tolerate racism, sexism, ableism or homophobia, and that ‘comedy’ which employs these elements is not fitting for an Amnesty event. We shall be passing the feedback onto our compere and discussing ways to approach the line up next year, with an assurance that those comedians responsible for the offensive content will not be invited back. We hope you understand the difficulties involved in vetting a line-up, particularly when acts have performed at the Secret Policeman’s Ball in previous years without including such inappropriate content. That being said, there is no excuse for racist, sexist, ableist or homophobic jokes and we will be addressing these issues for next year. We would like to express our wholehearted disappointment that this occurred as we believe that Amnesty’s values of equality are not furthered by this style of comedy.
Again, we would like to thank you all for coming and hope to see you again next year – please e-mail us about any concerns you have and we will work hard to make sure that the seventh Secret Policeman’s Ball is a huge success!
GU Amnesty
by Ruth Tuesday 18th March: Aberlour Guardianship Service and AI Consultation on Sex Work
March 15, 2014 in main, meetings, newsletter by Ruth
Howdy folks,
It was great to see so many people attend the film screening on Tuesday of ‘Free China: The Courage to Believe’. We welcomed back Yuyu for the 6th year, and I have to say that I am equally inspired every time I hear her talk about something so horrific and yet so rarely exposed. We were also joined by a guest speaker who came to share her experiences of persecution, forced labour and torture as a Falun Gong practitioner.
Read about it and see the photos, here.
The film: http://freechina.ntdtv.org/
3 years on, #withSyria
Sadly, today marks the 3rd anniversary of the conflict in Syria.
Amnesty International has launched the #withSyria campaign alongside a coalition of NGOs and civil society organisations campaigning to draw attention to the ongoing humanitarian crisis and rally global support. Watch and share the latest campaign video featuring Banksy and Elbow -Â http://withsyria.com/. You can also sign the petition to stop the starvation of civilians.
There is an event on the 19th March by the Bulgarian Society to raise money for Syrian child refugees in Bulgaria. Check out the event.
 ‘Just because it isn’t happening here doesn’t mean it isn’t happening.’
We are #withSyria
Â
Next Meeting: Tuesday 18th March, 5pm, QMU
Guest Speaker – The Guardianship Service
There will be a presentation by Jillian McBride from the Aberlour’s Guardianship Programme, a project in Glasgow supporting young people and children who are victims of human trafficking.
Amnesty International Global Consultation on Sex Work
As I mentioned in a previous newsletter, Amnesty are looking for responses to their consultation on sex work. We are going to take this opportunity to discuss the policy proposal that Amnesty have sent us and we can give our feedback too.
End of term evaluation and plans for after Easter
This will be the last meeting before the AGM, so I will be asking for your feedback as I did last semester. This will be really useful for the committee next year, and I look forward to hearing your thoughts. We are also going to talk about our plans for after Easter, as there have been some great ideas on ways that we can all keep up with Amnesty but without taking up 2 hours on a Tuesday evening.
Tuesday 25th March: AGM and End of Year Social
Our AGM will be our last official Tuesday meeting of the year, and there are 9 positions up for grabs:
President
Vice President
Secretary
Treasurer
Campaigns Coordinator
Fundraising Officer
Publicity Officer
Press Officer
Website Manager
(2 x Ordinary Board Members to be elected at the start of the academic year)
I will have more information on each position at the meeting, but if you are interested in running for a committee position and want to know more, you can email me president@guamnesty.org.uk or the relevant committee member.
TBC (date may change) Thursday 27th March: Film Screening – ‘Blood in the Mobile’
‘Blood in the Mobile’ documents the filmmaker’s journey from Nokia HQ, Finland all the way to the mines in the Democratic Republic of Congo to discover the truth about the link between our mobile phones and worst conflict in the world today.
29th March: Trip to Arran – Please Sponsor us!
If you are not coming with us, we would love you to sponsor us. It’s not every day we climb mountains (that don’t lead to the GU library). Donate via our JustGiving page!
Other events
SRC Volunteer Clubs and Societies Awards 2014
Nominations are open for the VCS awards! There are many categories and you can nominate either GU Amnesty as a group, or a particular individual. So if there is something that you feel we/an individual deserve/s recognition for, then please complete a nomination form before 21st March!
Sunday 23rd March: Glasgow West Amnesty International Concert Fundraiser
3pm at Wellington Church, 77 Southpark Avenue (off University Avenue), Glasgow G12 8LE. Free entry, donations at the end.
Sandie Bishop, Lamond Gillespie, violins
Flora Tzanetaki, piano
Leclair Sonata for 2 violins
Mozart Violin Sonata KV 454
Prokofiev Sonata for 2 violins
Handel Trio Sonata in G minor
Keep it up, the deadlines are nearly over.
YOU CAN DO IT!
Ruth
by Organ Harvesting & the Battle Between China and Falun Gong
March 14, 2014 in Blog by Ellen MacAskill
“There is enough circumstantial evidence to the alert the international community to what amounts to genocide.” – European Parliament Vice President on reports of Falun Gong practitioners being killed so their organs can be sold for transplants.
Falun Gong, otherwise known as Falun Dafa, is a spiritual practised based on a combination of ancient oriental philosophies including Buddhism and Taoism. Truthfulness, kindness and tolerance are its three pinnacles of belief. It has no formal organisation or leader. Practitioners focus on meditation to find harmony between the mind and body and look inside themselves for spiritual fulfilment. It can benefit physical as well as mental health.
Since July 1999, the Chinese Communist Party has been condemning the practice as an “evil cult.” It was branded illegal. The millions of people who had found solace in the practice since the early 1990s were persecuted. Slanderous propaganda was circulated to schools and the public, and a process of “re-education” was announced by the CCP. These terrifying Orwellian tactics continue to this day.
A growing body of evidence shows that China are using prisoners of the Falun Gong practice to fatally harvest organs from, which are sold on for profit. China does not have a formal transplantation system, so the huge amount of organs that they provide to national and international patients each year is unaccounted for. In the past they have harvested organs from executed prisoners, however the total is kept a secret.
Apparently, many of those arrested for practising Falun Gong refuse to give their real names to the police. These people then fall off the record so if they are killed it is undetectable. At a press conference in 2013, China’s Vice Minister of Health, Huang Jiefu, described the current organ procurement system as “profit-driven, unethical, and violating human rights.” He also admitted that the number of transplants performed yearly grew from several hundred in 1999 to over 10,000 in 2008. MEP Edward McMillan-Scott has stated that: “It is clear that Falun Gong is to the communist regime what the Jews were to the Gestapo.”
This week we were visited by Yuyu, who returned to Amnesty to raise awareness of this issue. She screened a film entitled “Free China: The Courage to Believe” which details the stories of two campaigners who are fighting against the punishment of their spiritual practice.
Jennifer Zeng is a former Communist Party member who went through a year of testing before being allowed to join the Party. She was convinced that it would give her a leg up in society. After the birth of her first child, she was forced to abort her second due to the one-child policy. Her health suffered. When she found Falun Gong, however, she felt transformed – she says learned to stop trying to control other people and to only control herself.
Then the CCP which Jen was loyal to, who actively promoted the practice initially, turned against it in a drastic move. Falun Gong practitioners at that point outnumbered Party members. The widespread dedication to it went against state values of Marxism and atheism, first enforced by Mao in 1949. What was once such a positive thing for China lost its influence in a heartbeat. The CCP essentially run a totalitarian regime which does not tolerate anything which will pose an ideological threat to its motives. People found and benefited from spirituality in a country which prioritised consumerism and commercial gain in the 20th century.
Jennifer was arrested for attending a Falun Gong gathering in 2000 and sentenced to one year in a forced labour camp. Police used force and electrocution and humiliation to control her, and she was denied an appeal. In the camps, prisoners work for hours each day making consumer goods such as hand-knitted sweaters. Jen even made toy rabbits for the Nestle chocolate company. All were exported to the West.
Charles Lee is an American-Chinese businessman who practised Falun Gong. When he heard about the prosecutions, and the way that the internet and media were being used to survey the “crime”, he felt compelled to return to his native country from America. Charles attempted to intercept TV channels and broadcast pro-Falun Gong information. However, he was forced to flee the country after a near miss with the police. When he returned to China a year on, he was arrested at the airport. In jail he went on near-fatal hunger strike. His case became a study for the US Congress as they began to address the issue.
Those held in labour camps for their spiritual practices are forced to display reform before they are released. Jen did this so that she could continue the fight outside. It was an extremely difficult thing to do, particularly when she was held up an as example to others who shared her beliefs.
After release, Charles and Jen were eventually reunited with their families in different parts of the world, and continue the fight for the protection of Falun Gong practitioners.
Joining Yuyu was lawyer Mrs Grace Xu, who spoke to us first-hand about her experience. She found the healing properties of Falun Gong through a roommate at university, well into the 2000s and years after the CCP launched their attack. After a decade of practising Falun Gong, Grace was arrested on her doorstep one morning. She tried to relate to us how brutal life was in the camp she was sent to, and how difficult it is for us to imagine, living in a free democratic country like the UK. She was transferred to a camp reserved for Falun Gong practitioners. Now seeking asylum in the UK, Grace has not seen her daughter for two years.
Yuyu expressed her happiness at the turnout to the event, saying that growing up in China she was faithful to the CCP and shielded from human rights issues. Only when she left did she become aware of what is hidden.
GUAI member Milia Hau, who grew up in Hong Kong, was shocked to learn the truth about Falun Gong. She says: “In Hong Kong the CCP’s influence is not as strong as in China; there are always campaigns about human rights like lawyers disappearing, political prisoners etc. But because Falun Gong is a non-mainstream religious group that most people avoid and ignore in Hong Kong, the fact that Falun Gong practitioners were tortured in China was ignored, despite loads of constant campaign booths in the city’s shopping areas. I personally think it is equally unfair torturing this group, just because their view opposed the party’s view, as torturing other groups inside China.”
Zoom out of the personal pictures, and what is being done globally? The internet has been a big hurdle in the battle between the CCP and campaigners. China censors everything online; however, people out of surveillance’s eye have managed to intercept the “Great Firewall” to provide safe and true information about Falun Gong, available without trace to Chinese internet users.
Ethan Guttman, a human rights investigator and China analyst, gave a talk at Amnesty’s annual Student Conference in Edinburgh this month, which committee members Ali and Maisie attended. He is currently completing a history of the clash between Falun Gong and the CCP. He estimates that approximately 65,000 Falun Gong adherents may have been killed for their organs between 2000 and 2008.
Doctors Against Forced Organ Harvesting started a petition to the UN last year, urging them to “call upon the Chinese government to immediately end the brutal persecution of Falun Gong, which is the root cause for the forced organ harvesting from Falun Gong practitioners.” It received over 1.5 million signatures in less than 5 months. The European Parliament also passed a motion last year condemning the practice. As Yuyu said, these steps are all positive, but the bureaucracy that must be broken down before real change is made means that campaigning is still as vital as ever.
Find out more about Falun Gong: http://en.falundafa.org/
Sign DAFOH’s petition to the UN: https://www.dafoh.org/petition-to-the-united-nations/
Watch the film for free: http://freechina.ntdtv.org/
Read recent article from EP Vice President: http://fofg.org/2014/01/we-recall-the-holocaust-we-should-recognize-genocide-in-china-today/ (this website also has information about how Falun Gong has been banned in Russia).
by Ruth Tuesday 11th March: Film Screening ‘Free China: The Courage to Believe’ and AGM Announcement
March 9, 2014 in main, newsletter by Ruth
Hellooooo,
Well what an incredible week for GU’s first International Women’s Week! Thank you to Domi for organising our events, I think we covered just about all the most important reasons why International Women’s Day exists. We are also very grateful to Eileen from Rape Crisis Scotland for coming along to screen ‘Consent’. If you missed any of the events, here’s what happened.
We’ve had a very busy year, and I can safely say that even in the last few weeks, we are not slowing down!
**TUESDAY 25TH MARCH: ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING (AGM) see below for more details**
Tuesday 11th March: Film Screening ‘Free China: The Courage to Believe’
5pm, Boyd Orr, Lecture Theatre 222
A film about organ harvesting of Falun Gong practitioners in China, with guest speaker Mrs. Xu who is coming to share her experiences of imprisonment and brainwashing before coming to the UK to seek asylum.
Tuesday 18th March: Guest Speaker – Young People and Trafficking
5pm, QMU
There will be a presentation by Jillian McBride from the Aberlour’s Guardianship Programme, a project in Glasgow supporting young people and children who are victims of human trafficking.
Tuesday 25th March: AGM and Ceilidh, QMU
Our AGM will be our last official Tuesday meeting of the year, but afterwards we will be having our annual ceilidh with GU Red Cross and STAR Glasgow to cheer us up and celebrate the newly elected committee!
The positions up for election will be:
President
Vice President
Secretary
Treasurer
Campaigns Coordinator
Fundraising Officer
Publicity Officer
Press Officer
Website Manager
2 x Ordinary Board Members will be elected at the beginning of term next year. This is to allow new members the opportunity to get involved, although these positions are open to all members, not just those who are new to the society.
If you are interested in running for a committee position, we will be putting together a detailed description of each role in advance of the AGM but if you have any specific questions, you can email me president@guamnesty.org.uk or the relevant committee member.
Thursday 27th March: Film Screening – ‘Blood in the Mobile’
6.30pm, Boyd Orr, Lecture Theatre 203
‘Blood in the Mobile’ documents the filmmaker’s journey from Nokia HQ, Finland all the way to the mines in the Democratic Republic of Congo to discover the truth about the link between our mobile phones and worst conflict in the world today.
Other events
Wednesday 12th – Saturday 15th March: Citizens Theatre – ‘Refugee Boy’ and ‘Belong’
12th – 15th Main stage production – ‘Refugee Boy’
Post-show discussion following the performance on Wednesday 12 March.
15th March – ‘Belong’
‘Since January we’ve been working with the Citizens Theatre Learning Department on bringing together refugees, asylum seekers and local people to explore ‘belonging’ through poetry, song and storytelling. These workshops will culminate in an event called Belong next Saturday, 15 March, 4.30-6.30pm at the Citizens Theatre, prior to the Citizens main stage production Refugee Boy by Lemn Sissay. There will be food, fashion, music, singing, poetry, storytelling.’
Tickets are free – if you would like to go along book online or call 0141 429 0022. http://citz.co.uk/
Friday 14th March: LUSH Event
Lynn from LUSH Sauchiehall Street:
We’re holding a campaign in store next week regarding the ongoing conflict in Colombia. Our particular interest is in the Peace Community of San Jose, who we financially support through their provisions of cocoa butter for a number of our products in store. They are a self-declared neutral peace community, taking no part in the conflict between the government and rebels. Despite assassinations, intimidation and conflict they uphold the highest values of justice and peace. It would be wonderful if any of your representatives were available and would be willing to come in-store, between 1pm and 3pm, and help us to raise awareness of these human rights issues.
We will have a petition in store which we will be urging people to sign which will be presented to the Colombian government. The petition will also be available to sign online at lushpetitions.co.uk which we would be grateful if you could publicise to your social network community, in an urge to make more people aware.
Saturday 15th March: A Campaign Day with Campaign Against Arms Trade
10.30am-5pm, Renfield Centre, 260 Bath Street, Glasgow, G2 4HZ
What’s the link between Edinburgh and drones, or Ayrshire and the teargas turned on democracy protesters in the Middle East? What does Dundee have to do with the repression in Bahrain? Find out at an info and skills-sharing day in Glasgow on 15 March.
Sunday 23rd March: Glasgow West Amnesty International Concert Fundraiser
3pm at Wellington Church, 77 Southpark Avenue (off University Avenue), Glasgow G12 8LE. Free entry, donations at the end.
Sandie Bishop, Lamond Gillespie, violins
Flora Tzanetaki, piano
Leclair Sonata for 2 violins
Mozart Violin Sonata KV 454
Prokofiev Sonata for 2 violins
Handel Trio Sonata in G minor
See you in the BOYD ORR on Tuesday,
Ruth
Happy International Women’s Week!
March 7, 2014 in Blog by Ellen MacAskill
This week Glasgow University has put on a full schedule of events to promote discussion, awareness and celebration in the run-up to International Women’s Day on the 8th of March. The ever-increasing consciousness of gender issues on our campus deserves such recognition, and the array of things going on has been testament to that. (I only wish I’d had Hermione Granger’s time-keeper to allow me to be at three seminars at once.) A big ‘thank you’ goes to Domi and Rob whose organisational efforts have been fantastic.
On Tuesday our meeting was attended by ex-GUAI member and qualified Amnesty speaker Elena Soper, who gave a presentation about women’s rights in Afghanistan. This is currently Amnesty UK’s specific women’s rights campaign. It was eye-opening to learn about how gender equality in the country went from an upwards trajectory, with equal suffrage being granted in 1919, to a complete backwards landslide following the Russian invasion in 1979. When the extremist Taliban regime commenced in 1996, female oppression was worse than ever before. Women were banned from working, studying, and even going out unchaperoned by a man.
When the UK and US invaded Afghanistan in 2001, many political figures justified the move on the grounds of supporting women. This is a highly contentious issue but, either way, women’s suffering is ongoing. Three years ago the country was called the ‘Most Dangerous Place to be a Woman’ by the Thomson-Reuters Foundation. Elena detailed some shocking case-study stories about activists who have dared to challenge discrimination by practising education and abortion, and faced consequences such as fatal violence against their family members.
Amnesty UK’s website has a lot more information about their activists and campaign actions: http://www.amnesty.org.uk/issues/Women’s-rights-in-Afghanistan
Our president Ruth then ran a workshop about socialisation and the media. We had a flick through a variety of magazines for different demographics and discussed how they represent (or do not represent) women. After being an avid reader of such boy-obsessed teen rags in my younger years, it was odd to revisit what I once took for granted. The lack of intelligent content in magazines for women and young girls is amazing. Just last week I was dismayed to open Q magazine, one of the biggest and most well-respected music publications, and see an advert encouraging readers to vote for ‘FHM’s sexiest woman’. No, thank you.
Lads mags and tabloids were another matter altogether. Ruth handed out sheets of misogynistic quotes. Once we all felt sufficiently nauseated by what we had read, she revealed that these were a combination of snippets from lads mags and quotes from convicted rapists. In a study*, men who did not know where the quotes came from said they identified more with the rapists’ sentiments. Due to the rapid growing-up process expected of teenagers today, ever younger boys are picking up magazines like Nuts and Zoo to educate themselves about sex, and this is what they are exposed to. Quotes that perpetuate and out-do rape culture.
*Links to the study: Reported in Jezebel; original research by University of Surrey
Our debate then turned to censorship and what we would like to be done about this harmful material. (A fortnight ago, after some of us were disappointed by what we heard at Cheesy Pop, ‘Blurred Lines’ was finally banned from being played at the QMU. The song has been known to trigger damaging responses in victims of sexual assault, and as such should not be played in a space which is supposed to be safe for students.)
On Thursday we were visited by the wonderful Eileen Maitland, Information Worker at Rape Crisis Scotland. She screened a film called ‘Consent’, about how our prejudices affect rape cases in court. It was part drama presented by actors, part documentary-style court case with real-life officials and jury. The most shocking aspect was the opinions expressed by the jury, who eventually voted to acquit the rapist. There was a lack of compassion and understanding, and constant diversions from the question at hand: whether or not the woman consented to the act. At one point before the trial, the (real) police officer said: “Just because it’s ‘not guilty’, doesn’t mean to say it didn’t happen.” This seemed to sum up the message of the film; that just because so few rape cases end in convictions, this is not because false allegations are disproportionately high for this specific crime. A change of public attitude would make a huge difference to the experiences of victims who are brave enough to report rape.
Rape Crisis Scotland are currently campaigning for women to be represented by a lawyer in court, as currently the prosecutor is only representing justice. They are also distributing information and statistics to promote the fact that false allegations of rape are no common than they are for any other crime.
To find out more visit: www.rapecrisisscotland.org.uk
If you are free tonight and would like to kick off your weekend with some all-girl theatre with ‘vagina’ in the title (who wouldn’t?) then join us in Qudos at the QMU for The Vagina Monologues. This cult show is being staged by students for the second year running. Proceeds go to Rape Crisis Scotland, plus our Publicity Officer Nikola is starring. Afterwards, GU FemSoc are hosting a feminist themed Cheesy Pop, complete with Lady Gaga and Katy Perry tribute acts. Suffragette and/or riot grrrl costumes optional.
I’ll leave you with a quote from the brilliant Ursula Le Guin:
“We are volcanoes. When we, women, offer our experience as our truth, as human truth, all the maps change. There are new mountains.”
P.S. Congratulations to Domi our Ordinary Board Member who has been elected the SRC’s new Charities, Clubs and Societies Officer! We know you will be wonderful if you put even half as much passion into the role as you have done into Amnesty this year.
by Ruth Tuesday 4th March: International Women’s Week and the Scottish Students’ Conference
March 2, 2014 in main, newsletter by Ruth
Hey everyone,
It’s going to be a very busy week! If you missed the last meeting, read Ellen’s blog about the CFCI.
Thanks to all of you who responded to the survey on the Secret Policeman’s Ball. Both the committee and sub-committee met last week to discuss the feedback, which has also been passed on to Billy Kirkwood as he is involved in organising the line-up. As soon as we hear back from Billy, I will forward you our response.
We have had an email from AIUK:
Re. Global policy consultation on sex work
‘As you may know, Amnesty’s International Secretariat is proposing to adopt a global policy on sex work. The global Amnesty movement is at the beginning of an extensive consultation process and is seeking views from its members around the world.’
Please see the end of this newsletter for more info.
Next meeting: Tuesday 4th March, 5pm in the QMU
International Women’s Week! 3rd – 9th March
There are lots of events happening this week, and you can find out what’s happening when by checking out the Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/guiww2014/info
Women’s Rights Talk 5pm
For our meeting, we have invited a guest speaker, Elena Soper to come and talk to us. Â Elena is a qualified Amnesty speaker, who focuses on women’s rights, so will give a presentation on women’s rights in Afghanistan, which has been one of AIUK’s main campaigns this year.
Workshop 6pm
After Elena’s presentation, I shall deliver a workshop on the role of the media in the socialisation of men, women and younger girls. The workshop will look specifically at the impact of magazines on perceptions of women and womanhood.
Feel free to invite friends to the meeting! https://www.facebook.com/events/228853113967214/
Thursday 6th: Rape Crisis Scotland Event, 4pm, Room 507, Boyd Orr
Rape Crisis Scotland are screening ‘Consent’, a film revealing about people’s prejudices and the role these can play in the context of rape trials. A discussion will follow and we will hopefully reach some conclusions as to how to tackle the issue.
Again, please invite anyone else who might be interested in attending https://www.facebook.com/events/530050043775582/
Friday 7th: The Vagina Monologues!
Last year’s production of the VM was fantastic, and I have no doubt that this year will be just as good if not better, so do come along! https://www.facebook.com/events/259811474201212/?source=1
8th – 9th March: Scottish Students’ Conference
To end the week, Edinburgh University are hosting the Scottish Students Conference on International Women’s Day. Everyone is welcome; here is the event for the agenda.
11th March: ‘Free China: The Courage to Believe’
We are having a film screening for this meeting, with a guest speaker who has escaped China after being imprisoned and tortured for her beliefs. Here’s the event.
The growing number of Falun Gong members is forming a threat to the Chinese government and people seen practicing it are therefore prosecuted, brainwashed and tortured.
http://
Unfortunately, since Falun Gong is a spiritual discipline with a very positive impact on your health often the practitioners are also being used for the illegal organ harvesting market.
GU Amnesty Climbs* Goatfell!! 29th-30th March
Numbers have been finalised for our trip to Arran. For those of you who are coming, Maisie will upload a checklist to the fb event so that you know what to take. If you are not coming, please sponsor us! Â There will be a Just Giving page created soon, and it would be great to have your support.
12th – 13th April: Amnesty International UK AGM
You must book by tomorrow. All members of AIUK can attend the AGM so let us know if you are interested and we can all go together.
Global Consultaiton on Sex Work Info
Last but not least, as mentioned above we’ve been asked to pass on the following which is a consultation from Amnesty International on a proposed adoption of a policy on sex work. Please read it and if you have views use the attached documents to feed back to AI on this important issue.
A fuller explanation:
As you may know, Amnesty’s International Secretariat is proposing to adopt a global policy on sex work. The global Amnesty movement is at the beginning of an extensive consultation process and is seeking views from its members around the world.
This pack is intended to provide you with more information on the consultation process and the draft policy proposal. It also includes a list of questions to help you explore the issues fully before sending your feedback.
In this pack you will find:
· Guidance notes for members
· The latest draft policy proposal*
· Q&A
· Feedback formWe understand that for some this is a sensitive and difficult topic to discuss but as a human rights organisation, we think it is important to have a genuine debate in order to establish our position. That is why we are encouraging all our Amnesty UK members to take part in the discussions. We will also be seeking views from a broad range of external stakeholders as part of this consultation.
The deadline for consultation is Friday 21 March and we will summarise the results for our Annual General Meeting in April.
We hope you will find these materials useful and please don’t forget to share them with your group or committee.
In the meantime, if you have any questions please do not hesitate to email us at swc@amnesty.org.uk
The International Issues Sub-Committee
On behalf of the Board
AI Sex Work Policy Feedback Form
AI Sex Work Policy Consultation Pack
See you on Tuesday,
Ruth
Call for a Conflict Free Glasgow
February 27, 2014 in Blog, main by Ellen MacAskill
The Conflict Free Campus Initiative has been growing up gradually at Glasgow University since GU Amnesty International took on the campaign in 2012. So why are so many people still in the dark about the bloodshed that fuels our technology habit?
CFCI calls for regulation of minerals used by large Western technology manufacturers, bought from mines in the war-ridden Democratic Republic of Congo in central Africa. The war there has dominated the country’s landscape since the early 1990s. The International Rescue Committee estimated that 5.4 million fatalities have occurred as a result since 1996. Rape is used as a weapon of control over the population and children are involved in fighting from a young age. The statistics are staggering for a conflict which receives such little media coverage. We rely on these countries for minerals such as gold, tungsten, tantalum, and the ores that produce tin. Armed rebels groups, domestic and foreign, pillage the land’s natural resources then sell them on to large corporations.
A lack of transparency in the production line means that consumers of products such as phones and laptops remain ignorant.
At university we spend millions of pounds cumulatively on technology. By sourcing products from companies that check and regulate their supply chain, we can encourage other companies to do the same. But no one is asking Glasgow’s library to send its computers to the dump. CFCI calls for university policy to prioritise the increasing number of companies who have expressed concern over the matter, when buying products from now on. Intel and HP are leaders in this field and just recently Apple have resolved to investigate their supply chain for conflict-related atrocities.
GUAI started circulating a petition last year to David Newall, Secretary of Court, and Principal Anton Muscatelli, calling on them to make Glasgow conflict free. A motion has been passed through the SRC in support of the movement, however their power is limited and progress has been slow. To raise awareness of the campaign a video was filmed by members, with help from Green MSP Patrick Harvie.
A letter-writing action to Newall last semester has prompted another meeting to be planned with him and Jo Gallagher, Head of Procurement for the university. We are preparing for this opportunity to give the campaign the attention it deserves.
In March, in collaboration with the charity Earth Movies, we will be screening ‘Blood in the Mobile’. The documentary directed by Frank Piasecki Poulsen investigates the relation of mobile phone companies to the conflict in Congo. Following the screening will be a panel discussion, with speakers to be confirmed, plus a Q & A session. The joint publicity between GUAI and Earth Movies will reach out the event to a wide audience.
In February our members partook in the global #CongoPeace photo campaign. This social media campaign is designed to show our support for the women of Congo. The images will be collected and presented in a book to Special Envoys at a UN conference focussing on resource exploitation and sexual violence.
To give the Conflict Free Glasgow campaign a boost before the imminent meeting, we will be submitting informative articles to campus press such as the Glasgow Guardian newspaper.
Let’s make Glasgow a Conflict Free Campus!
http://www.raisehopeforcongo.org/content/initiatives/conflict-minerals
by Rob Hallam BBC News – Gold market breaches ‘covered up’ (Newsnight Whistleblower Report)
February 26, 2014 in cfci, Human Rights News by Rob Hallam
A timely article given the latter part of today’s meeting on the front page of BBC News as part of a Newsnight report on conflict minerals failings in Dubai:
BBC News – Gold market breaches 'covered up'.
Dubai’s biggest gold refiner committed serious breaches of the rules designed to stop gold mined in conflict zones from entering the global supply chain, a whistleblower has revealed.
The article gives a good level of backgroun info as well as reporting on the Dubai situation. That someone had to resign and blow the whistle on the auditing practices goes to show quis custodiet ipsos custodes applies as much to the conflict mineral supply chain. There needs to be vigilance and pressure at all levels.