OCTOBER 2002
At the end of September, we were fortunate
to have our MP John Bercow at a special meeting, sharing with u his
views on Iraq, Afghanistan, arms exports,
the rights asylum seekers, the death penalty,
the Earth Summit, and Israel and Palestine.
It was an interesting and useful meeting
and part of the continual dialogue we have
with our MP.
Amnesty's attractive Christmas cards will
be on sale the Charity Christmas Fair in Brill Memorial Hall on Saturday 9th November
from 10:00am.
Our next meeting, is on Monday 11th November at 8pm m the
Red Lion, Brill.
On Monday 9th December in Brill Memorial
Hall, Dr Farhang Jahanpour - a renowned Muslim
academic will give a talk entitled "Human Rights are Universal".
Tickets for the evening are £3 each from
Brill shops, BAG members and BAG Secretary
Jane Bugg on 01844 238204. Members and non-members
are invited to join us for what should be
an interesting evening.
Vincent Strudwick, Chairman
Brill 23 7748
SEPTEMBER 2002
At our last meeting 18 of us gathered to hear Jill Pugh give
a moving and vivid account of her teaching
work at Campsfield House, the detention centre
for immigrants, and her experiences with
an asylum seeker's appeal. If anyone would
like further information about being a visitor
for Campsfield House, please contact me.
Fundraising is part of our work for Amnesty International
who have recently published the following
cost of living...
.
- £25 could pay for urgent messages of protest
to be sent to a government official or place
of detention on behalf of a prisoner facing
ill treatment or torture.
- £45 could pay for a researcher to interview
a human rights victim in a conflict situation.
- £100 could cover the cost of printing 1000 postcards
for our supporters to send to governments
demanding that they investigate a 'disappearance'.
- £400 is the average cost of taking up the case
of just one prisoner.
- £1400 recently paid for an Amnesty International
delegate to visit Colombia to carry out research
into human rights violations.
Our next fundraising activity will be through
our stall at the
Charity Christmas Fair in Brill Memorial Hall on Saturday 9th November
from10am - this year's Amnesty Christmas
cards are many and varied.
Our next meeting is on Monday 14th October at 8pm in the
Red Lion, Brill. We shall be making plans
for our special annual Human Rights Meeting
on Monday evening 9th December in Brill Memorial
Hall when
Dr Farhang Jahanpour - a renowned Muslim academic - will give
a talk entitled "Human Rights are Universal".
This is an important date in our diary and
is open to all. Tickets will be on sale soon
but please make a note in your December calendar
now -
Monday 9th December.
Jane Bugg, Secretary
Brill238204
JULY 2002
Transparency International
Transparency International is "the coalition
against corruption" based in Berlin.
John Drysdale outlined some of its work after our AGM
in June. Corruption is the use of public
office for private gain and it is rife throughout
the world. Russia tops the list in the northern
hemisphere, followed by Palestine, Turkey,
France, Germany and Italy. Some African leaders
use Swiss bank accounts for their illegal
gains of billions of dollars and, in the
Far East, India, Bangladesh, Indonesia, the
Phillipines and Thailand are on the list.
We didn't even begin to think about South
America. John told us that the problem is
far bigger than we can imagine. It undermines
good government, distorts public policy and
harms development, but most of all, it hurts
those who can afford it least, the poor.
For their gains, corruptors use the arms
trade, international public building works
and the oil and gas business. The good news
is that Britain is not included in the list
of big corruptors. Also, corruption is being
recognised as a huge problem and has an increasing
profile in the media. TI recognises that
the responsibility for corruption is a shared
one and its emphasis is on reforming systems,
not exposing individuals. As well as identifying
the problems and calling for change, TI believes
in searching for solutions. Further information
is available firom John at Brill House, tel
Brill 238206, or on
http://www.transparency.org
In the Autumn...
At the July meeting, plans for the Autumn
meetings were discussed and will be announced
in the September Bemwode News.
Refugees
Refugees make headlines but in the AI fact
sheet (also discussed), the following questions
are considered....
Are they bogus? In 2001, 50% were from Afghanistan, Iraq,
Somalia, Sri Lanka and Turkey, all countries
where AI has documented grave and widespread
violations of human rights
Is the UK a soft touch ? Asylum seekers get just 70% of basic income
support (less than £38 per week) and they
are not allowed to work.
Are we being swamped? There are 50 million refugees/ displaced
people in the world. 1-2% make it to the
UK. Comparing the numbers of asylum seekers
to the population of the host country, the
UK is only 10th in Europe
How much do they cost? Refugees bring a wealth of skills and experience
with them, contributing to the economy. They
pay 10% more into the UK treasury coffers
than they take out.
Full copies of this short fact sheet are
available from BAG Secretary Jane (tel. Brill
238204)
Vincent Strudwick, Chairman
JUNE 2002
The London Marathon:
Many thanks to Dave Croydon who ran the marathon
in 4.75 hours, to Phil Collins for administering
the sponsorship, to our Treasurer Paddy for
sorting the money and to everyone for their
donations.
£2382.00 was sent off to Anmesty International!
The AGM:
At our AGM in the Red Lion on Sunday evening
23rd June, Paddy presented the accounts,
showing a healthy balance of £606. We have
67 members who each pay £5 membership fee
and we have done some fundraising. My annual
report reminded us all of the interesting
year we have had, starting with the visit
of Chilean Roberta Bacic to our AGM last
year, then the visit of our MP John Bercow
in October, the very popular Any Questions?
evening in December, the planting of the
commemorative oak tree by the Common in February
and Dave's marathon in April, alongside our
various campaign work relating to stamping
out torture, Sierra Leone, Colombia, arms
exports controls and the death penalty. We
have written letters about human rights abuses
in several other countries and read about
and discussed many world issues.
I am full of admiration for the individual
members who lead our campaigns, often involving
stressful reading, and grateful to the officers
of the group who have supported me in my
two enjoyable years as chairman. They were
all re-elected at the AGM, namely.....
Vice-Chainnan - Phil Collins
Secretary - Jane Bugg
Treasurer - Paddy Dickinson
Membership Secretary - Denise Page
Minute Secretary - Peter Toynbee.
I myself stood down as Chairman but am delighted
to announce that Vincent Strudwick, of The
Square, Brill, was nominated and elected
as the new Chairman of BAG. I extend all
good wishes to him.
After the business of the meeting, John Drysdale
spoke to us about Transparency International.
This very interesting talk will be reported
on in the August Bernwode News.
Our next meeting is on Monday 8th July at
8.00pm in the back room of the Red Lion,
Brill. As well as all members, non-members
are invited to join us. Further information
can be seen on our web site or please contact
our secretary Jane on Brill 238204.
Richard Ellis, ex Chairman
MAY 2002
Despite our May meeting being held on that
very dull damp evening and several members
being unable to attend, ten people, including
AIUK South Midlands Regional Representative
Alex Siddall, had lively discussions and exchanged information
including.....
Refugee Week is from 17-23 June - see
http://www.refugeeweek.org.uk
The Sierra Leone Campaign has closed because
the conflict there is officially over - good
news!
More good news - in Afghanistan schools are being re-opened,
for boys and girls, and large numbers of
Afghan refugees are returning home from neighbouring
countries.
Bad news - executions throughout the world doubled
in 2001, almost entirely due to China’s new
‘strike hard’ anti-crime campaign. But some
good news - three more countries than this
time last year have abolished the death penalty.
And more good news - we hear that “news of the tree planting
has gone around the globe. A number of
people are setting up similar tree-planting
events. Indeed, we even have the offer from
someone from
the south of Chile that we can have some
of her land to plant trees in memory of the
victims. Truly wonderful!”
There will be no usual monthly meeting in
June because it is...
Our
Annual General Meeting on
Sunday 23rd June at 7pm in the Red Lion,
Brill.
Our speaker will be John Drysdale of Brill
who was on our
Any Questions? panel and is a member of Transparency International,
a voluntary organisation against corruption
in business and politics. As well as members,
non-members are invited and will be warmly
welcomed!
Richard Ellis, Chairman
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Bernwode Amnesty Group: Newsletter