ACTION

THE LEWES AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL

GROUP NEWSLETTER
May/June
2016
Forthcoming
Group meetings/Events
Thursday 12th May
Group Meeting (8-10pm) Lewes
Town Hall
Speaker: Sara Birch Caseworker
at Prisoners Abroad Protecting
the welfare and human rights of
British citizens detained abroad.

The Jungle
Report on the current refugee crisis by
Ollie Fabb-Pullen (Priory School - Lewes)

Saturday 21st May

Annual Lewes Amnesty Street
Collection 9am 3pm.
Volunteers needed! for details
see inside newsletter.
Thursday 9th June
Group Meeting (8-10pm Business
meeting planning our
campaigning and fundraising work
Thursday 14th July
Group Meeting (8-10pm) Speaker:
Paul Dawson AIUK country
coordinator. Talk and discussion on
human rights in Saudi Arabia.
Group meetings take place on the
second Thursday of each month from
8-10pm at Lewes Town Hall (Lecture
Theatre), Lewes (except Dec meeting)
To join our contact list
please contact our Group Secretary Ian
McClelland
Tel: 01273 812456
Email: lewesamnestygroup@gmail.com
Visit us on Facebook at:
https://www.facebook.com/lewesamnesty
international

Lena, Emmy, Arthur, Owen and Joe formed the

Calais Aid Association Priory

If your government forced you into joining the armed forces, with no
legal limit to how long you would serve, what would you do? Would
you stay in your country? Or would you try to get out? If there was a
possibility you would not see your family for another fifty years once
conscripted, would you ponder escape? What about if your time in
the army included arbitrary detention, torture, sexual torture, forced
labor, absence of leave, and ludicrous pay? Wouldnt you be mad to
want to stay?
This is the situation faced by the population of Eritrea, the nationality
of most of the asylum seekers stuck in Calais in March 2016. In their
home country they face these unfathomable hardships. To us, it is a
shocking news story, but to them its real life. Everyday life. They are
not cockroaches, as Katie Hopkins would have you think; they are
people, families, trying to escape the horrors they have experienced

in places such as Eritrea. Those who flee their country in search of international protection are known as
asylum seekers.
A place that many of these asylum seekers ended up in is the Calais Jungle in France, home of the
famous refugee situation that has been all over the news. Formerly a landfill site, it is a camp near the
English Channel estimated to have held 6,000 migrants in November 2015.

The Camp
According to a report in the Guardian last October, none of the internationally agreed standards for the
provision of aid and protection in refugee situation hold any power in this huge refugee camp, resulting
in diabolical conditions.
There is no proper accommodation, so the inhabitants are squashed in small make-shift tents. Many of
them suffer from tuberculosis, scabies, and post-traumatic stress. Debris litters the ground, rodents
spread salmonella and leptospira (the latter of which can cause organ failure) and there are only 40
toiletsone to every 75 migrants, far below the standard set by the United Nations High Commissioner
for Refugees, which is one to 20 in emergency situations. The toilets that are there are hopelessly
overflowing, spilling faeces onto anything nearby. This is infecting the inhabitants only water supply,
forcing them to drink contaminated water. The conditions are disgusting.
The disastrous state of the camp is somewhat worsened by the emotionally and physically debilitating
journeys undertaken by asylum seekers to get there, which for some of them likely included extreme
starvation, dehydration and fatigue, and a journey of possibly thousands of miles over rough, abrasive
terrain. And theres no promise their shoes would last the ordealthey could be left trekking over rocks,
gravel and desert with no footwear.
Despite these atrocities, the people living in the Jungle possess unexpectedly high spirits, according to a
group of young people that visited the camp in March. Lena, Emmy, Arthur, Owen and Joe, who are all
students at Priory School in Lewes, had the idea last November to run a trip to Calais and bring donated
items to the camp. They formed the Calais Aid Association Priory (Priory is the name of their school)
and began fundraising for the trip in January. They visited the Jungle in March of this year, and I spoke to
them about their trip and their experiences of the camp.

Calais Aid Association Priory

On the first day they entered a large warehouse, containing mounds of clothes and food. This is where
all the donated goods go before being processed and given to the camp inhabitants. They embarked on
the task of sorting through masses of donated clothing to determine what was suitable to be handed out.
The warehouse was really impressive, Emmy said, referring to the amount of donations stored there.
They could not disclose the location of this warehouse.
Apparently getting into the camp is much simpler than one might expect. Its not on lockdown, as I
imagined it to be; its relatively easy to get to. There are big army, police, CRS people that make sure
you are allowed in, but thats about as extensive as the security gets the students told me. Emmy also
explained to me anyone could easily escape over the wall, whether they wanted to go in or out of the
camp. Talking to the students, it seemed like the inside of the camp lived up to the horrific conditions we
have read about. The word apocalyptic was said twice when I had the camp described to me. However,
despite living in such apocalyptic conditions, all the migrants seemed kind and joked around a lot and
there was a good community spirit, one of the students noted.

On the first day they entered a large warehouse, containing mounds

of clothes and food

There is a family area where relatives can visit people living in the Jungle, and this is where the students
went. This was surrounded by a burned wasteland, which could be a result of the recent demolitions that
took place. In April, the homes of up to 200 people were demolished, causing riots. Shelters went up in
smoke from the heat of teargas canisters fired by riot police, and some were even deliberately set on fire
by the residents as part of the protest. The area demolished was mostly of Iranian population.
This demolition seemed to be part of a wider clearance, a Help Refugees spokeswoman commented.
Many volunteer groups that previously warned that this would not help reduce the number of migrants in
Calais, and the Refugee Rights Data Project (a UK-based group) carried out a survey that said 80% of
the 460 participating residents said if they were evicted they would stay in Calais or move to another
refugee camp in Dunkirk. The founder of the project, Marta Welander, stated that forcibly evicting the
inhabitants is unlikely to provide a viable solution to the current humanitarian crisis on our doorstep.
Back to the trip, the nature of the family section (serving as a place for relatives to visit inhabitants) may
have been the reason behind the relaxed security that surprised the students. In fact, the whole trip was
full of unexpected discoveries; the camp is much bigger than they expected, and they were shocked by
the attitudes of the people they came across: they were friendly.

They embarked on the task of sorting through masses of the

donated clothing

Kids ran around the place (they were about up to here, cue Owen gesturing to his waist) and showed
them to places the students were looking for. The atmosphere in the Jungle is surprisingly uplifting
according to the students, which prompted me to wonder if the trip to the Jungle seemed to have positive
and enjoyable aspects. I didnt want to be insensitive and say it seemed like it was a good tripeven
though thats exactly what I ended up sayingbut Owen said I know what you mean. It was a
rewarding experience and we felt like we were doing good.
I think that it was an eye opening experience. Even though people think they know what its like reading
the news, its completely different first hand. It was rewarding but hard. The community that surrounded
all the volunteer work was the nicest place to be, very supportive and helpful
Its easy to romanticize the situation and imagine a sunny, happy community with children playing
outside, enjoying the free and kind atmosphere. But we must not forget the awful conditions these
people are forced to live in. And despite the fact that even though all the children the students met had
adults looking after them, the situation is not so fortunate for all minors in the Jungle. There are
unaccompanied children living in squalor, beyond the view of visitors and students, that have been
abandoned by the French state.

Unaccompanied minors
In November 2015 a court in Lille ruled that Pas-de-Calais authorities must identify unidentified minors in
the camp, but the rapidly increasing number of migrants makes this difficult to carry out. The population
of the Jungle has more than doubled since last July with 6,000 inhabitants in November. An agreement
was even signed last August between England and France, that stated that both governments were
particularly concerned that women and children should be protected properly and that they would
increase observation amongst the migrant population in camps to identify quickly those people who are
especially vulnerable. Yet despite both these interventions the situation of children being left to
themselves in the Jungle is no better.
Not only that, but these children are abused by the police. There are reports of them being sprayed with
tear gas and being chased by dogs as they attempted to enter the channel tunnel gain passage to the
UK. Two boys told the Guardian that their shoes had been removed and they had been forced to walk

back to the camp barefoot. They believed it was to discourage them trying to escape the horrible place
they were in again.
Children are beaten by officers, and police threatened to confiscate one minors trousers as well as his
shoes the next time they caught him trying to leave, and make him walk back to camp bare foot in his
underwear. The treatment of children is barbaric and completely shocked me when I found out how bad
it was. They are petrified in this camp; a place that is meant to act as a temporary home and they are
treated like inconvenient vermin, a laughing stock for police to terrorize as they see fit.
The countries migrant children come from are ravaged by war, possibly under threat from Islamic State,
yet some of them wished they were back home. A boy from Syria that the Guardian spoke to said him
and his friends feel like [they] should go back to Syria to become terrorists. He mentioned that two of
his Friends had already gone back. They thought, if we are going to die, we might as well die in our own
country.
In addition to the physical and mental abuse being suffered by the children in the Jungle, medical
volunteers have treated seven teenage boys in the last six months that claimed to have been raped.
They sustained injuries supporting the claims with four boys even requiring surgery, but only one
attended hospital. The others refused due to the shame of being abused.
A petition has been launched on the UK Government and Parliament Petitions website to Step in &
safely reunite refugee minors in the EU with their families in the UK, sparked by the death of a 17 boy
trying to reach his uncle in Manchester. He squeezed into the back of a lorry in the hopes of returning to
his family member and had a legal right to do so. The petition page states: In law refugee children in the
EU have a right to reunite with their families. The process for this is broken. Just a handful of children
have been reunited after months of legal battles.

Angelas experience
I interviewed another person who visited the camp itself, bringing donations of tea and sugar to the
residents. This time it wasnt a group of students using their school to raise money, but a mother of two,
Angela, who had the idea for the trip on a cold night in January. Inspired by a post on the Friends of
Calais webpage asking for donations of tea and sugar for the inhabitants, and thought about how easy
it would probably be to some raise enough money to fill a car with tea and sugar and drive that over to
Calais.
She turned that thought into reality with her children in mind, saying I wanted my children to see how
easy it could be to help others in need. After bringing her daughter with her to see the camp, Angela
says [her daughter] talks about her experience of raising money through school friends for the trip and
how she helped sort donations into food packs for refugees. I could see that she was very proud to have
played a part in that.
Raising the money for the trip was surprisingly easy. I put a few posters up around work asking for
donations of tea, sugar or money within the next 2 weeks. I raised over 150 and received enough
donations to fill half the car. However once they got to Calais, the camp was guarded by police. There
was an anti-immigrant protest taking place at the time, and the camp entrance was being blocked for the
safety of the residents.
Instead, they were sent to a warehouse Angela says is funded by a French Non-Government
Organisation, presumably the same one the students visited during their charity expedition. When she
got to the warehouse she was surprised to find that the warehouse was full of English, rather than
French people, volunteering to sort donations and prepare meals for the camp residents, and that all the
cars dropping off donations had English license plates. They managed to get a look at the camp. It was
completely surrounded by a double mental fence with razor wire on top, and there were armed police
patrolling the site, some of whom were standing on Police car roofs watching the residents with
binoculars. It felt punitive and harsh. Angela described her view of the camp: Driving past the camp, it

seemed to be huge and sprawling, with very makeshift tents covered with tarpaulins to provide some
shelter. There were some larger buildings that had been constructed. The fire risks looked extremely
high.
Menacing policemen patrolled the scene. She had been told that they were there to protect the camps
residents, but Angela was skeptical and wondered if they were nervous about the potential for violence.
She was also taken aback at how close the migrant camp was to the residential streets and homes in the
rest of Calais. It was a complex situation, she remarked, I wondered how I'd feel if a camp sprung up
near my home and children's school. We are all for going to help refugees in different countries, but
would we want a punitive and harsh camp next door? Perhaps thats the reason behind the majority of
aid workers being English. Maybe the French residents dont want to think about the awful things going
on over the road.
Reflecting on the experience Angela explained to me, I was struck by how little we have progressed
since the last significant refugee crisis in Europe, and the crisis in the 1908 refugee crisis that my
grandparents got caught up in when they were children in Greece. However, similarly to the students
who visited the same place, she felt like she was contributing something. I was very heartened to see
(and be a part of) the very humane volunteer response to the crisis, and that this was very much
supported by young British women and men. I thought that was hopeful!
Two actions you can take now to find out how you can help:

Join the Lewes Group in Support of Refugees and Asylum Seekers contact:
lgsraslewes@gmail.com

Visit Lewes Actions for Refugees facebook page:

https://www.facebook.com/groups/1224505227563350/

Lewes Area Welcomes Refugees A New Umbrella Organisation

There has been activity recently to try to establish a strong voluntary sector network capable of creating a positive
welcoming environment for refugees coming to the Lewes District. 3VA member Lewes Group in Support of
Refugees and Asylum Seekers (LGSRAS) convened a meeting at Lewes Town Hall last month to try to link up a
variety of organisations that could help to achieve this goal. The meeting generated a lot of interest and a week
later Citizens UKs well-supported Lewes training evening to welcome refugees culminated in an embryonic local
organisation, Lewes Area Welcomes Refugees, which has affiliated to the National Refugee Welcome Board of
Citizens UK. T
The main stated aim is to create a climate to welcome refugees to our area (initially by working to support and
implement the settlement of the 8 people already allocated to the District under the Syrian Vulnerable Persons
Resettlement Scheme) and then to lobby for more people to be settled here. The group will also work to find foster
families for unaccompanied refugee children and to persuade East Sussex County Council to open its doors to
these desperately vulnerable children. The group is pleased to be working alongside such a groundswell of people
in Lewes ready to put their resources into this umbrella project. LGSRAS will of course continue to pursue actively
its own broader aims at the same time. For more information, including how to get involved, please read the latest
LGSRAS newsletter.
Jean Gould Chairperson (LGSRA) lgsraslewes@gmail.com

Lewes Amnesty speaking out against Guantanamo at

Obamas April visit to Downing Street
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Chair of Lewes Amnesty Group, Sara Birch, outside Downing Street

On Friday 22nd April I was invited to speak at the Guantanamo Justice Campaign's vigil outside
Downing Street as Obama was due to arrive to meet David Cameron.
Thanks very much to Ray Silk and all at the Guantanamo Justice Campaign for inviting me to speak
today on behalf of Lewes Amnesty International. I am happy to be here - of course not happy to be here
as Guantanamo still open - but pleased to be here to reinforce Amnesty International's urgent call for the
immediate closure of Guantanamo.
As of 30th January 2016 this year the detention camp at Guantanamo has been open under President
Obama longer than it was under President Bush. As we know, when President Obama came to power in
January 2009, he signed an executive order for the closure of Guantanamo within a year. However,
despite multiple promises President Obama has continued to not fulfil his promise to close Guantanamo
and dozens of individuals continue to be detained for over a decade having faced no charge or trial.
Naureen Shah who is the Director of Amnesty International's USA Security and Human Rights
Programme recently said in January of this year: "Guantanamo remains open because politicians are
exploiting the public's genuine fear of terror attacks. Instead of identifying effective, legal measures to
prevent attacks, members of Congress are busy playing politics with the lives of dozens of men who
could die behind bars without ever facing a trial".
Amnesty International considers Guantanamo to be an international symbol of torture, rendition and
indefinite detention. The detention centre has become an international symbol of injustice.
In calling for the immediate closure of Guantanamo, Amnesty International is clear that this does not
mean just moving prisoners to another detention centre where indefinite detention without charge can
continue. Closing Guantanamo means ending the practices carried out in Guantanamo altogether and
providing accountability for past abuses.
One of those men who is still shamefully detained - and the continuing existence of Guantanamo is truly
shameful - is Mauritanian citizen Mohammed Ould Slahi, the author of the recently published book
'Guantanamo Diary'. I would like to refer to a couple of passages from the book. The passages I will read
from were written by Mohammed Ould Slahi in 2005. It has taken his lawyers over a decade and a huge
legal battle to succeed in making sure that some of his words can be read outside of Guantanamo.
On page 278 Mohammed Ould Slahi explains how in the face of sustained brutal torture he decides to
say anything to stop the agony of torture:

"I answered all the questions he asked me with incriminating answers. I tried my best to make myself
look as bad as I could, which is exactly the way you can make sure your interrogator is happy. I made up
my mind to spend the rest of my life in jail. You see most people can put up with being imprisoned
injustly, but no-one can bear agony day in and day out for the rest of their life".
On page 283 Mohammed continues to explain how he felt giving false accusations under torture:
"I felt bad for everyone I hurt with my false testimonies. My only solaces were one, that I didn't hurt
anybody as much as I did myself, two, that I had no choice and three, I was confident that injustice will
be defeated."
These words written by Mohammed Ould Slahi were written over a decade ago in 2005 - but Mohammed
believed then that injustice would eventually be defeated. Mohammed Ould Slahi remains in
Guantanamo to this very day and has still faced no charge or trial. We owe it to him to make sure that
the gross injustice perpetrated against him and others detained in Guantanamo IS defeated.
The gross injustice of Guantanamo and what it represents must end and injustice will be defeated. This
inhumanity cannot be allowed to continued any longer. Amnesty International calls for the closure of
Guantanamo now.
Sara Birch - Chair of Lewes Amnesty International Group - Friday 22nd April 2016
A video can be seen at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YFZ7fEjyhS4
For details of Guantanamo Diaries visit and the campaign for the release of Mohammed Ould Slahi visit:
https://www.facebook.com/FreeSlahi

_____________________________________________________________________________________
World Water Day campaigning against severe water restrictions to the Palestinian Territories
March 22nd 2016 was World Water Day. As part of this awareness day a couple of Lewes Amnesty Group members
handed out leaflets concerning the severe restrictions of water supply to the Palestinian Territories by the Israeli
authorities.
We based ourselves outside the railway station to try and catch the commuters during the early rush hour. All was
going well until we were 'moved on' by the station manager who informed us that no leafleting was allowed on
station property! Having moved a short distance away we managed to hand out 200 leaflets within the hour.

Lewes Amnesty members attend meeting at the Foreign Office to deliver Jayyous Village petition
To mark the day of solidarity with the Palestinian people in November 2015, Lewes Amnesty International held a
stall highlighting injustices in the occupied territories and inviting people to sign petitions. One petition focused on
Jayyous village urging our Government to put more pressure on the Israeli authorities to reduce the hardships
endured by the villagers.The second petition called for the Israeli government to lift all restrictions on whistle
blower Mordechai Vanunu . This was sent directly to Benjamin Netanyahu .

After several exchanges of letters ,emails etc we finally got a date inviting us to meet with officers from the
Middle East Peace Process team , Chris Cox and George Thompson, to deliver our petition and raise our concerns
for Jayyous village. Incidentally , Maria Caulfield MP had also been responding to letters from Judith and
conveying our concerns to Tobias Ellwood . He had suggested we send him the petition but our group agreed we
would be able to convey our concerns more forcefully if we met face to face with officers from the Foreign Office.

So it was that Patricia, Judith and I journeyed up to meet with Chris and George on 12th April 2016. We raised our
concerns for Jayyous villagers and that we were in contact with a farmer there, Shareef, who, only that week had
informed us that access to his land was further restricted and that obstacles were placed in the way of his lawyer
making it hard to fight his case. In addition Shareef had been ordered to uproot 49 olive & fruit trees as the land
they were planted on was state land. His neighbour had been ordered to uproot 150 lemon saplings within 72
hours.
George and Chris listened sympathetically and outlined the governments position - ie

to be a friend to both Israel and Palestine and to try and influence both;
The UK government opposed the building of settlements and Philip Hammond had raised the issue with
the speaker of the Knesset;
They think the region is more unstable but still believe in a 2 state solution;
They understood that Israeli response to protests were heavy handed and fuelled further
violence.

The recent arrest of a soldier who shot dead a Palestinian man as he lay wounded on the ground indicated the
Israeli authorities were taking notice of international outrage . Patricia pointed out that now the charges against the
soldier had been reduced from murder to manslaughter .How could it be anything but murder to point your gun at
the head of a man lying motionless in the road and fire? George said that many Israeli citizens supported the
soldiers action. George said that for as many people who called to the foreign office to fight for Palestinian rights,
as many would come petitioning for Israeli people and they had to strike a balance and listen to both sides. He
assured us that when Tobias Ellwood had visited Israel in February, he had met with both the Palestinian Authority
and Israeli government.That public diplomacy and persuasion were the best ways to gain peace. The UK
government did not support BDS .

George & Chris will pass on the Jayyous petition and I have since heard from Chris that he has informed Tobias
Ellwood about the contents of the petition as well as their colleagues at the British Consulate in Jerusalem.
We raised the case of Mordechai Vanunu who neither Chris nor George had heard of they agreed to follow up
on the recent letters sent to Tobias Ellwood about Mordechai , echoing those concerns raised in the November
petition. And talk to their desk in Tel Aviv for more information.
Children in detention: We raised our grave concerns that children were still being killed & arrested.
Patricia
showed George and Chris a harrowing video of the shooting of a 12 year old boy who had been on a demonstration
in Kofr Qaddam.The video shows the soldiers continuing to shoot although the child is lying wounded on the
ground and cannot be rescued by the Palestinian men around him as they may get shot too. We were told the Israeli
government had blocked the visit of a second delegation of lawyers to follow up on their report Children in
detention. The UK government is trying to find a way to enable the delegation to visit and make their report.
The view from the Foreign Ofiice was that the situation had improved a little ,in that there were fewer night time
raids to arrest children and plastic ties were no longer used to restrain the children just handcuffs. George &
Chris stressed this was an area the government cared about and continued to raise with the Israeli government.
We raised the cases of those arrested for protesting in Nabi Saleh village & of conscientious objector Tair
Kamini. e spoke of our outrage that the law on throwing stones seemed to apply only to Palestinians & not Israeli
citizens. The Israeli government are aware of International feelings about this.
The Wall: We called for the -the UK & EU continue to lobby Israel and that it should stick to 1967 borders.
Brighton Festival: Four children from Gaza are planning to come to the festival. Patricia asked whether if there
was any problem with their visas , we could call on the foreign office to intervene on their behalf . We were told
that this would not be possible.
Finally Patricia gave Chris a copy of her book Olives and Barbed Wire and hoped he would read it. We
thought the meeting went very well . It was really good that we had an hour to discuss our concerns and we were
able to raise many issues. It was clear that George & Chris had to tread a fine line putting both sides of the situation
but we felt they listened .
Rosemary Wadsworth, Patricia Cockrell and Judith Land

LEWES AMNESTY PUB QUIZ A FUNDRAISING SUCCESS!

Sunday 24th April saw members of the Lewes Amnesty Group, friends and pub-goers enjoy a fun pub
quiz at the Black Horse pub in Lewes raising a total of 230.90 for Amnesty International.
Huge thanks to our excellent organisers and quizzers extraordinaires Ann and Judith and to Declan
and all his team at the Black Horse for their very warm and hospitable welcome!

Our cranes arrive in Japan for Hamakama

Iwao
At the end of last year we sent 1000 cranes to Amnesty International Japan and asked them to pass them
to former death-row detainee and Amnesty Prisoner of Conscience Hamakama Iwao on whose behalf we
had been campaigning for several years. Cranes are a symbol of goodwill in Japan and we wanted
Hamakama Iwao to know of our continued support for him. Thanks to all who made cranes!
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Hideko Iwao (sister of Hamakama Iwao) with Kaoru Yamaguchi (Amnesty Japan)

Dear Ms. Sara Birch,

Thank you for sending 1000 cranes for Hamakama Iwao. I'm campaigner of Amnesty International Japan.
Your gift was arrived to our office on Friday 12 February just before the big event for Hakamada on Saturday.
The event was aimed to call his retrial and his sister, Hideko joined the event. I couldn't bring your cranes to the
event so that I gave your card and showed picture of cranes to Hideko. She was very pleased your warm message.
She said 'Thank you very much for your support. Please remember Iwao, he is still on retrial. I will fight against
prosecutors until prove innocence. 'I attached pictures of Hideko and myself.
Iwao is struggling with his mental illness, and he couldn't understand his situation well. Therefore, he couldn't join
the event. I believe that your support makes change to his feelings. I'll send your cranes to Iwao next month with
other letters.
Please send our best regards to members of Lewes and Brighton & Hove Amnesty Groups.
Best wishes,
Kaoru

Kaoru Yamaguchi - Campaign Coordinator - Amnesty International Japan

Annual Lewes Amnesty Spring Street Collection

Saturday 21st May

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Please join us in volunteering one hour of your time to help us with our Street Collection this year. We have
forty slots to fill it would be wonderful if we could fill them all this year and raise as much as possible for Amnesty
Internationals vital work. If you are willing to volunteer one hour of your time to help please contact Linda Calvert
at: Email: lindajanecalvert@gmail.com or Tel: 01273 474739

THANK YOU!
LEWES AMNESTY DIARY 2016
Thursday 12th May:
Saturday 21st May
Thursday 9th June
Thursday 14th July
Saturday 3rd September
Thursday 8th September
Tuesday 15th September
Thursday 13th October
Thursday 10 November
Thursday 8th December
Saturday 10th December

Group meeting (8pm 10pm) Speaker: Sara Birch Caseworker at Prisoners Abroad
Protecting the welfare and human rights of British citizens detained abroad
Annual Lewes Amnesty Street Collection 9am 3pm. Volunteers needed!
Group Meeting (8-10pm Business meeting planning our campaigning and fundraising
work
Group Meeting (8-10pm) Speaker: Paul Dawson AIUK country coordinator. Talk and
discussion on human rights in Saudi Arabia.
Stall Lewes Societies Fair
Group meeting: Speaker: Vincent Fean Israel and Palestine, is a just peace possible?
Joint meeting with the Lewes Group in Support of Refugees & Asylum Seekers All
Saints Centre details to TBC
Group meeting (8-10pm)
Group meeting Lewes Amnesty AGM
Group meeting (Xmas party) alternative venue to Town Hall TBC
Write for Rights day 2016 House of Friendship

LEWES AMNESTY GROUP CONTACTS

Lewes Amnesty website: www.amnesty.org.uk/lewes
Chairperson/Counter Terror with Justice Coordinator : Sara Birch Tel: 01273 483948 / 07710789616
Email: lewesamnestygroup@gmail.com
Secretary: Ian McClelland Tel: 01273812456 Email: lewesamnestygroup@gmail.com
Treasurer: Adrian Briggs Tel: 01273 474739 / 07901793080 Email: adrianbriggs99@googlemail.com
Media Coordinator: Hazel Fell Email: hazel.fellrayner@gmail.com
Newsletter editor: Sara Birch Email: sarabirch50@hotmail.com
Education Coordinator/Womens Rights Coordinator: Lesley Burgess Email: laburgess99@googlemail.com
Death Penalty Coordinator: mickvenables@gmail.com
Israel/Occupied Palestinian Territories Coordinator: Rosemary Wadsworth Email: rosemary3u@gmail.com
UK Human Rights Centre - Tel: 0207 033 1500 Website AI UK - www.amnesty.org.uk
AI International Secretariat - Tel: 0207 4135500 Website: www.amnesty.org

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