Patrick Corrigan

7:45pm The changing face of activism: Vuyiseka Dubula ( Treatment Action Campaign ) and Ben Brandzel ( MoveOn.org / Avaaz.org ). Chaired by Bruce Wylie (AIUK Head of Activism) Two very different perspectives on activism today, one from...

China, Papua, Burma, Russia. Never mind all that for a moment. Discussing food quality could possibly be the most dangerous thing I do this weekend, if happenings in the Northern Ireland courts are anything to go by. But, in the spirit...

This afternoon we campaigned for justice for the 'Tiananmen Mothers' , who lost their sons and daughters to the guns and tanks of the Chinese security forces on June 4 1989 and the days that followed. After the massacre, the mothers...

2:25pm Sam Roddick is our keynote speaker for the weekend. Her mother Anita was a big friend of Amnesty and offered her ideas, her connections and her money to advance the cause of human rights worldwide. Sam is an activist in her own...

11:25am OK. Working Party time. For the uninitiated, this is when we break into four groups to have some initial debate and give some initial scrutiny to the various resolutions (seventeen or eighteen by my count) which have been...

10:36am Tim Hancock, Campaigns Director and Colum McAndrew, Board member gave us the inside track on what went on at last year's International Council Meeting, our biennial global congress, which decides big policy, elects our...

10:10am We're solvent. Phew! (only joking – our financial position has remained strong for years). The Treasurer's report has the potential to rival the standing orders committee report in its mind-numbing tedium for the average...

9:22am I'm not being a crawler here, but Kate Allen has grown in stature and oratorical powers over the years since she became AIUK Director in 2000. I'm looking forward to hearing her speech. She opens up her annual address to the...

9:06 Alex Siddall is taking us through the welcomes and processes and sets a nice tone for the weekend ahead – good humoured, authoritative and respectful. AIUK Chair of the Board, Tom Hedley sets the scene. So will I. We're sitting in...

8:32am Okay. Ready? Well, I made it safely to the AGM (thanks for asking). Got to the Nottingham conference centre about quarter to nine last night – four hours door to door from the office in Belast, by car, plane, bus and coach. Not...

OK, off to the airport in a minute to catch the flight that will take me to what will be the capital city of our human rights world for the next few days – yes, that's right, Nottingham! Well, with its most famous son (not counting...

Martin Luther King Jr is a hero of mine. He had a belief in the dignity of man and made this real through his practice of nonviolence as a means of social change. Forty years ago today, he gave his "I have been to the mountaintop"...

As previously blogged , the launch of a programme of events by the Civil Rights 1968 Commemoration Commmittee was held on Thursday evening in Belfast's Linenhall Library. The 2nd floor was thick with leaders and activists from 40 years...

You can read a work-in-progress version of the Northern Ireland Bill of Rights Forum's proposals over at Mark Devenport's BBC politics blog . There is a lot more work still to happen before close of business on Saturday afternoon /...

I hope to get along to the launch of the programme later this week of a series of commemorative events to mark the 40th anniversary of the Northern Ireland civil rights movement . Of course, the local civil rights movement neither...

In the interests of transparent and accountable policing, I am publishing here the PSNI's operational policy and guidance on the use of Tasers , which I have obtained through a Freedom of Information enquiry. You can follow my blog...

I previously blogged about the two big peace rallies held five years ago in Belfast in response to the preparations for and the onset of the war in Iraq. Here, as a follow-up, I thought I'd post the text of the speech I gave in front...

No, not that presidency! Congratulations to Ciarnán Helferty who has recently been elected new President of Queen's University Belfast Students Union . Ciarnán is currently the Welfare Officer at the students' union and also has...

Amnesty International has revealed that a Gulfstream V jet – nicknamed the 'torture taxi' – used in the 'rendition' of a Yemeni man, was refuelled at Shannon Airport the day before it was used to move him from Baghdad to Kabul. Khaled...

The Belfast AI office did some media work around the launch of Amnesty and Southall Black Sisters' new report, 'No Recourse' No Safety , this week. The report highlights the difficulties faced by women with insecure immigration status...