Truro and Falmouth Amnesty International Group

Minutes of Meeting held on 10 Dec 2014

1. Present:

   Margaret George,  Linnea Glynne-Rule,  Georgie Wong , Karen Cooper,  Chris Ramsey, Megan Bridgeland, Rosy Bott.

2. Apologies :  Hetty Tye Robin Sellwood ,Shirley Sweeney, Wailim Wong

3. Matters arising from the minutes of  8 Oct 2014 (no minutes taken in Nov as we were watching the film): none that were not on the agenda for the present meeting.

4.  Secretary's report:

1. The Dec monthly action concerned the call for abortion rights to be restored in El Salvador, where women and girls are dying because they cannot access abortion even if their life is in danger, and women who miscarry risk being imprisoned because they are believed to have been guilty of abortion. There was a petition and a letter to sign.

2. There was also information about a new project being launched in January on Refugee, Asylum Seeker and Migrant Rights in the UK. The initial meeting will be on 17 Jan in London. It was agreed that Margaret would circulate all our contacts to let them know about this.

5.    Individuals at Risk:

1. Georgie reported that there was no recent news on our cases. It was agreed that she should contact Georgia Booth to ask if other groups get any response, and whether there is other action we can take. Chris has emailed the students at Tremough with contacts to take action re Mexico.

2. On Egypt, Margaret had had a phone call from Ann Markus who was checking which members of the group are dealing with this. She had explained (as per minutes 8 Oct) that Linnea is leading on the 3 women imprisoned for taking part in a peaceful demonstration and Wailim will continue to work on Egypt generally. Linnea will email Ann to ask if there is more action to take.

6.  Stop Torture campaign:

       Chris has updated the display board at Tremough with Stop Torture materials. Georgie will check with Wailim whether he has ordered more materials. There is to be a training event on 14 Feb on Stop Torture. Georgie will let Wailim know and Chris will contact Amelia. If they are not available both Linnea and Karen may be  interested in attending.

7. Israel and Occupied Palestinian territories:

    Chris reported on the Israeli reprisals following killings in Israel, where the houses of families thought to be connected are demolished. Netanyahu is trying to get through parliament a law that Israel should be defined as purely for Jewish people. Chris reported that 2 Spanish AI groups want to link up with others working on the cases of villages which have been cut off from their land and crops, and it was agreed that we would be interested in this. Chris would follow up. He also talked about a film called 'Open Bethlehem' which has been made by Leila Sansur a film director who has a Palestinian father and a Russian mother. The film is being shown at some cinemas round the country and other venues are being sought. It was thought that it may be possible to interest the Poly in Falmouth in showing this

8. Feather flags:

     It was agreed to order one through Amnesty HQ. Karen agreed to do this.

9. Human Rights day: The meeting was taking place on this day. Hetty had sent for materials, which Margaret had at the meeting (badges/postcards on the Human Rights Act). It was agreed to keep them as they may be useful for future events.

10. Future events:

1. 13 Dec our final Xmas stall in Truro for the year

2. 21 Feb SW Regional Conference in Exeter (advance notice)

3. Performance of 'Even if we lose our lives' (play on Afghan women). Chris had already tried to interest student s at Tremough with little response, but will try again. Karen had a contact with a theatre group (Golden tree productions) that she will look into. we have the script and a guidance leaflet

   10.   Treasurer's report:

          Linnea reported that we have £1167.63, after paying our affiliation fee (£72) and the rent. We will have more money coming in from the Xmas stalls.

   11. AOB:

1. Chris reported that he had done an input to students at Truro College which had been well-received. He said the there is still a group there, led by Celia Mitchell. Megan confirmed this; she had attended a meeting but it often clashes with her lesson times. She intended going to the next meeting which was on the following day.

2. Margaret reported having difficulty with the website, which is good if one wants to quickly sign an action or even join AI but it is difficult for group members to find materials eg general recruitment materials. Chris reported that this had been said often amongst Regional Reps. he asked Margaret to email with details of what the group needs but which is difficult to find.

3. There was a brief discussion on whether the Dec meeting should be moved to Thurs as Wed always clashes with late night shopping in Truro. It was agreed to return to this at the next meeting.

   12. Next meeting: this will be on 14 Jan 2015