Minutes of AIBF Group 81
Meeting of 8 May 2014
Present: Lucy (Chair), Nicola, Peter K., Ling, Noreen, Jan
Apologies: Nataa, David, Karen, Stefania, Glen, Jane, Fiona
Minutes of the April meeting:
Passed without comment
Letter writing
Lucy circulated a letter calling for the release of imprisoned youth
activists in Azerbaijan, while Nicola passed around a letter calling on the President of South
Sudan to demand an immediate halt to attacks against civilians and civilian property. Peter
K had prepared a letter reminding the Prime Minister of Pakistan of the need to investigate
and prosecute those who threaten or attack journalists.
A discussion took place on the difficulty of finding requests for letters (as opposed to online
petitions) on the various Amnesty websites. Nicola agreed to contact Antoine to establish
Amnesty is consciously moving away from letters in favour of online campaigns.
Fiona, Noreen and Nicola volunteered letters for the July meeting
Campaigns
 RAN South America (Stefania)
No developments on this dossier

Death Penalty Jan forwarded a letter after the meeting on a death penalty case in
Florida.

“Mon corps mes droits” Noreen reported that the criminal code is currently under
review in Mozambique. At the time of writing, the clause allowing rapists to avoid
prosecution by marrying their victim has been removed. The draft code still refers to the
rape of minors, but ‘minors’ are defined as children aged 12 and under. There is an online
petition the Irish AI site addressed to the President of Mozambique, asking him to
ensure these two provisions are not included in the new criminal code:
http://www.amnesty.ie/content/mozambique-changes-draft-law-concerns-continue
 In Indonesia a woman was gang-raped before being accused of adultery and turned in
to policy by her village head. She is at risk of being caned. Sign an online petition
here.
 In the Philippines, the Supreme Court has ruled that the government must provide
free contraception to the country’s poorest women and girls.
 Ling offered to help Noreen with the campaign

Torture – a coordinator is needed for this new, priority Amnesty campaign.

Several members of the group have a particular interest in India. Nicola agreed to
contact Antoine to ask about possible actions on the country, perhaps as part of the ‘Mon
corps, mes droits’ campaign.
Individuals at risk

Gao Zisheng
There is no news on Gao himself. We are new relaunching the
Chinese dinner, aiming for a date in September/October. Lucy will coordinate from the
Group 81 side, and Nicola will put Lucy in touch with Kathrine at the AIEU office – as well
as China coordinator Philippe Givron. We need to confirm the dates, moderator and venue
availability asap.
Fundraising

Quiz The next quiz was to be held on Thursday 5 June. A discussion took place on
whether or not to hold a July quiz – usually we stop for two months, but as we have moved
around a lot lately and are only just starting to establish ourselves in the James Joyce, we
decided to go ahead with a July quiz – especially as the second Thursday of the month is by
chance a football-free day!
Other Events

Feedback on Mothers’ Day at Waterstones: The day went well, although 250
roses was too many, especially on a rainy day. We will buy fewer in the future. Waterstones
invited us to provide information on the case(s) we will be highlighting next year so that
they may advertise our presence on their Facebook page. Lucy, Glen, Natasa, Ling, Jane,
Karen, David and Nicola all helped out this year. Nicola would ask Antoine whether many
individual postcards had been sent to the secretariat following the event (as this is what we
were asking people to do).

Feedback on European Parliament Open Doors Day: Saturday 17 May. Nataa,
Ling, Fiona, & Peter K. all helped out. The stand proved popular.
Any Other Business

Volunteers were sought to distribute dazibaos in the morning of 17 June as part of
the campaign against torture.

Amnesty Secretariat needed helpers for a series of Festivals over the coming
summer. Nicola has the list

Amnesty’s Université d’Eté 2014 is announced for 13 September

The order for candles 2014 is being handled by David, as in the past.

We will organise a quiz question-writing evening for the end of July/August. We
will use Doodle to find a date.
Next meeting:Monday 30 June. Karen has kindly offered her apartment for a
short meeting and summer gathering!