SOAS Amnesty Society

:: 7th December ::

DARFUR NOW (2007)

6:30-9 pm, at UCL, G06 Sir Ambrose Fleming Lecture theatre, Roberts Building, Torrington Place – opposite Waterstone’s

:: Fri 11 December – 6:30-9 pm ::

BURMA VJ (2009)

, at UCL, Lecture Theatre 2, Cruciform building (opposite main quadrangle), Gower Street.

:: Thurs 17 December – 6:30-9 pm ::

THE ROAD TO GUANTANAMO (2006)

UCL, J Z Young Lecture Theatre, Anatomy building, Gower Street.

Amnesty International is a movement of ordinarypeople standing up for humanity and human rights across the world.
Our purpose is to protect individuals wherever justice, fairness, freedom and truth are denied.

The SOAS Amnesty and Human Rights group campaigns to these ends as a grassroots activist front of Amnesty.

We campaign on the following areas:

* Terrorism and security : against the policies of countries that use torture and ill treatment under the auspices of the ‘war on terror’ (Guantanamo Bay is just the tip of the iceberg…)

* Stop Violence against women : fighting one of the most prolific forms of human rights violation in the world

* Demand Dignity : holding to account those who deepen poverty by abusing human rights

* Refugees and asylum : campaigning to bring about a fair and effective asylum system

* Control Arms : pushing to get the international arms trade under control

* Death Penalty: towards worldwide abolition

* Human rights for China

Using the following methods:

*Appealing directly to the governments and policy makers who authorise human rights abuses, using our democratic power to hold them to account over the decisions that affect peoples’ lives.

*Holding awareness raising events such as lectures, talks, debates, exhibitions, film screenings as well as our annual film festival, to increase consciousness on the prevalence of basic human rights abuses worldwide, that are often hidden from the public eye. We have had some fascinating speakers in the past for example Moazzam Begg, a former Guantanamo inmate.

*Protest : for example last year along with other societies we slept rough on the streets of London in solidarity with destitute asylum seekers

*Fundraising events – parties, music events, jumbles sales….anything! Plus creative campaigning to reach new audiences.

*Lots of letter writing! To individuals at risk worldwide, unfairly detained or abused, and those in power who can affect their cases.

*New ideas! As Amnesty has such a broad scope, we will define the changes we as a group want to see in particular campaign areas, and find new ways to bring them, learning from each others’  ideas and strengths as much as possible.

As we are affiliated to Amnesty UK, our group has unique opportunities to attend national events such as the annual UK conference and AGM, student conference and campaigning forums and workshops. This offers the chance to affect the decision making process, engage in debate and hear world class speakers. There is ample scope to collaborate with students beyond SOAS as well as with other related groups within our community.

Be part of a worldwide movement for change! xx

Contact Rose Cook at soasamnesty@gmail.com for more information, or visit our facebook group