Activism Newsletter, February 2024
Amnesty International Ireland
We are a movement of over 10 million people, campaigning to stop human rights abuses worldwide.
Please find below updates on our campaigns and human rights work, opportunities to take direct and immediate action, interesting resources, and much more. We're glad to have you on board for the fight for human rights.
Email [email protected] with any questions.
DEMAND A CEASEFIRE BY ALL PARTIES IN ISRAEL AND GAZA TO END CIVILIAN SUFFERING
Reacting to the decision by the International Court of Justice (ICJ) to order provisional measures in response to South Africa’s genocide case against Israel, Agnès Callamard, Amnesty International’s Secretary General, said:
“[The decision] sends a clear message that the world will not stand by in silence as Israel pursues a ruthless military campaign to decimate the population of the Gaza Strip and unleash death, horror and suffering against Palestinians on an unprecedented scale.”
"However, the ICJ decision alone cannot put an end to the atrocities and devastation Gazans are witnessing. Alarming signs of genocide in Gaza, and Israel’s flagrant disregard for international law highlight the urgent need for effective, unified pressure on Israel to stop its onslaught against Palestinians. An immediate ceasefire by all parties remains essential and – although not ordered by the Court – is the most effective condition to implement the provisional measures and end unprecedented civilian suffering."
Sign our petition to call for an immediate ceasefire by all parties to end civilian bloodshed.
Activism Opportunities
Activism Academy
We’ve opened applications for the second round of our Activism Academy!
The Activism Academy is a great way for Amnesty Ireland to create and support a new diverse group of youth activists and leaders in TY or 5th year in secondary school.
Participants will engage in human rights education that will support action on our priority campaigns such as Protect the Protest, End Israeli Apartheid and more! Deadline for applications is 14 February. Apply now!
Act for Gaza
Due to the rapidly developing and highly sensitive situation in Gaza, we have decided to create a new Task Force on Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories - and want you to join!
As part of the Task Force, you will work with us to raise awareness and demand action for those suffering in Gaza and gain vital skills in how to effectively demand change. Interested? Sign up to join us now!
Urgent Action: Release Munther Amira from Detention Now
Munther Amira, a Palestinian human rights defender and social worker, has been arbitrarily detained by Israeli forces since 18 December 2023 over Facebook posts. Munther’s health and wellbeing are at serious risk.
Munther denied any connection to the Facebook posts and the Israeli military prosecution found no credible or substantial evidence to file charges.
Munther is currently held at Ofer Military Prison. During the first 10 days of his detention, he was denied necessary medical care and has not received the required medical attention for his high blood pressure and vascular problems.
Join an Amnesty Local Group
Local Groups are at the heart of what we do. They offer powerful support to campaigns, raise vital funds and represent Amnesty in their local communities.
Whether you’re experienced at grass roots campaigning, or you’ve never done anything like this at all, you’ll enjoy meeting like-minded people and?making a difference. Our local groups carry out a wide range of activities from campaigning on individual cases to raising money for human rights.
To learn about what Local Groups do, and to get in contact with a coordinator in your local area, click here.
What's Been Happening
Write for Rights 2023 Wrap Up
A huge thank you!?We have counted a record breaking 40,000 actions?for the 11 courageous individuals so far in our annual Write for Rights campaign. We are blown away by your solidarity.
Local groups have taken the campaign across the country, schools have written hundreds of letters and thousands of you have taken action online to help our brave individuals, such as Rocky Myers, Justyna Wydrzyńska and Ana Maria.
One of the highlights of this year’s campaign was our online event featuring Maung Sawyeddollah, who is taking Meta to court here in Ireland for its role in an ethnic cleansing campaign against his community in Myanmar.?You can?watch it back on YouTube?or?listen to it on the Big Tech podcast.
领英推荐
National Demonstration for Gaza
On Saturday 13 January, we joined the national demonstration for Gaza organised by the Ireland Palestine Solidarity Campaign.
It was incredible to see the people of Ireland out in their thousands marching in solidarity with the people of Palestine to call for an immediate and enduring ceasefire.
Campaign Updates
Protect the Protest: Iran - Executions of Protestors Mark Plunge into New Realms of Cruelty and many more at Grave Risk
The Iranian authorities’ executions of two men after unfair trials mark a harrowing descent into new realms of cruelty.
On 23 January 2024, the authorities executed Mohammad Ghobadlou, a 23-year-old protester with a mental disability. On the same day, they also executed Farhad Salimi, a member of Iran’s Kurdish Sunni minority whose decade-long pleas for a fair retrial, excluding torture-tainted “confessions”, were ignored.
Tortured protester Abbas Deris is at grave risk of execution after the Supreme Court rejected his request for a judicial review in January 2024. He was sentenced to death after a grossly unfair trial in relation to the November 2019 nationwide protests. His lawyers have submitted a special appeal in a desperate bid to halt his execution amid an ongoing spike in executions in Iran.?Take action for his case now.
Iranian authorities have intensified their use of the death penalty as a tool of repression in the aftermath of the “Woman Life Freedom” uprising to crush dissent and terrorize the population. Learn more about the situation here.
Israel/Occupied Palestinian Territories: Spike in Use of Unlawful Lethal Force by Israeli Forces Against Palestinians in the West Bank
With the world’s eyes fixated on Gaza, Israeli forces have over the past four months unleashed a brutal wave of violence against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank, carrying out unlawful killings, including by using lethal force without necessity or disproportionately during protests and arrest raids, and denying medical assistance to those injured.
We investigated four cases where Israeli forces used unlawful lethal force– three incidents in October and one in November – which resulted in the unlawful killing of 20 Palestinians, including seven children.
At least 507 Palestinians were killed in the West Bank in 2023, including at least 81 children, making it the deadliest year for Palestinians since the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) began recording casualties in 2005.
Israel has a well-documented track record of using excessive and often lethal force to stifle dissent and enforce its system of apartheid against Palestinians leading to a historic pattern of unlawful killings committed with impunity. Read the full report.
Activist Spotlight
“Activism is part of who I am and what I do! When I was younger, I wanted to do something about injustice and inequality I saw around me but I didn’t quite?know how! Looking back, my first activist moment concerned animals. For our CSPE class project, I suggested to my class to examine animal welfare at Dublin Zoo and a circus.
My first experience with Amnesty International was when I did some TY work experience with Amnesty and went on to join an Amnesty society when I started college. This was an amazing experience to organise actions with like-minded students and it is where I realised the extent of human rights abuses throughout the world. For me activism is simply acting for change, speaking up against injustice and showing solidarity and acting for ourselves and others!
I feel so privileged to campaign for human rights every day. I really enjoy meeting incredible human rights defenders and activists and I am constantly inspired by them. They are the real beating heart of human rights work."
Feeling inspired? Join the movement now!
Join Us
Join us and be a part of the conversation!
Facebook: @amnestyinternationalireland
Twitter: @AmnestyIreland
Instagram: activismamnestyireland & amnestyireland
Become a member and support our work.
Join our Pocket Protest and take immediate action from your mobile!
In solidarity,
Alice Regis, Talha Alali & Rosina Conte
Activism Team