PROTECT THE HUMAN We are ordinary people from across the world standing up for humanity and human rights. Our purpose is to protect individuals wherever justice, fairness, freedom and truth are denied. WOMAD 2015 Taking action to End the Segregation of Roma Children in The Czech Republic Romani children in the Czech Republic are not getting the same education as other children. They’re bullied just for being different, kept separate from other pupils and even placed in schools for children with learning disabilities. It means they can’t fulfil their potential and build a better future – for themselves, their families and communities, and Czech society. The European Commission has criticised the government for failing to tackle this discrimination. Our group asked WOMAD festival goers to fill in an action cards and a draw a “mini me” to add to a giant visual petition to hand into The Czech Republic embassy. The visual petition had about 330 little folk on it by the end of the weekend. Do come and join us on Wednesday 26th August to hand the petition in to the Ambassador of the Czech Republic at the Embassy of Czech Republic. The time will be 12noon-1pm. The address is 26-30 Kensington Palace Gardens, London W8 4QY You can take action by signing the petition online or scrolling below to see the letter to the Prime Minister of The Czech Republic. We also added more names to our petition calling for the release of our Prisoner of Conscience, West Papuan Filep Karma. Festival goers adding their “mini me” and message to our giant visual petition. Channel 4 News’s Jon Snow supports our campaign.
PREVIOUS MEETING July – Amnesty’s East Europe co-ordinator, Ulrike Schmidt, came to our meeting to help with our prep for our WOMAD action. She gave a fantastic talk about the history and current situation of the Roma people in East Europe, particularly The Czech Republic. We also took action for Atena Farghada from Iran. She’s in prison for her art and peaceful activism, after she was found guilty of charges including “insulting members of parliament through paintings”. In June, Iran sentenced Atena to more than 12 years in prison, after a trial that lasted just half an hour – the only “evidence” against her extracted under interrogation. Our group had a great sort out session! We brought along all our various banners, placards, leaflets, made a list of what’s where and how many we had – a very pleasing morning’s work!! FORTHCOMING EVENTS Hand in of the Petition – Wednesday 26th August at the Czech Republic – see details above Reading Pride – Saturday 5th September – King’s Meadow in the afternoon. Please let Helen know if you’re able to help on the stall Reading International Festival – we’re still deciding what to focus on – keep Thursday 15th October free in your diaries. NEXT MEETING – always 2nd Thursday of the month August 13th NEWS and ACTIONS – please scroll down to find the letters to send. Thailand - Students Charged for Peaceful Protest Sudan – priests arrested for religious beliefs Indonesia – commute a death sentence The Czech Republic – end segregation of Roma children’s education Zimbabwe – licensing community radio stations Don’t forget to keep up to date with our news, frequently updated with photos and updates: Website = Facebook page –search for Reading Amnesty International – Town Group = twitter = @amnestyreading Our Prisoner of Conscience, Filep Karma, has a website where you can keep up-to-date with latest developments -