Wolverhampton Amnesty Group Annual General Meeting 12th January 2014
In Attendance: Ann Moran, Don Gwinnett, Gillian Webb, Jonathan Collings, Amanda Bevan, Mollie Hale, Maggie Marriott, Lynda Higgins, Maria Bijo
1. Apologies: Alan Marriott, Sarah Bidwell, Sisi Ncube
2. Minutes of last meeting were accepted as an accurate record.
3. Matters Arising None
4. Chair’s Report Ann spoke about the group’s activities during 2013 – the four main events (quiz, film, garden party and autumn event); monthly actions, urgent actions, letters sent and petitions signed; a training session and talks about Afghanistan and Ethiopian refugees; stalls and collections; the greetings card campaign, work for our individual at risk, plus talks to the U3A and Women of Wolverhampton. She pointed out that this amounted to a lot of fund-raising and campaigning, and recommended that we take every opportunity to reach new people – Amnesty stalls being a good way of doing so.
5. Treasurer’s Report Gillian distributed copies of the year’s accounts, and commented on them. Perhaps our most successful year of fundraising had enabled us to send £1272 to HQ, and leave a balance of £977 in the bank. She suggested that we should send another £500 to HQ, and that was arranged. She noted that the balance of fundraising had swung away from collections towards events.
6. Election of Officers Ann confirmed her willingness to continue serving as chair, and Don as secretary. Gillian confirmed her wish to relinquish her post as secretary. The following people were elected without opposition: Ann as chair Don as secretary Jonathan as treasurer
7. Monthly Action A petition to Russia calling for the repeal of reactionary laws was circulated and signed.
8. Dossiers Dossier holders made short reports on developments in their areas during 2012 Don and Maria spoke about the Middle East & Gulf, and distributed a detailed summary of Amnesty’s concerns in the area. There seems to be no country in the area where human rights are properly protected, but a shortage of country co-ordinators means that only limited information is available. Syria now has a co-ordinator (Jeni Dixon), but the continuing chaos makes campaigning difficult – Maria suggested we could try to get the UK to accept some Syrian refugees. Jonathan talked about North Africa. Particular focus has been on Egypt (coup against elected government and position of women), and, as a group, we have adopted Jabeur Mejri. Maggie spoke about Colombia and Trades Unions. She said there had been an accord in Havana between the Colombian government and FARC, but life for Trades Unionists and small farmers continues to be extremely difficult, with much imprisonment and many assassinations. The problems faced in Guatemala are, if anything, worse. She highlighted one piece of good news, saying that many large clothing firms had signed up to factory safety measures in Bangladesh. Amanda said that, as far as Women were concerned, most action had been on Afghanistan. She mentioned the film – Afghan Star – and meetings with Paul Uppal MP. Contact with WOZA continues. Ann reported on the Death Penalty. The trend continues to be downward, with 174 out of 192 countries in the world now death penalty-free. However, a few states have started using it again. Gillian’s Poverty dossier continues to be quiet. A big push promised for the autumn has yet to appear.
8. Future Events a) Quiz Night Jan 31st . Numbers are very healthy. Amanda wants to keep a running check so that we are not over-crowded. Raffle prizes are needed – drop them off at Amanda’s or bring them on the night. Food is also required – group members volunteered to bring stuff along. Ann will bring materials for an Amnesty stall, and we need to prepare a results board. b) Film March 8th Ann has still not decided on a film, but will do so before the next meeting. c) Musical evening May 10th. Proceeding. d) Collections – May 17th in Queen’s Square is a stall, September 6th in Tettenhall is a collection.
9. AOB Ann has had a letter from the FCO in response to her letter about Ethiopian refugees.
Date of next meeting: Sunday February 9th 2014