Earlier this week, Amnesty, Oxfam and Landmine Action released a poll revealing that more than six out of ten people across Britain believe the UK Government would no longer be a force for good if they didn’t support a cluster bombs ban, and that nearly eight out of ten people agree that we should push for a ban on the use of these weapons.

From 19 – 30 May world leaders from about 100 countries – including the UK – will meet to finalise the text of an international cluster munitions treaty to be signed in November. This treaty will result in the banning of the use of cluster bombs, and could be as significant as the signing of the Ottawa Treaty that brought about the ban of landmines in 2007.

However, as it stands at the moment, the UK Government is calling for a ban but is holding out for some exemptions to allow them to retain some cluster munitions in their arsenal.

Amnesty International is campaigning to stop the UK government undermining the moves towards a total ban on the use of cluster bombs, and is pushing for the UK Government to sign up to a total ban – no exemptions.

Find out about what action you can take on Amnesty’s website.

Dr Raziza arrives at the coffee shop, the woman is on her own, and immediately the Saudi religious police swoop, and he is arrested. Amnesty believe that Dr Raziza was set up, by the ‘Committee for the Propagation of Virtue and Prevention of Vice’, after he angered some of his students who were also members of the Committee.

Now he faces 150 lashes and months in prison.

Get the full story from Amnesty here, and find out how you can take action.

To be shown in cinemas.

Shocked? Unsubscribe.

Darlington Arts Centre
Breaking the Silence
Wednesday 19th March, 8pm
Tickets: £10 (discounts available)

2007 was the centenary year of Rachel Carson’s birth. She was a scientist, writer and ecologist who single-handedly challenged the US government and agro-chemical industry in her ground breaking book Silent Spring published in 1962.

This remarkable one-woman show played by Liz Rothschild is not a history lesson. It is not about fear and despair. It is a love story and we are all part of the story.

Experience the natural world as Rachel did. Meet this remarkable woman as she reveals stories she never told when she was alive and hear how they reverberate today.

To book tickets please call the box office on 01325 486555 or book online at www.darlingtonarts.co.uk

It‘s a time for a global conversation about human rights.
To consider the values that unite us as one human family, and one global village. But it can be more.

Please sign the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

Global Voice’s excellent Accessed Denied map charts censorship efforts related to the social web and major web 2.0 websites such as blogs, wikipedia, youtube and flickr.

And yet the government have made clear their plans to extend the period for which terror suspects can be detained without being charged. If every other comparable democracy can conduct investigations into terror without a detention period approaching our present one, what justification is there for extending it further?

At lunchtime everyone at the conference got done up in orange boiler suits, masks and googles, and were marshalled through the centre of Newcastle by shouty men in US army uniforms, as part of Amnesty’s campaign to close Guantanamo, and to highlight Amnesty’s new Unsubscribe campaign. Made quite a sight for the Saturday shoppers, over a hundred people done up like this walking slowly along, head bowed, in silence. We were then lined up by Grey’s Monument, and put through various positions by the enthusiastic ‘guards’ whilst some of the national Amnesty team handed out info and collected signatures. Was slightly weird, because my googles fogged up right at the start, so it was like being in some sensory deprivation zone. Which, doubtless is the point when done for real.

Number of years since the first prisoners were taken to Guantanamo: 5
Number of prisoners under 18 at the time taken to Guantanamo: 17
Number of attempted suicides in custody: 40
Number of suicides in custody: 3
Number of prisoners brought to trial: 0
Number of prisoners convicted of any offence of terrorism: 0

If you live in that area, and want to know more about what we do, then please do get in touch. There’s no commitment to do anything other than say hello!

This blog’s going to feature news on what the group is doing, Amnesty activity in the north-east, and human rights issues in general.