Amnesty group gathers support at Honiton Charter Day
Report by Duncan Williams for Pulman's Weekly News
The East Devon Amnesty Group set up a stall at Honiton Charter Day on Saturday, 19th July, inviting members of the public to sign two petitions addressing international human rights concerns.
One petition focused on Pakshan Azizi, a Kurdish-Iranian activist who has been sentenced to death in Iran. The second was a letter addressed to Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer, urging the UK government to cease arms sales to Israel and to ban the import of goods produced in Israeli settlements located within the illegally occupied Palestinian Territories.
The letter was signed by 190 people.
The group, which operates as a local volunteer branch of Amnesty International UK, regularly attends local events to raise awareness of political and humanitarian issues.
Among those who supported the petitions were the Mayor of Honiton, the town crier, and East Devon MP Richard Foord.
Mr Foord has previously signed a parliamentary motion calling for a ban on settler-produced goods and has raised the matter of UK arms sales to Israel in the House of Commons.
Israeli settler communities are located in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, areas considered by the international community to be occupied territories.
According to the Fourth Geneva Convention, occupying powers are prohibited from transferring their own civilian population into the territory they occupy. As such, most international bodies, including the United Nations, consider these settlements to be unlawful under international law.
The East Devon Amnesty Group will continue its advocacy efforts at Sidmouth Library during Folk Week, where it plans to further engage the public on issues of global human rights.
( Image: Amnesty International 📸 )