http://www.justiceandpeacescotland.org.uk/MorePublications.aspx More Justice and Peace Scotland Publications - RSS Feed en-us Administrator Account Administrator Account Thu, 17 May 2012 22:29:47 GMT EfficionConsulting Articles Module (www.efficionconsulting.com) Copyright 2012, Justice & Peace Scotland Hundreds of migrant workers continue to live in a climate of fear, poverty stricken, subjected to inhuman conditions and indebted to gangmasters, a report published today reveals. 'Experiences of Forced Labour in the UK Food Industry', a report by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation and one of the largest studies into the plight of those in the industry from farm and factory workers through to those toiling in restaurants, found a catalogue of abusive practices. Its researchers discovered workers were subjected to racist or sexist bullying and threats. Isolated, unable to speak English and unaware of their rights, many complained of feeling depressed and some were driven to self harm. Terri Judd, Independent, 15/05/12 http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/racism-bullying-threats--daily-life-of-migrant-workers-7746797.html Carol Clarke Tue, 15 May 2012 00:00:00 GMT The Ngobe Indian's rainforest in Panama is a natural paradise for amphibians and reptiles. Now a part of it could be drowned in an artificial lake which is supposed to produce so-called clean energy, endangering the extremely rare Tabasara Rain Frog which is only found in the affected area. The Ngobe Indians are outraged by the plans for the Barro Blanco dam and are asking for help. The project is financed by three international development banks. Please ask the banks to stop their financial support for the dam and ensure the protection of the rainforest and the Tabasara Rain Frog. https://www.rainforest-rescue.org/mailalert/872?mt=1352 Carol Clarke Tue, 15 May 2012 00:00:00 GMT Human rights campaigners have called on the Home Office to open more screening centres to stop asylum seekers being forced to travel to Croydon. Refugees who travel to the UK, but do not present themselves on arrival, have to travel to Lunar House, in Wellesley Road, to have their application assessed. Many have little food or money and end up sleeping on the streets in Croydon. Now a group representing female refugees in Scotland has started an e-petition which calls for screening to be routinely available across the UK. Patricia Zimouini Nganga, of the Refugee Women's Strategy Group, based in Glasgow, said: "When people flee their homes and arrive in this country they are often stressed and confused. Croyden Today, Thursday, 3rd May 2012 http://www.thisiscroydontoday.co.uk/refugees-spared-journey-town/story-15988577-detail/story.html Carol Clarke Fri, 11 May 2012 00:00:00 GMT Read the new report Fair Games? on the conditions of workers making goods for the Olympic games. Official Olympic clothing sold by Next is claimed to have been produced in sweatshop conditions in Sri Lanka. The allegation comes days after the high street chain unveiled the formal outfits that Team GB will wear at the opening ceremony. TAKE ACTION: Following the shocking findings of the report, you can contact brands producing kit for Olympic consumers, athletes and volunteers, to tell them to do more to protect workers' rights. Read more at the Independent on Sunday Carol Clarke Fri, 11 May 2012 00:00:00 GMT The Co-operative Group has become the first major European supermarket group to end trade with companies that export produce from illegal Israeli settlements. http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/apr/29/co-op-israel-west-bank-boycott Carol Clarke Fri, 11 May 2012 00:00:00 GMT Pat Gaffney, General Secretary of Pax Christi, has been attending these Annual Meetings since the mid-1990s when BAE were involved in the sale of Hawk Aircraft to Indonesia, at that time an occupying force in East Timor. Pat said: I raised questions to challenge their deep involvement with Saudi Arabia where defence spending is very high. I wanted to know why they continue with this when they speak of the financial risks of working in the Middle East, and in their own words, the political instability and civil disturbance in the region. I wanted to know if by this they meant the search for democracy and human rights that we see in Bahrain, Egypt and elsewhere? I also wanted confirmation that their 200 Tactica Vehicles, sold to the National Guard of Saudi Arabia,had not been used against protestors in Bahrain last year. Dick Olver, the Chair, was unable to give this. http://www.paxchristi.org.uk/press1.php Carol Clarke Fri, 11 May 2012 00:00:00 GMT World's worst 10 countries to be a mother? DR Congo, South Sudan, Sudan, Chad, Eritrea, Mali, Guinea-Bissau , Yemen, Afghanistan, Niger. Save the Children's 13th annual Mothers' Index analyzes health, education and economic conditions for women and children in 165 countries. Their focus is on the 171 million children globally who do not have the opportunity to reach their full potential due to the physical and mental effects of poor nutrition in the earliest months of life. This report shows which countries are doing the best - and which are doing the worst - at providing nutrition during the critical window of development that starts during a mother's pregnancy and goes through her child's second birthday. It looks at six key nutrition solutions, including breastfeeding, that have the greatest potential to save lives, and shows that these solutions are affordable, even in the world's poorest countries. http://www.savethechildren.org/site/c.8rKLIXMGIpI4E/b.8050465/k.E3DE/Chronic_Malnutrition_and_Child_Survival__Downloads.htm Carol Clarke Wed, 09 May 2012 00:00:00 GMT The Fairtrade Foundation has expressed outrage and shock at the news that Israel has ordered nine Palestinian olive farmers of Deir Istiya, Salfit on the West Bank to uproot 1,400 olive trees in Wadi Qana area by 1 May 2012. For farmers in this district olives are the primary source of income. Harriet Lamb, Executive Director of the Fairtrade Foundation said: ‘We are dismayed and appalled at this devastating news of what is a blatant act of aggression attacking people’s livelihoods. Sign the petition http://www.fairtrade.org.uk/press_office/press_releases_and_statements/may_2012/palestinian_olive_oil_producers_ordered_to_pull_up_trees.aspx Carol Clarke Fri, 04 May 2012 00:00:00 GMT Eight indigenous people were brutally murdered by criminal loggers - simply because they were trying to protect their forest. A staggering 80 percent of the trees and their livelihood have been cleared by illegal loggers. However, so far police has failed to start investigations. Please demand the protection of the Purépecha and their forest. (Rainforest Rescue) https://www.rainforest-rescue.org/mailalert/869/mexico-protect-the-purepecha-from-criminal-loggers Carol Clarke Fri, 04 May 2012 00:00:00 GMT Many of Brazil's Awá are still uncontacted, and they are running for their lives. A wave of illegal loggers, settlers and ranchers have invaded their lands, and time is running out. A major new campaign is being launched to save the Awá, and your help is needed. ‘One man has the power to stop the loggers: Brazil’s Minister of Justice. But it’s just not his priority. Let’s push it up his list.’ Please watch the new film, and take a few seconds to send a message to Brazil's Minister of Justice: he can send in the federal police to catch the loggers, and keep them out for good. http://www.survivalinternational.org/awa http://www.survivalinter Carol Clarke Fri, 04 May 2012 00:00:00 GMT 12 actual or potential conflict situations around the world deteriorated and 2 improved in April 2012, according to the new issue of CrisisWatch. Deteriorated Situations: Bahrain, DR Congo, Egypt, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Guinea-Bissau, Macedonia, Mali, North Korea, Pakistan, South Sudan, Sudan. Download the full report: Crisis Watch 105 http://www.justiceandpeacescotland.org.uk/MorePublications/tabid/87/ctl/Details/mid/578/ItemID/479/Default.aspx Carol Clarke Wed, 02 May 2012 00:00:00 GMT In June this year, world leaders will come together in Rio de Janeiro, to plan how countries across the world can reduce poverty while ensuring a safer future for our planet. Since the Rio Earth Summit in 1992, climate change, environmental concerns and social justice have moved up the political agenda. We've seen huge achievements because people like you demanded action from our governments. But there's still a long way to go, so let’s make sure our MSPs stay focused on how we can create a sustainable country as part of a sustainable world. Join the Rio Connection, sign up to join an event near you and tell your MSP how much this matters to you. www.stopclimatechaos.org/rio-connection-scotland Carol Clarke Tue, 01 May 2012 00:00:00 GMT The world is less peaceful for the third straight year, due to an increased threat of terrorist attacks in 29 nations and a greater likelihood of violent demonstrations in 33 countries. The fall in peacefulness in this year's Index is strongly tied to conflict between citizens and their governments rather than conflicts with other nations. http://www.justiceandpeacescotland.org.uk/MorePublications/tabid/87/ctl/Details/mid/578/ItemID/477/Default.aspx Carol Clarke Tue, 01 May 2012 00:00:00 GMT Suspected Islamic terrorists killed as many as 20 Christian worshippers in an attack on a makeshift church at a university in northern Nigeria. Several small bombs, believed to have been fashioned from fizzy drinks cans, were thrown into a lecture hall that was being used for a Sunday morning service in Kano, a city that has been repeatedly attacked by Muslim radicals. The explosions killed one person and injured many others. But as the crowd fled the lecture hall, gunmen waiting outside opened fire with automatic rifles. Within minutes, as many as 19 others were killed, and their bodies littered the campus grounds as the gunfire continued for up to half an hour more, witnesses said. Telegraph 29/04/12 http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/africaandindianocean/nigeria/9234718/Nigerian-Christian-worshippers-targeted-by-Islamic-terrorists.html Carol Clarke Tue, 01 May 2012 00:00:00 GMT Stop press this action has been successful. Read on to find out more . The European Union, at a meeting in Doha, is trying to silence the United Nations on the crucial issue of preventing and dealing with debt crises. The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) has a long history of warning of financial crises, proposing ways to prevent them before they happen, and tackle them when they've broken out.The global Jubilee movement are at this week's UNCTAD meeting in Doha, and they have alerted us to a concerted effort by powerful countries to narrow UNCTAD's mandate to exclude global financial issues, including debt. The next 48 hours will be crucial. Please email UK Secretary of State for International Development Andrew Mitchell now http://www.justiceandpeacescotland.org.uk/MorePublications/tabid/87/ctl/Details/mid/578/ItemID/470/Default.aspx Carol Clarke Tue, 01 May 2012 00:00:00 GMT EDM 2951: Greenwash Gold EDM 2969: Ethical Trading Standards and the London 2012 Olympics please ask your MP to sign both EDM's. find out who your MP is at http://www.writetothem.com/ http://www.justiceandpeacescotland.org.uk/MorePublications/tabid/87/ctl/Details/mid/578/ItemID/465/Default.aspx Carol Clarke Mon, 30 Apr 2012 00:00:00 GMT A Quaker has interrupted a speech by Business Secretary Vince Cable to deliver his own impromptu speech against the government’s support for the arms industry. Sam Walton took the stage at an arms dealers’ conference and spoke for about a minute before being dragged away. The incident occurred on the 26 April in at the annual symposium of the Defence & Security Organisation (DSO), the arms trade wing of UK Trade and Investment (UKTI), a unit of Cable’s department. (Ekklesia) http://www.ekklesia.co.uk/node/16585 Carol Clarke Mon, 30 Apr 2012 00:00:00 GMT Men account for more than two-fifths (41%) of adult victims of human trafficking in England and Wales helped by the Salvation Army, contrary to the public perception that the crime almost exclusively affects women. The finding comes in a survey by the charity, which provides specialist support for the adult victims of trafficking on behalf of the Ministry of Justice. The charity's survey found that 45% of those it supported had been forced into sexual exploitation, 43% were involved in labour exploitation and 8% were trafficked into domestic servitude. The Guardian 26 April 2012 http://www.guardian.co.uk/law/2012/apr/26/two-fifths-human-trafficking-male Carol Clarke Sun, 29 Apr 2012 00:00:00 GMT For the past ten years, the European Union has been negotiating trade deals with African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) countries known as Economic Partnership Agreements (EPAs). Many African governments have been critical of the negotiations, expressing concerns that the agreements do more to benefit European economic interests than their own. With numerous controversial issues yet to be addressed, most have resisted signing up. However, the European Commission is now presenting an ultimatum to force these agreements through. Please e-mail David Martin, the MEP responsible for preparing the Parliament's response, and call on him to reject the Commission's proposal. http://www.traidcraft.co.uk/get_involved/campaign/EPA_ultimatum Carol Clarke Wed, 25 Apr 2012 00:00:00 GMT A report by Professor Malcolm Chalmers, defence policy director of the influential Royal United Services Institute (RUSI), has questioned whether an independent Scotland could remove Trident nuclear weapons from their base on the Clyde and remain in NATO. The report, was commissioned by the 'Scotland on Sunday' newspaper, The report is published as the Scottish Nationalist Party (SNP) prepares to debate whether to retain its long standing policy of opposition to NATO membership at its party conference in June. http://www.rusi.org/downloads/assets/End_of_an_Auld_Sang.pdf Carol Clarke Tue, 24 Apr 2012 00:00:00 GMT The national minimum wage is now worth less than it was in 2004 and a higher rate should be introduced for workers aged 25 and over, according to a new report. The Resolution Foundation, an independent think-tank, found that the recently announced increase from £6.08 to £6.19 this October will leave the minimum wage 6 per cent below its 2009 peak in real terms because it has been rising by less than inflation. Andrew Grice, Indpendent, 17/04/12 http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/minimum-wage-now-worth-less-7648284.html Carol Clarke Tue, 17 Apr 2012 00:00:00 GMT Scottish Refugee Council has published a response on it's website, and is stepping up its call for the UK Government to urgently address the issue of destitution facing asylum seekers Glasgow. http://www.scottishrefugeecouncil.org.uk/news_and_events/latest_news/1553_y_people_brings_destitution_into_sharper_focus Carol Clarke Mon, 16 Apr 2012 00:00:00 GMT The Children’s Society reveals asylum support levels for children and families fall alarmingly below mainstream benefit levels, leaving around 10,000 children in severe poverty for long periods of time. http://www.childrenssociety.org.uk/news-views/press-release/uk-asylum-system-forces-thousands-children-live-severe-poverty Carol Clarke Sun, 15 Apr 2012 00:00:00 GMT S4M-02634 Humza Yousaf (Scottish National Party): That the Parliament raises serious concern at the decision to evict 140 asylum seekers and refugees in Glasgow; recognises that many of these families come from war-torn conflict zones that would be unsafe to return to; understands that, if evicted, families will be left with no home and no access to work or benefits; believes that compassion must be shown to the most vulnerable in society, and considers organisations such as the Fire Brigades Union Scotland have given fantastic support with their generous donations to enable the families to remain housed in the short term. http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/msps/Humza-Yousaf-MSP.aspx Carol Clarke Thu, 12 Apr 2012 00:00:00 GMT 300 campaigners, policy makers and activists attended the 3rd Scottish Assembly for Tackling Poverty held on 15th and 16th of March 2012. Delegates heard from a range of speakers and participated in a number of evidence sessions aimed at finding new ways to tackle poverty. Videos and interviews from the event are available http://www.youtube.com/povertyalliance Carol Clarke Wed, 11 Apr 2012 00:00:00 GMT The desperate situation of 100 people who have been refused asylum, and face eviction from their Ypeople accommodation unfortunately does not come as a surprise. http://www.heraldscotland.com/comment/letters/proper-protection-needed-for-asylum-seekers-in-glasgow.17216536 Carol Clarke Tue, 10 Apr 2012 00:00:00 GMT In the Pacific nation of Papua New Guinea sexual violence against young girls, and the shame and stigma that follows, is forcing many out of school and others into early marriage. A recent study by Médecins Sans Frontières, one of the country's main providers of medical and psychological assistance to survivors of family and sexual violence, showed that from 2008 to 2011, a significant proportion of patients who received treatment as a result of violence were children, some under the age of five. Reliefweb, 06/04/12 http://reliefweb.int/node/488291 Carol Clarke Fri, 06 Apr 2012 00:00:00 GMT The Turkmen government's clampdown on freedom of expression and repression of civil society activism, torture and ill-treatment in places of detention, and the lack of an independent judiciary topped the committee's concerns. The committee also criticized the government's "refusal to grant entry visas to international human rights organisations," including no fewer than 10 UN rapporteurs, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), and nongovernmental organizations. Human Rights Watch, 30/03/12 http://www.unhcr.org/refworld/docid/4f7abae72.html Carol Clarke Wed, 04 Apr 2012 00:00:00 GMT The first Annual Report of the Child Poverty Strategy was laid in the Scottish Parliament on 22 March. The report highlights some of the key measures taken by the Scottish Government since the publication of the Child Poverty Strategy for Scotland in March 2011, and references some of the activity that will be taken forward across the 3 year span of the strategy. http://www.employabilityinscotland.com/childpovertyannualreport.aspx Carol Clarke Wed, 04 Apr 2012 00:00:00 GMT The Poverty Truth Commission has been a two-year project bringing together some of Scotland’s civic leaders with people at the sharp end of poverty. They have worked together to discover the truths about poverty, and to explore real solutions to it. Our motto, taken from post-apartheid South Africa, is: "nothing about us without us is for us". We believe that poverty will never be truly addressed until those who experience it firsthand are at the heart of the process. The Poverty Truth Commission has been a groundbreaking experiment in social policy thinking, based on the premise that people living at the harsh end of poverty should have a defining voice in seeking genuine solutions in public life and in governance. http://povertytruthcommission.blogspot.com/ Carol Clarke Mon, 02 Apr 2012 00:00:00 GMT Please support Scottish CND's new campaign "No Nuclear Weapons Here". SCND want people to add their pin to their map to show that people in every corner of the country want to see nuclear disarmament. Put yourself on the map if you want to see a Scotland which is free of nuclear weapons. Today all British nuclear weapons are based on the Clyde http://www.naenuclear.org/ http://www.naenuclear.org/ Carol Clarke Mon, 02 Apr 2012 00:00:00 GMT Theresa May's leaked letter about family-route visas for non-EU nationals holds valuable insights into the motivations of the government. May proposes upping the minimum income level to £25,700 (£50k if you have two children) and increasing probationary visas from two to five years. At the moment, family-visa applicants must show they have enough income to cover essential bills; most submit a budget to reflect their individual circumstances. This is to prevent migrants from relying on the state; what critics of family immigration don't realise is that most of us can't receive benefits. http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2012/mar/26/theresa-may-migrants-immigration Carol Clarke Fri, 30 Mar 2012 00:00:00 GMT Three private security firms, G4S, Reliance and Serco, have been confirmed as the new landlords for people seeking asylum in the UK, in a controversial £620m contract with the UK Border Agency. You can read details at the UKBA website here The move takes housing provision away from the current mix of local authority, charity and private sector landlords, handing it over to three firms better known for running detention centres and enforcing deportations. http://www.justiceandpeacescotland.org.uk/MorePublications/tabid/87/ctl/Details/mid/578/ItemID/453/Default.aspx Carol Clarke Wed, 28 Mar 2012 00:00:00 GMT The Afghan government should release the approximately 400 women and girls imprisoned for 'moral crimes', Human Rights Watch said in a new report. These 'crimes' usually involve flight from unlawful forced marriage or domestic violence. The fall of the Taliban in 2001 promised a new era of women's rights. Significant improvements have occurred, yet the imprisonment of women and girls is just one sign of the difficult present and worrying future faced by Afghan women and girls. Human Rights Watch, March 28, 2012 http://www.hrw.org/reports/2012/03/28/i-had-run-away Carol Clarke Wed, 28 Mar 2012 00:00:00 GMT Malawi President Bingu wa Mutharika has rejected calls from faith groups to resign following a political and economic crisis that has rocked the southern African nation - writes Frank Jomo. A delegation of civil society organisations meeting at a national conference organised by the Public Affairs Committee (PAC) on 15 March demanded that Mutharika "resign honorably within 90 days or if he thinks he is still popular, he should call for a referendum within the 90 days. Failure to follow this will call for mass action." Ekklesia http://www.ekklesia.co.uk/node/16456 Carol Clarke Tue, 27 Mar 2012 00:00:00 GMT Can an international convention drafted 60 years ago to protect a limited number of Europeans uprooted by World War II continue to provide protection to the millions of people around the world today forced to flee their countries for a variety of reasons? Today, the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) is providing assistance and protection to over 15 million refugees throughout the world and the 1951 Convention relating to the Status of Refugees remains the cornerstone of that protection. However, millions more people have fled their countries for reasons that the drafters of the Convention could not have predicted. IRIN 26/03/12 http://www.irinnews.org/Report/95144/Analysis-Has-the-Refugee-Convention-outlived-its-usefulness Carol Clarke Tue, 27 Mar 2012 00:00:00 GMT The UK government claims the Democratic Republic of Congo still owes it £19 million of debt, even though development minister Stephen O'Brien said last year all the debt had been cancelled. http://www.jubileedebtcampaign.org.uk/UK3720government3720goes3720back3720on3720debt3720relief3720pledge+7533.twl Carol Clarke Mon, 26 Mar 2012 00:00:00 GMT Are a group of campaigning organisations from around the world united in calling on the G20 to end tax haven secrecy. While over 100 million children never get the opportunity to go to school, developing countries lose more money through tax dodging than they receive in aid. To stop this we need the G20 to end tax haven secrecy. http://www.endtaxhavensecrecy.org/en Carol Clarke Thu, 22 Mar 2012 00:00:00 GMT Possession of a nationality is essential for the protection of every child. As set out in article 7 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC). This is important because while human rights are generally to be enjoyed by everyone, selected rights may be limited to nationals. For example, only 'citizens' have the unrestricted right to enter and reside in a country under international law. Stateless persons may therefore end up without any residence status or, worse, in prolonged detention. Statelessness also causes difficulties in a range of other areas, including travel, access to education and healthcare, and heightens the risk of trafficking. Statelessness may lead to displacement. Refworld http://www.unhcr.org/refworld/docid/4f68312f2.html Carol Clarke Tue, 20 Mar 2012 00:00:00 GMT More than one person dies every minute from armed violence. 2 out of 3 people killed by armed violence die in countries at peace. Add your voice to the Thousands supporting the Global Arms Trade Treaty. Control Arms in partnership with Reaching Critical Will, has built an interactive tool to track all States' positions on key issues in the ATT negotiations called armstreaty.org . It also allows you – the user – to help fill in the gaps. http://speakout.controlarms.org/speakout/index.php Carol Clarke Mon, 19 Mar 2012 00:00:00 GMT The largest security company in the world, G4S, and two other security companies are set to take over asylum-seeker housing, privatising the last 'humanitarian' public housing for those fleeing persecution. But this is only the latest evidence of asylum seekers being used as 'guinea pigs' to test unsavoury policies in such areas as welfare reform, legal aid and now housing.Asylum seekers were the guinea pigs for all kinds of brutal and unacceptable policies that are now beginning to be applied more widely." John Grayson, Institute of Race Relations, 8 March http://www.irr.org.uk/news/first-they-came-for-the-asylum-seeker/ Carol Clarke Thu, 15 Mar 2012 00:00:00 GMT Coping with Destitution uncovers how the hundreds of thousands of refused asylum seekers currently living in the UK, with no access to legitimate means of securing a livelihood, survive on a day-to-day and longer-term basis. http://policy-practice.oxfam.org.uk/publications/coping-with-destitution-survival-and-livelihood-strategies-of-refused-asylum-se-121667 Carol Clarke Thu, 15 Mar 2012 00:00:00 GMT London 2012 chair Sebastian Coe has come under pressure over revelations that workers in Bangladesh producing clothes for Adidas, the official sportswear partner of the 2012 Games, are illegally paid less than the minimum wage. Claims have also emerged of illegal working hours as well as bullying and violence by factory managers. (Ekklesia) See also Labour behind the Label http://www.ekklesia.co.uk/node/16371 Carol Clarke Fri, 09 Mar 2012 00:00:00 GMT From Afghanistan to Zimbabwe women have been heavily using social media to focus global attention on areas where inequalities prevail. International Women's Day (IWD) 2012 has been a big hit on Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and LinkedIn, among other networking sites. Each year the United Nations declares an overall International Women's Day theme. Their 2012 theme is "Empower Rural Women - End Hunger and Poverty". (Ekklesia) http://www.ekklesia.co.uk/node/16379 Carol Clarke Fri, 09 Mar 2012 00:00:00 GMT Immigration procedures can favour administrative convenience over safeguarding individuals' rights to liberty and security. Periods in detention can be unlawful if release or removal is not imminent. The UN High Commissioner of Refugees (UNHCR) has criticised Britain's use of fast track detention for asylum applicants for administrative convenience rather than last resort, and the lack of adequate safeguards to guarantee fairness of procedure and quality decision making. The length of time in detention for those who have committed no crime risks breaching the right to liberty and security under Article 5. http://www.justiceandpeacescotland.org.uk/MorePublications/tabid/87/ctl/Details/mid/578/ItemID/438/Default.aspx Carol Clarke Fri, 09 Mar 2012 00:00:00 GMT Following the Scottish Parliament's historic debate on Climate Justice on 1 March, SCIAF has welcomed the announcement of a new Climate Justice Fund. The debate, which is believed to be the world's first, brought a tremendous result for supporters of climate justice http://www.sciaf.org.uk/news/news_archive/recent_news/sciaf_welcomes_scottish_government_climate_justice_commitment Carol Clarke Mon, 05 Mar 2012 00:00:00 GMT Five actual or potential conflict situations around the world deteriorated and none improved in February 2012, according to the new issue of CrisisWatch. Deteriorated Situations: Afghanistan, Haiti, Maldives, Mali, Syria Download the full report: Crisis Watch 103 http://www.justiceandpeacescotland.org.uk/MorePublications/tabid/87/ctl/Details/mid/578/ItemID/432/Default.aspx Carol Clarke Mon, 05 Mar 2012 00:00:00 GMT A new report by The Children's Society reveals alarming levels of destitution among refugee, asylum-seeking and migrant children and young people. Incredibly vulnerable young people are being left homeless, hungry and forced to resort to increasingly desperate means in order to survive. Read the report at the Childrens' Society website here Also reported at BBC here Carol Clarke Mon, 05 Mar 2012 00:00:00 GMT E mail Action . We have an opportunity at the Westminster Parliament to further one of the core aims of the Fairtrade Schoolwear Campaign, raising awareness of issues in the supply of cotton. Early Day Motion 1284 "Human Rights and the Cotton Production Industry in Uzbekistan" refers to the hundreds of thousands of children forced to pick cotton in Uzbekistan. We need people to ask their MPs to sign the EDM. If enough sign, it could lead to a debate. Details of the EDM here . There is also information on the Environmental Justice Foundation website. Only five Scottish MPs have signed the EDM so far: http://www.scottishfairtradeforum.org.uk/ Carol Clarke Sat, 03 Mar 2012 00:00:00 GMT Our duty to Sri Lanka, and human rights. It is not just Sri Lanka's people that the UN Human Rights Council must serve this week, but the cause of international law. This week the UN Human Rights Council has an opportunity and a duty to help Sri Lanka advance its own efforts on accountability and reconciliation. Both are essential if a lasting peace is to be achieved. In doing so, the council will not only be serving Sri Lanka, but those worldwide who believe there are universal rights and international legal obligations we all share. Guardian, 26 February 2012 http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2012/feb/26/our-duty-sri-lanka-human-rights Carol Clarke Fri, 02 Mar 2012 00:00:00 GMT I love primary one school photos: rows of neat bright-eyed five-year olds each in a brand new uniform. Sweet? Yes but now they conjure up an image of other wee kids: like Carly, one of the estimated 100,000 children working up to 13 hours a day picking cotton in India. She featured in a recent news report, prizing open fat cotton buds and dropping the contents into a basket. She wore a grubby dress and had no idea where her parents were. Her arms were covered in scratches and she earned 24p a day. Child labour is tightly controlled in modern Britain but we've merely relocated the problem. http://www.heraldscotland.com/comment/columnists/choosing-not-to-buy-fairtrade-wont-wear.16891926 Carol Clarke Thu, 01 Mar 2012 00:00:00 GMT In the UK there is a multi-billion pound industry whose aim is to find clever ways for its wealthy customers to avoid paying tax. The industry is legal, thriving, and denies UK tax-payers at least £25 billion each year. That is more than the amount the Government is trying to cut from the benefits bill - which means that tax avoidance amounts to robbing people in poverty. This is why we are campaigning for Fair Taxes. Please take two minutes to email your MP now and ask them to support calls for a 'General Anti-Avoidance Rule'. http://action.church-poverty.org.uk/ea-action/action?ea.client.id=128&ea.campaign.id=13464&forwarded=true Carol Clarke Mon, 27 Feb 2012 00:00:00 GMT UKBA released on 23/02/12 their latest immigration statistics from Home Office administrative sources, covering October/November/December 2011 here . . . . Please note: The number of children being detained is rising again, from 6 in October last year to 28 in January 2012 http://www.justiceandpeacescotland.org.uk/MorePublications/tabid/87/ctl/Details/mid/578/ItemID/427/Default.aspx Carol Clarke Fri, 24 Feb 2012 00:00:00 GMT test article with second image in the Description and the Detail type set to External link. www.bcos.org.uk SuperUser Account Thu, 23 Feb 2012 00:00:00 GMT In what are understood to be the Court of Appeal's first rulings on child trafficking for labour exploitation, Lord Judge said implementation of the convention should normally be achieved by "long-established prosecutorial discretion". He said this enabled the CPS, however strong the evidence might be, to decide that it would be inappropriate to proceed with the prosecution of a defendant unable to plead duress as a defence but who falls "within the protective ambit" of article 26. "This requires a judgment to be made by the CPS in the individual case in the light of all the available evidence," Lord Judge said. Solicitors Journal, 21 February 2012 http://www.solicitorsjournal.com/story.asp?sectioncode=2&storycode=19630&c=1&eclipse_action=getsession Carol Clarke Thu, 23 Feb 2012 00:00:00 GMT Climate change and the purposes of God:a call to the Church http://www.ekklesia.co.uk/files/ash_wed_declaration.pdf Carol Clarke Thu, 23 Feb 2012 00:00:00 GMT Somalia's warring parties have all failed to protect Somali children from the fighting or serving in their forces, Human Rights Watch said in a report released today. The Islamist insurgent group al-Shabaab has increasingly targeted children for recruitment, forced marriage, and rape, and attacked teachers and schools. Human Rights Watch, 21/02/12 Carol Clarke Tue, 21 Feb 2012 00:00:00 GMT The government has lost a record eighth vote in the House of Lords over its plans to severely cut and restructure the British welfare system. An amendment to the Welfare Reform Bill, overturning a move to cut payments to specific council tenants with one spare bedroom, was carried by ten votes. The bill is now due to go back before the House of Commons, with the government defiant but a huge swathe of political popular and public opinion - including charities and others making up Mr Cameron's 'Big Society' - wishing to see significant changes. Source Ekklesia http://www.ekklesia.co.uk/node/16282 Carol Clarke Wed, 15 Feb 2012 00:00:00 GMT The numbers game around immigration statistics has turned into a bloody battle. There is a sense in which debates which solely contest the statistics of immigration miss many of the points of anti-racist campaigning. Behind the statistics, are unsavoury politics. The political polls are suggesting the Con-Dem Coalition is, thus far, successful in both creating and exploiting commonsense racism and xenophobia. Such a climate would, of course, encourage a new wave of dangerous extremist violence. In the short term, though, lies, damn lies and statistics seem to be a useful marketing strategy for the far-right populist party British Conservatives are becoming. Read the full article: By John Grayson, IRR, 9th February 2012 http://www.irr.org.uk/2012/february/ha000011.html Carol Clarke Fri, 10 Feb 2012 00:00:00 GMT That this House strongly condemns the Chinese security forces' unwarranted use of force including opening fire on unarmed demonstrators to quash peaceful protests in Tibet; Primary sponsor: Fabian Hamilton, Jeremy Corbyn, date tabled: 08/02/2012 http://www.parliament.uk/edm/2010-12/2715 Carol Clarke Fri, 10 Feb 2012 00:00:00 GMT Refugee Survival Trust is launching a new animation which stars Scottish novelist and comedian A L Kennedy. The animation highlights the flaws in the asylum system. It tells the stories of refugees and asylum seekers in Scotland who have been left hungry and homeless by problems, errors and delays in the asylum system. The launch event will last around an hour with a screening of the film, brief talks and time for people to have a drink and find out more about RST’S work. The event is free but places are limited so please email communications@rst.org.uk if you would like to attend. 6:30pm on Tuesday February 29th at Iglu, 2b Jamaica Street, Edinburgh EH3 6HH Carol Clarke Fri, 10 Feb 2012 00:00:00 GMT The number of civilians killed in the conflict rose eight per cent last year to reach 3,021 - with more than three-quarters caused by attacks from the Taliban-led insurgency. The findings that on average more than eight Afghans a day are being killed are at odds with Nato assessments that violence is falling. Deaths from suicide attacks rose more than 80 per cent to 431 over the year. The number of suicide attacks did not rise, but "the nature of these attacks changed, becoming more complex, sometimes involving multiple suicide bombers, and designed to yield greater numbers of dead and injured civilians" the report found. Ben Farmer, Telegraph, 04/02/12 http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/afghanistan/9059630/Civilian-deaths-in-Afghanistan-at-highest-level-in-a-decade.html Carol Clarke Mon, 06 Feb 2012 00:00:00 GMT A Human Rights Watch report on Israel’s Control of Palestinian Residency in the West Bank and Gaza. This report describes the arbitrary exclusion by the Israeli military of hundreds of thousands of Palestinians since 1967 and documents the impact that exclusion continues to have on individuals and families. http://www.hrw.org/reports/2012/02/05/forget-about-him-he-s-not-here-0 Carol Clarke Mon, 06 Feb 2012 00:00:00 GMT More Determination is Needed to Make Human Rights Real. "Europe must move with more determination from rhetoric to enforcement of human rights standards" Thomas Hammarberg, Strasbourg, 17 January 2012 https://wcd.coe.int/ViewDoc.jsp?id=1895365 Carol Clarke Thu, 02 Feb 2012 00:00:00 GMT Use CND's online tool to ask the Foreign Secretary William Hague to make a new disarmament commitment at this May's nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) meeting in Vienna. http://cnd.iparl.com/lobby/59 Carol Clarke Thu, 02 Feb 2012 00:00:00 GMT The House of Commons debated the Welfare Reform Bill for the last time on 1 February 2012 following a record seventh defeat for the government in the House of Lords. The coalition has a 70-seat majority at Westminster and the Prime Minister and his colleagues are determined to ignore the massive weight of opinion against them from parliamentarians of all parties, charities, churches, medical professionals, people living with disability and poverty, children's advocates, academics, researchers, community organisations, faith groups, public figures and many thousands of constituents who have been lobbying their MPs. (Ekklesia) http://www.ekklesia.co.uk/node/16210 Carol Clarke Thu, 02 Feb 2012 00:00:00 GMT http://www.justiceandpeacescotland.org.uk/Portals/0/Magazine/2012_issue1_feb.pdf SuperUser Account Wed, 01 Feb 2012 00:00:00 GMT A new report from Scottish CND shows that if Scotland voted for independence and maintained its anti-nuclear position then Britain would be left without any nuclear weapons. The report was also the subject of an article in the Guardian Read the full report here http://banthebomb.org/ne/images/stories/pdfs/nowheretogo.pdf Carol Clarke Mon, 30 Jan 2012 00:00:00 GMT Private security guards employed to forcibly remove people from the UK have used racist language and inappropriate force. A report by MPs Commons' Home Affairs Committee said the UK Border Agency should challenge unacceptable behaviour by some of its contractor. "It is a matter for serious concern that contractors should use racist language among themselves," said the report. "That they were content to do so in front of not only UK Border Agency staff but also inspectors from HM Inspectorate of Prisons is shocking. It is possibly the result of a relationship between the Agency and its contractors which had become too cosy." BBC News Thursday 26th January 2012 http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-16733390 Carol Clarke Fri, 27 Jan 2012 00:00:00 GMT Stop Climate Chaos Scotland (SCCS) has expressed major disappointment in the Scottish Government’s Budget Bill which has now been published. http://www.stopclimatechaos.org/12/jan/calls-appropriate-levels-funding-reduce-emissions-are-ignored Carol Clarke Wed, 25 Jan 2012 00:00:00 GMT On 19th January, a meeting took place at Lambeth Palace in London between key representatives from the churches and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas and his delegation. Ekklesia associate, regional exoert and churches' adviser Dr Harry Hagopian, who was present, reflects on the issues raised and the spirit of the gathering. (Ekklesia 21 Jan 2012) http://www.ekklesia.co.uk/node/16118 Carol Clarke Mon, 23 Jan 2012 00:00:00 GMT The Report documents human rights abuses worldwide including: mistreatment of migrants in Western Europe; violations of the laws of war in Libya and Afghanistan; the plight of political prisoners in Vietnam and Eritrea; the silencing of dissent in China and Cuba; internet crackdowns in Iran and Thailand; killings by security forces in India and Mexico; election-related problems in Russia and the DR Congo; neglectful maternal health policies in Haiti and South Africa; suppression of religious freedom in Indonesia and Saudi Arabia; torture in Pakistan and Uzbekistan; discrimination against people with disabilities in Nepal and Peru; detention without trial in Malaysia and by the United States. http://www.justiceandpeacescotland.org.uk/MorePublications/tabid/87/ctl/Details/mid/578/ItemID/403/Default.aspx Carol Clarke Mon, 23 Jan 2012 00:00:00 GMT A recent statement of the Bishops of the Commission of the Bishops’ Conferences of the European Community (COMECE) discusses options for the management of the EU rooted in Catholic Social Teaching. A European Community of Solidarity and Responsibility is a significant document for consideration at a time when Europeans face difficult choices. http://www.comece.org/site/en/home Carol Clarke Mon, 23 Jan 2012 00:00:00 GMT In his 2012 message to the Vatican’s diplomatic corps, Pope Benedict said said that environmental protection and the connection between fighting poverty and fighting climate change are important areas for the promotion of integral human development http://www.indcatholicnews.com/news.php?viewStory=19632 Carol Clarke Thu, 19 Jan 2012 00:00:00 GMT Trafficked children arriving alone at Dover were sent straight back to France under a secret "gentleman's agreement" that was in force since at least 1995, an investigation by the children's commissioner for England has revealed. The report by Maggie Atkinson reveals that unaccompanied children who arrived clandestinely at Dover docks or through the Channel tunnel are often hungry, ill, exhausted and distressed, yet were returned to France within 24 hours if they did not immediately apply for asylum. The children, who arrived on the backs of lorries or in containers, included those being trafficked for exploitation as well as those fleeing war zones and persecution. Read More: Alan Travis, The Guardian, 17/01/12 http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2012/jan/17/child-trafficking-victims-bounced-back Carol Clarke Tue, 17 Jan 2012 00:00:00 GMT Buoyed by a stunning victory in the House of Lords, disabled rights activists and their supporters are pledging to step up the campaign for welfare justice. Now Labour MP John McDonnell has tabled a Parliamentary Question asking for a statement from the Government in response to the 'Responsible Reform' report (also known as the Spartacus report) produced by disabled people themselves. This exposes what critics calls the 'sham' official consultation on Disability Living Allowance (DLA). http://www.ekklesia.co.uk/node/16040 Carol Clarke Thu, 12 Jan 2012 00:00:00 GMT EDM 2589: Christians In Nigeria EDM 2472 Amendment of the Rome Statute of The International Criminal Court EDM 2556: Elections in Democratic Republic of Congo EDM 2558: Guantánamo Bay Carol Clarke Thu, 12 Jan 2012 00:00:00 GMT Study refutes claim that foreign nationals are depriving British-born workers of jobs. There is no link between rising immigration and rising unemployment, independent economists have found - contradicting persistent claims from anti-immigration activists and politicians that an influx of foreign nationals into the UK in recent years has led to more British-born workers on the dole. Ben Chu, Independent, 10/10/12 http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/immigration-does-not-cause-unemployment- Carol Clarke Tue, 10 Jan 2012 00:00:00 GMT The Catholic community in Glasgow has been served by several Nigerian priests in recent years. In his New Year message, Archbishop Mario Conti expressed his support and concern for Christians in Nigeria that suffered violent attacks over Christmas. http://www.indcatholicnews.com/news.php?viewStory=19583 Carol Clarke Mon, 09 Jan 2012 00:00:00 GMT The Ay family, Kurdish asylum seekers from Turkey, were arrested and detained in Dungavel for 13 months in 2002, in contravention of UN Conventions to which the UK was a party. At the forefront of public protest in Scotland was Bishop John Mone, then President of the Justice and Peace Commission. Almost a decade later, the Home Office has settled a civil suit brought by the family with an out of court payment. http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2012/jan/06/child-asylum-seekers-win-compensation Carol Clarke Mon, 09 Jan 2012 00:00:00 GMT Bishop Moran's letter Carol Clarke Sat, 07 Jan 2012 00:00:00 GMT UK government ministers are planning to use cancellation of a made-up debt to help meet their overseas aid target. Sudan currently 'owes' £678 million ($1bn) to the UK, and might qualify for debt cancellation in the next few years according to the Jubilee Debt Campaign. http://www.indcatholicnews.com/news.php?viewStory=19568 Carol Clarke Fri, 06 Jan 2012 00:00:00 GMT Our world is filled with barriers between people. Barriers that prevent us from understanding one another. They are created by unfair benefits rules and inadequate wages. By the stigma attached to being poor or homeless. And by the growing gap between the richest and poorest people in our society. Churches and community projects can break these barriers. They can challenge prejudice, enable excluded people to live full lives, and build a fairer world. Work with us in Poverty & Homelessness Action Week 2012 to break the barriers that trap people in poverty and homelessness. Let’s have a cup of tea day! for Scottish Churches Housing Action...during Action Week http://www.actionweek.org.uk/html/home.html Carol Clarke Wed, 04 Jan 2012 00:00:00 GMT Armed rebel groups active in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) derive their funds from several sources, notably trade in natural resources, but also ordinary commerce and illegal taxation, according to a report by a United Nations group of experts unveiled on 4 January 2012. http://www.justiceandpeacescotland.org.uk/MorePublications/tabid/87/ctl/Details/mid/578/ItemID/391/Default.aspx Carol Clarke Wed, 04 Jan 2012 00:00:00 GMT During his Homily for Midnight Mass at Westminster Cathedral Archbishop Vincent prayed for 50 families in Beit Jala on the West Bank who face losing their land and homes - as Israel completes the separation wall across the district of Bethlehem. http://www.indcatholicnews.com/news.php?viewStory=19557 Carol Clarke Fri, 30 Dec 2011 00:00:00 GMT A copy of the Justice and Peace Sunday Letter from our President, Bishop Moran, has been sent to every parish to be read out. Please ask your parish priest to publicise the Justice and Peace Commission and its work by reading the letter at Mass. The letter will be posted on the website nearer the date of the feast. http://www.justiceandpeacescotland.org.uk/MorePublications/tabid/87/ctl/Details/mid/578/ItemID/388/Default.aspx Carol Clarke Thu, 29 Dec 2011 00:00:00 GMT 'Social theologian Fr Donal Dorr has an interesting perspective on the background and legacy of the Synod document 'Justice in the World' on its 40th anniversary' http://www.columbans.co.uk/news/%E2%80%98justice-in-the-world%E2%80%99-by-fr-donal-dorr/ Carol Clarke Mon, 19 Dec 2011 00:00:00 GMT An amendment to the Welfare Reform Bill to protect the benefits of disabled children once Universal Credit is introduced has been defeated in the House of Lords. Three amendments were defeated altogether, as government supporters pushed ahead with their plan to make the poor and vulnerable pay for what critics say is the excess and failure of their allies in the City. The amendment was defeated by a very small margin (187 votes to 189), the closest vote seen so far - something which has given some encouragement to disabled rights campaigners over upcoming struggles. http://www.ekklesia.co.uk/node/15900 Carol Clarke Thu, 15 Dec 2011 00:00:00 GMT The UK Border Agency has announced the 'preferred bidders' to provide accommodation for asylum seekers across the UK for the next 5 years. Public and voluntary sector providers have been completely replaced by the three big multinational companies, all active in the detention and deportation business. The preferred bidders, for Scotland are Serco Civil Government. http://ncadc.cmph.org/o/qnRlICkWqPidTJ3v4WZANg Carol Clarke Tue, 13 Dec 2011 00:00:00 GMT Vince Cable's department has broken a key coalition deal on the environment for a second time, say campaigners. UK Export Finance - also known as the Export Credits Guarantee Department (ECGD) - has announced it is backing up to $1billion of loans to Brazilian oil company Petrobras, which specialises in deep and ultra-deep water drilling. http://www.ekklesia.co.uk/node/15833 Carol Clarke Fri, 02 Dec 2011 00:00:00 GMT Inquiry says Women, men and children trafficked into Britain not seen as victims of crime whose rights have been breached. The victims of human trafficking, including women forced into the sex industry or trapped as unpaid domestic servants, are being unfairly treated as criminals and illegal immigrants, an inquiry has found. Guardian, Severin Carrell, 27/11/2011 http://www.justiceandpeacescotland.org.uk/MorePublications/tabid/87/ctl/Details/mid/578/ItemID/377/Default.aspx Carol Clarke Fri, 02 Dec 2011 00:00:00 GMT http://www.equalityhumanrights.com/scotland/scottish-news/press-releases-2011/ehrc-launch-inquiry-into-human-trafficking-in-scotland-report-baroness-helena-kennedy-qc-investigating-commissioner/ Carol Clarke Fri, 02 Dec 2011 00:00:00 GMT http://www.justiceandpeacescotland.org.uk/Portals/0/Magazine/2011_issue6_dec.pdf SuperUser Account Thu, 01 Dec 2011 00:00:00 GMT The UN climate change negotiations are taking place in Durban, South Africa from 28th November to 9th December. Stop Climate Chaos Scotland will be represented at the talks by Lang Banks from WWF Scotland and Lexi Barnett from SCIAF. Each day, they will blog on the SCCS web page, bringing you the latest news from Durban as it happens. http://www.stopclimatechaos.org/sccs-durban-2011-blog Carol Clarke Wed, 30 Nov 2011 00:00:00 GMT A joint report published by the Children's Commissioner's for Scotland, England, Wales and Northern Ireland has warned that the Government's spending cuts as well as welfare reforms could push many families and children into poverty.The Commissioners expressed fears that the most vulnerable in society are facing disproportionate hardship. Carol Clarke Wed, 23 Nov 2011 00:00:00 GMT Both the global economic downturn and the pending London Olympic year bring issues involving the exploitation of vulnerable workers into sharp focus in the UK, says a major ecumenical Christian agency working for corporate responsibility. The wide-ranging nature of this exploitation and the opportunities for large companies to do more to prevent it were discussed by five expert speakers in at a public panel debate organised by the Ecumenical Council for Corporate Responsibility (ECCR) London on 17 November 2011. http://www.ekklesia.co.uk/node/15754 Carol Clarke Tue, 22 Nov 2011 00:00:00 GMT Delegates from 200 countries will meet in South Africa from November 28 to try to reach agreement on global emissions cuts and funding for developing countries to adapt to climate change. The Scottish government has been lobbyed to do the right thing by funding its own policies to reduce climate change emissions. Help to put pressure on Scottish climate change minister Stewart Stevenson to use his influence in South Africa to ensure that funding for developing countries to adapt to climate change is given to them as grants not loans. Lending to countries that are already heavily in debt will only drive them further into poverty. Please email Stewart Stevenson now. http://www.wdm.org.uk/stewart-stevenson-no-new-debt?utm_source=World+Development+Movement%27s+email+list&utm_campaign=b1f95f2a91-Stewart_Stevenson_eaction11_17_2011&utm_medium=email Carol Clarke Fri, 18 Nov 2011 00:00:00 GMT World church leaders have met in Edinburgh, to discuss plans to rid the world of nuclear weapons and to hold discussions with civic and political leaders. Earlier this week the leaders met with Bruce Crawford MSP and Cabinet Secretary for Parliamentary Business and Government Strategy to find out about the context of the nuclear debate in Scotland and the impact of the independence debate. The World Council of Churches group have also held talks with the Cross Party Group for Nuclear Disarmament in the Scottish Parliament. http://www.ekklesia.co.uk/node/15735 Carol Clarke Fri, 18 Nov 2011 00:00:00 GMT El Salvador has bestowed the first 'Amigo de El Salvador' award on the London-based Archbishop Romero Trust, which celebrates the legacy of human rights advocate Archbishop Oscar Romero. On 11 November 2011 Hugo Martinez, El Salvador's minister for foreign affairs, presented a gold medallion at a London reception to the trust chair, Julian Filochowski, and said the award was in honour of the trust's stalwart social justice work. http://www.ekklesia.co.uk/node/15725 Carol Clarke Wed, 16 Nov 2011 00:00:00 GMT On November 8th, following Ethical Consumer's article on the ethics at outsourcing companies, a new Early Day Motion asking the Government to exclude companies with operations in tax havens from bidding for public service contracts was placed before the UK Parliament. The Motion has six sponsors: Caroline Lucas (Green), Jonathan Edwards (Plaid Cymru)), George Andrew (LibDem), Alan Meale (Lab), Adrian Sanders (Lib Dem) and Mike Weir (SNP). http://www.ethicalconsumer.org/LatestNews/All/tabid/857/EntryId/833/Tax-havens-and-public-service-providers.aspx Carol Clarke Wed, 16 Nov 2011 00:00:00 GMT VATICAN CITY, NOV. 10, 2011 (Zenit.org).- At a meeting with religious leaders from Israel, Benedict XVI affirmed that a rightly lived relationship with God is a force for peace. A delegation of Israel's Council of Religious Communities met with the Pope at the Vatican, representing Christian, Jewish, Muslim and Druze communities. http://www.zenit.org/article-33811?l=english Carol Clarke Mon, 14 Nov 2011 00:00:00 GMT Management at Nestle's giant Kabirwala dairy factory in Pakistan - a state-of-the art facility with a feudal industrial relations system - is criminalizing the union's fight for the rights of hundreds of contract workers at the plant. Email Nestle http://www.justiceandpeacescotland.org.uk/MorePublications/tabid/87/ctl/Details/mid/578/ItemID/361/Default.aspx Carol Clarke Mon, 14 Nov 2011 00:00:00 GMT Despite this year's vote by South Sudan for independence, churches in Sudan and South Sudan have decided to remain united, mainly to help denominations in Muslim-majority Sudan. Bishops of the Roman Catholic Church have approved maintaining one conference covering the two states, alluding to shared history and existing "very real practical human links." http://www.ekklesia.co.uk/node/15667 Carol Clarke Fri, 11 Nov 2011 00:00:00 GMT Human trafficking is serious, international, organised crime. The money generated from it (an estimated $32 billion per annum worldwide) is only marginally less than from arms dealing and drug smuggling. We call on the Government to establish an independent watchdog, in line with the recommendations of the CoE Convention on trafficking in human beings (#29.4), to which the UK is a party, to monitor the performance of key agencies ensuring that victims' needs and experience are central. The watchdog should report to Parliament on a regular basis to ensure transparency and accountability. http://epetitions.direct.gov.uk/petitions/19637 Carol Clarke Fri, 11 Nov 2011 00:00:00 GMT Church Action on Poverty says it is "delighted" at the first success of their campaign to 'Close the Gap' between rich and poor through fairer taxes. The government announced earlier this week that it is to close a tax loophole that has allowed retailers to avoid paying VAT by sending goods from subsidiaries in the Channel Islands. Low Value Consignment Relief (LVCR) will not apply to goods sent from the Channel Islands to the UK from 1 April. http://www.ekklesia.co.uk/node/15700 Carol Clarke Fri, 11 Nov 2011 00:00:00 GMT At the November G20 meeting, a growing group of G20 countries from South Africa to Brazil backed the Robin Hood Tax, and the link between the Robin Hood Tax and fighting poverty and climate change became clearer than ever. Momentum is building and leaves leaders like David Cameron who opposed the tax looking increasingly isolated having sided not with the 99% suffering the effects of the economic crisis, but the interests of a privileged few in the financial sector. http://robinhoodtax.org/latest/g20-verdict Carol Clarke Mon, 07 Nov 2011 00:00:00 GMT Commenting on the failure of the G20 to do anything to bring in a global system to deal with debt crises, Tim Jones, Policy Officer at Jubilee Debt Campaign said: "It is incredible that the in the midst of another global debt crisis, the most powerful countries are still failing to regulate irresponsible lenders." Jones continued: "An orderly system is needed to cancel unjust debts, neutral of both creditors and debtors. Yet the G20 seem happy to continue with the debt debacle currently being played out in Europe, as has been seen across the world for the last thirty years." http://www.ekklesia.co.uk/node/15662 Carol Clarke Sat, 05 Nov 2011 00:00:00 GMT Human Rights Watch has revealed that serious human rights violations persist in Burma, despite an apparent commitment by the government to defend human rights. HRW's deputy Asia director said yesterday that "while the new government has passed reformist laws and promised policy changes, the real test will be the reaction when Burmese citizens try to avail themselves of their rights." She added that "atrocities against civilians in conflict zones, torture of political prisoners, and courts that justify repression have been features of the first year of nominally civilian rule as much as the announced reforms." Human Rights Watch, 4th November http://www.hrw.org/news/2011/11/04/burma-year-after-elections-rights-concerns-persist Carol Clarke Fri, 04 Nov 2011 00:00:00 GMT The debates about lost cases, strong borders and foreign criminals seem to overlook that immigrants are human. Writing for the Institute for Race Relations on Nov 4, John Grayson maps the shift to the right taken by our political parties. He argues that ideas that once belonged to the BNP have been used by the Conservatives and the Labour party in an attempt to win votes. http://www.justiceandpeacescotland.org.uk/MorePublications/tabid/87/ctl/Details/mid/578/ItemID/355/Default.aspx Carol Clarke Fri, 04 Nov 2011 00:00:00 GMT Representatives from 15 faith traditions gathered at the Sacred Land Celebration in Assisi, Italy from 31 October to 2 November 2011 for the launch of the Green Pilgrimage Network, organised by the Alliance of Religions and Conservation (ARC) in association with the World Wildlife Fund(WWF). http://www.ekklesia.co.uk/node/15648 Carol Clarke Fri, 04 Nov 2011 00:00:00 GMT Chinese-run copper mining companies in Zambia routinely flout labor laws and regulations designed to protect workers' safety and the right to organize. Zambia's newly elected president, Michael Sata, a longtime critic of the Chinese labor practices, should act on his campaign promises to end the abuse and improve government regulation of the mining industry to ensure that all companies respect Zambia's labor laws. Human Rights Watch, 03/11/11 http://www.hrw.org/news/2011/11/03/zambia-workers-detail-abuse-chinese-owned-mines Carol Clarke Fri, 04 Nov 2011 00:00:00 GMT Deteriorated Situations: Kenya, Philippines, Somalia, Yemen http://www.justiceandpeacescotland.org.uk/MorePublications/tabid/87/ctl/Details/mid/578/ItemID/346/Default.aspx Carol Clarke Wed, 02 Nov 2011 00:00:00 GMT Campaigners calling for justice for countries already suffering the impact of climate change will next month embark on a journey by caravan across 10 African countries to draw attention to the issue. Departing from Burundi, the Caravan of Hope will transport up to 200 African farmers, pastoralists and youth campaigners to Durban in South Africa where the UN climate talks are being held. http://www.ekklesia.co.uk/node/15622 Carol Clarke Wed, 02 Nov 2011 00:00:00 GMT Newly uncovered documents by Jubilee Debt Campaign reveal that Vince Cable’s Department for Business is still demanding money from the Egyptian government in payment for loans made to General Mubarak to allow him to buy arms. Egypt owes £100 million to the Export Credits Guarantee Department (ECGD), nicknamed ‘the Department for Dodgy Deals’ because of its support for arms, aviation and fossil fuels. http://www.jubileedebtcampaign.org.uk/Vince3720Cable3727s3720department3720demanding3720payment3720for3720arms3720sales3720to3720Mubarak+7296.twl Carol Clarke Wed, 02 Nov 2011 00:00:00 GMT Victims of human trafficking who end up in the UK could be forced to claim asylum to stay in the country, the general secretary of the Immigration Law Practitioners Group has warned. Alison Harvey said asylum claims would continue to be publicly funded under the legal aid bill, but other immigration cases would not, apart from those involving detention or questions of national security. Solicitors Journal, 25 October 2011 http://www.solicitorsjournal.com/story.asp?sectioncode=2&storycode=19128&c=1&eclipse_action=getsession Carol Clarke Thu, 27 Oct 2011 00:00:00 GMT The Pontifical Council for Justice & Peace has just published a document about Reforming the International Financial and Monetary Systems in a way that Responds to the Needs of all Peoples. It contains a good history of recent economics as seen through Catholic Social Teaching and would make an excellent basis for discussion by J&P groups old and new. The document can be read in under half an hour and gives a good non technical grounding to consider the present economic crisis. http://www.news.va/en/news/full-text-note-on-financial-reform-from-the-pontif Carol Clarke Thu, 27 Oct 2011 00:00:00 GMT In May 2010 the Government announced that it would end the immigration detention of children. But between May 2011 and the end of August 2011, 697 children were held at Greater London and South East ports. Almost one third were unaccompanied children. This could mean as many as 2,000 children are being detained each year. The Children's Society, 17 October 2011. http://www.childrenssociety.org.uk/news-views/press-release/almost-700-children-detained-three-months Carol Clarke Tue, 25 Oct 2011 00:00:00 GMT Burma's armed forces have committed serious abuses against ethnic Kachin civilians in renewed fighting in Kachin State, Human Rights Watch said today. Since hostilities began over five months ago against the Kachin Independence Army (KIA), Burmese armed forces have been responsible for killings and attacks on civilians, using forced labor, and pillaging villages, which has resulted in the displacement of an estimated 30,000 Kachin civilians. Human Rights Watch, October 18, 2011 http://www.hrw.org/news/2011/10/18/burma-army-committing-abuses-kachin-state Carol Clarke Mon, 24 Oct 2011 00:00:00 GMT Article by Amelia Gentleman, Guardian.co.uk, Monday 17 October 2011 "After promising last year to end child detention in failed asylum cases – and closing the notorious Yarl's Wood unit – the government opened a smart new centre for deportees. But isn't this still detention?" http://www.medicaljustice.org.uk/news/articles/1896-guardian--qchild-detention-has-the-government-broken-its-promise-to-end-itq-171011.html Carol Clarke Mon, 24 Oct 2011 00:00:00 GMT Asylum Procedures and Reception Conditions Directives. House of Commons / 13 Oct 2011 http://www.justiceandpeacescotland.org.uk/MorePublications/tabid/87/ctl/Details/mid/578/ItemID/340/Default.aspx Carol Clarke Mon, 24 Oct 2011 00:00:00 GMT The United Nations independent expert on the situation of human rights in Iran today voiced concern over alleged violations in the country's judicial system, citing practices such as torture, cruel or degrading treatment of detainees, and the imposition of the death penalty without proper safeguards. http://www.unhcr.org/refworld/docid/4ea10e192.html Carol Clarke Mon, 24 Oct 2011 00:00:00 GMT Jubilee Debt Campaign: Comedian and activist Mark Thomas narrates their new short film explaining how Britain’s Dodgy Deals continue to result in unjust debt around the world. These debts have arisen from supporting deals with dictators, arms exports, and projects which have harmed people’s human rights and environment. http://www.jubileedebtcampaign.org.uk/ Carol Clarke Mon, 24 Oct 2011 00:00:00 GMT Graeme Morrice, MP for Livingston, has tabled Early Day Motion 2205 calling on parliament to support the aims of debt week and push for the cancellation of unfair and unpayable debts owed to the UK. Please email, write or visit your MP asking them to sign this motion. You can view the motion here. Carol Clarke Fri, 14 Oct 2011 00:00:00 GMT The Scottish Government has published their draft budget , but it does not currently fund even the minimum activities required if we’re to meet the greenhouse gas emissions reduction targets in our Climate Change Act. Please contact your MSP www.stopclimatechaos.org/msp-special-action Carol Clarke Wed, 12 Oct 2011 00:00:00 GMT One of the 2011 Nobel Peace Prize winners, Leymah Gbowee, a Liberian activist who helped bring her country out of a brutal civil war, says that the best way to achieve global peace is to start in local communities. "It is time for us to do justice in our communities ... one day the world's problems will meet you at your doorstep," she said at the Interchurch Center in New York. http://www.ekklesia.co.uk/node/15532 Carol Clarke Wed, 12 Oct 2011 00:00:00 GMT Reports from the BBC's Uzbek service and other Uzbek news sources confirm that the 2011 cotton harvest has started and yet again children and adults are being forced to pick cotton, with some schoolchildren reported to have been working 7 days a week under watch by local administration observers. http://uzbekgermanforum.org/category/chronicle-of-forced-child-labour-2011/ Carol Clarke Mon, 10 Oct 2011 00:00:00 GMT "Among the many things that Liberal Democrats can be proud of when squaring up to their critics, Clegg told delegates, was that child detention has “ended”. Michael Moore, the Lib Dem Secretary of State for Scotland, was a little more circumspect. Borrowing - perhaps inadvertently - from Star Trek, he declared: “We have ended child detention as we know it.” .... While Moore, Brake and Clegg may be able to spot the difference in the child detention we knew, can anyone else? http://www.medicaljustice.org.uk/news/articles/1862-opendemocracy--qin-nick-cleggs-fantasy-world-child-detention-in-the-uk-has-endedq-2709qq.html Carol Clarke Wed, 05 Oct 2011 00:00:00 GMT http://www.justiceandpeacescotland.org.uk/Portals/0/Magazine/2011_issue5_oct.pdf SuperUser Account Sat, 01 Oct 2011 00:00:00 GMT Labour's Shadow Trade Minister Wilf Stevenson has said it is "completely bonkers" that the Ministry of Defence (MoD) effectively lobbies within government for the interests of private arms companies. http://www.justiceandpeacescotland.org.uk/MorePublications/tabid/87/ctl/Details/mid/578/ItemID/330/Default.aspx Carol Clarke Wed, 28 Sep 2011 00:00:00 GMT The importance of the work of human rights defenders is recognised in international conventions. The UN Declaration on Human Rights Defenders lists several fundamental rights necessary for the work of human rights defenders, such as freedom of association, peaceful assembly, expression and opinion. Many of these rights are also enshrined in other binding human rights treaties of the UN, in the European Convention on Human Rights and in the OSCE commitments. http://www.justiceandpeacescotland.org.uk/MorePublications/tabid/87/ctl/Details/mid/578/ItemID/326/Default.aspx Carol Clarke Fri, 16 Sep 2011 00:00:00 GMT In response to a previous article on complaining to the media, Joint Council for the Welfare of Immigrants (JCWI) were asked to provide ammunition in the form of exactly what asylum seekers do get whilst waiting for a decision. there are so many incidences of tabloids reporting asylum seekers of living in the lap of luxury and costing a huge amount to accommodate, it is necessary to point out the facts. JCWI 15th September 2011 http://jcwi.wordpress.com/2011/09/15/the-real-deal-for-asylum-seekers/ Carol Clarke Fri, 16 Sep 2011 00:00:00 GMT The UK government exports arms to Algeria, Iraq, Libya, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates; Put your MP to work demand they sign EDM 2166. Early Day Motions are very good ways of raising issues in parliament, which may not get debated in normal sittings of parliament. You can contact your MP for free, through: WriteToThem.Com http://www.parliament.uk/edm/2010-12/2166 Carol Clarke Tue, 13 Sep 2011 00:00:00 GMT THE number of children being brought up in Scottish households where no adults are working has increased. Under-16s living in homes without adults with paid jobs rose to 145,000 (15.8 per cent of all under-16s) this year from 141,000 (15.3 per cent) last year. http://www.justiceandpeacescotland.org.uk/MorePublications/tabid/87/ctl/Details/mid/578/ItemID/322/Default.aspx Carol Clarke Tue, 06 Sep 2011 00:00:00 GMT With less than a year to go before the start of the London 2012 Olympic & Paralympic Games, Anti Slavery are launching a new campaign for a Slavery-Free London to draw attention to the potential risk of an increase in modern slavery connected to the 2012 Games, and ensure more is done to stop it in the run up to and during the event. http://www.justiceandpeacescotland.org.uk/MorePublications/tabid/87/ctl/Details/mid/578/ItemID/317/Default.aspx Carol Clarke Fri, 02 Sep 2011 00:00:00 GMT Ask your MP to complete the poverty survey To mark the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty (17 October) this year, the All-Party Parliamntary Group on Poverty are launching a survey of MPs and peers. They want to identify the key areas policy-makers should be focussng on to address the long-standing problems of poverty and social exclusion in the UK. http://action.church-poverty.org.uk/ea-action/action?ea.client.id=128&ea.campaign.id=11738&forwarded=true Carol Clarke Tue, 23 Aug 2011 00:00:00 GMT A children's charity has come under fire for its role supporting families held while awaiting deportation. Rosie Scammell, Guardian. Tuesday 23 August 2011 T http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2011/aug/23/pre-departure-accommodation-centre-barnardos Carol Clarke Tue, 23 Aug 2011 00:00:00 GMT tkrhordugfujpbist-8h0 Carol Clarke Tue, 16 Aug 2011 00:00:00 GMT President Aquino came into power a year ago. Since then, his military has been linked to the murder of seven activists and the disappearance of three more. Investigations into military-related killings and disappearances often lose momentum quickly or are stopped entirely, allowing the military to continue their violence unchecked. Take action sign the petition http://www.thepetitionsite.com/takeaction/757/326/118/?z00m=20038057 Carol Clarke Mon, 15 Aug 2011 00:00:00 GMT This month Church Action on Poverty are calling on you to speak out about legal loan sharks where you live as thousands of low-income families are being charged 500% APR for credit. http://www.justiceandpeacescotland.org.uk/MorePublications/tabid/87/ctl/Details/mid/578/ItemID/308/Default.aspx Carol Clarke Mon, 15 Aug 2011 00:00:00 GMT Urgent Request from Anti Slavery International http://www.justiceandpeacescotland.org.uk/MorePublications/tabid/87/ctl/Details/mid/578/ItemID/309/Default.aspx Carol Clarke Mon, 15 Aug 2011 00:00:00 GMT Government forces in Ivory Coast have been accused by the United Nations of a spate of extra-judicial killings targeting supporters of former president Laurent Gbagbo, including a 17-month old baby. They have documented 26 cases of extra-judicial killings, 85 arbitrary arrests and 11 cases of rape," said Guillaume Ngefa, the peacekeeping mission's human-rights officer. By Daniel Howden, Indpendent, Saturday, 13 August 2011 http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/africa/troops-blamed-for-mass-graves-in-ivory-coast-2336887.html Carol Clarke Sat, 13 Aug 2011 00:00:00 GMT A recent survey shows that 81% of Scottish people polled were aware of Fair Trade products, above the UK average of 77% who are aware of the Fairtrade Mark. Read more from a recent survey by the Scottish Fair Trade Forum online http://www.justiceandpeacescotland.org.uk/MorePublications/tabid/87/ctl/Details/mid/578/ItemID/302/Default.aspx Carol Clarke Thu, 11 Aug 2011 00:00:00 GMT Bangladesh and India: Floods and landslides displace 200,000 people in north-east India and 150,000 in south-east Bangladesh. China: Natural disasters forced 2.96 million people to evacuate their homes and caused the collapse of 274,000 buildings in the People's Republic of China over the first six months of 2011. In 2010 over 42 million people were displaced by natural disasters http://www.internal-displacement.org/8025708F004D31AA/(httpIDPNewsAlerts)/40E3E13B5 Carol Clarke Thu, 11 Aug 2011 00:00:00 GMT In a bid to break the silence around violence against children, Tanzanian authorities launched a five-year plan on 9 August to eliminate all forms of violence against children, including sexual, physical and emotional abuse. "Levels of violence [against children] reported are high in all settings; forms of violence reported and described are equally disturbing, including being beaten, tortured, sexually assaulted and even murdered," Sophia Simba, the Minister for Community Development, Gender and Children, said in Dar es Salaam during the launch of a survey on the subject. The report identifies the perpetrators of violence as including parents, guardians, relatives and teachers as well as other people entrusted with daily care of children. IRIN, 9 August 2011 http://www.irinnews.org/report.aspx?reportid=93465 Carol Clarke Wed, 10 Aug 2011 00:00:00 GMT The UN Security Council's response to the recent bloodshed in Syria is deeply inadequate, Amnesty International says, after the council released a statement condemning the Syrian government's deadly crackdown on protesters. The UN statement called for an end to violence and said it "condemned the widespread violation of human rights by the Syrian authorities", but fell short of taking decisive action. The call was issued as a presidential statement, which is not legally binding. http://www.ekklesia.co.uk/node/15200 Carol Clarke Fri, 05 Aug 2011 00:00:00 GMT Excellent defence of fair trade by Margaret McGowan of Motherwell J&P and by Martin Rhodes, Director, Scottish Fair Trade Forum in recent editions of the Herald Carol Clarke Wed, 03 Aug 2011 00:00:00 GMT Parts of Somalia, Kenya and Ethiopia are facing one of the worst droughts for 60 years, and nearly 12 million people are desperately in need of food, clean water and basic sanitation. Despite the urgency of the situation, most world leaders are responding too slowly. Immediate aid is essential. Yet at the same time we must not let them drop the ball on long term solutions as has too often happened in the past. http://act.one.org/sign/horn_of_africa/?referring_akid=.5043259.Ek7Qpw&source=taf Carol Clarke Mon, 01 Aug 2011 00:00:00 GMT During July the Government released its long-awaited anti-trafficking strategy, but charities including Anti-Slavery International, have warned that it places too much emphasis on border control and not enough on protecting the victims. To find out more, please read: Anti-Slavery's full statement here The Government's strategy here Carol Clarke Mon, 01 Aug 2011 00:00:00 GMT http://www.justiceandpeacescotland.org.uk/Portals/0/Magazine/2011_issue4_aug.pdf SuperUser Account Mon, 01 Aug 2011 00:00:00 GMT Scottish Churches Housing Action announced details of a seminar on 30 September 2011 to bring housing professionals and activists together to assess progress towards the Scottish Government's target of an entitlement to a home for almost all homeless people by 2012. http://www.justiceandpeacescotland.org.uk/MorePublications/tabid/87/ctl/Details/mid/578/ItemID/293/Default.aspx Carol Clarke Fri, 29 Jul 2011 00:00:00 GMT When the government announced last year that it would end the detention of children for immigration purposes, it felt as if a ray of sunshine had broken into a debate that had become increasingly dark and cruel. Natasha Walter guardian.co.uk, Wednesday 27 July 2011 http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2011/jul/27/refugees-nick-clegg-promises-detention Carol Clarke Wed, 27 Jul 2011 00:00:00 GMT Letters to the Guardian on the 60th anniversary of the signing of the refugee convention. Wednesday 27 July http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2011/jul/27/justice-for-asylum-seekers Carol Clarke Wed, 27 Jul 2011 00:00:00 GMT They came from all corners of the world: Hungary, Cyprus, Uganda, Ghana, Kosovo and Liberia. Britain was their sanctuary, a safe haven from the violence and persecution that had been visited on them in their homelands. They are all beneficiaries of a system designed after the Second World War to prevent the persecution of refugees. The Independent, Andrew McCorkell, 24 July 2011 http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/politics/safe-havens-in-a-hostile-world-ndash-for-60-years-2319537.html Carol Clarke Mon, 25 Jul 2011 00:00:00 GMT Channel 4 recently screened a Dispatches documentary, The Real Price of Gold. You can watch again online and see some of the issues with the gold that is available to buy on the high street. The programme highlights the need for Fairtrade and Fairmined Gold. Watch it again here and sign the pledge opposing dirty gold Carol Clarke Thu, 07 Jul 2011 00:00:00 GMT Community leaders in countries including Nepal, Bangladesh, Mozambique and Yemen have written to British cabinet ministers Chris Huhne and Andrew Mitchell rejecting the loans the UK is providing to their countries to help them cope with climate change. http://www.jubileedebtcampaign.org.uk/Developing%20country%20groups%20slam%20UK%20climate%20loans+7076.twl Carol Clarke Mon, 04 Jul 2011 00:00:00 GMT A new short film made to mark the anniversary of the 1951 Refugee Convention The film was made in early 2011 by six men and women from across the world - who all came to Scotland seeking safety. They created the film with the assistance of Media Co-op and Scottish Refugee Council. Courage was launched on Monday, June 20 as part of Refugee Week. http://www.scottishrefugeecouncil.org.uk/courage?utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=July+4th+2011&utm_content=July+4th+2011+CID_ff6fef940f433ae0d0e987644f150ec5&utm_source=Enewsletter&utm_term=WATCH+THE+FILM Carol Clarke Mon, 04 Jul 2011 00:00:00 GMT Women and children who it is suspected have been trafficked into the UK should no longer be treated as criminals, according to new guidance to prosecutors issued by the Crown Prosecution Service. Robert Booth, guardian.co.uk, Sunday 3 July 2011 http://www.guardian.co.uk/law/2011/jul/03/human-trafficking-victims-criminals-cps Carol Clarke Mon, 04 Jul 2011 00:00:00 GMT National figures indicate the silent crisis of the 42% (5,000,000) children who are not in school due to poverty and vulnerability and an acute shortage of funding due to a very low response to education projects under CAP 2011. The continued shrinking of humanitarian space and accessible areas to humanitarian agencies, and the looming transition is making programme implementation including regular monitoring difficult. Relief Web, 26/06/11 http://reliefweb.int/node/422364 Carol Clarke Thu, 30 Jun 2011 00:00:00 GMT Lawyers acting on behalf of Campaign Against Arms Trade (CAAT) have written to the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) laying out their intention to request a judicial review of his department's failure to revoke any licences for the export of military equipment to Saudi Arabia, despite evidence that UK-manufactured armoured vehicles have been deployed by the Saudi government in Bahrain to help suppress democracy protesters. The UK government's export licensing criteria states that it will "not issue an export licence if there is a clear risk that the proposed export might be used for internal repression". http://www.caat.org.uk/press/archive.php?url=20110624prs Carol Clarke Thu, 30 Jun 2011 00:00:00 GMT There are lass than 400 days to go until the London Olympic games. Yet for workers in Indonesia production is ramping up, pressure is mounting, and the likelihood is that rights are few and far between. For many workers producing sportswear such as that worn by athletes competing in the Olympic Games, the right to stand together with other workers and demand a fairer deal is crucial. Yet this is a right that is systematically denied to workers across the board. Take action today http://www.playfair2012.org.uk/2011/06/no-rights-action/ Carol Clarke Wed, 29 Jun 2011 00:00:00 GMT International lawyers have identified an existing but previously unacknowledged requirement in law for those who use or authorise the use of drone strikes to record and announce who has been killed and injured in each attack. The finding is contained in a new report, 'Drone Attacks, International Law, and the Recording of Civilian Casualties of Armed Conflict', published today (23 June) by London-based think tank Oxford Research Group (ORG). http://www.ekklesia.co.uk/node/14996 Carol Clarke Fri, 24 Jun 2011 00:00:00 GMT Peace campaigners across Britain have been remembering anti-war activist Brian Haw, who died of cancer at the weekend. They want a permanent memorial in Parliament Square. Mr Haw, who is survived by his former wife Kay, and seven children, set up a high profile camp opposite the Houses of Parlaiment in 2001, in protest against UK and US wars in Afghanistan, Iraq and elsewhere. http://www.ekklesia.co.uk/node/14994 Carol Clarke Fri, 24 Jun 2011 00:00:00 GMT Britain's ongoing operations against Muammar Gaddafi have cost around £260 million, the Ministry of Defence has confirmed. By Alex Stevenson at politics.co.uk http://www.politics.co.uk/news/2011/06/23/libya-mounting-military-bill-reaches-260m? Carol Clarke Thu, 23 Jun 2011 00:00:00 GMT Peace activists convicted for nuclear protest at AWE Aldermaston Three Christian peace protesters were convicted on 21 June at Newbury Magistrates Court of Criminal Trespass under the Serious Organised Crime and Police Act (SOCPA), and Criminal Damage. The convictions follow a protest at the Atomic Weapons Establishment in September 2010 organised by the Catholic Worker movement. The three, Susan Clarkson (64), Chris Cole (47) both from Oxford, and Fr Martin Newell (42) from London were Conditional Discharged for 18 months and ordered to pay £553 each costs and compensation. http://www.ekklesia.co.uk/node/14985 Carol Clarke Wed, 22 Jun 2011 00:00:00 GMT Just last week, the International Labour Organization (ILO) made a historic step forward in protecting up to 100 million domestic workers worldwide from slavery and exploitation by officially adopting a new landmark Convention on Domestic Work http://www.justiceandpeacescotland.org.uk/MorePublications/tabid/87/ctl/Details/mid/578/ItemID/271/Default.aspx Carol Clarke Tue, 21 Jun 2011 00:00:00 GMT The Trident 'initial gate' report has announced that the expected cost of building the new nuclear weapon submarines has doubled from that first announced . The case for a full review of the policy is now clearer than ever. Ask your MP to sign EDM 1924 'Trident Review' calling for a full reconsideration before the construction of replacement submarines begins. With cuts to spending hitting all areas of the public sector we must make it clear to MPs just how unacceptable it is to refuse to reconsider Britain's possession of nuclear weapons. Carol Clarke Tue, 21 Jun 2011 00:00:00 GMT Ministers have been warned by an official immigration watchdog of the "excessively long" periods, including cases of more than three years, that detainees are being held at Europe's largest removal centre. A "snapshot" taken last December showed that 35 detainees at Harmondsworth removal centre, near Heathrow airport, had been waiting more than 12 months to be deported, including seven who had been waiting more than two years. Harmondsworth's officially appointed independent monitoring board (IMB) said one man had been held in detention for three years and seven months at a cost of £110 a night. The bill is already more than £144,000. http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2011/jun/17/immigration-detainees-held-years-harmondsworth Carol Clarke Fri, 17 Jun 2011 00:00:00 GMT European Governments: "Their silence and passivity are difficult to accept. When preventing migrants from coming has become more important than saving lives, something has gone dramatically wrong." http://www.justiceandpeacescotland.org.uk/MorePublications/tabid/87/ctl/Details/mid/578/ItemID/266/Default.aspx Carol Clarke Tue, 14 Jun 2011 00:00:00 GMT A major inquiry into human trafficking will be launched this week amid claims that slavery remains as much of a problem in modern Britain as when it was abolished more than 200 years ago. Among the investigation's aims will be to establish the scale of human trafficking and slavery in Britain. Between April 2009 and March last year, 706 potential victims of slavery were formally identified in the UK. Up to 18,000 women and children are also believed to have been trafficked into the UK and forced to work as prostitutes. Mark Townsend, The Observer, Sunday 12 June 2011 Carol Clarke Tue, 14 Jun 2011 00:00:00 GMT The Refugee Council is calling for people who’ve waited more than six months for a decision on their asylum claim, and people who’ve been refused asylum but are unable to leave the UK through no fault of their own, to be allowed to work to support themselves. To get involved, email campaigns@refugeecouncil.org.uk with the name of your MP, or just your postcode if you’re unsure who your MP is. We’ll tell you if your MP has signed the declaration and if they haven’t, we’ll give you all the information you need to go and see them in person to discuss the campaign. A face-to-face meeting with your MP is a powerful way of showing your support for people who’ve come to the UK to escape war, torture and persecution. Carol Clarke Tue, 14 Jun 2011 00:00:00 GMT The Refugee Council supports Outcry! and is calling on the Government to urgently end child detention and put children's welfare at the heart of asylum policy. There is no practical reason why the detention of children should not be stopped today. Tell your MP that child detention must end today Carol Clarke Tue, 14 Jun 2011 00:00:00 GMT Scottish parliament urged to implement marine protected areas Green MSP Alison Johnstone has urged the Scottish Parliament to back calls from Scottish Environment LINK for a strong network of Marine Protected Areas using the powers set out in the Marine Act passed at Holyrood in 2010. The call came on the third annual UN-recognised World Oceans Day, which this year recognises the particular contribution young people make to protecting our seas. http://www.ekklesia.co.uk/node/14917 Carol Clarke Fri, 10 Jun 2011 00:00:00 GMT At least 70 Iraqi refugees have been rounded up in the UK over the last few weeks, as the UK government plans a controversial mass deportation charter flight to Baghdad. Officials from the Iraqi government are currently visiting detainees to confirm their identities so that they can be deported, as part of an agreement between the two governments. The majority of the detainees have refused to meet with the officials in protest at their role in the deportations. http://www.justiceandpeacescotland.org.uk/MorePublications/tabid/87/ctl/Details/mid/578/ItemID/263/Default.aspx Carol Clarke Thu, 09 Jun 2011 00:00:00 GMT The latest issue of Nuclear Free Scotland looks at the opportunities presented by the results of the Scottish election and includes articles from MSPs Elaine Smith, Jean Urquhart and Alison Johnstone. It also has reports on the latest developments with Trident, nuclear submarine safety, and a recent Scotland's for Peace conference on Afghanistan. http://banthebomb.org/ne/publications/magazine-mainmenu-86/81-recent/1335-nuclear-free-scotland-june-2011.html?2991885b8bb60c17f4bb965ee2ff547f=2272a75979114f3dbcb75e5ebac3c8a6 Carol Clarke Wed, 08 Jun 2011 00:00:00 GMT As US troops are primed to leave Iraq and the situation in Iraq's disputed territories remains unresolved, the likelihood of escalating tensions along the so-called trigger line increases. While communication and cooperation between Iraqi army and Kurdish regional guard forces has improved, they continue to face off across this unmarked line of control, which meanders through an elongated territory that is rich in ethnic diversity and, by twist of nature, oil, stretching from the Syrian to the Iranian border. Their tenuous relationship could come unglued when the US presence in their midst changes from military to civilian at the end of this year. http://www.crisisgroup.org/en/regions/middle-east-north-africa/iraq-syria-lebanon/hiltermann-of-blood-oil-and-kurdistan.aspx Carol Clarke Thu, 02 Jun 2011 00:00:00 GMT http://www.justiceandpeacescotland.org.uk/Portals/0/Magazine/2011_issue3_jun.pdf SuperUser Account Wed, 01 Jun 2011 00:00:00 GMT The number of applications for asylum, excluding dependants, was 11 per cent higher in Q1 2011 (4,845) compared with Q1 2010 (4,355). This represents the first quarter since Q2 2009 for which the number of applications is higher than the quarter a year earlier. http://www.justiceandpeacescotland.org.uk/MorePublications/tabid/87/ctl/Details/mid/578/ItemID/257/Default.aspx Carol Clarke Fri, 27 May 2011 00:00:00 GMT Dave Prentis, UNISON General Secretary has written to the Acting Chief Executive of the UK Border Agency (UKBA), warning over the dangers of cutting funds paid to councils for caring and supporting unaccompanied child asylum seekers. Cuts of up to 15%* to some local authorities are set to create a two tier system, with child asylum seekers receiving significantly worse care. http://www.justiceandpeacescotland.org.uk/MorePublications/tabid/87/ctl/Details/mid/578/ItemID/256/Default.aspx Carol Clarke Thu, 26 May 2011 00:00:00 GMT The report is based on detailed research into the cases of 82 families with 143 children who were detained during 2009, and uses data from 82 clients' case files, interviews with 30 family members and 27 legal representatives, and full Home Office files for 10 families. http://www.biduk.org/501/news/bid-has-published-new-research-on-detention-of-children.html Carol Clarke Thu, 26 May 2011 00:00:00 GMT The hidden world of child sexual exploitation hit the headlines last week, with the announcement by children's minister Tim Loughton of a new action plan to tackle the crime. This was a welcome acknowledgment that child trafficking is a much bigger problem than the government thought. Carol Clarke Tue, 24 May 2011 00:00:00 GMT Church action on Poverty are working in partership with Co-operatives UK to promote this year's Co-operatives Fortnight. Co-operatives UK share Church Action on Poverty's concern at the scale of the growing gap between rich and poor. They're using Co-operatives Fortnight this year to call for action to narrow the gap, by sharing wealth and ownership in a co-operative way. They want 100,000 people to sign a petition calling for action. http://action.church-poverty.org.uk/ea-action/action?ea.client.id=128&ea.campaign.id=10596&ea.url.id=55802&ea.campaigner.email=mlA2yKu7n%2FlvKVgDxsdVZCP9js%2BAZnLUNdJsDrsszNm5JMfGARG8VdrcDH03ZZvz&ea_broadcast_target_id=0&forwarded=true Carol Clarke Fri, 20 May 2011 00:00:00 GMT The Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament condemned the decision to authorise billions of pounds of further spending on the Trident replacement programme, prior to the major decision point on the nuclear weapons system, not due to be taken until 2016. However, CND welcomed the launch of a government study into alternatives to Trident, to be led by Lib Dem Defence Minister Nick Harvey as providing the opportunity for other options – so far excluded for reasons of dogma rather than on an evidential basis – to be considered. http://www.cnduk.org/media/item/1146-trident-spending-approval-condemned-by-campaigners Carol Clarke Thu, 19 May 2011 00:00:00 GMT The Home Secretary is resisting calls from Italy, which has borne the brunt of thousands of refugees crossing the Mediterranean, for other EU countries to "share the burden" of accommodating the new arrivals. Britain is offering to help the Italian government cope with the refugees, but insisting none will be given shelter in the UK. By Nigel Morris, Deputy Political Editor, Independent, Friday, 13 May 2011 http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/britain-declines-to-share-the-burden-of-refugees-2283361.html Carol Clarke Fri, 13 May 2011 00:00:00 GMT An increasing number of parties to armed conflicts around the world are deliberately attacking schools or forcing them to close in a disturbing and growing trend, according to a United Nations report released today. The annual report of the Secretary-General's Special Representative for Children and Armed Conflict finds that out of 22 conflicts that were monitored, attacks against schools and hospitals were reported in at least 15. Reliefweb 11/05/11 http://reliefweb.int/node/401288 Carol Clarke Fri, 13 May 2011 00:00:00 GMT As with countless countries around the world that have a wealth of natural resources, Zambia’s mineral riches won’t last forever. Men and women in resource-rich countries are unaware of how much foreign mining companies pay for their birthright in the form of taxes and royalties. Without this information, they can’t call for a fair share of the profits to be spent on schools, hospitals and basic services like electricity. Please email Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne! http://www.cafod.org.uk/get-involved/take-action/open-up-the-books?utm_medium=ET_mail93893&Utm_content=admin@justice-and-peace.org.uk&Utm_campaign=132011May&Utm_source=E-Alert+country+by+country+reporting Carol Clarke Fri, 13 May 2011 00:00:00 GMT Email the Treasury now asking it to support strong and effective regulation to stop banks from betting on hunger. The Treasury is the government department which decides whether the UK will support international regulation to rein in excessive speculation on food prices. http://www.wdm.org.uk/stop-bankers-betting-food/regulate-food-speculation?utm_medium=email&utm_source=World+Development+Movement&utm_campaign=Food%2fCountryfile&dm_i=7XY,F93C,TWVVH,188GF,1 Carol Clarke Thu, 12 May 2011 00:00:00 GMT Since the recession hit, a third of families are now spending more each month than they have coming into their households. Four in 10 Britons are worried about their debt, five million are permanently overdrawn, and 22% will carry a credit card debt throughout 2011. The payday lending industry and other legal loan sharks are taking advantage of a lack of access to credit faced by many of these consumers as they try to make ends meet, lending them money on which they charge interest rates up to 4,000% or more. http://action.church-poverty.org.uk/ea-campaign/clientcampaign.do?ea.client.id=128&ea.campaign.id=10540&ea.url.id=55320&ea.campaigner.email=mlA2yKu7n%2FlvKVgDxsdVZCP9js%2BAZnLUNdJsDrsszNm5JMfGARG8VdrcDH03ZZvz&ea_broadcast_target_id=0&forwarded=true Carol Clarke Wed, 11 May 2011 00:00:00 GMT http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scottish_Parliament_general_election,_2011 Carol Clarke Fri, 06 May 2011 00:00:00 GMT 50,000 civilians flee Somalia in first quarter, double from a year earlier The UN refugee agency said Friday that an increasing number of Somali civilians were fleeing their country amid the deteriorating security situation, with 50,000 arriving in neighbouring countries in the first quarter of this year compared to 23,000 in the same period in 2010. UNHCR 29 April 2011 http://www.unhcr.org/4dbac2516.html Carol Clarke Tue, 03 May 2011 00:00:00 GMT In a world where any level of state violence is deemed acceptable (so long as it’s ours) it is good to find a dissenting voice to the unholy myth of redemptive violence. See the Vatican response http://www.ekklesia.co.uk/node/14683 and a valuable reflection by Simon Barrow http://www.ekklesia.co.uk/node/14686 Carol Clarke Tue, 03 May 2011 00:00:00 GMT "HIV patients at a London hospital have in effect been imprisoned following a move by immigration officials to secure the sexual health unit, NHS consultants claim. ... HIV specialist Ben Holden, a consultant at the hospital, said: "The unit is now a prison for us all. Our windows only open two inches but UKBA have installed chunky locks on them. We were told they would bring removable window restraints but these are permanent. No detainee has ever absconded or attempted to abscond. As doctors we believe that to keep immigration detainees restrained or locked in is discriminatory. I don't want to be part of a process that treats people in a less than human way." ...Emma Ginn, co-ordinator of the charity Medical Justice – which recently published Detained and Denied, a report cataloguing examples of poor medical treatment for HIV-positive detainees – said: "Along with the potentially lethal medical abuse they suffer in detention centres detainees are suffering sub-human conditions in hospital." http://www.medicaljustice.org.uk/content/view/1754/69/ Carol Clarke Mon, 02 May 2011 00:00:00 GMT The widespread and growing use of immigration detention has come under considerable scrutiny in recent years on pragmatic (practical and functional) as well as human rights/legal grounds. This study articulates the current state of international law governing detention and its alternatives, and provides a critical overview of existing and possible alternatives to detention (A2Ds) options drawn from empirical research. Research visits were conducted to five countries, namely Australia, Belgium, Canada, Hong Kong, and the United Kingdom. http://www.unhcr.org/refworld/docid/4dc935fd2.html Carol Clarke Mon, 02 May 2011 00:00:00 GMT “May the splendor of Christ reach the peoples of the Middle East,” the Pope prayed, after proclaiming the joy of the Resurrection. He called for a diplomatic rather than military solution to the conflict in Libya, and urged help for the civilians caught up in the fighting. http://www.catholicculture.org/news/headlines/index.cfm?storyid=10105 Carol Clarke Wed, 27 Apr 2011 00:00:00 GMT Anti-Slavery International’s latest research shows the continuation of child trafficking, a form of modern slavery, to cocoa farms in the Ivory Coast, which produces almost 40% of the world’s cocoa. Instead of going to school young boys are forced to spend long days hacking open cocoa pods with machetes, handling dangerous pesticides and carrying heavy loads - work that is deemed extremely hazardous, can lead to injury and ill-health, and that no young child should have to do. http://www.antislavery.org/english/campaigns/cocoa_traders/default.aspx Carol Clarke Wed, 27 Apr 2011 00:00:00 GMT Government 'Big Society' rhetoric is toothless and may be used to wash ministerial hands of responsibility for the impact of spending cuts, the Catholic Archbishop of Westminster warns. Archbishop Vincent Nichols, spiritual head of the Catholic Church in England and Wales, said he backed an expansion of voluntary and community engagement, but not at the expense of proper societal and governmental responsibility. http://www.ekklesia.co.uk/node/14592 Carol Clarke Tue, 19 Apr 2011 00:00:00 GMT Children are being held overnight in "degrading" conditions at Heathrow Airport, a watchdog has warned. The airport independent monitoring board (IMB) said facilities at the airport were "wholly unsuitable". "The UK Border Agency (UKBA) has again failed in its duty to treat everyone in its care in Heathrow holding rooms with decency," the watchdog's report said. BBC News, 18 April 2011 http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-13124556 Carol Clarke Tue, 19 Apr 2011 00:00:00 GMT Church leaders in Ivory Coast say they are preparing to respond to urgent humanitarian needs as the country adjusts to the deposition of former dictator Laurent Gbagbo on 11 April 2011, and the accession of democratically-elected president Alassane Ouattara http://www.ekklesia.co.uk/node/14582 Carol Clarke Tue, 19 Apr 2011 00:00:00 GMT The Home Office has cut advice and reception services for newly arrived asylum seekers by more than 60% . Br Stephen Power from Jesuit Refugee Services fears this will have a very detremental effect on the lives of some very vulnerable people. http://www.indcatholicnews.com/news.php?viewStory=18033 Carol Clarke Mon, 18 Apr 2011 00:00:00 GMT The Closing Gathering of the Poverty Truth Commission took place on Saturday afternoon in front of an audience of more than 350 people. A full copy of the report is now available on line http://www.povertytruthcommission.org/ Carol Clarke Mon, 18 Apr 2011 00:00:00 GMT Here at the gates of Faslane, there is no better place to say that it is not courageous of Britain to have these dreadful weapons of massdestruction. It is shameful to have them. If our government wished to trulybe courageous it would unilaterally give up its nuclear deterrent, givingthe witness and impetus for other nations to do the same. Trident is fast becoming obsolete, and we have the chance now to do theright thing and give it up. We have the chance to be peacemakers, echoingthe Easter desire of Jesus Christ for a lasting peace. We will all, I trust,continue working and praying together for this, and I thank you for thiswitness you all give today. May God bless each of you with deep peace, thisHoly Week and at Easter. http://www.justiceandpeacescotland.org.uk/MorePublications/tabid/87/ctl/Details/mid/578/ItemID/228/Default.aspx Carol Clarke Mon, 18 Apr 2011 00:00:00 GMT The announcement by the Coalition Government back in May 2010 that it would be ending the detention of children for immigration purposes was widely welcomed. Finally the wealth of accumulated evidence on the gap between policy and practice in decisions to detain, and on the negative impacts of detention on children’s mental and physical well-being was being taken into account. Or so it seemed. http://www.opendemocracy.net/ourkingdom/heaven-crawley/detaining-children-is-not- Carol Clarke Tue, 12 Apr 2011 00:00:00 GMT A Honduran palm oil company is looking for funds from the carbon markets even though they have been implicated in 16-25 assassinations of peasants in 2010 alone. During the first three months of this year, they have been linked again to violent attacks and kidnapping. Unless the British Government stops the sale of those carbon credits, which they can do, the company will further increase their profits and thus be able to pay even more armed paramilitaries and to continue oppressing the peasant communities that are reclaiming lands which are legally theirs http://www.rainforest-rescue.org Carol Clarke Tue, 12 Apr 2011 00:00:00 GMT ForcesWatch is a new network that challenges the ethics of military recruitment and questions government initiatives, such as Armed Forces Day, which seek to manufacture a climate of uncritical national pride in the armed forces in order to garner public support for foreign policy. http://www.forceswatch.net/ Carol Clarke Tue, 12 Apr 2011 00:00:00 GMT Home Alone: End Domestic Slavery campaign is gearing up for its most crucial time - the International Labour Conference in Geneva in June - where governments will vote as to whether a new international measure on domestic work will be created or not. Domestic workers are often seen as home ‘help' rather than a legitimate workforce meaning that they are often treated differently to all other workers who enjoy protection under the law, making them more vulnerable to exploitation and slavery. The new domestic work Convention would require countries around the world to change their laws to include domestic workers. Please ask your MP to urge the the Government to change its position and vote in favour of adopting the Convention. http://antislavery.org/english/campaigns/home_alone/write_to_your_mp.aspx Carol Clarke Tue, 12 Apr 2011 00:00:00 GMT 10 actual or potential conflict situations around the world deteriorated in March 2011, according to the latest issue of the International Crisis Group's monthly bulletin CrisisWatch. http://www.justiceandpeacescotland.org.uk/MorePublications/tabid/87/ctl/Details/mid/578/ItemID/216/Default.aspx Carol Clarke Fri, 01 Apr 2011 00:00:00 GMT Contact details for candidates in the Scottish election and initial responses to the survey on Trident have been added to the Scotland’s for Peace website Churches vote Being responsible Christians requires us to assess the candidates who are standing for election and to do this in light of the values of the Gospel. The aim of this website is to assist Christians in that task by making known the policy positions of parties and by drawing attention to important teachings of Christianity Scottish Catholic Parliamentary Office Compare the Parties Hustings Guidance Ask your MSP candidates to sign the Citizens for Sanctuary Pledge Stop Climat Chaos Scotland - A manifesto for climate action 2011 Scottish Parliament elections Carol Clarke Fri, 01 Apr 2011 00:00:00 GMT http://www.justiceandpeacescotland.org.uk/Portals/0/Magazine/2011_issue2_apr.pdf SuperUser Account Fri, 01 Apr 2011 00:00:00 GMT The Government has announced that it’s going to make the Vulture Funds law permanent. Many of you campaigned very hard to get this law passed in literally the last few minutes before the election last year. It was a tribute to people power – but there was a danger it would expire in June after a ‘sunset clause’ was added at the last minute. http://www.jubileedebtcampaign.org.uk/?lid=6852 Carol Clarke Wed, 30 Mar 2011 00:00:00 GMT http://ncadc.wordpress.com/2011/03/24/parliament-round-up-asylum-and-immigration/ Carol Clarke Fri, 25 Mar 2011 00:00:00 GMT George Osborne has completely failed to acknowledge the genuine hardship that millions of people in this country are now facing. The Budget speech did not make a single mention of people in poverty, or of the huge cuts which are about to affect the benefits system. The Government has not kept its promise to protect the poorest and most vulnerable from the impact of its spending cuts http://www.church-poverty.org.uk/news/2011budget Carol Clarke Fri, 25 Mar 2011 00:00:00 GMT http://www.medicaljustice.org.uk/content/view/1723/59/ Carol Clarke Wed, 23 Mar 2011 00:00:00 GMT We did it! Together we've just won our campaign for the UK to sign up to a new European law to tackle human trafficking. Thousands of you have taken action helping us reach an amazing 47,000 petition signatures! http://www.antislavery.org/english/press_and_news/news_and_press_releases_2009/trafficking_campaign_victory.aspx Carol Clarke Wed, 23 Mar 2011 00:00:00 GMT Pope Benedict XVI issued an urgent appeal yesterday, for military and political leaders to consider the safety of civilians during the attack on Libya http://www.indcatholicnews.com/news.php?viewStory=17895 Carol Clarke Mon, 21 Mar 2011 00:00:00 GMT Britain will resume enforcing the return of failed asylum seekers to Zimbabwe, the Government has said. The move comes after asylum judges ruled there was no evidence that those being returned would generally be at risk of harm. (The Press Association) http://www.google.com/hostednews/ukpress/article/ALeqM5irCv4e4ArRe10No2_LoRPJvEKoLA?docId=N0484241300125241474A Carol Clarke Wed, 16 Mar 2011 00:00:00 GMT British lawyers played a crucial role in drafting the Convention and the UK was one of the first countries to sign. The Refugee Convention has saved countless lives and no country has ever withdrawn from it. To mark this anniversary, we’re asking 10,000 people to join with us in speaking up for a great British tradition – refugee protection – by signing the pledge http://e-activist.com/ea-campaign/clientcampaign.do?ea.client.id=121&ea.campaign.id=9202&dm_i=I6P,DKCH,36ABMW,12P6Z,1 Carol Clarke Fri, 11 Mar 2011 00:00:00 GMT At the start of 2011, the people of South Sudan voted to become the world’s newest country. South Sudan is due to become independent in July, and negotiations are taking place right now on what should happen to Sudan’s $35 billion debt http://www.jubileedebtcampaign.org.uk/?lid=6817 Carol Clarke Fri, 11 Mar 2011 00:00:00 GMT Scottish CND has obtained a key Ministry of Defence document which explains why the Trident Replacement Initial Gate decision, due in September 2009, has been delayed for 18 months. The paper also reveals that the reactors on current British submarines are sub-standard. http://banthebomb.org/ne/trident-mainmenu-95/1312-trident-delay-caused-by-reactor-safety-concerns.html Carol Clarke Thu, 10 Mar 2011 00:00:00 GMT As reports by Human Rights Watch and formal documentation from the UN Human Rights Commission decry the worsening human rights situation in Côte D'Ivoire, many Ivoirians IRIN spoke with in Abidjan are appalled by recent acts of gruesome violence. "We are seeing any and all forms of killing," said an Ivoirian human rights activist who requested anonymity. "It's sheer horror we're living hereŠ People are being burned alive and hacked to bits with machetes," he said, adding that the violence seemed to be spiralling out of control. IRIN, Tuesday 8th March 2011 http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportID=92130 Carol Clarke Tue, 08 Mar 2011 00:00:00 GMT As reports by Human Rights Watch and formal documentation from the UN Human Rights Commission decry the worsening human rights situation in Côte d’Ivoire, many Ivoirians IRIN spoke with in Abidjan are appalled by recent acts of gruesome violence. http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportID=92130 Carol Clarke Tue, 08 Mar 2011 00:00:00 GMT THE future for hundreds of asylum seekers in Glasgow has been thrown into fresh doubt after claims a new contract to support and house them is on the brink of collapse. http://www.heraldscotland.com/news/home-news/asylum-deal-in-doubt-over-staff-transfer-1.1088875 Carol Clarke Mon, 07 Mar 2011 00:00:00 GMT The UK's scandalous approach to arms sales is in the spotlight. As protests against authoritarian regimes across the Middle East have been met with violent repression, CAAT has exposed the UK's role in arming the region. Right now, the government is under pressure and with your help we have a tremendous opportunity to turn that pressure into change http://www.caat.org.uk/campaigns/this-is-not-ok/ Carol Clarke Mon, 07 Mar 2011 00:00:00 GMT 21 Months Destitution and the asylum system. later is a follow-up to the Refugee Survival Trust and Red Cross joint research, 21 Days later, published in January 2009. The 21 days referring to the time period from refusal of asylum claim to support ending, and the report explored the causes and extent of destitution experienced by asylum claimants and refugees in Scotland based on analysis of more than five years worth of data http://www.destitutionaction.org.uk/ Carol Clarke Wed, 02 Mar 2011 00:00:00 GMT Popular revolt continued to convulse the Arab world in February. The rapid spread and escalation of unrest underlined the magnitude of events, but their pace makes the direction of change uncertain. Nine actual or potential conflict situations around the world deteriorated in February 2011, according to the latest issue of the International Crisis Group's monthly bulletin CrisisWatch. http://www.justiceandpeacescotland.org.uk/MorePublications/tabid/87/ctl/Details/mid/578/ItemID/196/Default.aspx Carol Clarke Wed, 02 Mar 2011 00:00:00 GMT Planning an Election Meeting http://www.justiceandpeacescotland.org.uk/Portals/0/Resources/hustingsuidancescottishelections2011.pdf Carol Clarke Wed, 02 Mar 2011 00:00:00 GMT The number of applications for asylum, excluding dependants, was 27 per cent lower in 2010 (17,790) compared with 2009 (24,485). http://www.justiceandpeacescotland.org.uk/MorePublications/tabid/87/ctl/Details/mid/578/ItemID/193/Default.aspx Carol Clarke Fri, 25 Feb 2011 00:00:00 GMT Asylum seekers should have the right to lodge their claims for asylum in Scotland according to a report issued on Friday, 25 February. The report, 21 Months Later, produced by the British Red Cross and the Refugee Survival Trust (RST), highlights the plight of people who currently have to travel from Scotland to Croydon, in South London, to register their claims – with no financial support from the government http://www.allmediascotland.com/media_releases/28962/charities-call-for-end-to-400-mile-trek-for-asylum-seekers Carol Clarke Fri, 25 Feb 2011 00:00:00 GMT In a landmark case human rights activists hope will reduce a culture of impunity for sex crimes in the beleaguered central African country, a military court has convicted a lieutenant colonel in the Congolese army to 20 years' imprisonment for mass rapes committed on New Year's Day. Simon Akam, Independent, Tuesday, 22 February 2011 http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/africa/soldiers-jailed-for-mass-rape-as-congo-finally-acts-on-abuse-2221718.html Carol Clarke Tue, 22 Feb 2011 00:00:00 GMT We need your help today to stop cuts to vital services for refugees. Act now: Tell your MP that the dramatic cuts to refugee advice services must be stopped http://e-activist.com/ea-campaign/clientcampaign.do?ea.client.id=121&ea.campaign.id=9430&dm_i=I6P,D5WS,36AC3E,11H76,1 Carol Clarke Mon, 21 Feb 2011 00:00:00 GMT As protests against authoritarian regimes across the Middle East are met with violent repression, Campaign Against Arms Trade highlights the UK's role in arming the regimes. http://www.caat.org.uk/press/archive.php?url=20110217prs Carol Clarke Fri, 18 Feb 2011 00:00:00 GMT Consensus is growing that we must reduce our dependence on fossil fuels. Proponents of nuclear energy say nuclear is the best alternative. But nuclear energy is neither clean nor green. Each step in the nuclear chain poses hazards to the environment and human health. http://www.davidsuzuki.org/blogs/docs-talk/2011/01/a-few-good-reasons-why-we-should-abandon-nuclear-energy-for-good/ Carol Clarke Mon, 14 Feb 2011 00:00:00 GMT The Coalition is accused of watering down its promise to end the detention of child asylum seekers by setting up new centres to detain families refusing to leave the UK http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/new-centres-to-detain-child-asylum-seekers-2203843.html Carol Clarke Tue, 08 Feb 2011 00:00:00 GMT Oxfam warns of a hidden crisis on the streets of Britain, as thousands of refused asylum seekers face destitution. The new report uncovers how the hundreds of thousands of refused asylum seekers currently living in the UK, with no access to legitimate means of securing a livelihood, survive on a day-to-day and longer-term basis. http://www.oxfam.org.uk/resources/policy/right_heard/downloads/rr-coping-with-destitution-survival-strategies-uk-040211-en.pdf Carol Clarke Tue, 08 Feb 2011 00:00:00 GMT The Trade Union Prospect say that "Pressure to make cuts [at Faslane] was greater than the pressure to maintain a safe nuclear environment". Steve Jary, national secretary of the union was worried about the impact of moving nuclear safety posts into the private sector. The MoD's internal regulator is already concerned about safety procedures at the base. This latest news comes after a series of incidents, including the grounding of the Navy's newest submarine, HMS Astute, on Skye. This was reported by Rob Edwards in the Sunday Herald http://www.robedwards.com/2011/02/nuclear-safety-at-risk-as-jobs-are-cut-warn-unions.html Carol Clarke Mon, 07 Feb 2011 00:00:00 GMT The Refugee Council is to have its government funding cut by almost 62% with cuts to frontline services beginning "almost immediately" and fully implemented in three months' time. http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/feb/01/refugee-services-heavy-hit-cuts Carol Clarke Thu, 03 Feb 2011 00:00:00 GMT Four actual or potential conflict situations around the world deteriorated and two improved in January 2011, according to the latest issue of the International Crisis Group's monthly bulletin CrisisWatch. http://www.justiceandpeacescotland.org.uk/MorePublications/tabid/87/ctl/Details/mid/578/ItemID/183/Default.aspx Carol Clarke Wed, 02 Feb 2011 00:00:00 GMT In the face of sweeping public spending cuts and a UK government economic strategy which targets the poor to pay for a crisis produced by the wealthy, a group of Christians in public life (activists, ministers and theologians) have issued this statement calling for Christian unity with others in the movement to resist the cuts in public and welfare provision http://www.ekklesia.co.uk/CommonWealthStatement Carol Clarke Tue, 01 Feb 2011 00:00:00 GMT http://www.justiceandpeacescotland.org.uk/Portals/0/Magazine/2011_issue1_feb.pdf SuperUser Account Tue, 01 Feb 2011 00:00:00 GMT Help Stop the UK Poverty Rip-Off If you think that poorer families - who are paying the poverty premium - should get the automatic rebate, take one minute to tell Chris Huhne now http://action.church-poverty.org.uk/ea-campaign/clientcampaign.do?ea.client.id=128&ea.campaign.id=9070&ea.url.id=46074&ea.campaigner.email=CExnasGxeQGCeRUSPWWK%2BrqkVvhbJ4VRxbPeXEYTZns=&ea_broadcast_target_id=0&forwarded=true Carol Clarke Mon, 31 Jan 2011 00:00:00 GMT There is a debate in Parliament on Thursday 3 February about consumer credit regulation. Britain is unusual in that we do not have a law capping the total cost of credit companies can charge. This debate is an opportunity to start changing that - and you can help. http://action.church-poverty.org.uk/ea-campaign/clientcampaign.do?ea.client.id=128&ea.campaign.id=9281&ea.url.id=46732&ea.campaigner.email=mlA2yKu7n%2FlvKVgDxsdVZCP9js%2BAZnLUNdJsDrsszNm5JMfGARG8VdrcDH03ZZvz&ea_broadcast_target_id=0&forwarded=true Carol Clarke Wed, 26 Jan 2011 00:00:00 GMT Tarnished Earth is a dramatic street gallery of photographs by Jiri Rezac telling the story of one of the world's biggest ecological disasters. http://www.tarnishedearth.co.uk/see SuperUser Account Mon, 24 Jan 2011 00:00:00 GMT UK immigration minister Damien Green has again apologised for the "inappropriateness" of a letter sent to asylum seekers in Glasgow in November. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-glasgow-west-12228040 SuperUser Account Wed, 19 Jan 2011 00:00:00 GMT A Christian activist has been imprisoned following a nonviolent protest against the arms trade. Chris Cole was today (19 January) sentenced to 30 days in prison at Westminster Central Magistrates’ Court, London for non-payment of a fine resulting from his opposition to a conference of arms dealers. http://www.ekklesia.co.uk/node/13967 SuperUser Account Wed, 19 Jan 2011 00:00:00 GMT February 2011 edition now available online. http://banthebomb.org/ne/images/stories/pdfs/nfsfebruary2011reducedfilesize.pdf SuperUser Account Tue, 18 Jan 2011 00:00:00 GMT Poverty & Homelessness Action Week 2011 will run from 29 January to 6 February. 30 January is Homelessness Sunday and 6 February is Poverty Action Sunday. Raise your voice and make sure that everyone is counted! http://www.actionweek.org.uk/html/home.html SuperUser Account Sat, 15 Jan 2011 00:00:00 GMT Shami Chakrabarti, director of human rights organisation Liberty, called on Scots to ‘set an example of welcome’ to refugees from across the world today http://www.scottishrefugeecouncil.org.uk/media/press_releases/906_scotland_has_opportunity_to_set_example_for_welcoming_refugees_says_human_rights_leader_shami_chakrabarti Carol Clarke Fri, 14 Jan 2011 00:00:00 GMT Lessons from the Ivorian cocoa sector by Paul Robson AS International Dec 2010 http://publications.2evolv.co.uk/?userpath=00000082/00008121/00064067/ Carol Clarke Tue, 04 Jan 2011 00:00:00 GMT http://www.justiceandpeacescotland.org.uk/Portals/0/Magazine/2010_issue6_dec.pdf SuperUser Account Wed, 01 Dec 2010 00:00:00 GMT Scotland's religious leaders have described the West's failure to help developing nations cope with climate change as a "moral outrage". http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-11857143 Carol Clarke Mon, 29 Nov 2010 00:00:00 GMT Two independent reports on this card were published in 2010. Both come up with many of the same conclussions. This joint report by the Scottish Refugee Council, the Refugee Council, the Welsh Refugee Council, and the North of England Refugee Service criticises the Azure payment card, which leaves many living in hunger and deprivation. http://www.scottishrefugeecouncil.org.uk/assets/0000/0994/Azure_Card_ReportNov2010.pdf SuperUser Account Mon, 01 Nov 2010 00:00:00 GMT A Study Guide on Climate Change based upon key themes in Catholic Social Teaching. (Multiple parts, individually downloadable). http://www.catholicsocialteaching.org.uk/themes/care-creation/resources/ SuperUser Account Mon, 01 Nov 2010 00:00:00 GMT MPs to grill borders chief and security firm over Jimmy Mubenga death. Guardian, 19th October. http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2010/oct/19/borders-jimmy-mubenga-death-deportations SuperUser Account Tue, 19 Oct 2010 00:00:00 GMT Campaigners and commentators have pointed out that the government's National Security Strategy, published yesterday (18 October) undermines the case for renewing the Trident nuclear weapons system, to which ministers are committed. http://www.ekklesia.co.uk/node/13361 SuperUser Account Tue, 19 Oct 2010 00:00:00 GMT This briefing argues that the Scottish Government and Scottish Parliament should act urgently to place a duty on public sector bodies that requires them to exercise their functions (including budget setting) in a way that is designed to reduce the inequalities of outcome which result from socio-economic disadvantage. http://www.povertyalliance.org.uk/ckfinder/userfiles/files/briefings/Briefing17%20FINAL%20update.pdf SuperUser Account Sun, 17 Oct 2010 00:00:00 GMT http://www.justiceandpeacescotland.org.uk/Portals/0/Magazine/2010_issue5_oct.pdf SuperUser Account Fri, 01 Oct 2010 00:00:00 GMT There was a 23.6% fall in the number of people who sought asylum in the UK between May and July, compared to the same period last year, figures show. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-11441858 SuperUser Account Thu, 30 Sep 2010 00:00:00 GMT Joseph Rowntree Foundation has produced a report called ‘Monitoring Poverty and Social Exclusion in Scotland 2010’ which provides a comprehensive analysis of trends and differences between groups. It includes a broad review of relevant Scottish policy, using the framework of Achieving our Potential, the key Scottish policy document on poverty. http://www.jrf.org.uk/publications/mopse-scotland-2010 SuperUser Account Tue, 21 Sep 2010 00:00:00 GMT The BBC has reported that the Main Gate decision on the Trident replacement programme will be put back from 2014 to 2015, beyond the next general election. However this does not mean that Trident is on hold. A different decision, the Initial Gate, is imminent. http://www.justiceandpeacescotland.org.uk/MorePublications/tabid/87/ctl/Details/mid/578/ItemID/118/Default.aspx SuperUser Account Mon, 20 Sep 2010 00:00:00 GMT Pope Benedict XVI's Address to Politicians and Civic Leaders, at Westminster Hall, London on 17th September 2010, during his visit to the UK. http://www.thepapalvisit.org.uk/Replay-the-Visit/Speeches/Speeches-17-September/Pope-Benedict-s-address-to-Politicians-Diplomats-Academics-and-Business-Leaders SuperUser Account Fri, 17 Sep 2010 00:00:00 GMT Nick Clegg's passionate attack on the detention of children in immigration centres is not reflected by his government in action. http://www.medicaljustice.org.uk/content/view/1436/69/ SuperUser Account Thu, 16 Sep 2010 00:00:00 GMT Keeping Trident will cause defence job losses. http://www.cnduk.org/images/stories/briefings/trident/trident-jobs-ukeconomy.pdf SuperUser Account Tue, 14 Sep 2010 00:00:00 GMT New report. http://www.cnduk.org/images/stories/briefings/trident/trident-jobs-ukeconomy.pdf SuperUser Account Tue, 14 Sep 2010 00:00:00 GMT Immigration minister Damian Green announces intention to 'minimise' detention of children rather than end practice. http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2010/sep/09/detention-children-immigration-centres SuperUser Account Thu, 09 Sep 2010 00:00:00 GMT A report by Medical Justice, 9 September 2010 http://www.medicaljustice.org.uk/images/stories/reports/sscfullreport.pdf SuperUser Account Thu, 09 Sep 2010 00:00:00 GMT Two independent reports on this card were published in 2010. Both come up with many of the same conclussions. A Glasgow Citizens for Sanctury monitoring report on the introduction of the Azure payment card. http://www.justiceandpeacescotland.org.uk/Portals/0/Resources/azurecardreportglasgowcitiz.pdf SuperUser Account Wed, 01 Sep 2010 00:00:00 GMT http://www.justiceandpeacescotland.org.uk/Portals/0/Magazine/2010_issue4_aug.pdf SuperUser Account Sun, 01 Aug 2010 00:00:00 GMT Submission from the Justice and Peace Commission of the Catholic Church in Scotland. June 2010 http://www.justiceandpeacescotland.org.uk/MorePublications/tabid/87/ctl/Details/mid/578/ItemID/31/Default.aspx SuperUser Account Wed, 28 Jul 2010 00:00:00 GMT http://www.justiceandpeacescotland.org.uk/Portals/0/Resources/annnualreport0910.pdf SuperUser Account Thu, 24 Jun 2010 00:00:00 GMT http://www.justiceandpeacescotland.org.uk/Portals/0/Magazine/2010_issue3_jun.pdf Carol Clarke Tue, 01 Jun 2010 00:00:00 GMT Low pay affects at least 20% of women and 15% of men in Scotland. Whilst all parts of Scotland are affected by low pay, rural areas tend to have higher proportions of workers living on low pay. In 2009, 70% of workers in food and beverage services were paid less than £6.61 an hour. These are just some of the key findings contained in this briefing. http://www.povertyalliance.org.uk/ckfinder/userfiles/files/briefings/Low%20Pay%20in%20Scotland%20v7%20KS%20CommentsVERY%20FINALv2%20250510.pdf SuperUser Account Sat, 15 May 2010 00:00:00 GMT A Hung Parliament? http://www.thinkingfaith.org/articles/20100507_1.htm SuperUser Account Fri, 07 May 2010 00:00:00 GMT http://www.paxchristi.org.uk/litgy.HTML SuperUser Account Sat, 01 May 2010 00:00:00 GMT General Election 2010: Online Resources http://www.justiceandpeacescotland.org.uk/MorePublications/tabid/87/ctl/Details/mid/578/ItemID/33/Default.aspx SuperUser Account Thu, 22 Apr 2010 00:00:00 GMT http://www.unison.org.uk/file/Impact%20of%20Low%20Pay%20Report%20April%202010%20final%20v2.pdf SuperUser Account Wed, 21 Apr 2010 00:00:00 GMT http://www.justiceandpeacescotland.org.uk/Portals/0/Magazine/2010_issue2_apr.pdf SuperUser Account Thu, 01 Apr 2010 00:00:00 GMT The Trades Union Congress has produced a new report to highlight the costs of long term unemployment. The report reconfirms the clear links between poverty and unemployment, but also highlights the impact that long term unemployment can have on individuals and communities. It provides clear evidence regarding the need to do more to stop the rise in long term unemployment. http://www.tuc.org.uk/economy/tuc-17713-f0.cfm SuperUser Account Mon, 15 Mar 2010 00:00:00 GMT UKCCC report: The UK Committee on Climate Change published its report 'Scotland's path to a low carbon economy' on 24th February. The report says that 42% emissions reduction in Scotland by 2020 is challenging but achievable. When asked, Stewart Stevenson committed to 42%, saying "...having set a 42% target, that is one we should stick to...it is certainly our intention to stick to 42%..." so we have a clear statement from Government on the record. http://www.theccc.org.uk/reports/scottish-report SuperUser Account Wed, 24 Feb 2010 00:00:00 GMT Cardinal Keith Patrick O'Brien - The Hexham Debates Series, 20 FEBRUARY 2010, St. Mary’s Church, Hexham http://www.archdiocese-edinburgh.com/documents/TRIDENTVIEWEDWITHTHEEYESOFATWENTY-FIRSTCENTURYFAITH2010_000.pdf SuperUser Account Sat, 20 Feb 2010 00:00:00 GMT Christians have joined with other faith groups to issue a “call to repentance” over the manufacture of nuclear weapons. Protesting at the Aldermaston Atomic Weapons Establishment in Berkshire yesterday (15 February), they declared that “the power of Trident is an affront to the power of God”. http://www.ekklesia.co.uk/node/11271 SuperUser Account Tue, 16 Feb 2010 00:00:00 GMT http://www.justiceandpeacescotland.org.uk/Portals/0/Magazine/2010_issue1_feb.pdf SuperUser Account Mon, 01 Feb 2010 00:00:00 GMT The gap between rich and poor is wider now than 40 years ago, a government-commissioned panel has reported. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/shared/bsp/hi/pdfs/27_01_10_inequality.pdf SuperUser Account Wed, 27 Jan 2010 00:00:00 GMT Scottish church leaders have intensified pressure on the Government to abandon plans to renew the Trident nuclear weapons system. http://www.christiantoday.com/article/scottish.churches.campaign.against.nuclear.weapons/25170.htm SuperUser Account Wed, 27 Jan 2010 00:00:00 GMT Mike Robinson, Chair of Stop Climate Chaos Scotland gives statement on the outcome of the UN summit on climate change in Copenhagen. http://www.justiceandpeacescotland.org.uk/MorePublications/tabid/87/ctl/Details/mid/578/ItemID/50/Default.aspx SuperUser Account Mon, 21 Dec 2009 00:00:00 GMT Obtained through a Freedom of Information Act 2000 request, the statistics show that in this period every 2.3 days a detainee self-harmed requiring medical treatment. The previous year 157 detainees were hospitalized after self-harming, 1,517 were put on 'Formal Self-Harm at Risk' http://www.ncadc.org.uk/archives/resources/self-harm2007.html SuperUser Account Sat, 05 Dec 2009 00:00:00 GMT http://www.ncadc.org.uk/archives/resources/DetainedFamilieswUK.html SuperUser Account Sat, 05 Dec 2009 00:00:00 GMT http://www.justiceandpeacescotland.org.uk/Portals/0/Magazine/2009_issue6_dec.pdf SuperUser Account Tue, 01 Dec 2009 00:00:00 GMT http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm200910/cmselect/cmhaff/73/73.pdf SuperUser Account Tue, 24 Nov 2009 00:00:00 GMT The Scottish Government has published a report on the extent of work and worklessness in Scotland. One in three housholds in Glasgow have no earned income coming in although in 2008, the total number of children living in workless households in Scotland was 120,700, down 11,300 over the year. Of the 120,700 children, 73.7 per cent (88,900) live in a lone parent household. http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Resource/Doc/288106/0088027.pdf SuperUser Account Wed, 14 Oct 2009 00:00:00 GMT http://www.justiceandpeacescotland.org.uk/Portals/0/Magazine/2009_issue5_oct.pdf SuperUser Account Thu, 01 Oct 2009 00:00:00 GMT The Prime Minister, Gordon Brown, has been criticised for avoiding the issue of Trident in his speech to the Labour Party conference yesterday (29 September). http://www.ekklesia.co.uk/node/10308 SuperUser Account Wed, 30 Sep 2009 00:00:00 GMT The prime minister has told the United Nations that he is willing to cut the UK's fleet of Trident missile-carrying submarines from four to three. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/8270092.stm SuperUser Account Wed, 23 Sep 2009 00:00:00 GMT Tim Duffy reviews key internet resources. http://www.justiceandpeacescotland.org.uk/MorePublications/tabid/87/ctl/Details/mid/578/ItemID/280/Default.aspx SuperUser Account Sat, 19 Sep 2009 00:00:00 GMT New research published by Greenpeace and backed by senior politicians has warned that the cost of replacing the UK’s Trident nuclear weapons system will be over £95 billion – in contrast to the roughly £20 billion earmarked by the government. http://www.ekklesia.co.uk/node/10245 SuperUser Account Fri, 18 Sep 2009 00:00:00 GMT Reception on 13 November 2009 in the Scottish Parliament for delegates attending the NATO Parliamentary Assembly http://www.justiceandpeacescotland.org.uk/Portals/0/Articles/natoandnuclearweaponsreportscotparlnov09.pdf SuperUser Account Sun, 13 Sep 2009 00:00:00 GMT The Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament today welcomed the formation of a new grouping of ex-ministers and retired senior military officers calling for multilateral nuclear disarmament. http://www.justiceandpeacescotland.org.uk/MorePublications/tabid/87/ctl/Details/mid/578/ItemID/128/Default.aspx SuperUser Account Wed, 09 Sep 2009 00:00:00 GMT Scrap Trident, voters tell Brown. Money should go on health and education instead, survey finds. Article from The Independent. http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/scrap-trident-voters-tell-brown-1783443.html SuperUser Account Tue, 08 Sep 2009 00:00:00 GMT The Sunday Times has published a new poll which shows 61% of Scots are opposed to replacing Trident while only 24 % support the proposal. The survey of 1,040 people was carried out by MRUK between 7 and 13 August. Those who are opposed also hold their views more vociferously. 29% are strongly opposed to Trident replacement, plus 32% opposed. In contrast only 7% strongly supported the idea, with a further 17% saying they supported it. http://banthebomb.org/ne/ SuperUser Account Sun, 30 Aug 2009 00:00:00 GMT http://www.justiceandpeacescotland.org.uk/Portals/0/Magazine/2009_issue4_aug.pdf SuperUser Account Sat, 01 Aug 2009 00:00:00 GMT http://www.justiceandpeacescotland.org.uk/Portals/0/Resources/detaineeescortsandremovalsaug09.pdf SuperUser Account Sat, 01 Aug 2009 00:00:00 GMT CITIZENS for Sanctuary have published a colourful and exciting new resource for campaigners. It is very easy to read, with simple things anyone with and ounce of humanity can do. http://www.citizensforsanctuary.org.uk/pages/ten%20ways.html SuperUser Account Fri, 12 Jun 2009 00:00:00 GMT CND has called on new Defence Secretary Bob Ainsworth MP to recognise how unpopular the government's Trident plans are and to delay the 'Initial Gate' decision as his first act in the job. http://www.justiceandpeacescotland.org.uk/MorePublications/tabid/87/ctl/Details/mid/578/ItemID/125/Default.aspx SuperUser Account Tue, 09 Jun 2009 00:00:00 GMT http://www.justiceandpeacescotland.org.uk/Portals/0/Magazine/2009_issue3_jun.pdf SuperUser Account Mon, 01 Jun 2009 00:00:00 GMT http://www.justiceandpeacescotland.org.uk/Portals/0/Resources/handbook.pdf SuperUser Account Thu, 21 May 2009 00:00:00 GMT With valuable context and criticism by eg Anne Pettifor, Susan George and others. http://www.opendemocracy.net/article/the-g20-and-the-post-crisis-world SuperUser Account Thu, 02 Apr 2009 00:00:00 GMT http://www.justiceandpeacescotland.org.uk/Portals/0/Magazine/2009_issue2_apr.pdf SuperUser Account Wed, 01 Apr 2009 00:00:00 GMT The Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament today gave a mixed reaction to Gordon Brown's speech on nuclear power and nuclear proliferation. http://www.justiceandpeacescotland.org.uk/MorePublications/tabid/87/ctl/Details/mid/578/ItemID/123/Default.aspx SuperUser Account Wed, 18 Mar 2009 00:00:00 GMT Transcript of a speech given by the Prime Minister on 17 March 2009 http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/+/number10.gov.uk/news/speeches-and-transcripts/2009/03/speech-on-nuclear-energy-and-proliferation-18631 SuperUser Account Tue, 17 Mar 2009 00:00:00 GMT New report says Fairtrade needed more than ever as UK Fairtrade sales top £700 million. http://www.fairtrade.org.uk/press_office/press_releases_and_statements/february_2009/global_food_crisis_will_deepen_without_action_to_support_small_farmers_warns_fairtrade_foundation.aspx SuperUser Account Thu, 19 Feb 2009 00:00:00 GMT http://www.churchofscotland.org.uk/councils/churchsociety/downloads/cswhatfairtrade.pdf SuperUser Account Tue, 10 Feb 2009 00:00:00 GMT http://www.justiceandpeacescotland.org.uk/Portals/0/Magazine/2009_issue1_feb.pdf SuperUser Account Sun, 01 Feb 2009 00:00:00 GMT http://www.justiceandpeacescotland.org.uk/MorePublications/tabid/87/ctl/Details/mid/578/ItemID/61/Default.aspx SuperUser Account Wed, 07 Jan 2009 00:00:00 GMT Deserving Dignity is the third and final report of the Independent Asylum Commission. It builds on the previous publications 'Safe Return and Saving Sanctuary', all of which are downloadable. If you are interested in joining one of the Regional Action Teams to take forward the findings of and recommendations of the Commission, please contact them. http://www.independentasylumcommission.org.uk/ SuperUser Account Wed, 31 Dec 2008 00:00:00 GMT http://www.justiceandpeacescotland.org.uk/Portals/0/Magazine/2008_issue6_dec.pdf SuperUser Account Mon, 01 Dec 2008 00:00:00 GMT http://www.justiceandpeacescotland.org.uk/Portals/0/Magazine/2008_issue5_oct.pdf SuperUser Account Wed, 01 Oct 2008 00:00:00 GMT http://www.justiceandpeacescotland.org.uk/Portals/0/Magazine/2008_issue4_aug.pdf SuperUser Account Fri, 01 Aug 2008 00:00:00 GMT http://www.justiceandpeacescotland.org.uk/Portals/0/Resources/charter.pdf SuperUser Account Wed, 02 Jul 2008 00:00:00 GMT Serious concerns about refugee wefare at Heathrow Airport http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/ld200708/ldhansrd/text/80604-0001.htm#08060470000002 SuperUser Account Wed, 04 Jun 2008 00:00:00 GMT http://www.justiceandpeacescotland.org.uk/Portals/0/Magazine/2008_issue3_jun.pdf SuperUser Account Sun, 01 Jun 2008 00:00:00 GMT http://www.justiceandpeacescotland.org.uk/Portals/0/Magazine/2008_issue2_apr.pdf SuperUser Account Tue, 01 Apr 2008 00:00:00 GMT A report by researcher Anna Stavrianakis. This new CAAT publication is ideal for anyone who has struggled to understand or reconcile the wide variety of government, campaign organisation and media pronouncements on the issue of arms control. http://www.caat.org.uk/resources/publications/ SuperUser Account Tue, 01 Apr 2008 00:00:00 GMT In January 2008 the Scottish Government launched a discussion paper on tackling poverty in Scotland. This provides an opportunity for individuals and organisations to talk to the Government about poverty, inequality and deprivation in modern day Scotland. The intention is to create a discussion that will inform the Scottish Government’s development of a ‘framework’ to tackle poverty. This briefing paper summarises the main elements in the discussion paper and highlights the opportunities for responding to it. http://www.povertyalliance.org.uk/ckfinder/userfiles/files/briefings/Briefing09_SGDiscussionPaperPoverty.pdf SuperUser Account Sat, 01 Mar 2008 00:00:00 GMT http://www.justiceandpeacescotland.org.uk/Portals/0/Resources/asylumpaihdestitutionpackfeb2008.pdf SuperUser Account Fri, 01 Feb 2008 00:00:00 GMT http://www.justiceandpeacescotland.org.uk/Portals/0/Magazine/2008_issue1_feb.pdf SuperUser Account Fri, 01 Feb 2008 00:00:00 GMT http://www.zenit.org/article-21248?l=english SuperUser Account Tue, 11 Dec 2007 00:00:00 GMT Advice on dealing with Amnesty International. http://www.justiceandpeacescotland.org.uk/MorePublications/tabid/87/ctl/Details/mid/578/ItemID/76/Default.aspx SuperUser Account Thu, 06 Dec 2007 00:00:00 GMT http://www.justiceandpeacescotland.org.uk/Portals/0/Magazine/2007_issue6_dec.pdf SuperUser Account Sat, 01 Dec 2007 00:00:00 GMT http://www.justiceandpeacescotland.org.uk/Portals/0/Magazine/2007_issue5_oct.pdf SuperUser Account Mon, 01 Oct 2007 00:00:00 GMT http://www.justiceandpeacescotland.org.uk/Portals/0/Magazine/2007_issue4_aug.pdf SuperUser Account Wed, 01 Aug 2007 00:00:00 GMT Remarks by Margaret Beckett, Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, United Kingdom Carnegie International Nonproliferation Conference June 25, 2007 http://www.carnegieendowment.org/events/index.cfm?fa=eventDetail&id=1004&&prog=zgp&proj=znpp SuperUser Account Mon, 25 Jun 2007 00:00:00 GMT Scottish CND welcomed the decision by the Scottish Parliament to say No to Trident. http://www.justiceandpeacescotland.org.uk/MorePublications/tabid/87/ctl/Details/mid/578/ItemID/121/Default.aspx SuperUser Account Fri, 15 Jun 2007 00:00:00 GMT http://www.justiceandpeacescotland.org.uk/Portals/0/Magazine/2007_issue3_jun.pdf SuperUser Account Fri, 01 Jun 2007 00:00:00 GMT The leading Protestant and Catholic church leaders in Scotland have renewed their criticism on Britain’s commitment to nuclear weapons and have called for a major non-proliferation effort – echoing similar calls from civic and peace campaigners. http://www.ekklesia.co.uk/node/5179 SuperUser Account Mon, 30 Apr 2007 00:00:00 GMT David Miliband's excellent address to Pontifical Council Conference http://www.thetablet.co.uk/article/9701 SuperUser Account Fri, 27 Apr 2007 00:00:00 GMT http://www.justiceandpeacescotland.org.uk/Portals/0/Magazine/2007_issue2_apr.pdf SuperUser Account Sun, 01 Apr 2007 00:00:00 GMT http://www.justiceandpeacescotland.org.uk/Portals/0/Resources/zimbabwebishopstatement.pdf SuperUser Account Fri, 30 Mar 2007 00:00:00 GMT http://www.justiceandpeacescotland.org.uk/Portals/0/Resources/treatmentofasylumseekers.pdf SuperUser Account Fri, 23 Mar 2007 00:00:00 GMT How Scottish MPs voted... http://www.justiceandpeacescotland.org.uk/Portals/0/Articles/scottishmptridentvote.pdf SuperUser Account Wed, 14 Mar 2007 00:00:00 GMT "We are writing to you on behalf of Scotland’s major Churches to voice our opposition to the replacement of the Trident Nuclear Weapons System..." http://www.justiceandpeacescotland.org.uk/Portals/0/Articles/mplettertrident.pdf SuperUser Account Mon, 12 Mar 2007 00:00:00 GMT National Secretary, Richard McCready's article in the Scotsman, 12 March 2007 http://www.justiceandpeacescotland.org.uk/MorePublications/tabid/87/ctl/Details/mid/578/ItemID/112/Default.aspx SuperUser Account Mon, 12 Mar 2007 00:00:00 GMT The STUC and Scottish CND published a report in March 2007, on the economic implications of cancelling Trident. http://www.stuc.org.uk/files/STUC%20-%20CND%20Trident%20Report%202007/STUC-CND%20Trident%20Report.pdf SuperUser Account Sun, 11 Mar 2007 00:00:00 GMT Speech by Cardinal O’Brien http://www.justiceandpeacescotland.org.uk/MorePublications/tabid/87/ctl/Details/mid/578/ItemID/110/Default.aspx SuperUser Account Tue, 27 Feb 2007 00:00:00 GMT http://www.justiceandpeacescotland.org.uk/Portals/0/Resources/fairtradeconferencereport.pdf SuperUser Account Fri, 16 Feb 2007 00:00:00 GMT http://www.justiceandpeacescotland.org.uk/Portals/0/Magazine/2007_issue1_feb.pdf SuperUser Account Thu, 01 Feb 2007 00:00:00 GMT http://www.justiceandpeacescotland.org.uk/Portals/0/Resources/paisleytrident.pdf SuperUser Account Wed, 17 Jan 2007 00:00:00 GMT 2007 marks 200 years since the abolition of the transatlantic slave trade in the British Empire. http://www.justiceandpeacescotland.org.uk/MorePublications/tabid/87/ctl/Details/mid/578/ItemID/177/Default.aspx SuperUser Account Mon, 01 Jan 2007 00:00:00 GMT Trident Defence White Paper http://www.justiceandpeacescotland.org.uk/Portals/0/Articles/tridentdefencewhitepaper.pdf SuperUser Account Sun, 31 Dec 2006 00:00:00 GMT The Bishops’ Conference of Scotland has condemned the Government’s decision to go ahead with the renewal of the Trident missile system. http://www.justiceandpeacescotland.org.uk/MorePublications/tabid/87/ctl/Details/mid/578/ItemID/109/Default.aspx SuperUser Account Tue, 19 Dec 2006 00:00:00 GMT National Secretary Richard McCready and the Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland, Alan McDonald, hand over our petition against the replacement of Trident to the Ministry of Defence. http://www.justiceandpeacescotland.org.uk/MorePublications/tabid/87/ctl/Details/mid/578/ItemID/99/Default.aspx SuperUser Account Tue, 19 Dec 2006 00:00:00 GMT Statement from the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales. English and Welsh Catholic Bishops Call on UK Government to Set the Example by Decommissioning Nuclear Weapons http://www.justiceandpeacescotland.org.uk/MorePublications/tabid/87/ctl/Details/mid/578/ItemID/100/Default.aspx SuperUser Account Thu, 23 Nov 2006 00:00:00 GMT http://www.scotland4peace.org/whats_on.htm SuperUser Account Wed, 01 Nov 2006 00:00:00 GMT The full text of Cardinal O'Brien's remarks at the end of the "Long walk for Peace". The Cardinal participated in a symbolic ‘foot washing’ for marchers at 1.00pm, at St John’s Episcopal Church, Princes Street, before walking to the Scottish Parliament for a rally at 3.00pm. http://www.justiceandpeacescotland.org.uk/MorePublications/tabid/87/ctl/Details/mid/578/ItemID/102/Default.aspx SuperUser Account Wed, 20 Sep 2006 00:00:00 GMT Archbishop Mario Conti joined marchers taking part in the Long Walk for Peace from Faslane to the Scottish Parliament. The Archbishop walked with the marchers to Helensburgh and delivered a short address at Helensburgh Pier, before handing over a letter to be delivered to the Scottish Parliament. http://www.justiceandpeacescotland.org.uk/MorePublications/tabid/87/ctl/Details/mid/578/ItemID/103/Default.aspx SuperUser Account Mon, 18 Sep 2006 00:00:00 GMT Cardinal welcomes 'heartening and encouraging letter' http://www.justiceandpeacescotland.org.uk/MorePublications/tabid/87/ctl/Details/mid/578/ItemID/105/Default.aspx SuperUser Account Mon, 04 Sep 2006 00:00:00 GMT An ICM poll commissioned by the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament shows that 59% of British people oppose the replacement of Trident, Britain’s nuclear weapons system. The poll results demonstrate a 5% increase in public opposition to Trident replacement over an identically phrased question from a MORI/Greenpeace poll from September 2005. http://www.justiceandpeacescotland.org.uk/MorePublications/tabid/87/ctl/Details/mid/578/ItemID/104/Default.aspx SuperUser Account Mon, 07 Aug 2006 00:00:00 GMT http://www.justiceandpeacescotland.org.uk/Portals/0/Resources/replacing-trident.pdf SuperUser Account Sat, 05 Aug 2006 00:00:00 GMT http://www.justiceandpeacescotland.org.uk/Portals/0/Resources/actsslavery.pdf SuperUser Account Wed, 02 Aug 2006 00:00:00 GMT A useful article by Paul Rogers giving political background to the proposals to replace Trident http://www.opendemocracy.net/conflict/britain_nuclear_3693.jsp SuperUser Account Wed, 28 Jun 2006 00:00:00 GMT http://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/pontifical_councils/justpeace/documents/rc_pc_justpeace_doc_20060526_compendio-dott-soc_en.html SuperUser Account Fri, 26 May 2006 00:00:00 GMT http://www.justiceandpeacescotland.org.uk/Portals/0/Resources/janppolicy.pdf SuperUser Account Thu, 25 May 2006 00:00:00 GMT The Easter Sunday sermon preached by Cardianl O'Brien at St Mary's Cathedral, Edinburgh, with a focus on the Trident nuclear weapon system. http://www.justiceandpeacescotland.org.uk/MorePublications/tabid/87/ctl/Details/mid/578/ItemID/88/Default.aspx SuperUser Account Thu, 18 May 2006 00:00:00 GMT First 21 pages of document is the debate on Trident. http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/business/officialReports/meetingsParliament/or-06/sor0504-02.htm SuperUser Account Thu, 04 May 2006 00:00:00 GMT Statement by the Catholic Bishops' Conference of Scotland. 11 April 2006 http://www.justiceandpeacescotland.org.uk/MorePublications/tabid/87/ctl/Details/mid/578/ItemID/89/Default.aspx SuperUser Account Tue, 11 Apr 2006 00:00:00 GMT http://www.unhcr.org/44508c182.html SuperUser Account Sat, 01 Apr 2006 00:00:00 GMT http://www.opsi.gov.uk/acts/acts2006/ukpga_20060013_en.pdf SuperUser Account Thu, 30 Mar 2006 00:00:00 GMT http://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/pontifical_councils/justpeace/documents/rc_pc_justpeace_doc_20060322_mexico-water_en.html SuperUser Account Wed, 22 Mar 2006 00:00:00 GMT SuperUser Account Fri, 24 Feb 2006 00:00:00 GMT http://www.justiceandpeacescotland.org.uk/Portals/0/Magazine/2006_issue1_feb.pdf SuperUser Account Wed, 01 Feb 2006 00:00:00 GMT Material for The Feast of the Epiphany, celebrated in Scotland on 8th January 2006 and designated by the Bishops' Conference as a day of prayer for justice and peace. http://www.justiceandpeacescotland.org.uk/Portals/0/Resources/epiphany_leaflet.pdf SuperUser Account Sun, 08 Jan 2006 00:00:00 GMT Material for The Feast of the Epiphany, celebrated in Scotland on 8th January 2006 and designated by the Bishops' Conference as a day of prayer for justice and peace http://www.justiceandpeacescotland.org.uk/MorePublications/tabid/87/ctl/Details/mid/578/ItemID/95/Default.aspx SuperUser Account Sun, 08 Jan 2006 00:00:00 GMT Material for The Feast of the Epiphany, celebrated in Scotland on 8th January 2006 and designated by the Bishops' Conference as a day of prayer for justice and peace. http://www.justiceandpeacescotland.org.uk/MorePublications/tabid/87/ctl/Details/mid/578/ItemID/96/Default.aspx SuperUser Account Sun, 08 Jan 2006 00:00:00 GMT Material for The Feast of the Epiphany, celebrated in Scotland on 8th January 2006 and designated by the Bishops' Conference as a day of prayer for justice and peace. http://www.justiceandpeacescotland.org.uk/MorePublications/tabid/87/ctl/Details/mid/578/ItemID/97/Default.aspx SuperUser Account Sun, 08 Jan 2006 00:00:00 GMT Material for The Feast of the Epiphany, celebrated in Scotland on 8th January 2006 and designated by the Bishops' Conference as a day of prayer for justice and peace. http://www.justiceandpeacescotland.org.uk/Portals/0/Resources/janletter08.pdf SuperUser Account Sun, 08 Jan 2006 00:00:00 GMT http://www.justiceandpeacescotland.org.uk/Portals/0/Magazine/2005_issue6_dec.pdf SuperUser Account Thu, 01 Dec 2005 00:00:00 GMT Lord Richard Best, Director of the Joseph Rowntree Foundation, gave the annual Scottish Urban Regeneration Forum (SURF) lecture on Thursday 15th September, 2005, at The Royal Society, George Street, Edinburgh. http://www.justiceandpeacescotland.org.uk/Portals/0/Resources/best-surf.pdf SuperUser Account Thu, 15 Sep 2005 00:00:00 GMT http://www.justiceandpeacescotland.org.uk/Portals/0/Resources/thedispossessed.pdf SuperUser Account Tue, 09 Nov 2004 00:00:00 GMT http://www.justiceandpeacescotland.org.uk/MorePublications/tabid/87/ctl/Details/mid/578/ItemID/90/Default.aspx SuperUser Account Tue, 16 Mar 1982 00:00:00 GMT