November 2026 Meeting & September Updates

Thursday 12th November, Woodlands Methodist Church, 7:30pm – 9pm

The Glasgow West Amnesty Group's next meeting will take place on Thursday 11th November 2026 at 7.30pm – 9pm in Woodlands Methodist Church, Woodlands Road, Glasgow, G3 6LW.

If you are curious about Amnesty International, you are very welcome to just turn up and join our meetings. We would love to see you there!

Our next meeting will include:

• A brief review of recent events and campaigns;
• Planning for our annual Write for Rights campaign, which will take place next month;
• Discussion and planning on upcoming future events/actions; and
• Undertaking letter writing on recent Urgent Action alerts from AIUK.

Join our Meetings online

Anyone unable / unavailable to physically come along, is welcome to join our monthly meetings online via this link.

(It will be the same link for all subsequent meetings).

Celebrating Human Rights for all

A programme of events has been announced for a Human Rights Festival in Scotland which will take place from 9th – 13th December 2026.

This is the first national, multi-day festival dedicated to celebrating, explaining and strengthening support for human rights across the country.

Taking place from Wednesday 9 to Sunday 13 December 2026, the festival is Scotland-wide, with a mix of online, hybrid and in-person events.

Human rights are often framed as legal language, political argument or something that only applies to other people. Scotland's Human Rights Festival exists to close that gap. The festival has a clear purpose: to make human rights more visible, more accessible and more relevant.

The Festival aims to bring human rights out of policy papers and into stages, streets, screens and conversations across Scotland.

Some events will inform. Some will challenge. Some will entertain

The event is being co-ordinated by the Human Rights Consortium Scotland, which includes Amnesty International as a member.

This year, Amnesty's Write for Right campaign shares the stories of ten people, groups and communities from around the world whose lives have been profoundly affected by authoritarian practices.

Their experiences are different, but together they reveal a troubling global pattern, and remind us of something just as powerful: when people come together to take action, change is possible. The campaign features people from around the world as well and two cases from here in the UK.

Our November meeting will include planning for how our local group will play its part in this worldwide campaign.

For further details of the 2026 Write for Rights campaign, including how you can take action, click this link.

Glasgow, 11 – 15 November 2026

This event seeks to explore alternative perspectives and understandings drawn from the intersections of art, philosophy, ethics and politics, as they contribute to cultural, social or political change, and give our lives meaning.

The 5-day gathering bringing together art, critical thought and grass roots organising, takes place at the Tramway Theatre and via live stream between 11th – 15th November.

Further details of the programme of activities and events can be found on the Arika website.

Below is a selection of some of the issues featured in the latest monthly update for Local Groups from Amnesty UK.

Amnesty Glasgow West Group Meeting Thurs 8th October 2026

Minutes

Link to October meeting email here

1. Welcome and apologies
   1. Attendance: Lauren, Katya, Paolo, Andrew and Kirstie (online).
   2. Apologies: Luca, Claire, Baha, Clara, Ken, Neil, Merle, Debs, Frankie, Cayden and Carol.
2. Agreement of previous meeting minutes here
3. Team Updates (list of roles here):
   1. Treasurer
      1. Expenses: £27 reimbursed to Clara for leaflets; £125 invoice for Community Hall hire; £16 spent on non-religious Xmas cards bought by Kirstie for use at Write for Rights 2026; £50 donation by AIGW to cafe agreed at previous meeting has now been made.
      2. Donations received: N/A
      3. Balance: £1,427.13

   2. Social Media & website Lauren provided a brief update of recent SM activity, including posts on our Facebook and Instagram accounts regarding the recent Parliamentary Event with AIUK, which was attended by a number of AIGW members (details in 4 below).

      The Freedom from Torture fundraising event was also highlighted on our SM.

      It was also agreed to highlight Scotland's Human Rights Festival on our SM just now and, thereafter, provide further details as they emerge.

      1. Regional/Country focus (Clara – S. Korea) No update.
      2. Prisoner of Conscience/Individual At Risk (IAR) (Ken - Türkiye) No update.
4. Updates from recent activities
   • ‘Reading for Resistance': An initial short briefing note has been drafted on the Amnesty Queer Rights Network petition and wider book censorship issues. Briefing Note link. A discussion took place on this at the meeting. This is a fairly long-standing annual event which takes place each October. Whilst it is too late for our Group to input meaningfully this year, it was agreed we ought to consider incorporating this into our Group's annual planner and contribute to the 2027 campaign with a local event / initiative.
   • Scotland-wide Amnesty Gathering took place in Edinburgh, on Saturday 26/9/26. This event was for all Amnesty local Groups in Scotland. AIGW had seven members attending (Luca, Claire, Carol, Cayden, Clara, Andrew & Paolo). There was a good attendance, with most Scottish local Amnesty groups participating. Speakers included AIUK and AI Scotland staff, input from each of the local groups and an interesting session by a volunteer, Elena, who had been undertaking detailed, long-term research on issues relating to data protection and privacy. There were then a couple of workshop options in the afternoon and the event culminated with attendees forming a demo outside the Scottish Parliament advocating a Human Rights Bill for Scotland.
   • Scottish Parliament “Tackling Inequality by Advancing Rights” event, October 2026. A brief update on event was provided by Paolo and also via a note sent by Carol. Baha and Ailig had also attended from our Group. The meeting was chaired by Karen Adams, MSP. Simita Kumar, the Minister for Equalities spoke at the event, along with others including Neil Cowan of AI Scotland a representative of a disability rights organisation and an individual speaking about their lived experience of the impact of poverty on everyday rights. Various other MSPs came in and out throughout the meeting. The discussion was seen to be positive, although there was no specific action agreed at the meeting by the Minister, nor opportunities to put questions to her.

5. Updates from local groups (Daytime / Glasgow Uni / AIUK / Community Platform)

   Details of the Freedom from Torture fundraiser event was passed to us from Jim in the Amnesty Daytime group and the information was promoted on our Signal Group for activists, on our social media platforms and in our October Newsletter.

6. Write for Rights (W4R) 2026 - Hillhead Library dates (Kirstie)

   Kirstie confirmed the date for our W4R 2026 event, which will take place on Saturday 12th December from 10am – 5pm. (Note: This is a longer timeslot than usual, so we will need to ensure we can cover the whole day!). As usual, the event will be held at Hillhead Library on Byres Road, Glasgow.

   Katya asked about the possibility of including at our W4R event a discussion about Daria Egereva, a Russian climate activist who is one of the eight people featured in Amnesty's 2026 W4R campaign. (Katya is already involved as Amnesty country co-ordinator for Russia).

   Kirstie will discuss this with the library staff, but it was not thought likely that it would be a problem, as there are opportunities for our volunteers to chat to members of the public in the library about the W4R campaign generally, as well as individual W4R activists that the public may wish to write letters to. There could, for example, be a table set aside for a specific focus on one particular W4R activist, such as Daria. This could be in addition to the wider W4R activities that we normally undertake. It is essentially up to our Group on how we facilitate the event, so long as we are discreet and respectful of other library users. This includes using creative activities to highlight the cases, produce drawings, etc in order to engage the public, send outputs to W4R activists, etc.

   More generally, country co-ordinators and those working on specific individual at risk cases are welcome to discuss the issues and campaigns at our Group meetings. This is something that is very much welcomed and encouraged at our meetings and a regular update from Katya on her work and how fellow Group members might support her work can readily be incorporated as a regular agenda item for our monthly meetings.

7. Scottish Human Rights Festival (Paolo)

   Human Rights Festival This is being developed by the Scotland Human Rights Consortium. Amnesty Scotland is part of the Consortium, alongside a wider range of charities, voluntary and campaigning organisations. A key aim is to campaign for a Human Rights Bill for Scotland. A week of initiatives across Scotland is being developed in the second week in December. Our own Group's Write for Rights event is already highlighted in the Festival Calendar.

8. Urgent Actions (Merle)

   Merle circulated beforehand two urgent actions for our Group activists to input on. (Both of these can be done online rather than via postal).

   Urgent Action: End the arbitrary execution of tortured Libyan detainees

   End the arbitrary execution of tortured Libyan detainees

   Urgent Action: Investigate the disappearance of Filmon Gebrehiwot Hagos

   Investigate the disappearance of Filmon Gebrehiwot Hagos

9. Updates from Scottish Activism Rep (Paolo) / Scotland-wide WhatsApp group chat

   Paolo updated that Baha had volunteered to split the role of Scotland Activism representative with himself. Initial discussions will take place with Ashraf of AIUK and there will be fortnightly meetings with AI Scotland staff. There will also be engagement with local groups about how this will work and how Paolo and Baha will share the role / key tasks.

10. Naza Film Screening

    Paolo discussed the opportunity for us to facilitate a screening of the newly released film ‘Naza', which focuses on testimony provided by IDF soldiers on how they target attacks in Gaza / West Bank and the Israeli Government / IDF policy of what is deemed to be acceptable ‘collateral damage' by way of innocent civilians killed or injured in such attacks.

    It was agreed that this was something that those present at our meeting were keen to get involved with. A panel of speakers could also be assembled to facilitate a discussion / Q&A session following the film. Paolo suggested Glasgow University could be a potential suitable venue, which he would explore. This is an event that we could seek to organise in consort with the Glasgow University Amnesty Group.

11. Kelvinbridge Farmers' Market

    Following the success of our Group taking a stall in August to promote Amnesty's Uyghur campaign, it was agreed that this is something we should aim to do again with other ongoing campaigns, and potentially have the Farmers' Market as a regular focus of activity to highlight our campaigns.

12. Amnesty Scotland office template letters: Scotland Template Letters

    Scotland: Tell the First Minister it's time to deliver the Human Rights Bill: petition link

    (It was noted that there doesn't seem to be any regular updates or changes to the Amnesty Scotland actions / activities, as those currently listed have now been unchanged for many months).

13. Joint fundraiser Millennium Canal walk/cycle

    It was noted that this fundraiser is still ongoing for just a few more weeks, should anyone else wish to make a contribution,

    https://www.justgiving.com/page/scottishamnestygroups-canalwalk

14. Pride 2027 – Letter to organisers

    Discussion took place on the draft letter that Claire had previously circulated. A number of suggested changes were made at the meeting and Paolo circulated a revised version on our Signal Group. Anyone unable to attend the meeting can now input and Claire can sign-off the final version.

15. Feminist Network Exposing Glasgow's “Pregnancy Crisis Centres”

    It was agreed at the meeting that we do not currently have spare capacity within the Group to prioritise this issue, given everything else that is ongoing.

16. “Persuasive Conversation Activation Session”

    Link: Persuasive Conversations Resources – Message from Claire – ‘Would anyone like to go for a street wander to speak to members of the public about the Human Rights Bill / human rights in Scotland?'

17. Next meeting – Thurs 12th November 2026
18. Glasgow West 2026 Planner.docx

19. A reminder for new members about Refugees at Home, who came to our June meeting. More info:

    “There are so few times you can do something practical to help. Hosting refugees felt like a practical thing to do." R@H Host.

    Refugees at Home is a UK charity which connects people with a spare room to refugees and people seeking asylum in need of a temporary home. We don't think people who come to the UK for sanctuary should end up on the streets. Our vision is for every refugee and every person seeking asylum to have a safe place to stay.

    Next steps:

    1. Read our Information for Hosts page to understand the process of becoming a host.
    2. You can request a callback if you would like to talk anything else through with one of the team.
    3. Take a look at our host application form.
    4. If you are not in a position to host, but still want to support, you can help us by spreading the word! You can share our appeal for hosts (image attached) with your network, as well as our 2-min charity film.
    5. Sign up to our newsletter to stay the loop and follow us on social media @refugeesathome

    If anyone has any specific questions about hosting, or if you would like some R@H printed materials sent in the post, please email me directly: phoebe.green@refugeesathome.org.

20. Discussion/brainstorm:
    • How can we get new active members?
    • How can we keep active members?
    • Any suggestions for the current/new role-holders on how to conduct their role?
21. Potential Speakers for 2026:
    • [Refugee Action - potentially joint event with Daytime group - awaiting update from Graham in Daytime Group]
    • Clara: journalist from Somalia - Clara to check his availability and if needs transport/accommodation

    • Ebba: Palestinian researcher:

      https://sgsahblog.com/2025/01/27/activist-ethnography-in-palestine/

    • [Amicus: after find out about Death Penalty network - admin@amicus-alj.org - Allan] *Not currently active: Theme Focus US Death Penalty *

New Members very welcome!

The Group meets every second Thursday of each month at 7.30pm - 9pm.

The meetings take place at Woodlands Methodist Church, 229 Woodlands Road, G3 6LW

For further information contact mail@glasgowwestamnesty.org.uk

• Thursday 8th January 2026
• Thursday 12th February 2026
• Thursday 12th March 2026
• Thursday 9th April 2026
• Thursday 14th May 2026
• Thursday 11th June 2026
• Thursday 9th July 2026
• Thursday 13th August 2026
• Thursday 10th September 2026
• Thursday 8th October 2026
• Thursday 12th November 2026
• Thursday 10th December 2026

BETTER TO LIGHT A CANDLE THAN CURSE THE DARKNESS