Hannah Bowley (third year IR and Politics), Amnesty International Society’s current president at Bristol University, describes the society’s current action on campus as being motivated towards upholding the dignity of individuals, protecting those who face injustice and danger in the case of their human rights being denied, ignored or abused. Bowley and the society have demonstrated this through their notable action on campus, including; a sit-in for Syrian refugees, love letters written to Putin, and a speaker event led by the founder of the Palestine Trauma Centre. Bowley elaborates, “I do think it is really important for like-minded social action societies to get together and identify areas that we can collaborate on as it insures greater impact.”
This weekend’s BIDC gives a platform for such collaborative participation. Bowley extends, “it is important for human rights to be linked to international development in order for people to know, assert, and secure their rights. Children’s rights, for example, are often not recognized or understood. There are so many nuances in the debate concerning aid, which throws up the question of development, human rights, and the responsibilities of countries, states and communities.”
The University’s Amnesty International Society is featured in this year’s BIDC under the theme of The New Face of Aid, represented by Ade Couper who speaks in the “Refugee” strand. Couper’s extensive list of appointments include positions such as; chair of Bristol Amnesty International, a current board member of Amnesty International UK, and a role on the Activism sub-committee. Bowley appraises Ade’s intentions: “I think a big part of what he does is dispelling myths and communicating the truth. This is difficult in the current media age as the news features so much misinformation about situations such as the refugee crisis.”
The plight of refugees is of great concern to Hannah. Last term she helped organise a direct action raising awareness for those who are most vulnerable in our society. Scheduled the day after the Goverment’s pro-vote on the Syrian airs trikes, Bristol Amnesty International Society protested on Tyndall’s Avenue using a stand equipped with posters that dispelled myths about the refugee crisis. In addition a petition was held urging our local MP to pressure Cameron into providing greater aid for refugees.
The society’s president notes that people are often misled by media myths, observing that “the number of people who didn’t sign our petition surprised me. It did highlight the amount of misinformation out there. It is not an issue of economic migrants but of people being at risk in their own lands.” This feeds into Bristol’s Amnesty Society’s focus this term on Save the Human Rights Act. Under the current government, the Human Rights Act is at risk of being scrapped. Hannah comments that “people forget it is a last resort, a means of defense for vulnerable people where the legal system as a whole has failed you, where your legal rights as a human aren’t being upheld.” Within this, Bowley identifies the charity’s aim of dispelling insincerities about the HRA, highlighting how vital it really is: “every individual could need it at some point in their life to prevent them from being wronged.” Hannah stresses the importance of the act’s retention, as otherwise “it is the government who will decide upon the specific human rights that we are granted.” She assures that the society is in the early stages of planning a direct action for this campaign.
Hannah identifies the action she intends to implement to change our community’s misconceptions of human rights issues and supports the intention of this year’s BIDC as a means of “fuelling initiatives for action impacting on both the University and wider society.”
To learn more about the Human Rights Act, head to the Amnesty website.
Information about Bristol University’s Amnesty International society can be found on their Facebook page.