Flame, Issue 1 2013

THE WRITING'S ON THE WALL ISSUE 1 / 2013

TWO YEARS OF TURMOIL IN THE MIDDLE EAST & NORTH AFRICA

IN THIS ISSUE > LAND RIGHTS ‘GANGNAM STYLE’ > SEEKING THE TRUTH IN SRI LANKA > THIS YEAR’S LAUGH LINE UP

EDITORIAL

NEW CONSTITUTIONS ‘BAKE-IN’ HUMAN RIGHTS PRACTICES – FOR BETTER OR WORSE – FOR DECADES OR EVEN CENTURIES TO COME When the news of the assassination of Chokri Belaid, the Tunisian opposition leader, broke in February, I was on my way to meet with other Amnesty International directors in The Netherlands.

The assassination again threw Tunisia into turmoil, preventing our colleague from Amnesty Tunisia joining us. His absence made the jubilation felt just two years back, following the ousting of the Tunisian Government and triggering the Arab Spring, seem a long time ago.

In the two years since the Arab Spring uprisings began, the Amnesty movement has been working hard to ensure that it is also a new start for human rights in the region. Many of us here in New Zealand have been part of these campaigns.

One of our special priorities has been to speak up for human rights in the new constitutions being drawn up. We have spoken out strongly against provisions in the new Tunisian draft constitution, which fail to uphold international human rights principles and standards, and on the draft Egyptian constitution which we consider an enormous disappointment to those who took to the streets to demand their rights.

Compared to our other campaigns, this work rarely makes the news headlines. Yet new constitutions are so vital because they can ‘bake-in’ human rights practices – for better or worse – for decades or even centuries to come.

It’s for this reason that we’ve been so concerned by the latest developments in Fiji’s moves towards a new constitution. The seizure of copies of the new draft constitution by security forces and the shocking video footage showing the torture of two men has raised fresh concerns about how the process there will go.

Thankfully our own constitutional review here in New Zealand isn’t taking place against the backdrop of such turmoil. But high levels of child poverty here, placing New Zealand 21st out of 30 OECD countries for child wellbeing, shows that we can’t be complacent. While our Bill of Rights Act does a good job of protecting civil and political rights – like freedom of expression and the right to vote – it still doesn’t recognise all of the human rights that we have committed to internationally. Rights like education, healthcare and housing are part of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, but are yet to be ‘baked-in’ as part of our keystone human rights law.

FLAME ISSUE 1 / 2013

02

You’ll be hearing more from us about what we can do to encourage New Zealand to recognise all basic human rights in law. And in the meantime, we’ll continue to work hard to ensure human rights are protected in the new constitutions in Fiji and the Middle East and North Africa region.

CONTENTS 3

Land Rights ‘Gangnam Style’

4

Two Years of turmoil in the Middle East & North Africa

6

Sri Lanka – Time to tell the Truth

8

Take Action – Freedom of Expression

10

Human Rights & Wrongs – Campaign Roundup

11

Amnesty Briefs

CONTACT DETAILS Amnesty International Aotearoa New Zealand P O Box 5300, Wellesley St, Auckland, 1141 0800 266 378

PASS IT ON When you’ve finished with your copy of Flame please pass it on to someone else so they can learn about Amnesty International and the vital work we do.

CHAIRPERSON: Helen Shorthouse

Send all your comments and suggestions to:

EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR: Grant Bayldon

EMAIL: theflame@amnesty. org.nz

EDITOR: Anita Harvey

WWW.AMNESTY.ORG.NZ

ART DIRECTION + DESIGN: We Love Inc www.weloveinc.com

COVER IMAGE: Graffiti on Mohamed Mahmoud Street Cairo, Egypt. © Amnesty International WWW.AMNESTY.ORG.NZ PROTECT THE HUMAN

GRANT BAYLDON EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL AOTEAROA NEW ZEALAND

LAND RIGHTS 'GANGNAM STYLE'

FORCED EVICTIONS

For International Human Rights Day 2012, more than 42,000 Cambodians took to the streets around the country, with some dancing 'Gangnam-style' in front of the National Assembly in Phnom Penh to end unfair forced evictions.

With the help of Amnesty International volunteers across the globe, 40,000 signatures (including more than 4,000 from New Zealand) were presented after the dance, calling for an end to these evictions.

Activists also wore and presented t-shirts with 11,000 signatures collected from Cambodians calling for land, labour and human rights in 24 provinces around the country.

Thank you to everyone who took part in some way to help end forced evictions in Cambodia, it’s amazing to see what we were part of.

Watch the Gangnam video here: http://bit.ly/XvlpQV ALL IMAGES Š LICHADO

FLAME ISSUE 1 / 2013

03

FEATURE

© Sanja Knezevic

THE WRITING'S ON THE WALL NOWHERE HAS THE HUMAN COST OF THE 'ARAB SPRING' UPRISINGS BEEN HIGHER THAN IN SYRIA. AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL RESEARCHER CILINA NASSER AND SENIOR CRISIS ADVISER DONATELLA ROVERA TALK ABOUT THE CONFLICT SO FAR.

SYRIA: From ‘Days of Rage’ to raging conflict Emboldened by the fall of repressive governments in Tunisia and Egypt, Syria’s opposition activists started taking action in early 2011.Their uprisings grew wings – on social media and on the streets – and in March, Syria’s Local Coordination Committees (LCCs) were born.

They organised local protests and shared information with other activists and the media, nationally and abroad.

Breaking down the barriers Just months before, activities like these had been impossible in Syria. “Anyone who did something even small scale would be at risk of disappearing”, said Amnesty International’s Syria researcher, Cilina Nasser.

Nevertheless, the ranks of pro-reform activists continued to swell, and “Days of Rage” public protests began cropping up.

On 18 March 2011, a group of around 30 people gathered at a mosque in Homs, a city 150km north of the capital, Damascus. When Friday prayers finished and people began to leave, they erupted into chants of “Allah, Syria and freedom”.

The writing on the wall

FLAME ISSUE 1 / 2013

04

On 17 April 2011 – Syrian Independence Day – another sit-in protest in Homs drew a far bigger crowd. The protesters were unarmed but more defiant, and began chanting for the “downfall of the regime” of President Bashar al-Assad.

That afternoon, the security forces opened fire on protesters in Homs, reportedly killing nine people.

Getting the message out Scenes like these were being replicated across Syria by mid-2011. The country was still virtually closed to foreign reporters and international human rights organisations.

“Not having access to the country made it very challenging, because we didn’t know the agendas of the activists we were talking to,” Cilina said.

Any tips or information Amnesty International received had to be verified – an increasingly difficult and timeconsuming task.

“I went to northern Lebanon in May and June 2011 to work on a report. Most credible eyewitness accounts corroborated each other,” Cilina continued. “But there were also rumours and inaccurate information. We needed to carefully distinguish between what we had evidence for and what we didn’t.”

After the information had been rigorously checked, Amnesty concluded that crimes against humanity were being committed in Syria. We made strong calls for the international community to take action to end the abuses.

And we repeatedly called for the UN Security Council to refer the situation to the International Criminal Court.

Full-blown conflict As Syrian security forces increasingly used excessive force against mainly non-violent protesters, an armed opposition emerged. From late 2011 onwards, some government opponents increasingly began revenge killings and armed attacks against government forces.

In April 2012, Senior Crisis Adviser, Donatella Rovera managed to enter Syria to investigate human rights violations in the north. She has returned several times since. “Government forces were still in control of the

cities and highways, while armed opposition groups had de facto control of many villages and secondary roads,” she explained.

Armed opposition groups very quickly learned to “dance around” government forces. These punitive raids carried on for months, with devastating consequences for civilians. When the soldiers couldn’t find their elusive armed opponents, they punished local residents.

Extrajudicial executions, arbitrary detentions, torture, and disappearances were widespread. They also deliberately destroyed homes and properties.

Death in the air The Syrian army then started a relentless air bombardment campaign in August last year, which still continues. Even densely populated residential areas are not spared. Entire streets, even whole neighbourhoods, have been flattened.This has dramatically increased the number of civilians killed, injured and displaced.

“Towns and villages where displaced people had been sheltering suddenly emptied,” said Donatella. Hundreds of thousands fled to already-heaving refugee camps in neighbouring Lebanon, Turkey and Jordan. Many more are displaced within Syria.

Air strikes often targeted large groups of civilians – including people queuing for bread as food supplies dwindled, or those gathered near hospitals. “Aleppo’s Shifa hospital was bombed repeatedly until it was put out of use,” Donatella said.

Lack of access to medical care has been a serious issue throughout Syria’s conflict. Donatella described how security forces would detain and often torture anyone being treated for bullet wounds – accusing them of being “terrorists”. The regime uses that term interchangeably for both peaceful protesters and the armed opposition.

Fear of such retribution drove many people to seek treatment in makeshift field hospitals or mobile medical units set up by opposition activists. Doctors, nurses and medical students risked their lives to save others. Many were arrested and tortured, some were killed.

EGYPT: These walls can speak During Hosni Mubarak’s 30 years in power, the walls lining Cairo’s streets stood in stark silence.

Today, some have come alive with colour, serving as a powerful canvas for people to express themselves.

Mohamed Mahmoud Street, which leads from the Interior Ministry into Tahir Square – the main focus point for Cairo’s protesters – is the centre of this creative activity and has become an open-air gallery of social issues. 51 people were killed there during six days of clashes with Egyptian riot police in November 2011.

It’s two years since the ’25 Jan Revolution’ – when some 840 individuals died during demonstrations that ended Mubarak’s rule. At least 6,600 people also sustained injuries during the protests, which were brutally suppressed by the security forces.

The art serves as a memorial to those who were killed. Yet it also signposts the plethora of issues Egypt still faces today - the more than 12,000 unfair military trials of civilians, the battle against the sexual harassment of women, the abuse by the security forces of peaceful protesters, and the ongoing crackdown on freedom of expression.

The wall has also become a bitter reminder of the need for accountability. No senior official or security officer has been convicted or justly punished for killing or injuring protestors. The families of those killed are still waiting for justice.

Although the Egyptian authorities have on several occasions attempted to paint over the murals, many remain as creative criticism and a reminder of just how little has changed in the two years since the uprising began.

Abuses on all sides As the conflict rages on, Syria’s government forces and paramilitary (state-armed) militias do not have complete monopoly on human rights abuses.

Armed opposition groups too have committed serious abuses, including summary killing and torturing captured security forces, militia members and suspected informers. Amnesty International continues to document potential war crimes committed by all parties.

“Civilians are undoubtedly the ones paying the highest price. They are losing their lives, their relatives, their limbs, their homes, businesses and property,” Donatella said. “No end to the violence seems in sight, and sectarian, ethnic, ideological and religious tensions have become more entrenched. In this atmosphere, human rights abuses are increasingly frequent.”

As Syria’s conflict rages on, the international community's inaction has unfortunately conveyed a message that accountability for war crimes is not a priority. That is a dangerous presumption. Amnesty International will continue to press for concrete action at the international level, to stop violations on the ground and hold all those responsible to account.

FLAME ISSUE 1 / 2013

05

SRI LANKA

NO NATION IS AN ISLAND

TELL THE TRUTH SRI LANKA For years the Sri Lankan Government has created an image of human rights progress in a country where torture, crushing dissent, and impunity remain an everyday reality. Political opponents, civil society and journalists are often targeted for their work. Counter-terrorism legislation continues to facilitate torture and abusive detention practices. Cases of enforced disappearance, extrajudicial execution and failure to investigate and punish the perpetrators continue. The spotlight is now on the Commonwealth as Sri Lanka hosts the Heads of Government meeting in November 2013. Amnesty will continue to demand tangible progress and a better future for the people of Sri Lanka.

KADAMBARI GLADDING IS AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL’S DONOR LIAISON MANAGER, SHE IS FROM GOA, INDIA AND HAS LIVED IN NEW ZEALAND SINCE 2006. SHE IS ALSO A FREELANCE JOURNALIST.

19 May this year will mark four years since the end of the conflict between the Sri Lankan military and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). The Sri Lankan Government has triumphantly celebrated this as a victory, while Tamils in their traditional homelands of the north and east continue to grieve for their dead – estimated by the United Nations (UN) to be 40,000.

Around the world people have watched in horror, as credible evidence has come to light of gruesome war crimes and crimes against humanity, committed by both sides. The Sri Lankan Government’s lack of will to protect civilians or account for very serious violations, during the last months of the war continues to hold up any chance of genuine reconciliation. The LTTE are reported to have used civilian Tamils as human shields against the military offensive, and Amnesty International is concerned about allegations that the Government's armed forces indiscriminately shelled on no-fire zones, shelters, hospitals and food distribution points in the northeast, resulting in the deaths of thousands of civilians. The abuse and torture of captured LTTE men and women was caught on mobile phone cameras and has now been seen by people the world over.

FLAME ISSUE 1 / 2013

06

Amnesty International and the UN have stated that credible evidence of large scale war crimes requires an independent enquiry into what really occurred in 2009 in north east Sri Lanka. But so far, the Government continues to drag its feet with its unwillingness to implement an independent investigation.

I've been back to Sri Lanka twice in the past four years, looking and hoping for telltale signs of reconciliation – the golden promise that had been heralded as the game-changer for Sri Lanka, post conflict. And while there is indeed peace now, it is

Cartoon by Prageeth Eknaligoda, a journalist/ Cartoonist who disappeared in January 2010. © Prageeth Eknaligoda

hard to ignore the undercurrent of subjugation in the north and the east. The war may have ended, but for thousands of Tamils and everyone I spoke with, the issues they face continue.

The current singular emphasis on war-crimes must not cause the international community to lose sight of helping solve the underlying issues that led to the war in the very first place – inequality and discrimination.

There are ongoing instances of the right to freedom of expression and the right to assembly and association being severely curtailed. Sri Lankans demanding human rights accountability have been treated with particular hostility by Sri Lankan authorities, especially when their demands have been communicated outwards, to the international community.

Four years on from the war, there is so much unresolved in Sri Lanka. Many people are still waiting for answers about their disappeared or dead loved ones, lost to the years of unrest.

Many journalists who attempt to challenge or investigate the Government’s actions have been disappeared, abducted and killed while according to the Integrated Regional Information Networks (IRIN), many Sri Lankan activists believe that the Government's failure to hand over land to the original owners is an impediment to peace.

With such disturbing indicators of fundamental rights under threat, Sri Lanka's current deteriorating human rights climate is of deep concern to Amnesty International. The Prevention of Terrorism Act allows rampant arbitrary detentions and torture to continue unchecked. The freedoms of expression, assembly and association and the right to live with dignity and equality are all at grave at risk of continued abuse by the authorities.

The time is now for the international community to be resolute in its demand that Sri Lanka tell the truth, drop the mask, and meet its human rights obligations. If the Tamil people and indeed all communities there are to live with equality, safety and freedom, then truth and justice should come first. Only then will progress follow.

SRI LANKA

Family members protest against the disappearance of their relatives in Colombo. © Vikalpasl

IAN MCINNES IS CURRENTLY THE CEO OF TEAR FUND NEW ZEALAND.

“There were people with lost limbs, young, old, men, women and children, it was a cross section of Tamil society, caught up in conflict,” said Ian. They were evacuated by sea from the war zone by the Red Cross, and were processed off shore on boats before being moved onshore and into ever more off shore crowded hospitals.

For Kiwi Ian McInnes, Sri Lanka was a very sharp and brutal introduction to civil conflict.

Yet it is also a country that holds a special place in his heart And like so many people he has hopes and aspirations for the tiny island in the northern Indian Ocean.

“It is my belief that development and lasting peace will come to Sri Lanka – one way or another – one day,” said Ian. But there is a lot that needs to change before that day arrives.

”There was no triage on the boats and some died waiting to be processed” said Ian. Ian had to leave and return to New Zealand in the final months of the war, a move he said was extremely difficult. However he added “in another sense it was a relief, it was a tense and difficult time to be heading an aid organisation.”

“War creates a stifling environment of immense insecurity for everyone involved and aid workers, journalists, civilians; they all paid a heavy toll in those final years.

Ian’s path to Sri Lanka was influenced by several factors. His wife is a Sri Lankan – although she had left as a young child but it was holidaying there when the tsunami struck in 2004 and seeing the resulting devastation that drew him there to work and help for various periods of time over the next few years.

“But to leave at that time, with all that was taking place, all the people, it was to say in the least extremely difficult.” said Ian

Working for an international charity, Ian went back to Sri Lanka to help with rehabilitation work. But as the conflict escalated the work morphed from tsunami reconstruction to conflict relief and peace building.

Yet in the process of moving forward many of the freedoms that Sri Lanka’s minorities dreamed of have yet to be delivered.

“It was a bloody finish to the war,” said Ian. And he spent it saving lives; providing supplies of clothes, food and other essentials to those being evacuated through hospitals in the country’s war torn north-east.

Only the seriously injured or those accompanying them were able to be evacuated.

“There has been no accountability and no sign that there will be,” said Ian. “There is a lock down on the expression of free opinion or discontentment, felt both inside Sri Lanka and by the diaspora around the world.

“With the war over the Sri Lankan Government has a golden opportunity to make things right – to allow people to access home lands, to allow genuine political freedoms and start to put right the wrongs. They should seize the opportunity for all Sri Lankans to prosper – they can’t waste this.”

07 FLAME ISSUE 1 / 2013

Just a few kilometres from where Ian was working the constant bombardment by government forces in the final months of the war saw a trickle of evacuations turn into a flood from the war zone

That was four years ago, and there have been changes; motorways have been built, there is a rising middle class and the previously ubiquitous checkpoints have been removed.

© Private

TAKE ACTION

WHO

#1

MOHAMMED AL-AJAMI WHAT

15 YEARS IN PRISON FOR WRITING POETRY IN QATAR BACKGROUND Can you imagine being imprisoned simply for writing and publishing a poem?

Qatari poet Mohammed al-Ajami can, he has been in jail since November 2011 for “offences” that relate to his poetry.

FLAME ISSUE 1 / 2013

08

WHAT CAN YOU DO

PLEASE WRITE Express concern that, though his sentence was reduced on 25 February, Mohammed al-Ajami has been imprisoned solely for the peaceful exercise of his right to freedom of expression and therefore is a prisoner of conscience.

Call on the Qatari authorities to release Mohammed al-Ajami immediately and unconditionally and overturn his conviction.

Mohammed originally faced life in prison, but on appeal in February, he had his sentence reduced to 15 years.

Appeal to the Minister of the Interior Sheikh Abdullah bin Khalid Al Thani

He remains in solitary confinement in Doha's Central Prison and is charged with “inciting to overthrow the ruling system” and “insulting the Amir.”

Ministry of the Interior PO Box 920 Doha, State of Qatar

He is a prisoner of conscience, jailed solely for the peaceful exercise of his right to freedom of expression.

Fax: +974 4432 2927 Email: info@moi.gov.qa Salutation: Your Excellency

TAKE ACTION

#2

#3 © Centre Culturel Pouya

WHO

JA’FAR PANAHI

WHAT

FILMMAKER SENTENCED TO SIX YEARS PRISON IN IRAN

BACKGROUND Banned for 20 years from writing or directing films, speaking to the media or travelling abroad, Ja’far Panahi is an internationally celebrated film director who remains under house arrest, awaiting the outcome of an appeal against a six year prison sentence.

He was convicted of “propaganda against the state” for having exercised his right to peaceful freedom of expression through his film-making and political activism.

He was specifically accused of making an anti-government film without permission and inciting opposition protests after the disputed 2009 presidential election.

WHAT CAN YOU DO

PLEASE WRITE Call on the Iranian authorities to immediately drop all charges against Ja’far. Ask them to overturn his prison sentence and immediately end his 20 year ban on film making. Urge them to respect freedom of expression.

Send your appeals to Ayatollah Sayed Ali Khamenei - Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic

Email: info_leader@leader.ir Twitter: @khamenei_ir Salutation: Your Excellency

WHO

WHAT

ESKINDER JOURNALIST IMPRISONED NEGA FOR TREASON AND TERRORISM IN ETHIOPIA BACKGROUND Ethiopian Journalist Eskinder Nega was sentenced to 18 years in prison for high treason and terrorism related offences on 13 July 2012. He was arrested after writing articles and making speeches criticizing the Government and asking for freedom of expression in Ethiopia. This is the eighth time he has been arrested and persecuted for his work as a journalist.

23 other people were prosecuted alongside Eskinder and the trial was marred by serious irregularities, including allegations of torture from at least one defendant, which were not investigated.

WHAT CAN YOU DO

PLEASE WRITE To the Ethiopian authorities calling for Eskinder’s immediate and unconditional release.

Urge the Government to stop using criminal proceedings to silence its critics, and to end other forms of harassment of journalists, opposition members and civil society activists.

Laws unduly restricting freedom of expression and association must be amended.

Appeal to the Prime Minister of Ethiopia Hailemariam Desalegn P.O. Box 1031 Addis Ababa Ethiopia Fax: +251 11 155 20 20 Salutation: Dear Prime Minister

09 FLAME ISSUE 1 / 2013

The Office of the Supreme Leader Islamic Republic Street - End of Shahid Keshvar Doust Street, Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran

© Private

CAMPAIGN ROUNDUP

Death Penalty While 2011 moved the world toward abolition of the death penalty, the past few months have seen an increase in death penalty cases.

Saudi Arabia has been beheading nearly two people per week this year.

Marriage Equality

Arms Trade Treaty Last year we came so close to the world committing to an effective Arms Trade Treaty (ATT). Sadly, in the last hours on the last day of negotiations in July, a call for more time was made by the United States, supported by Russia and with China taking the opportunity to make a few conditions of its own.

But we have been given another chance, another opportunity to say “Enough”.

At the time Flame went to print, the world’s leaders were again meeting with expectations to sign an Arms Trade Treaty. Around the world we have worked extremely hard to ensure that the final text was not watered down and full of loopholes big enough to drive tanks through.

Visit amnesty.org.nz/our-work/armstrade-treaty to find out the result of the conference.

FLAME ISSUE 1 / 2013

10

At the time of writing Li Yan was on death row in China for murdering her husband after suffering repeated, horrific abuse at his hands. She could be executed at any time.

On 16 February, Amnesty International took part in Auckland’s Pride Parade. It was a chance to stand loud and proud with New Zealand’s lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex (LGBTI) communities in New Zealand, and share our message that discrimination is wrong.

On 22 February, Japan hung three people in the first executions by the new Liberal Democratic Government.

On 27 February the Parliamentary committee considering the Marriage (Definition of Marriage) Amendment Bill - to allow same sex marriage recommended it be passed into law.

Authorities in Yemen “played deaf” to last-ditch calls to save Ahmed Saleh Abdullah al-Ma’ouri, who was executed in February despite being pardoned by members of the victims’ family.

The Bill passed it's first and second reading and a third and final reading could happen in May. Keep up to date at http://www.amnesty.org.nz/our-work/ marriage-equality.

The death penalty is the ultimate denial of human rights and Amnesty opposes it in all cases without exception. We will continue in our fight to see it abolished worldwide.

Asylum Seekers

Child Poverty

New Zealand headed even further down the wrong path when it comes to asylum seekers, as the Government made a new refugee deal with Australia in February.

The public invitation for all New Zealanders to join the constitutional conversation provides an opportunity to call for equal recognition of economic, social and cultural rights in New Zealand law.

Amnesty is particularly concerned that the 150 refugees to be resettled by New Zealand will still have to wait for years in Australia or in an offshore centre, under the 'no advantage policy'.

As a country that receives so few asylum seekers arriving at its borders, Amnesty believes New Zealand should be focusing on increasing its resettlement program.

The new ‘deal’ does not address refugee protection in the region, and in fact may undermine a regional approach.

In Sudan, Bakri Moussa Mohammed had his sentence of 10 years’ imprisonment changed to death.

These rights – such as the right to education, access to healthcare and adequate housing are not protected in the New Zealand Bill of Rights Act. We will be using a case study on child poverty in New Zealand to explain how protecting these rights in law is a key part of the solution.

Email Advocacy Manager at amanda.brydon@amnesty.org.nz to get involved.

AMNESTY BRIEFS Human Rights Defender Award Nominations for the 2013 Human Rights Defender Award are closing soon.

The Award will be presented on Saturday 4 May and acknowledges one person’s contribution to the protection, defence and promotion of human rights. So what are you waiting for? Nominations close at 5pm on Friday 5 April 2013. Visit http://bit.ly/Zk09uD to nominate.

LAUGH YOUR HEAD OFF! Amnesty International’s Secret Policeman’s Ball is back! For the second year in a row you have the chance to laugh your head off in support of human rights.

The Secret Policemen’s Ball was the brainchild of the comedic geniuses behind Monty Python and first took place in 1976 in London, it has snowballed ever since.

In the lead up to the laugh fest on 12 May Flame had a chat with kiwi comedian and 2011 Billy T winner Nick Gibb about whether comedy can in fact convey serious issues.

Gibb is one of the ensemble of comedians part of this year’s Secret Policeman’s Ball because, as he aptly put it “like most humans, I’m a big fan of human rights.”

Gibb candidly admitted that “I’m a massive comedy nerd. When I was growing up, The Secret Policeman’s Ball was this almost mythical happening where literally every single one of my comedy heroes – these gods – got together and goofed around in one place.

Comedy and serious issues go hand in hand, he added.

“Comedy can best argue for freedom of expression simply by being a potent example of it.”

“A good comedic idea can cut to the heart of an issue and really elegantly untangle false logic and expose the truth of it in a way that can’t be argued with,” Gibb said.

“If you’ve laughed, you’ve agreed with the comedian, and you’ve agreed with your gut and mind at the same time - whether you wanted to or not. That’s true whether the comic is tackling big, serious issues, or just talking about airline food or cats.”

“Freedom of expression is essential,” he said.

“We’re lucky enough to live in a country where we can take it for granted to such an extent that it’s almost hard to imagine not having it, but comedy without freedom of expression is like skiing without gravity.”

In Myanmar, comedian and satirist Zarganar was banned from performing publicly and was later sentenced to 35 years in prison for speaking out against the Government.

The reality is that this does happen to people around the world and many more artists remain under lock and key.

Join us, Nick Gibb and the rest of our Laugh Line Up including, Simon McKinney, Jesse Griffin, TJ McDonald, Chris Brain, Raybon Kan and more at The Secret Policeman's Ball to celebrate freedom of expression and help raise money to protect the human all round the world.

Amnesty International is sponsoring the Human Rights Category at the 2013 Documentary Edge Film Festival. The festival takes place in Auckland from 11-21 April and in Wellington from 9-19 May. Visit www. documentaryedge.org.nz to find out more.

Annual Meeting 2013 From 4-5 May you’re invited to Amnesty International’s 2013 Annual Meeting and Human Rights Conference. We’ll be gathering in Auckland to tackle some of most pressing human rights issues and questions facing our world today. www.amnesty.org.nz/ annualmeeting2013 for all the information you need.

Protect the Human through community fundraising Amnesty International is launching a new community fundraising initiative to shake up the way we fundraise and help raise our profile in your community.

We’ll be asking the rest of our teams to host an event between August and the end of November. Contact mo.farrell@amnesty.org.nz

Entertainment Book This year Amnesty is offering supporters the chance to purchase a copy of the new 2013/2014 Entertainment Book. The entertainment book is a local dining and activity guide that provides 25 percent to 50 percent off and 2 for 1 offers for many of NZ’s finest restaurants, cafes, activities, retail offers and hotels. 20 percent of each sale goes towards Amnesty International’s work.

The books will be available in to order your copy visit www.amnesty.org.nz/shop.

Would you give up your desktop?

What if your desktop could help defend human rights? We’ve partnered up with Donate Your Desktop - a simple application designed to change the world, one desktop at a time. You simply download an application and then each day your wallpaper will be renewed with a fresh design sponsored by an advertiser. www.donateyourdesktop.co.nz

11 FLAME ISSUE 1 / 2013

The Secret Policeman’s Ball, Sunday 12 May, at the Comedy Chamber @ The Edge, Queen St, Auckland. Ticket $35. More information amnesty.org.nz/secretball

Film Festival

STOP TORTURE, JOIN AMNESTY. www.amnesty.org.nz/get-involved