Unitarians in Edinburgh

Amnesty International United Kingdom

St Mark's Group, Edinburgh

Meets at 7.15-pm at St. Mark’s on the second Monday of each month.

Amnesty International is a human rights organisation which works for the release of ‘prisoners of conscience’ worldwide and campaigns against the use of torture.

Amnesty also campaigns -

to control the arms trade
for fair trials worldwide
to stop violence against women
to stop the death penalty

Come along to our meetings -
you can help make a difference!

The St. Mark's Amnesty International Group meet on the second Monday of every month (except August) in St. Mark's Unitarian Church on castle Terrace (close to the west-end of Princes St). The group has more than 20 members, of various ages about half of whom regularly attend meetings. The meetings, which begin at 7:15pm and finish around 9:00pm, start with a short business meeting, consist of a secretary's and treasurer's report, feed-back from campaign co-ordinators, and planning of future social or campaigning events. The group may then either split up into campaign subgroups, or the meeting will progress to a discussion, video, or talk on human rights.

At any one time the group is involved in several campaigns. Members typically form into smaller 'sub-groups' for each campaign. The members of the sub-group are responsible for the group's role in the campaign, and often meet outwith the normal monthly meeting to plan events, write letters etc.

The St Mark's Amnesty group has been in existence for more than 30 years and has two long running campaigns. The first one is Myanmar (Burma). This campaign started in 1991, when we began writing letters for the release of 9 prisoners of conscience, and although we rarely receive direct response from officials, six of the prisoners have since been released. We continue to write regarding the others. We have also long campaigned for the abolition of the death penalty. We are also involved in a campaign against torture, entitled 'Stamp Out Torture'.

Sculpture of refugee Most recently we have taken part in a six-month campaign on human rights in countries as diverse as the USA and Saudi Arabia. We have also ran a children's rights campaign, focusing in particular on the use of child soldiers. Previous campaigns have included: raising awareness of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, for an International Criminal Court, and focusing on the human rights situation in China.

The events we organise and the campaigns we run are in response to individual member's interests, commitments and enthusiasms. New members are very welcome, and free to put forward ideas of their own. Become as active a member as you wish to be.

Amnesty International United Kingdom

St Mark's Group, Edinburgh

Amnesty also campaigns -

Come along to our meetings - you can help make a difference!

For further information:

Come along to our meetings -
you can help make a difference!