October 2011

1. October 2011 Stoning in Iran Lethal Injections and export of arms Dale Farm evictions, domestic civil liberties (environmental movement, Mark Kennedy)

2. Stoning in Iran In Iran, stoning a person to death is not against the law: using the wrong stone is. "The size of the stone used in stoning shall not be too large to kill the convict by one or two throws and at the same time shall not be too small to be called a stone." Article 104, Iranian Penal Code Under Iranian law, stoning is mandatory for both men and women convicted of 'adultery whilst married'. Email Ayatollah Sayed 'Ali Khamenei, Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic of Iran, asking for stoning to be removed from the Iranian Penal Code.

3. Lethal Injection Troy Davis was killed by a combination of : Barbiturate – to sedate. Paralytic – to paralyse, would lead to death by asphyxiation. Potassium chloride – causes cardiac arrest. The EU should ban the export of drugs for the use in lethal injection. Write to your MEP.

4. Arms Exports David Cameron, "Today is a day to remember all of Colonel Gaddafi's victims. From those who died in connection with the Pan Am Flight over Lockerbie, to Yvonne Fletcher in a London street, and obviously all the victims of IRA terrorism who died through their use of Libyan Semtex. "We should also remember the many, many Libyans who died at the hands of this brutal dictator and his regime. People in Libya today have an even greater chance, after this news, of building themselves a strong and democratic future. I'm proud of the role that Britain has played in helping them to bring that about and I pay tribute to the bravery of the Libyans who've helped to liberate their country. We will help them, we will work with them." Arms trade blog Write to the local media about the arms trade and consequences.

5. Dale Farm Basildon Council is conducting a “forced eviction on an unprecedented scale” at Dale Farm. Amnesty refuted attempts to portray the eviction as a “site clearance” and urged restraint from the police and bailiffs. Kate Allen, Director of Amnesty International UK, said: “Some commentators and politicians have portrayed the enforcement action by Basildon Council at Dale Farm as a site clearance, and not a forced eviction. This is misleading and inaccurate. “What is in its early stages at Dale Farm is a forced eviction which will leave several families homeless. The families being evicted have been failed by the Council at every turn; in inadequate consultation, insufficient negotiation and in the woeful failure to offer culturally adequate alternative accommodation, to which they are entitled. Irish Travellers are an ethnic group, originally from Ireland, who are recognised and protected as an ethnic group in English law. Many Irish Travellers live in caravans on unauthorised encampments or on authorised sites. Irish Travellers, along with other Roma, Travellers and Gypsies in the UK, face widespread discrimination and significant obstacles in getting housing, education and health services. Dale Farm, which is located on land owned by some Traveller, Roma and Gypsy families, is the UK’s largest Traveller settlement. Part of Dale Farm was granted permission for residential use. The part of Dale Farm where up to 400 Irish Traveller residents now face forced eviction, however, has repeatedly been denied planning permission for residential use on the basis of local zoning restrictions.

6. Mark Kennedy, Jim Sutton, Kenneth Clarke Mark Kennedy was undercover in the environmental movement for seven years, largely unsupervised. Jim Sutton committed perjury on behalf of the police. The government has published a green paper on Justice and Security. It is important that we make ourselves aware of the human rights implications. Who is going to read it?

7. Holocaust Awareness Week At the University of Leicester

8. Groups to be invited to “marketplace”.