MEMBERS of the Minehead Amnesty International Group met recently to mark International Women’s Day - which falls each year on the March 8.

The local West Somerset group draws supporters from Minehead and its surrounding villages, meeting roughly once a month to work on raising awareness in the area of Amnesty’s world-wide work for human rights.

At gatherings, the group send appeals to overseas governments on behalf of individual prisoners, support current Amnesty International campaigns, raise funds to support the charity’s work, and work to increase their knowledge of human rights issues.

This year for International Women’s Day, members signed letters and cards concerning two human rights cases.

One was for Mariya Kalesnikava, a politician in Belarus, who is serving an eleven-year prison sentence for peacefully protesting against human rights violations during the 2020 presidential election.

The other case was of Manahel al-Otaibi, who is also serving an eleven-year sentence, but this time in Saudi Arabia. Manahel has been subjected to a secret trial, solitary confinement and torture for her social media posts advocating for women’s rights in her country and for the removal of repressive male guardianship laws.

The group wrote letters to relevant governments and sent messages of solidarity to both Mariya and Manahel.

After meeting over coffee in the Beach Hotel, the group took the information display to the Quaker Meeting House on Bancks Street, where more signatures were added.

As a global movement of over ten million people, Amnesty International is the world's largest grassroots human rights organisation, investigating and exposing abuses, educating and mobilising the public, and helping to transform societies to create a safer, more just world.

Further information about the Minehead Group can be found on its website www.amnesty.org.uk/minehead or by emailing [email protected]