Zimbabwe: Years of Hope & Despair
A Writers on Rights event




On 2nd June 2011 Philip Barclay gave a wonderfully evocative account of his time as a diplomat based in Harare at the time of the notorious 2008 elections. Reading extracts from his book he took us on a journey from the incredible optimism as he left a polling station on a starry night in March 2008 to the sense of despondency as the country descended into inflationary chaos, brutal violence and a cholera epidemic. Using items he'd brought back from Zimbabwe to illustrate his talk, and interspersing his account with moments of humour and levity, Barclay brought alive this beautiful and troubled country.


Flash Dance!




We celebrated Amnesty's 50th anniversary in style with a Flashdance in York's St Sampson's Square on Sunday 15th May 2011




Unsuspecting shoppers got a surprise as the flashdance broke out. The dance was performed by members of the York AI group and friends, dancers from York St John University's dance department, members of AI groups at York University and Fulford School to the track of "I wish I knew how it would feel to be free" by Nina Simone







Our "prisoner" awaiting release