The RMIT branch of Amnesty International Australia marked the annual candle day and the 50th anniversary of the movement with an information day outside the State Library, ending in the evening with speakers and the formation of a human candle on the lawns. This latter was rain affected to say the least, but upwards of thirty people heard a member of the local group relate the history of Amnesty from its foundation in 1960 by British lawyer Peter Benenson, a statement of Amnesty’s position on Australia’s current and proposed treatment of refugees, and finally Sister Brigid Arthur of the Brigidine Asylum Seekers Project shared some of her personal knowledge drawn from years of direct contact with asylum seekers, to counter the misinformation put about by government and especially the tabloid press.
The stall operated throughout the day, while a walking ‘Amnesty candle’ canvassed passers-by. A series of posters laid out on the ground in front of the Library entrance described a refugee’s journey beginning with his escape from the Taliban in Afghanistan as a 14-year-old in 2006 and ending in jail (aka ‘administrative detention’) in Australia 6 years later via Pakistan, Malaysia and Indonesia ...
See http://www.amnesty.org.au/vic/event/25676/ and http://www.amnesty.org.au/news/comments/25763/?
There is a report with several more photos on Melbourne Protests - http://melbourneprotests.wordpress.com/2011/05/30/amnesty-candle-day-in-...
