Dec. 10 is International Human Rights Day.
Each year Amnesty International and the local Comox Valley Amnesty Action Circle mark the anniversary of the signing of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights with a letter-writing campaign, Write for Rights.
Amnesty supporters send letters on behalf of people they’ve never met. These messages help convince government officials to release people imprisoned for expressing their opinion, stop the use of torture, and end other human rights abuses. Last year over 3.2 million messages were sent, and they changed lives. Write for Rights is the power of one multiplied many thousands of times over to make a difference in people’s lives.
This year we will write on behalf of a student leader in Myanmar who faces a sentence of nine years for participating in a peaceful protest, and others imprisoned, and sometimes tortured, for speaking their mind.
We will also write letters to address human rights violations by Canadian mining, oil and gas companies.
Amnesty’s “Open for Justice” Campaign focuses on human rights violations done to people in Canada and around the world because of the practices of some of these companies.
Members of The Comox Valley Amnesty Action Circle invite you to join them to write letters, learn more about the universal declaration of human rights and about the work of Amnesty International. The event takes place at Zocalo Café, Thursday, Dec. 10, 3:30-5:30 p.m.
For more information about the results of last year’s Writeathon, the cases chosen for this year and Amnesty’s projects go to www.Amnesty.ca.
