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Freedom Writers Network Celebrates 20 Years
"As I sat in that tiny cell, the floor carpeted with cards and envelopes ... I knew that I was not alone. I pasted the walls with the photographs and the words of exhortation. I was emboldened by them, inspired even to stretch my imagination beyond the ubiquitous, constricting walls, and produce ideas and images which I hope should be of some use in the future."
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Nigerian journalist Christine Anyanwu, who was
released from prison after AI's Freedom Writers Network lobbied for her release. |
Christine Anyanwu was able to write these words to Amnesty International following her release after 15 years in prison. The Nigerian government charged Anyanwu, a journalist, for treason after she published articles that touched on subjects that were politically sensitive at the time. The thousands of letters activists wrote as part of AIUSA's Freedom Writers Network helped facilitate Anyanwu's liberation in 1998.
Anyanwu is among more than 650 prisoners who have been freed following mobilization of the Freedom Writers Network, which was founded 20 years ago this September. "Simply signing your name to a letter can have an impact far beyond what some people might imagine," says Michael O'Reilly, AIUSA's director of casework.
Every month thousands of network members receive a bulletin focusing on three individuals. Members send letters, based on sample correspondence provided by the network, to put pressure on the authorities who detain these prisoners. Letters may also provide immeasurable support to prisoners and help them endure their hardship, as in Anyanwu's case.
"What is so great about the network is simply its effectiveness — seeing your efforts directly result in freeing prisoners of conscience and securing the well-being of others," says Caryn Graves, an Amnesty volunteer in California who has been a member leader of the network since the early 1990s.
The writers took action in October 2003 for Malik Jarno, 16, a mentally disabled Guinean citizen who was detained by U.S. authorities after seeking asylum in the United States; Guinean government forces had killed his family and destroyed his home. Just two months later, Jarno was released. The Department of Homeland Security cited AIUSA's involvement, stating it had received "almost 3,000 letters from members of the public, most of which track a form letter drafted by Amnesty International."
An entryway for new activists and a gathering place for veterans, the Freedom Writers Network presses on, seeking justice one letter at a time.
See amnestyusa.org/freedomwriters, or contact casework@aiusa.org
— Erin Kang
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