Your Words Can CHANGE LIVES.
Your words can be a SPOTLIGHT that exposes the dark corners of the torture chamber. They can bring POWER to a human rights defender whose life is in jeopardy. They can IGNITE hope in a forgotten prisoner.
Your words can SAVE LIVES.
Join hundreds of thousands of people around the world in marking International Human Rights Day this December by taking part in Amnesty International's Write for Rights Global Write-a-thon - the world's largest human rights event. Through letters, cards and more, we take action to demand that the human rights of individuals are respected, protected and fulfilled. We show solidarity with those suffering human rights abuses, and work to bring about positive change in people's lives.
Will you write a letter to save a life?
Sign up now to Write for Rights!
"I am alive today, after 34 arrests,
because members of Amnesty
International spoke out for me."
- Jenni Williams, human rights defender in Zimbabwe
Shine A Light on Freedom of Expression
Jabbar Savalan
Azerbaijan
Hours after posting a Facebook message calling for protests against the government, Jabbar Savalan told his family that he was being followed. The next evening, police brought him to a police station, where they "discovered" marijuana in his outer coat pocket. Questioning him without a lawyer for two days, police reportedly hit and intimidated him to make him sign a confession. Jabbar Savalan maintained that he does not use drugs and that the marijuana was planted on him. Authorities in Azerbaijan have a history of using trumped-up drug charges to jail those seen as critical of the government. Amnesty International believes the charges against Jabbar were fabricated, and considers him a prisoner of conscience.
Shine A Light on Violence Against Women
Inés Fernández Ortega and Valentina Rosendo Cantú
Mexico
For more than nine years, two women in Mexico have taken on the military and authorities to demand justice after they were raped by soldiers in 2002. Inés Fernández and Valentina Rosendo are Indigenous Me'phaa (Tlapaneca) women. Indigenous women in Mexico who are raped rarely file a complaint due to cultural, economic and social barriers. Inés Fernández and Valentina Rosendo have shown courage in reporting their ordeals and have followed up their cases in national and international courts. The women and their families have faced threats as their battle for justice continues.
Shine A Light on the Forgotten Prisoners
Shin Sook-ja and others at Yodok Political Prison Camp
North Korea
Shin Sook-ja and her daughters are among the estimated 50,000 men, women and children currently held in Yodok political prison camp. Yodok is one of six known camps in North Korea, in which an estimated 200,000 political prisoners and their families are imprisoned. Inmates, including children, are tortured and forced to work in dangerous conditions. Many prisoners die in detention or soon after being released. Authorities sent Shin Sook-ja and her daughters to Yodok in 1987 after her husband requested political asylum in Denmark. It has been over 20 years since her husband received any information about his imprisoned family.
Shine A Light on Human Rights Defenders
Women of Zimbabwe Arise
Zimbabwe
The activists of the human rights organization Women of Zimbabwe Arise (WOZA) know the price of freedom. For organizing peaceful demonstrations to protest the worsening social, economic and political situation in Zimbabwe, WOZA members have been repeatedly harassed, intimidated, beaten and jailed by authorities. For years, government officials have misused the law to arbitrarily arrest and detain human rights activists and perceived critics of the President's political party. WOZA activists have been arrested multiple times, forced into Zimbabwe's notoriously filthy, over-crowded, and disease-ridden jails. Yet, they remain undaunted in their pursuit of dignity and justice.
SIGN UP to Write for Rights! Participate as an individual, host an event with friends, family, and members of your community, or attend a scheduled event. Check out our Write for Rights map to find an event near you, and RSVP to attend an event.
SPREAD THE WORD! Tell everyone that you plan to Write for Rights on Facebook and/or Twitter. Encourage others to sign up for Write for Rights by texting or emailing this registration link: www.amnestyusa.org/writeathon
Get your RESOURCES. Everything you need to participate in Write for Rights will be available on this website, including case summaries, sample letters, promotional materials, and helpful tips for holding a successful Write for Rights event. Participants will receive an email when these additional Resources become available. If you'd like hard copies of these items or have questions, email us: writeathon@aiusa.org.
WRITE and MAIL your letters. (December 3-11 are the key dates, but feel free to start earlier or later.)
TELL US HOW IT WENT! We want to hear from you: did you meet your letter pledge goal? Do you have great ideas on how we can make next year’s Write for Rights even better? Be sure to complete the very brief online evaluation form (available soon) or send us an email: writeathon@aiusa.org.
Letter writers and event organizers around the world are sharing their news and updates on Twitter. If you want to share your Write for Rights update with the global Write for Rights community, then include this short 'hashtag' code at the end of your tweet: "#4rights".
