Dec. 10 is International Human Rights Day.
Write for Rights is an annual Amnesty International action that commemorates the day and the International Declaration for Human rights.
People gather publicly and privately to write letters that press governments to respond to specific human rights concerns. They also write directly to prisoners or others experiencing human rights violations to offer hope and solidarity.
Amnesty letters save lives.
One-third of Amnesty letter-writing campaigns have positive outcomes, but in past years more than half of the cases chosen for Write for Rights have had positive outcomes.
Every year more and more people write from at least 80 countries. This year the goal is to write two million letters worldwide, at least 30,000 of them from Canada.
Some of the cases selected for "Write for Rights" include people speaking out against torture, who themselves are persecuted and tortured, people advocating for free speech, for freedom to practise their religion and/or to live their lives true to their beliefs, people who are jailed without a fair trial, and without the rights we can expect here in Canada.
The local Amnesty Action Circle is a small but active and committed group of people who have worked to support cases including a Burmese monk sentenced to 65 years in prison for his role in the monks' protest.
Amnesty also focuses on human rights violations and abuses
of indigenous communities around the world and right here in Canada, by mining companies registered in Canada.
The Comox Valley Amnesty International Action Circle to Write for
Rights on Tuesday, Dec. 10 happens at Zocalo Café between 3:30 and 5:30.
For more information about Amnesty International Canada and Write for Rights, go to www.Amnesty.ca.
— Amnesty International Canada