December 10 is Human Rights Day, and I spent part of my time today writing letters as part of Amnesty International’s Write for Rights campaign. I’ve been a monthly donor to AI for a while and have been aware of the letter campaigns, but this is the first time I’ve sat down to write a letter… and well, it’s not easy, but it is satisfying.
I picked three cases to focus on:
1. Jabbar Salavan, imprisoned in Azerbaijan for using Facebook to criticize the government,
2. Natalia Estemirova, murdered in 2009 but the perpetrators have not yet been brought to justice
3. Nasrin Sotoudeh, imprisoned in Iran for her work as a human rights campaigner
My other letters were to the Canadian government asking that Bill C-4, the Preventing Human Smugglers from Abusing Canada’s Immigration System Act, be withdrawn because it will unfairly punish refugees and migrants who are seeking protection in Canada.
As of this post, people have written 12621 letters to governments around the world. It’s not to late to join in and write #4rights – even a greeting card with a few words of support can make a difference in someone’s life.