Freedom Writers

www.amnestyusa.org

Each month, I get an email from Amnesty International containing information on three cases of Human Rights Abuse. They give names and addresses of government officials to whom we are to write letters to, as well as updates on past cases.

Back when I first joined the network there was no such thing as email. I received an packet of information in the mail and would write an actual letter to each government official (a copy of which goes to that country’s corresponding Embassy in Washington, DC). Today, thankfully, I can just print off the letter they provide, sign my name to the bottom, and pop it in the mail.

This month, I am sending letters to Equatorial Guinea, Mexico, and Thailand. The concerns have to do with prisoners of conscience, torture, impunity, and fear for their safety. So far this year I have sent letters to places like Honduras, Libya, Israel, Peru, Rwanda, Syria, Vietnam – even to the U.S.A. – for such concerns as death threats, health concerns of prisoners, detentions without charge or trial, and unfair trials.

The concept behind this network is to let these governments know that what they are doing is wrong, and the whole world knows they are doing it. They cannot hide their actions!

Imagine you are doing something you know to be wrong: you would obviously try to hide it from the world. Now imagine that you suddenly get hundreds of thousands of letters, from all over the world, all of them saying “I know what you are doing, and you need to stop!”

It’s pretty effective.

I use this as an opportunity to learn more about my world; geography, politics, all sorts of things. I have an atlas at home that I look at each month to locate each country. I access the CIA’s World Fact Book to read up on each country, learning all about their statistics and economies. The internet provides a wealth of information that I browse thru each time.

Slowly but surely, I am filling in the gaps of my education – one letter at a time – and at the same time, I am contributing to the overall health of the planet.