Ann Slater, a member of Amnesty International's St. Marys chapter, writes a letter as part of the Write for Rights campaign. The St. Marys chapter held a drop-in letter writing session on Nov. 30 at the St. Marys Public Library.
By Emily Stewart
Community members spent the last Saturday of November writing letters calling for justice around the world.
The St. Marys chapter of Amnesty International, which includes members from Stratford, St. Marys and London, hosted a drop-in Write for Rights event at the St. Marys Public Library on Nov. 30. Booklets with information on the selected cases for 2024 were scattered across the table while participants wrote letters and enjoyed hot apple cider and snacks.
Write for Rights is the largest human rights campaign in the world. The 2024 campaign, which began Oct. 22, involves participants from around the world writing letters of concern to government officials and letters of support to the individuals and communities at risk of imprisonment, torture, or other danger.
The nine cases selected for this event focus on women’s rights, climate change and freedom of expression and censorship. One of the campaigns asks for an end to the imprisonment of Wet’suwet’en Nation land defenders in British Columbia for protesting a Coastal GasLink pipeline.
"With Write for Rights, you feel like you're part of a global community because many countries, hundreds of countries, are doing the same thing,” said Alizon Sharun, member of Amnesty International St. Marys. “Thousands of people are doing the same thing in the month of December."
Sharun said Write for Rights brings people together to take action, including those who otherwise are feeling overwhelmed and unsure where to start with social justice.
“When you think of thousands of letters arriving, it does make the authorities, the governments, the prison authorities … realize that someone's watching, someone's concerned, so it's very much life and death," she said.
The St. Marys Amnesty International chapter meets once a month. In addition to letter-writing throughout the year, the organization participates in other activities such as tree planting on behalf of Indigenous land defenders.
Anyone interested in getting involved with the St. Marys Amnesty International chapter can send an email to Elena Dumitru at elenadumitru1983@yahoo.ca.
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