Third Annual Amnesty Nipissing Write for Rights Event

This Friday December 9, the Amnesty Nipissing Community Action Circle will host a letter-writing event and Open House from 11 a.m. – 2 p.m. in room A244 to celebrate International Human Rights Day.

This is the third time this event has been held at Nipissing. In each of the previous Write for Rights events, over 50 letters were written by students, staff and faculty in support of prisoners unjustly jailed and subject to torture.

Personal, hand-written letters are a powerful tool for social justice: two of the cases from 2015—Phyoe Phyoe Aung (Myanmar) and Yecenia Armenta (Mexico)—were released from prison, with the charges dropped or sentences acquitted.

This year’s cases are from Egypt, Cameroon and China, and they include a photojournalist taking a picture of an anti-government demonstration, a student forwarding a text message critical of Boko Haram to a friend, and a professor writing to encourage non-violent protest against discrimination of his ethnic minority.  Each of these individuals are in prison and suffering from mistreatment.

For more info go to http://www.writeathon.ca/. 

Amnesty Nipissing hopes to engage everyone in our community to help take action against this violent suppression of free speech by making this the most productive Write for Rights event yet.

The goal is to double last year’s letter count by posting 100 hand-written letters.

Though the cases are serious, the event need not be: refreshments, seasonal good cheer and company will be provided in abundance.

Write for Rights is open to everyone.

Anyone with questions about Amnesty International or the event is encouraged to contact Dr. Gyllie Phillips at amnestynipissing@gmail.com.