So many letters

Letter-writers from around the world are reporting back on their results. Here’s what we’ve heard so far: Poland – 108,026 letters; 82,168 signatures and 550 solidarity messages in France; 500 signatures in Slovakia; 4452 letters in Portugal; and 58,475 in the United States.

Success!! Hamdi al-Ta’mari freed – read his words of thanks …

Hamdi al-Ta’mari was released just days after the writeathon and is now home with his family after a year in detention. He had been arrested as a 15-year-old, without charge.  He passed on this message to Amnesty supporters: “I received one letter from Amnesty International members, at the beginning, that was the first one. Later the guards refused to pass on the letters to me, they just asked, ‘Where are you getting all these letters from? That way I knew I had many letters and that people knew about me, which made the guards pay attention. I wish I could receive those letters now.” Read about his release

Hundreds of messages of solidarity in french language

Hundreds of messages of solidarity have been written on Amnesty France’s “eBook”. This french-language website allows Amnesty supporters to write messages directly to human rights defenders at risk. View messages and “temoigner votre soutiens en ligne”. See personnes en danger 2009.

Peace Community in Colombia says “Thank you!”

Members from the Peace Community in Colombia wrote to say how much “joy” it gives them to hear that kids in schools across Canada have been learning about them and writing letters on their behalf. They say “this inspires us to carry on despite how hard it is … Thank you so much; the caring attitude of so many people in Canada is very moving for us.”  Send a message in solidarity | Learn about Amnesty’s work in Colombia

Photos arriving from events – keep them coming …

Send photos to us at writeathon@amnesty.ca. See pics from Write for Rights events around the world: Poland, Slovenia, … View photos from events around Canada on our Flickr page.

Thanks for making Write for Rights an enormous success! Report back

Thank you everyone who participated in more than 2,500 Write for Rights events across Canada on Human Rights Day. And good to luck to all those whose events are yet to take place throughout the coming weekend. Remember, once you’ve finished your letter-writing to send photos to writeathon@amnesty.ca and to add your  results to our tally. Click here to report on your event.

Large donations doubled – small donations tweeted

A generous Amnesty donor has pledged to match gifts of $500 or more dollar for dollar up to $50,000 to ensure we have the funds necessary to help those caught in human rights crises in 2010. Five people have already responded – their gift to human rights will go twice as far and help twice as many people!  Have your gift matched. Or, want to make a small donation that’s highly visible? Check out our new “Buy a Stamp” twitter action.

Keep them coming … lots of good comments posted

Once you’ve written your letter, consider sharing your thoughts on the action you’ve just taken. See some of the thoughtful comments posted by those who wrote on the Bhopal action: “As an Indian it is very heartening to see peoples of the world come together, voice their disdain and opposition to corporate greed and government negligence.When a child in a developing nation matters as much as a child in a developed nation we will have come fullcircle on alot of issues”. Watch video and post your comments on Bhopal.

It’s International Human Rights Day!

Human Rights Day has arrived! It’s time to write letters with Amnesty International: go to “Who We’re Writing For” to select the cases you’d like to write on: appeal letters, letters of solidarity, emailable actions. Look for a video introduction to the actions on Sierra Leone, Bhopal, Bill C-300, the Lubicon, and more. When you or your group is finished writing, report back on your totals here, and together we’ll watch the counter rise. There are more than 20,000 of us in Canada set to write, along with individuals in 40 countries around the world.  Let’s celebrate the 61st anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights with a day of powerful, effective letter-writing! Select your cases and start writing!

My life inside a Chinese labour camp

Success from past Write for Rights event! “From my experience, attention and pressure from international society can help to improve the conditions of jailed people. The Letter Writing Marathon is a great idea. Chinese people are now beginning to launch similar programs for those in China’s jails.” David Bu, who had been detained in a Chinese jail for his religious beliefs. Read his blog.

How to Write for Rights on Human Rights Day

Is this you first time writing letters with Amnesty International? Here’s how-to participate in Write for Rights, the world’s biggest letter-writing event, taking place in Canada and around the world on December 10th, International Human Rights Day. How to participate in Write for Rights

Write for Rights week kicks off

Write for Rights weeks began on Sunday, Dec. 6th with many letter-writing events being held in faith communities across the country, such as at Southminster United Church in Ottawa., where the congregation was invited to write letters and send greeting cards, including a special children’s corner with  sample letters for beginner writers.

There are many more events planned across the country this week to mark Human Rights Day
> Find a letter-writing event happening in your community