Greece promises action on Konstantina Kouneva

One of our letter-writers received the following message from Greek authorities in response to her letter-writing appeal on behalf of Konstantina Kouneva: “Thank you for your letter. We are literally shocked by this abusive assault against a working immigrant mother at the time she returned from her work. This was an extreme form of violence, a clear violation of democracy. From the very first moment we undertook our duties, we pledged to reexamine this case from the beginning, so as new adequate evidence been discovered and the culprits to be led to justice. Already a monetary award of 1,000,000 euros has been proclaimed, to be given to any citizen who will contribute in the discovery, locating and apprehension of the unidentified culprits who took part in this murderous attempt against Konstantina Kouneva. We would like to assure you that this case will not close until the culprits are apprehended and brought before justice”. - Minister of Citizen Protection of the Hellenic Republic. We remain hopeful, but urge further action and letters of solidarity to Konstantina

1,000 letters on maternal mortality … and success in Burkina!

During Write for Rights members across Canada and around the world wrote almost 1,000 letters calling for improved access to maternal health care for women in Sierra Leone.  This action, part of Amnesty’s current Dignity Campaign, aims to reduce the instance of maternal mortality globally.  In a related effort, last week, Amnesty was part of a research and campaigning initiative in Burkina Faso that culminated in a meeting with the President during which he committed to Amnesty’s key recommendations on maternal mortality. Amnesty’s report on maternal mortalitiy in Burkina Faso  | Burkina president commits to lift financial barriers to maternal health

717,000 letters worldwide!

Letter-writers from around the world are reporting back on their results. Here are some of the totals 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. Worldwide, our total number of letters written, as reported by writers from 42 countries is … 717,000!

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.