Members in Action

My passion for human rights activism first stemmed from my interest in advocacy and philanthropy at a young age. In my early childhood, up to the age of 11, I was living in my home country, a developing country. During this time, it was not difficult to see the socioeconomic disparities that existed within my community and the injustices that were continually committed against people who didn’t even have a voice. Human rights activism was often interpreted as subversive and activists were often punished for their efforts. For this reason, many people within my community resorted to philanthropy by giving back to those less fortunate than themselves. Growing up my family would donate clothes to charitable organizations and pass out sandwiches and meat to those struggling, particularly during Eid and Ramadan. These experiences instilled in me the importance of using my privilege to support and uplift others.

My very first introduction to Amnesty International began with questions about the death penalty. In November 2010, Aasia Noreen, a Christian woman from Pakistan, was convicted for blasphemy and sentenced to death. Reading Amnesty's 2011 report on the case gave voice to a reaction I did not have the language for yet. It echoed what I had assumed every human would naturally believe: that the death penalty breaches human rights, the right to life and the right to live free from torture or cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment or punishment. The case opened my eyes to the many injustice structures that led to her sentence: the prevalent dangers of caste systems, religious persecution, and gender violence.

I first discovered Amnesty International when I was in grade 10 after my teacher gave our Civics class a presentation on it. I instantly wanted to get involved, I’ve always been motivated to help others and to do my part to make the world a better place but I didn’t know how to affect that change on my own. I started looking into Amnesty after that and signed up to receive their Urgent Actions and began participating in their campaigns online.

Following my experience in high school as a member of a human rights initiative created to raise awareness about Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls in Canada, I knew that I wanted to further my dedication to human rights advocacy and activism, and that Amnesty International would provide me with a credible platform to accomplish this.

Since joining Amnesty International, my human rights focus has expanded to include efforts supporting the work of Earth and Land Defenders in Latin America and Canada. As a member of the Amnesty International Toronto Business&Human Rights and Indigenous Rights Specialized Team, I have been involved in the organization of various events such as a screening of the short documentary “Uprivers” which highlighted the environmental and social impacts of the Mount Polley Mining Disaster in British Colombia. We also organized the “Indigenous Issues Are Election Issues” event in 2019, where individuals from the GTA were invited to write letters to federal election candidates, urging them to make the implementation of the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples a priority if elected.

In my life I have always been driven by a strong desire to seek out justice that governments and institutions have failed to provide and this is what brought me to be involved with Amnesty International. What I love about Amnesty is that the organization is a powerful international network made up of grassroots activists and that it does not accept funding for its human rights research and campaigning work from any government.  This principled approach is what has made Amnesty International a trusted voice on human rights for so many decades.

We are a collection of stories. As a writer, I try to capture narratives in a way that suspends time while still staying within its boundaries. Some have told me that it is difficult to create new stories, that the current ones have already been reused, and that they are tired of reading. But on a chilly December afternoon, I wove through the narrow streets of Toronto and joined a group of people who care, love, and treasure the numerous narratives still beating on this planet.

I stumbled into the registration area, a few minutes shy of 1 pm. Strings of fairy lights and quiet bright lamps illuminated a set of posters on issues such as unjust sentences, unreasonable jail terms, and tragic deaths. Flash. A photo: Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Adopted by the United Nations on December 10, 1948. Flash. National Youth Organizers showing support for cases that resonate with them. Flash. Flash. Flash. These moments must be remembered. I vow to help people remember.  

Dawn Michael and Johann Cooper get set to welcome guests for AmnesTEA

Group 63 members decided to try an AmnesTEA on the Victoria Day weekend. Johann booked the gym at Trinity St Paul’s church in Toronto and made sure the congregation were invited to drop by after the church service.

Johann, Dawn and Marilyn baked treats, put the coffee and kettle on, and laid out petitions, postcards and baskets for donations. Success! About 63 people signed a postcard demanding a fair trial for Huseyin Celil - a Canadian detained in China. The group also added their names to another action urging Canada to abolish the Designated Country of Origin list to allow refugee claimants a hearing based on their unique circumstance. We left with about $63 in donations and an invitation to make this a more regular event!