Our global letter-writing marathon is now more than 15 years old, and bigger and better than ever before.
It started in Poland with a young man trying to impress a young woman. He met her at a festival and she told him about 24-hour events she’d been to in Africa, where people wrote letters of protest to governments. Inspired by her story – and wanting to see her again – he invited her to his local Amnesty group where they decided to do the same thing.
The idea caught on and within a year, Write for Rights grew into a global letter-writing phenomenon. That was 2002. Today, Write for Rights is the world’s biggest human rights event, and with good cause. Over the years, the campaign has helped free at least 48 people from wrongful imprisonment. That’s 48 lives renewed and transformed – thanks to millions of actions by people like you in almost every part of the world.
Here are just 15 highlights from the last 15 years – reason, if any, to get writing for rights this year.
