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WRITE A LETTER, CHANGE A LIFE.

Starting on October 22, 2024, the world’s largest human rights campaign launches in Canada. Whether you write letters or host an event, your words have the power to change lives. Register to join Write for Rights now.

WHAT IS WRITE FOR RIGHTS?

For over 20 years, Amnesty International’s annual Write for Rights campaign has transformed the lives of people whose rights have been wronged. Using the power of their words, Write for Rights supporters have united behind a common purpose: together, we can change lives for the better.

HOW DOES WRITE FOR RIGHTS WORK?

Whether you want to write a letter, join an event or organize something of your own, there are many ways to participate in Write for Rights.

HOST AN EVENT

Sign up to host an event in your community or classroom.

ATTEND AN EVENT

Find an event near you and connect with others.

WRITE LETTERS

Get everything you need to write letters or sign petitions.

JOHN LEGEND: “I WRITE BECAUSE…”

Real letters can bring hope to people in the direst of situations. When letters arrive in huge numbers, they are also an unmistakable reminder to prison authorities and others that the world is watching.

For every case, there are two types of messages you can write – one to the person in authority and one to the person we are fighting for, or their family, so they know we will never forget them.

HOW YOUR LETTERS CHANGED A LIFE

Letter writing has always been at the heart of Amnesty International’s work, and over 60 years of activism shows us that words have power.

Last year, we took over 4.6 million actions, and our members hosted events in more than 200 countries, including 133 events in Canada. Together, we wrote millions of letters, emails, and tweets and signed petitions.

YOUR WORDS ARE POWERFUL

SHOW YOUR SUPPORT

Send support to people who’ve been harassed, threatened and jailed just for who they are and what they do.

COLLECTIVE ACTION

Put pressure on governments, leaders and decision-makers. Tell them the world is watching.

MAKE CHANGE

Release activists and journalists, fight injustice and protect people who advocate for change.

WRITE FOR RIGHTS CASES

SUCCESS STORIES

Bernardo Caal Xol defended communities affected by hydroelectric projects on the Cahabón river in Guatemala. In November 2018, he was sentenced to over seven years in prison on bogus charges aimed at preventing his human rights work. During Write for Rights 2021, over half a million actions were taken for Bernardo and in March 2022 he was released.

BERNARDO CAAL XOL

In June 2021, NGO worker and human rights defender Germain Rukuki was released from prison after being found guilty of a slew of sham charges and sentenced to 32 years in prison in Burundi. He was jailed before getting a chance to hold his youngest child, born just weeks after he was taken in July 2017. His family fled the country for fear of reprisals. Germain will soon be reunited with his family, after more than 400,000 actions calling for his release.

Germain Rukuki

Magai Matiop Ngong was only 15 when he was sentenced to death. But thanks to the amazing support of people like you, his death sentence was cancelled in July 2020. People around the world wrote an incredible 765,000 actions, including letters and tweets, calling for Magai’s life to be spared –and it worked

Magai Matiop Ngong

Gulzar Duishenova’s campaign for disability rights paid off in March 2019 when Kyrgyzstan finally signed up to the Disability Rights Convention. Supporters wrote nearly 250,000 messages backing her calls.

Gulzar Duishenova

Father of seven and online activist Mahadine was freed in April 2018 after more than 18 months in a Chad prison on fabricated charges. 690,000 people wrote for his freedom.

Mahadine

US whistle-blower Chelsea Manning was freed in May 2017, after her 35-year prison sentence was cut short by outgoing President Barack Obama. More than a quarter of a million people wrote for her release.

Chelsea Manning

Albert Woodfox finally walked free in February after nearly 44 years in solitary confinement in a US prison. “I can’t emphasise enough how important getting letters from people around the world is. “It gave me a sense of worth…[and] strength.”

Albert Woodfox

Moses Akatugba was granted a full pardon in Nigeria after pressure from Amnesty supporters. He had been wrongfully sentenced to death for a crime committed when he was 16. “The story changed when Amnesty International came in.

Moses Akatugba

Ales Bialiatski, a political prisoner in Belarus, was released in 2014 after receiving 40,000 letters. “The huge quantity of letters gave me a powerful sense of optimism. When I received them I was very, very happy.”

Ales Bialiatski

Vladimir Akimenkov was released in December 2013 after being detained following a protest in Bolotnaya Square, Moscow, Russia. “I want to express my deep gratitude. Your letters influenced my release.”

Vladimir Akimenkov

The Mexican government accepted responsibility for the rape by soldiers of Valentina Rosendo Cantú and Inés Fernández Ortega. “Without your letters, your action and your solidarity, we would have not achieved this moment,” Valentina said.

Valentina Rosendo Cantú and Inés Fernández Ortega

Jabbar Savalan, a youth activist jailed in Azerbaijan, was pardoned and released in 2011 within days of your letters arriving in the country. “The support I received was so great that I did not feel like I was imprisoned.”

Jabbar Savalan

Ethiopian opposition leader Birtukan Mideksa was released from jail in 2010 after featuring in Write for Rights the year before. “Your letters kept hope alive at the darkest hours of need.

Birtukan Mideksa