KWPeace

What: Amnesty International Write For Rights
When: Noon to 4:00pm on Saturday 11 January 2025
Where: Hilliard Hall at First United Church
Location: 16 William Street West, Waterloo, Ontario Map
Contact: groupnine9@gmail.com (Amnesty International’s chapter in Waterloo Region)

Write for Rights is this coming Saturday January 11 from Noon to 4:00pm in Hilliard Hall at First United Church. If you are able, we suggest printing up the letters and signing them in advance. Then we can bring them to First United to allow more time to work on cards of support during the event.

Amnesty International Write For Rights letter package 2024 (PDF, 515 kBytes)

You are invited to join human rights advocates in the Kitchener/Waterloo area as we take part in Amnesty International’s annual Write for Rights letter-writing campaign. Along with hundreds of thousands of people across 200 countries and territories, we will gather to write letters and sign petitions in support of nine individuals or groups whose rights are at risk.

Every year, people around the world write millions of letters, emails, tweets, Facebook posts and postcards in support of those who are unjustly persecuted. Write for Rights has helped transform the lives of more than 100 people since 2001, freeing them from torture, harassment, or unjust imprisonment. In 2023, more than 5.8 million actions were taken, making Write for Rights the biggest human rights event in the world.

This year Amnesty International’s nine cases include the Wet’suwet’en Land Defenders in BC, Canada, a singer and young mother in Angola sentenced to two years in prison for criticizing the president, a young man in Argentina who was blinded by rubber bullets when taking part in a peaceful demonstration, a university student in Egypt detained and tortured in retaliation for his brother’s activism, and a forensic medicine expert in Turkey renowned for her work to eradicate torture, who has been subjected to baseless criminal investigations, detention and prosecutions.

Your words have the power to change lives! Please join us to sign letters and send messages of support to change lives for the better. We have prepared letters for you to sign at the event — or if you have the time, to print and sign now — and bring to the event. Each case (except the Canadian one) has two letters to be signed; one to the government and the second to the embassy of that government. Please include your printed name, city name, Canada and your postal code with your signature.

Whether you sign the letters at the event or sign the letters in advance and bring them to the event, we will mail them for you. If you prefer to mail the letters or cards yourself, please inform us at groupnine9@gmail.com which letters and cards you have sent so that we can include them in our official count.

We hope that you will spend your time at the event creating cards and messages of support for the people on whose behalf we are acting this year. Blank cards and drawing materials will be provided.

For more information about this event, email groupnine9@gmail.com. For more information about Canada-based Write for Rights events and resources, see https://amnesty.ca/write.