December 10th is Human Rights Day - and also the 50th anniversary of Amnesty International. Last night Alex Neve, Secretary General of Amnesty International Canada, was on the show to talk about the human rights issues that the world may not be paying enough attention to right now, as well as what next year holds for human rights campaigners across the planet.
Watch the video here, and don't forget to check out Amnesty's Write for Rights events across the country. The details are below.
How You Can Celebrate Human Rights Day And Amnesty International's 50th Birthday At The Same Time
December 8, 2011 - Alex Neve of Amnesty International Canada will appear on the show tonight to remind us not only of Amnesty International's 50th anniversary, which is being celebrated this year, but that Saturday is Human Rights Day.
December 10 was the date in 1948 that the United Nations adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Two years later, in 1950, Human Rights Day was established to commemorate the event, and it has been celebrated ever since.
This year, December 10 is also the date for Amnesty's Write For Rights event, in which people around the world compose letters in support of those demanding the protection of their rights. The messages are sent to rights defenders who have been either jailed or face coercion on account of their work; they are also sent to family members, and to representatives of the ruling regimes who hold the fate of these people in their hands. The campaign has been called the world's largest single letter-writing event, and last year counted more than 600,000 messages sent.
If you're interested in taking part, Amnesty's website has a series of case sheets featuring various activists. These are just some of the suggested people to whom writers can address their letters; the objective is to try to secure the release of the wrongfully detained give support to their loved ones. According to an Amnesty press release, letters sent in earlier years "saved lives, stopped torture, freed prisoners of conscience, demanded corporate accountability and showed solidarity with those unjustly jailed."
Links are included below.
To help celebrate Amnesty's anniversary, the Niagara Parks Commission has also announced that it will be lighting up Niagara Falls on the night of December 10 in honour of the organization. The falls will be illuminated in yellow, in honour of Amnesty's colours.
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