Amnesty hosts annual 'Write for Rights' appeal
PR dla Zagranicy
Nick Hodge
04.12.2015 11:26
The 16th Letter Writing Marathon is being held on Friday under the auspices of Amnesty International, with citizens across the world penning appeals for those who have apparently been unfairly incarcerated.
Photo: Glowimages
The initiative was launched by Amnesty activists in Warsaw, and the action now takes places in 150 countries around the globe, around International Human Rights Day (10 December).
Letters, which are addressed to foreign governments, are being written at close to 600 venues in Poland, in such places as schools, cafes and cultural institutions.
This year, Amnesty is focusing on ten people, including US citizen Albert Woodfox, who was convicted of murdering a prison guard, although no physical evidence links him to the crime. He has been in solitary confinement for forty years.
In several Polish locations, participants write letters around the clock. In 2011, participants in the south eastern village of Bircza, which has only about 1,000 inhabitants, managed to write 13,000 letters. (nh/rk)
Source: IAR/ amnesty.org