Each year Amnesty International invites you to send messages of support and solidarity to victims of human rights violations across the world - to shine a light into the darkness of oppression and fear.
Join thousands of people around the world in WRITING A LETTER or ORGANISING A WRITE-A-THON in your local school / community hall / pub / sitting room / church hall.
WHAT DOES YOUR SIGNATURE MEAN?
SHINE A LIGHT - MAKE A DIFFERENCE
Shine A Light not only puts people across the world in touch with each other in a simple way, it allows Amnesty International supporters to make a difference on a personal level. Sending a short note with a friendly greeting or message of solidarity to someone who is in danger or unjustly imprisoned lets them know they are not alone, that they haven’t been forgotten by the world outside, and above all, that someone knows what is happening to them and cares about it.
“When the first 200 letters came the guards gave me back my clothes. Then the next 200 letters came and the prison director came to see me. When the next pile arrived the director got in touch with his superior. The letters kept coming and coming… 3,000 of them. The President was informed. The letters still kept arriving and the President called the prison and told them to let me go.”
Julio de Peña Valdez, trade union leader, after his release in 1974 from underground solitary confinement in the Dominican Republic
click to enlarge
CASES FOR LETTER WRITING
IN MEXICO
Inés Fernández Ortega and Valentina Rosendo Cantú were raped by Mexican soldiers in 2002. Although they reported the attacks to the authorities and followed up their cases, no substantive investigation has taken place and no one has been brought to justice.
- Write a letter to the President of Mexico calling for a prompt, full and impartial investigation
- Write to Inés and Valentina telling them you stand with them in solidarity in their struggle for truth and justice
Click here for full casefile with instructions, postal addresses and sample messages.
IN TURKEY
Halil Savda is a human rights defender who faces ongoing risk of imprisonment for freely expressing his support for conscientious objectors. He has been arrested on multiple occasions since 2004 for refusing to perform military service, and has been detained for around 17 months in total during that time.
- Write to the Minister of the Interior calling for Halil Savda to be free to continue his work without fear of prosecution or intimidation
- Send a message of solidarity to Halil Savda
Click here for full casefile with instructions, postal addresses and sample messages.
IN SAUDI ARABIA
Sudanese national Hamad al-Neyl Abu Kassawy was arrested in Madina, Saudi Arabia, on 26 June 2004. His family heard nothing until February 2005, when a Saudi Arabian national who had visited a prison in Madina told them that Hamad al-Neyl Abu Kassawy was detained there on suspicion of belonging to an Islamist organization.
- Write to King Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz Al Saud calling for Hamad al-Neyl Abu Kassawy to receive a fair trial and either be charged or released
Click here for full casefile with instructions, postal addresses and sample messages.
IN RUSSIA
On 15 July 2009 in Grozny, Chechnya Russian human rights activist Natalia Estemirova was forced into a car outside her home and driven away. She was able to shout out that she was being abducted. Her body was found a few hours later in the neighbouring Republic of Ingushetia. She had been shot at point-blank range.
- Write to the President calling for an independent, impartial and thorough investigation into the killing of Natalia Estemirova
- Send a message of solidarity to Natalia Estemirova's family c/o Memorial Human Rights Centre
Click here for full casefile with instructions, postal addresses and sample messages.
IN YEMEN
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Fatima Hussein Badi and her brother, Abdullah Badi were sentenced to death following an unfair trial Abdullah was executed in 2005. Though the Supreme Court found Fatima not guilty of murder and reduced her sentence to four years’ imprisonment, the President overturned this decision and she now remains at imminent risk of execution.
- Write to the Vice-President calling for Fatima Hussein Badi’s death sentence to be commuted
- Send a message of solidarity to Fatima through her lawyer
Click here for full casefile with instructions, postal addresses and sample messages.
MESSAGES FROM THOSE FEATURED IN PREVIOUS YEARS
IN ISRAEL AND THE OCCUPIED PALESTINIAN TERRITORIES
In 2009 Hamdi al-Ta’mari was one of some 290 Palestinian children detained in Israeli prisons, and the only child in administrative detention, held without charge or trial.
On 25 July 2008 Israeli soldiers entered 16-year-old Hamdi’s home in the West Bank and arrested him at gunpoint. According to his family and to his own testimony they slapped, kicked and beat him with the butts of assault rifles, and bound his hands so tightly that they became swollen.
The Israeli military held Hamdi without charge from 25 July to 13 November 2008 and again on 18 December 2008. Hamdi was finally released on 14 December 2009. His family rejoiced and his friends organised a party for him. He said:
"I received one letter from Amnesty International members, at the beginning, that was the first one. Later the guards refused to pass on the letters to me, they just asked, 'Where are you getting all these letters from?' That way I knew I had many letters and that people knew about me, which made the guards pay attention. I wish I could receive those letters now."
When last we heard, Hamdi was planning to resume his studies and apply for the Palestinian secondary school final exams. He then hopes to study at university and travel abroad.
IN DOMINICAN REPUBLIC
Human rights defender working on behalf of Dominico-Haitian women, Sonia Pierre had been threatened and harassed as a result of her work to stop discrimination against the Haitian community in the Dominican Republic. In 2005 she and her children were forced to leave the Dominican Republic following continues threats. Sonia wrote (excerpt):
“I want to thank everyone who, with their beautiful cards and letters, has written to me in solidarity with our cause. These are people, with their words of encouragement and hope, inspire us and give us strength. This strength is what we, as human rights defenders, need to keep on fighting for inalienable rights.
This struggle that we have been carrying on for years… has taken such a toll on us. In this struggle, those who don’t respect our rights threaten us by harassing our families, our sons and daughters.
This is why, in this Christmas period, I want to thank you for so many words of encouragement and solidarity in the form of these postcards, many of them made by hand with love. This is the best gift I have received in my whole life, knowing that I have the support of so many people, and that so many people are thinking of me and my family, that you are all concerned about us.”
IN IRAQ
On the night of 8 January 2009 several armed men from the Kurdish Security Forces stormed Dr. Honor Uthman Salah’s house and arrested him while his wife and three children were held at gunpoint and their home searched. A computer, CDs, photo albums, the family car and a large sum of money were confiscated during the search. Dr. Uthman Salah was then handcuffed, blindfolded and taken to the General Security building in Erbil where he was detained until September 2010, when he was granted conditional release, nearly 5 months before the end of his sentence, due to good conduct. He is now reunited with his family.
He informed Amnesty International of his release and he asked to pass the following message to all the members and supporters who campaigned on his behalf:
"If possible, do me a favour and inform all the people that supported my family with their letters… These letters kept hope inside the hearts of my wife and kids and me. They suppressed our suffering and swept the fallen tears from our cheeks, and really I will never ever forget this humanitarian stand for all my life".
HELPFUL TIPS
- Read our guide to letter writing
- See our sample letter of solidarity (written by Ruth Gallagher, a long time member and collegaue at AI Ireland!)
- See a sample lobby letter to decision makers
- Download a poster for your event
- Make Shine A Light paper lanterns to decorate your event
- Make Shine A Light bottle lanterns to decorate your event
FOR MORE INFORMATION ON THE SHINE A LIGHT LETTER WRITING MARATHON, PLEASE CONTACT EILÍS AT ENICHAITHNIA@AMNESTY.IE
