Amnesty International: Raleigh - Group 213

For this year’s Amnesty International Write for Rights effort, our group again asked our friends and family to join us in writing letters on the ten human rights cases highlighted by Amnesty International.   Our group sent off a total of 180 letters to government officials demanding justice in January. We also collected 110 letters of support that were sent to those who have had their rights abused. Vera continues to be our group record holder, with a whopping 136 letters this year alone!   Thank you to everyone who joined us! We are grateful for the commitment to justice shown every year through this effort.   Learn more about Write for Rights on Amnesty International USA’s webpage here:  https://write.amnestyusa.org

This spring and summer flew by- with the group participating in a variety of activities to shed light on human rights, here in the US and abroad. Here are some of the actions our group members participated in! A few years ago, the group took on the Saturday Mothers in Turkey as a case commitment following the Turkish government’s crackdown on their peaceful gatherings. Unfortunately, in March, the judge denied a request to drop the charges of 46 individuals who were charged with participating in an “illegal meeting” at the 700 th  gathering in August 2018. Josh organized the group in writing a solidarity letter, with Yavuz’s help translating, to show our support for their work during this difficult time. You can learn more about the Saturday Mothers case here: https://www.amnestyusa.org/the-saturday-mothers/ Vera and Susan got to ‘twist and shout’ AND get some signatures on petitions while tabling at the Paul McCartney concert at PNC in May! Following the Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Healt

With Covid cases on the rise this winter, it was difficult to do in-person events, like tabling, but our group remained committed to human rights work. Here are some highlights from this past winter!  The group ended 2021 with our annual Write for Rights effort. We did not yet feel comfortable hosting our normal W4R party, so we individually made efforts to write the letters and reach out to our friends and family for help. We, with the help of our community, wrote 327 letters for the W4R effort. It’ll be hard to top it in 2022, but we will certainly try!  In early March, the group was officially voted into the North Carolina Coalition for Alternatives to the Death Penalty! We are happy to be joining state-wide efforts to dismantle the death penalty. See NCCADP’s website for more information: https://nccadp.org  Our group members also joined local events to spotlight human rights abuses. Solidarity Beyond the Walls held an event on Prisoner Abolitionist Community Building on UNC’s camp