TOMORROW’S AMNESTY BUSINESS MEETING IS CANCELLED!
Our February business meeting scheduled for Feb. 10 at 7 p.m. is now cancelled due to scheduling conflicts with our members. If you still feel the need to engage in human rights work, then consider the following activities to do instead tomorrow evening.
Sheryl WuDunn’s Lecture at Washington University
Sheryl WuDunn – “Half the Sky: Turning Oppression into Opportunity for Women Worldwide”
7:00 p.m., Feb. 11, Graham Chapel: Washington University Danforth Campus
Sheryl WuDunn studies and writes about the economic, political and social forces affecting women throughout the globe. She is a Pulitzer Prize-winning writer and author of Half the Sky: Turning Oppression into Opportunity for Women Worldwide. But Half the Sky is more than a book; it also is a powerful social justice and economic movement that is positively affecting millions of womens’ lives. A book signing will follow.
Think About Human Right as You Watch the Olympics
Although most of the focus for the Sochi Olympics is now on the athletes, let’s not forget the human rights issues that plague Russia and these games. The most prominent of these issues is the anti-gay law and the crackdown on those who are not only “explicitly homosexual”, but also those protesting the law. Take action today to help end the crackdown and to tell Russia that these actions are not within the spirit of the Winter Games, or human rights.
Pussy Riot, Mikhail Khodorkovsky, and the Greenpeace protesters may have been released from prison, but there are still many more prisoners of conscience and political activists that need to be freed also. One of them is Yevgeniy Vitishko, who was charged with “petty hooliganism” after swearing at a bus stop. It’s believed that he was arrested for his connection to the Olympic Flame Rally earlier this week, as well as he previous environmental activism. Take action now to tell the Russian government to drop the charges against him.
Write a Letter or Two On Behalf of Prisoners of Conscience
Of course, writing a letter is always a good thing to do, especially as you watch the Olympics. You don’t really need to pay attention to the commercials, right? Below are a few recent cases about prisoners of conscience around the world that need your help! Here’s a link to a letter writing sample in case you need help with crafting your letter to these governments.
- Two Journalists in Gambia charged with “publication of false news”
- A photojournalist in Bahrain alleges he was tortured
- 3 Egyptian activists held under the country’s new protest law
- Death sentences and executions surging in Iraq
Photo Credit: the justified sinner via photopin cc
Amnesty International, St. Louis Blog 