My Mom and I hooked up with our local Amnesty International affiliate, to write letters and holiday greetings to prisoners of conscience and their families being held in captivity around the world. The motivation, of course, is to let them know they haven't been forgotten in their captivity.
I wrote to:
Nguyen Van Ly-Vietnam
For challenging the Vietnamese government's tight restrictions on freedom of expression, Father Nguyen Van Ly has suffered harassment, intimidation and imprisonment. Accusations against Father Ly included being involved in the pro-democracy movement Bloc 8406, which he co-founded, and in taking part in the establishment of banned political groups. The court sentenced him to eight years' imprisonment, plus five years' house arrest on release, for "conducting propaganda against the Socialist Republic of Viet Nam." Learn
Martha Cecilia Díaz Suárez-Colombia
Unknown assailants abducted Martha Cecilia Díaz Suárez, president of the public services workers union (Association of Departmental Workers – ASTDEMP), on August 15, 2006 in Bucaramanga. They accused her of being a guerrilla, beat her, and demanded information about local officials of the Trade Union Congress (CUT). The abduction of Martha Cecilia Díaz followed death threats received by ASTDEMP and another trade union in March 2006
Karim Amer-Egypt
Abdul Kareem Nabil Suleiman did what thousands of young bloggers around the world do every day: he logged onto his computer and typed in his thoughts about the politics of his country, criticizing both the Egyptian government and religious authorities. For this the 23-year-old former student, widely known on the Internet as "Karim Amer," was arrested and sentenced in February 2007 to four years in prison on charges including "incitement to hate Islam," "defaming the President of the Republic," and "spreading information disruptive of public order."
AJEDI-Ka-Congo
Bukeni T. Waruzi Beck is the executive director of AJEDI-Ka (Association of Youth for Integrated Development--Kalundu), an organization that reintegrates demobilized girl and boy soldiers into Congolese society and maintains long term follow-up on the welfare of these children. Tens of thousands of child soldiers have been recruited as combatants by all parties to the conflict in the Democratic Republic of Congo. AJEDI-Ka has managed to mobilize over 300 child soliders.
http://www.amnestyusa.org/
I wrote to:
Nguyen Van Ly-Vietnam
For challenging the Vietnamese government's tight restrictions on freedom of expression, Father Nguyen Van Ly has suffered harassment, intimidation and imprisonment. Accusations against Father Ly included being involved in the pro-democracy movement Bloc 8406, which he co-founded, and in taking part in the establishment of banned political groups. The court sentenced him to eight years' imprisonment, plus five years' house arrest on release, for "conducting propaganda against the Socialist Republic of Viet Nam." Learn
Martha Cecilia Díaz Suárez-Colombia
Unknown assailants abducted Martha Cecilia Díaz Suárez, president of the public services workers union (Association of Departmental Workers – ASTDEMP), on August 15, 2006 in Bucaramanga. They accused her of being a guerrilla, beat her, and demanded information about local officials of the Trade Union Congress (CUT). The abduction of Martha Cecilia Díaz followed death threats received by ASTDEMP and another trade union in March 2006
Karim Amer-Egypt
Abdul Kareem Nabil Suleiman did what thousands of young bloggers around the world do every day: he logged onto his computer and typed in his thoughts about the politics of his country, criticizing both the Egyptian government and religious authorities. For this the 23-year-old former student, widely known on the Internet as "Karim Amer," was arrested and sentenced in February 2007 to four years in prison on charges including "incitement to hate Islam," "defaming the President of the Republic," and "spreading information disruptive of public order."
AJEDI-Ka-Congo
Bukeni T. Waruzi Beck is the executive director of AJEDI-Ka (Association of Youth for Integrated Development--Kalundu), an organization that reintegrates demobilized girl and boy soldiers into Congolese society and maintains long term follow-up on the welfare of these children. Tens of thousands of child soldiers have been recruited as combatants by all parties to the conflict in the Democratic Republic of Congo. AJEDI-Ka has managed to mobilize over 300 child soliders.
http://www.amnestyusa.org/
