MOOSE JAW — Moose Jaw’s arm of Amnesty International hosted a public information table at the Newcomer Welcome Centre last week, and residents were invited to sign petitions in support of human rights cases and hopefully grow the local arm of the organization.
The “Write for Rights” project is part of an annual observance of Human Rights Day on Dec. 10, a tradition that has continued since the local arm was founded around 15 years ago by resident Gloria Chartier.
The latest event was on the afternoon of Dec. 13 and was attended by two of the arm’s three current members, Lorna Arnold and Dawn-Nica Mathieson, with 96-year-old founder Chartier absent.
“One reason why I’m supporting (Amnesty) is because when I first got into it… reading these stories about the horrific things that people are put through in these other countries just for peacefully stating (something)… it breaks my heart,” Arnold said.
Amnesty International envisions a world where everyone enjoys the human rights outlined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. For over 50 years, it has been a global leader in researching and exposing human rights abuses, advocating for justice, and mobilizing individuals to stand together in defence of dignity and freedom.
Write for Rights is a global letter-writing campaign held annually on Human Rights Day to bring attention to human rights violations from around the world.
Each year, around 10 cases from countries that have signed the UN’s Universal Declaration of Human Rights are highlighted, and Amnesty urges people to take action through letters, petitions, and social media advocacy.
Amnesty International’s Moose Jaw arm joins in this tradition at a rotating local venue.
“We don’t meet very often,” Arnold explained. “We meet maybe two or three times a year, and we sign petitions and write up letters.”
It may not seem like signing petitions or writing letters would impact the plight of jailed, tortured, abused, or silenced individuals across the world, but the two members said they’re aware of several cases where meaningful changes were confirmed. Many of these stories are picked up and reported in the organization’s bi-annual magazine, The Activist.
In some cases, even just receiving a deluge of support letters can help bolster hope for an individual facing persecution.
“One of the things that encourages me to continue to write letters and do the petitions is because people, even if they’re not released from jail… once they get out of jail, they… talk about what it was like. They are often able to figure out and correlate times when conditions improved in the jail,” Arnold shared.
“All of a sudden, after being given rice and cabbage soup for eight or 10 months, the food would get a whole lot better… and health care would be provided…,” she added.
“That happened probably because the people managing the jail realized that somebody’s watching them.”
Moose Jaw’s arm of Amnesty International is now looking to expand its membership and invites the public to help support more than 10 million individuals from over 170 countries working to protect and promote human rights.
“We really would like to keep it going, because we really believe in the cause,” Mathieson said. “It doesn’t cost much, it doesn’t take up much time, and it’s really important (to get involved).”
The best way to get involved is to contact Lorna Arnold at 306-690-8739.
Membership costs $25 for a full year, includes a subscription to The Activist, and brings together “people with big hearts who want to do (positive and meaningful) things.”
For more information, visit Amnesty.ca.
Editor's note: Since the time of publication of this week's edition of the Moose Jaw Express paper, it has been confirmed that Gloria Chartier — previously stated as being 93 years of age — is in fact 96 this year and started the local chapter of Amnesty International approximately 15 years ago.
