A reminder that other people in other places may not be so fortunate as you.
In that sub-heading is an assumption that everyone who calls by Learning from Dogs enjoys a life where they are, relatively speaking, free to make their own life decisions. My apologies if that is a false assumption.
Amnesty International have a December campaign Write for Rights. It is so worth supporting. Here are some details from that website,
YOUR WORDS CAN CHANGE LIVES.
Your words can be a SPOTLIGHT that exposes the dark corners of the torture chamber. They can bring POWER to a human rights defender whose life is in jeopardy. They can IGNITE hope in a forgotten prisoner.
Your words can SAVE LIVES.
Join hundreds of thousands of people around the world in marking International Human Rights Day this December by taking part in Amnesty International’s Write for Rights Global Write-a-thon – the world’s largest human rights event. Through letters, cards and more, we take action to demand that the human rights of individuals are respected, protected and fulfilled. We show solidarity with those suffering human rights abuses, and work to bring about positive change in people’s lives.
Will you write a letter to save a life?
Sign up now to Write for Rights!
Jenni Williams
“I am alive today, after 34 arrests, because members of Amnesty International spoke out for me.”
– Jenni Williams, human rights defender in Zimbabwe
It really doesn’t make any difference which Amnesty case you support – just pick one and do it before the end of the month.
Amnesty also offer a full suite of resources, obtainable from here, to assist you with producing your letter.
Jean and I have decided to write in support of Jabbar Savalan, as described here and below,
AZERBAIJAN – Jabbar Savalan / Youth activist detained after using facebook
Jabbar Savalan
Hours after he posted a note on Facebook calling for protests against the government, Jabbar Savalan told his family that he was being followed. The next evening, February 5, 2011, police arrested him without explanation and took him to the Sumgayit police station, where they “discovered” marijuana in his outer coat pocket. Police questioned him without a lawyer for two days, reportedly hitting and intimidating him to make him sign a confession.
Authorities in Azerbaijan have a history of using trumped-up drug charges to jail perceived critics. Jabbar maintains that he does not use drugs and that the marijuana was planted on him. In May 2011, he was was convicted of possessing illegal drugs and sentenced to two-and-a-half years in prison. Amnesty International believes that authorities fabricated the drug charges against Jabbar to silence him. Amnesty considers him to be a prisoner of conscience.
A history student in college, Jabbar was an active member of an opposition political party. In January 2011, he posted on Facebook a newspaper article that described Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev as corrupt.
On February 4, Jabbar was inspired by the protests in the Middle East and North Africa to use Facebook to call for a “Day of Rage” to protest the government in Azerbaijan. The next day, police arrested him. He was 19 years old at the time.
Learning from Dogs 