Issue date: October 2014

CONTENTS
Your letters changed three lives............................................ 2 As part of Write for
Rights 2014, you
Summary of cases.............................................................. 3
can:
Challenge: what can you do while writing a letter?.................. 5
free a Chinese human
Public events: exciting ideas from activists........................... 6
rights defender
Workshop: how to motivate others........................................ 7
get justice for a
Letters and solidarity messages............................................ 8 student and torture
Social media...................................................................... 9 survivor in Venezuela.

Regional media.................................................................. 10 Send a message of

support to imprisoned
journalist Peter Greste

IS IT THAT TIME OF YEAR ALREADY? and much more!

Yes, it is Write for Rights time again! KEY DATES

In this toolkit youll find everything you need to plan your 2014 Write
for Rights activities. Youll read about the cases for 2014, the massive 25 November:
success of last year and how we can make this year bigger and better International Day for the
and achieve even more human rights impact. Elimination of Violence
Against Women
Sound fun? Dive in.
2 December: Liu Pings
birthday
HOW TO GET INVOLVED 10 December: Human
1. Start right here! Read this toolkit for all the background info. Rights Day
2. Organise an event or set time aside to write letters. All December: carols in
your community
3. From 15 October go to the activist portal, read about the people we
are working for and download resources.
Image: Write for Rights 2013, Canada. AI

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 AI
YOUR LETTERS CHANGED
THREE LIVES
Last year, Amnesty activists from 143 countries,
including Australia, stood together for freedom,
equality and justice. We picked up our pens, wrote
letters and stood together for human rights.
We shone a light on those locked away by
governments, those targeted simply for who they are,
and those standing up for the rights of their people.
We and others like us from almost every corner of
the globe wrote 2,373,422 actions.
We were powerful. And our voices were heard. Here
are three lives we changed through Write for Rights
2013.
1. Dr Tun Aung
In June we received some great
news about Dr Tun Aung, a Muslim
I was so happy. It showed that other
community leader in Burma who Cambodians and I were not in it alone.
had been sentenced to 17 years Yorm Bopha
in prison.
Dr Tun Aung has now been granted several 2. Yorm Bopha
reductions to his sentence, and now has less than Yorm Bophas life changed when
one year left to serve in prison. she was released from prison in
Thousands of people wrote letters for Dr Tun Aung. December 2013. Cambodias
An Amnesty member in France received a letter Minister of Justice received 90,000 appeals
back from the Myanmar National Human Rights asking for Yorm Bophas release.
Commission (MNHRC) confirming that Dr Tun Aung Yorm Bopha, a Cambodian housing rights activist,
was transferred to Insein prison, closer to his family. had been imprisoned for demanding the rights of
The letter states that Letters from various families facing forced evictions. Yorm Bopha can
chapters of Amnesty International requesting, now continue her work for Cambodian communities.
among others, the immediate release of Dr Tun Yorm was extremely grateful for the letters, cards
Aung without conditions were received ... The and photos she received, saying they had given her
Commission after proper examination of these strength.
letters conveyed them to the authorities in order that
the concerns expressed in the letters receive careful 3. Vladimir Akimenkov
consideration. Vladimir was released on 19 December under a
The MNHRC also asserts that Dr Tun Aung is prisoner amnesty, after the Russian authorities
receiving proper medical attention and that his received thousands of letters calling for his release.
family can visit him in prison calls from your Write Vladimir was one of the Bolotnaya three imprisoned
for Rights letters. for peacefully protesting. After his release Vladimir
spoke about the importance of international support
for him and the other Bolotnaya detainees.
Haven't heard good news on a Write for Rights case yet? Don't lose hope.
Take the case of Ins Fernndez Ortega and Valentina Rosendo Cant, which featured in 2011's Write for
Rights. Since 2002, Ins and Valentina have been fighting for justice against the Mexican soldiers who
raped them in separate attacks.
Finally, in 2014, four members of the armed forces were detained to stand trial for the sexual violence
committed against Ins and Valentina. Read more about the good news here.
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 SUMMARY OF CASES 2014
You will be able to download a case sheet, template letter and petition for each case from the activist
portal from 15 October.
In 2014 we need your help for six cases. These six cases have been chosen because it is highly likely that
a global push right now will positively influence decision-makers.

Uzbekistan: Erkin Musaev

Erkin Musaev is a United Nations employee and former government worker falsely
accused of spying. Erkin was tortured then sentenced to 20 years imprisonment after
a series of unfair trials.
In the past three years, four prisoners of conscience have been released in
Uzbekistan because of international pressure, including from Amnesty activists. If we
work together we have a chance of improving Erkins prison conditions and securing his release.
You can find all the materials you need to start work on Erkins case on the activist portal from 15 October.

Philippines: Jerryme Corre

Jerryme was a bus driver tortured by police in what could have been a case of
mistaken identity. Two years later, he remains in jail.
The Philippines Police Internal Affairs Service, the unit responsible for investigating
allegations of torture has been responsive to pressure from Amnesty activists
campaigning for torture survivor, Alfreda Disbarro. After receiving letters and petitions
theyve already started to investigate Alfredas allegations of torture. Pressure from
Amnesty activists for Jerrymes case may push the authorities to end this cruel and
inhuman practice.
Get started on Jerrymes case by downloading his materials from the portal from 15 October.

China: Liu Ping

Liu Ping is a human rights campaigner, sentenced to six-and-a-half years in prison
after calling on the Chinese Government to fight corruption.
Liu Ping is part of the New Citizens Movement, which campaigns for human
rights and against corruption. The network has demonstrated the hypocrisy of
the Chinese authorities, who claim to be clamping down on corruption and yet
persecute those that try to expose it.
Another anti-corruption activist, Liu Hua, was released from detention in April
2014, after being detained for over five weeks. It was widely believed that she was being
punished for appearing in a documentary that exposed torture and ill-treatment in Chinas Re-Education
Through Labour system. Amnesty issued an Urgent Action on her case to thousands of activists, which may
have contributed to her release.
By working together well be able to put pressure on the Chinese authorities for Liu Ping, and show
international solidarity with the brave activists of the New Citizens Movement.
Download Liu Pings case materials from the activist portal from 15 October.

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 SUMMARY OF CASES 2014

Saudi Arabia: Raif Badawi

Raif was sentenced to 10 years imprisonment and 1,000 lashes after founding an
online forum for political and social debate.
Raifs case and recent sentencing spurred a huge amount of international
condemnation, leading to the UN experts issuing a statement. It has been
extensively covered by international and regional media channels. Letters from
Amnesty activists will help to keep up this momentum and ensure his case is not
forgotten.
Print off Raifs case materials from the activist portal from 15 October.
Raifs wife has filmed a short message for all people working to free Raif. Watch it here.

Venezuela: Daniel Quintero

Daniel is a 21-year-old student who was arrested on the way home from an anti-
government demonstration and viciously beaten by members of the military.

Daniels case has received little international attention and will benefit from a
global push. Together our letters can bring light to his case and help get justice for
Daniel.

Find everything you need to start campaigning for Daniel on the activist portal.
Find the materials you need to start work on Erkins case on the activist portal from
15 October.

Egypt: Al Jazeera three

The 'Al Jazeera three' are three journalists including Australian Peter Greste,
imprisoned on charges of broadcasting false news and involvement with the outlawed
Muslim Brotherhood movement.

The imprisonment of Peter Greste and his

Al Jazeera colleagues has received a huge amount of international condemnation.
Now, more than ever its important we keep up the pressure on the Egyptian
authorities and ensure their prison conditions stay safe.

Find all you need to work on the Al Jazeera three on the activist portal from 15
October.

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 Like last year, this year you will be joining
WRITE FOR RIGHTS 2014 hundreds of thousands of activists from over
143 countries.
We were powerful last year and together we will
be powerful again. We will make it bigger, we will
143 countries, whaa?
get more people to act and we will have even more Thats right, 143! Youll be joining Amnesty
impact. activists from across the world including:
Together we can make a difference. Algeria, Argentina, Australia, Austria, Belgium
We are inviting you to run events at community (Francophone), Bermuda, Brazil, Burkina Faso,
carols, hold parties for birthdays missed and Canada (Anglophone), Canada (Francophone),
take the What can you do while writing a letter Chile, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland,
challenge. France, Germany, Ghana, Greece, Hong Kong,
Hungary, Iceland, India, Ireland, Israel, Italy,
Ivory Coast, Japan, Luxembourg, Malaysia,
Mali, Mexico, Moldova, Mongolia, Morocco,
CHALLENGE: WHAT CAN YOU DO WHILE Nepal, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway,
Paraguay, Philippines, Poland, Portugal,
WRITING A LETTER? Puerto Rico, Russia, Senegal, Slovakia,
Slovenia, South
Writing a letter at a desk is easy. Writing a letter
Africa, South
while upside down, wearing a pencil suit and eating
Korea, Spain,
spaghetti is hard.
Sweden,
This year we are launching a challenge: Switzerland,
What can you do while writing a letter? Taiwan, Thailand,
Togo, Tunisia,
Can you write a letter while making pancakes? Can Turkey, UK,
you do it underwater? Ukraine,
Have a think about ways you can incorporate the Uruguay, USA,
challenge into your events or how you can take it on Venezuela and
as a team. Zimbabwe.
You could try the what can you do while writing Write for Rights, Sweden. AI
a letter challenge at your group meeting. Let
everyone know beforehand and ask them to bring in SUIT UP!
props and a camera or smartphone
Remember to post your photos and videos on your Who needs flower power
Facebook page and send copies to to change lives when
activism@amnesty.org.au youve got a cool pencil
suit! Grab a pencil suit
Prizes will be awarded to:
from your local action
The most creative individual centre to spruik your
the most creative group event, encourage people
to get involved and add
the group that best showcases their local a little je ne sais quoi
community to your what can you
the group that best showcases how effective do while writing a letter
letters are. challenge.
Send your submissions to activism@amnesty.org.au Remember to post your
Prizes will be awarded in early January 2015. photos and videos on
your Facebook page and
send copies to
activism@amnesty.org.au

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 EVENTS: INSPIRING IDEAS FROM
ACTIVISTS
Before your event: get in touch with your community organiser and set up a workshop on how to motivate
someone to take action. This way you and your fellow group members will be ready to inspire everyone you
come across to be one of the hundreds of thousands of amazing activists around the world.

Community carols
December is an exciting time of the year where people get together for Christmas, holidays or simply
because its summertime.
Community carols happen in almost every community and attract large audiences. It is a great opportunity
to get out and spread the word about humans rights as well as empowering people to take action that will
make a difference.
You can arrange a letter writing station at your local carols event, set up on the side of the main carols area.
Make it colourful and fun with banners and anything else you
think might draw attention.
There are lots of kids at carols running around looking for fun
things to do. Buy some coloured pens and stickers for your
stall so they can use to decorate their letters. While the kids
are busy you can talk to the parents about some of the cases
and ask them to take action too. You can also use a colouring
in stencil whch you can download from the portal from 15
October. Well send them as solidarity messages.
How else can you make it fun, engaging and noticeable? Will
you ask to make an announcement on stage at the beginning
of the event? Will you have people handing out flyers? Or how
about a roving pencil suit? People may like to take pictures
with the pencil person and upload it onto social media.

Ask people to take the challenge at

the carols
Bring some crazy hats or dress-
ups, maybe a hula-hoop or anything
creative you have around home. Ask
them to come up with a creative way
of writing a letter and take a photo or
video. Send it along with your group
name to activism@amnesty.org.au

Write for Rights 2013, Togo. AI Togo

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A BIRTHDAY PARTY
FOR ALL MISSED
BIRTHDAYS
Why not have a birthday or
dinner party for all missed
birthdays in solidarity with
our six people?
It is Liu Pings 50th birthday smack bang in the
middle of Write for Rights. But its not just Liu Ping
who will miss her birthday many of the people
were working for have missed birthdays while in
prison.
Make this as big or small as you like. It can be a
private event with your friends and family, or a large
public event at a park or restaurant with people from
your community. If you decide to make it public you
could reach out to the migrant communities of the
cases and invite them to join.
Its important to incorporate letter writing into your
party so we can make sure the gathering equals real
human rights impact.
Here are some brilliant suggestions from activists on
how you could do this:
Raise a toast to the cases bravery just like the
two Portuguese students who were imprisoned
for toasting freedom, which inspired Peter
Benenson to found Amnesty International.
Ask everyone to roll a dice. The number they
land on is the number of letters they have to
write.
Make place tags with case names and a short
card with their story. Ask each person to tell the
story in front of them and write a letter before
dessert.
Write for Rights 2013. Left: Chile. Right: Mongolia. AI
Put numbers on scraps of paper inside balloons.
Everyone pops a balloon and writes the number
of letters in the balloon.
Put case sheets, template letters and pens at
each person's place setting.
Ask people to take the What can you do while
writing a letter challenge at the party and
take photos and videos. You could have props
available.
Workshop: how to motivate others
Sometimes it can be hard to get people to stop and
take action.
Think about how you feel when you read the case.
The things that stick out to you will likely stick
out for people you talk to as well. Think about the
individual youre working for and see if you can
answer these questions.
1. Most outraged?
2. What made you connect to the case?
3. What gives you hope?
4. What does their action mean?
Once youve done that, talk to people using the
answers youve come up with in the same order. Use
lots of persona' pronouns like When I read this I
felt, and if you take action.
Workshops for your group
Your community organiser or group organiser
can organise a workshop with your group. At this
workshop youll learn about active listening, the
outrage-hope-action framework and how to motivate
someone to take action. Just get in touch!
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 LETTERS AND SOLIDARITY MESSAGES
Template letters or writing your own: what should
you do?
The casesheets (available 15 October) give you
two options for writing to the authorities. What
you choose depends on the kind of event you are
running. If you are only going to get a few actions
then you might want to focus on high impact,
individually written letters.
You can buy an international aerogramme ($2.20
from Australia Post) to write on and then send to us.
See the casesheets for what to put in your letters.
If you are planning to have lots of people at your
event, or if you are short on time, then the pre-
written letters or petitions are easier.
Yorm Bopha
with her
solidarity
messages.
AI
Solidarity messages
Along with your letter to the authorities, you can
send a solidarity message to a Write for Rights case.
Dont underestimate the power of a solidarity
message! Your messages give people hope and let
them know the world has not forgotten them. We
constantly get feedback about how much messages
lift a person's spirits.
Eskinder Negas wife Serkalem Fasil told Amnesty
that the cards and letters she received had been
a huge source of encouragement and strength for
them both.
And Yorm Bopha said, I would like to thank
Amnesty International for helping and supporting
my community as well as myself I am very happy
that we are not alone."
Solidarity messages also equal human rights
impact. They show the prison authorities that the
world is watching, and often prison conditions for
that person improve as a result.
How?
Write solidarity cards at your group meeting or letter
writing event.
Writing a solidarity card is easy. All you need to do
is download the solidarity message template from
the activist portal (available 15 October) and print
them off.
Have a look at the case sheets for suggested
messages for each recipient.
Important
Send your letters, aerogrammes (unsealed) and
solidarity messages back to your action centre or to:
Locked Bag 7 Collingwood VIC 3066 Australia
This way we can make sure these messages are
delivered safely, to the right person at the right time
and have maximum impact. Sometimes we need to
stop actions at short notice because of changes in
conditions.
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 SOCIAL MEDIA
Social media can be a really effective tool for
campaigning and spreading the word, especially in
your community. This year for Write for Rights you
could use it in a couple of ways.
1. Post photos or videos of people taking the What
can you do while writing a letter challenge.
This will encourage the people who participate to like
your page and share it with your friends and really
localise your content. Just make sure you tell them
where the pictures or videos will go and how to find
your page!
2. Create a Facebook event to invite people to your
birthday party or carols.
Invite all your friends and family and ask them to
spread the word.
Facebook has a quick and easy set of instructions for
posting your event. Check it out here.
If youre going to have a private event make sure
your event is set to invite only so you dont have
bus-loads of people showing up and only 10 meals
to share. You can do this in the events privacy
settings where you can choose from invitation
only, guests and friends or public.
If you are planning on having an event open to the
public, you can set it as a public event, which will
let anyone register to attend the event.
A note on Facebook event RSVPs
Facebook events are a great way to get exposure
for your events and an easy tool for encouraging
people to invite their friends, but dont always rely
on it to manage your event RSVPs. Often people
click yes to attending but won't show up to the
event.
3. Post links to the online actions and information
about each case on your group page.
In the November editions of the Leader Bulletin
we'll send you bitly links for the online actions,
which you can use in your facebook posts.
What is a bitly link? It is a short URL that replaces
a longer URL. Bitly links can also count 'clicks', so
we can track where our online traffic comes from
and measure how effective we are being. Make
sure you use the bitly links on your local page so
we can learn about the traffic from group pages.
Want to learn more? Check out bitly.com
Write for Rights 2013, Algeria. AI
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 Regional media
Regional media is a great way to
promote your event or tell the story
of your local group and the type of
issues you work on. There will be
two Write for Rights media release
templates on the portal from 2
October to:
1. promote your event in your
community
2. tell the story of your letter writing
group.
Who knows, you might get some
media coverage along with more
people attending your event or new
members for your group.

LASTLY...

A BIG THANK YOU TO...

OUR FABULOUS 2014 W4R TACTICS NETWORK!
VOLUNTEERS! Mario S
antos
Christie Gazal

Nathan Stone
Aleesha Jannah

Activist feedback
Special thanks to all the activists who gave input
into Write for Rights 2014.
If you have feedback on Write for Rights, please
get in touch: activism@amnesty.org.au
Leesa McManus

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