In 2023, more than 5,828,000 actions were taken worldwide – about 500,000 more than in 2022. Besides, the International Secretariat digitally collected 1.2 million actions, the highest number so far!
Beyond human rights impact, Write for Rights is a solidarity campaign, showing the individuals at risk that people in all corners of the world are supporting them. Of the total numbers of actions, at least 250,500 were cards and letters of solidarity.
In 2024, let’s keep on showing solidarity and dedication for individuals at risk. Together, we can make a difference!
Right now, all around the world, human rights are under attack.
Uncle Pabai and Uncle Paul are community leaders from the Guda Maluyligal Nation in the Torres Strait, fighting to save their ancestral homelands from the risks of climate change.
In the USA, Rocky Myers has spent three decades on death row after being sentenced to death by a judge who imposed a death sentence against the jury’s wishes.
Activist Justyna Wydrzyńska has been convicted for helping a woman in a violent relationship access a safe abortion, which is a crime in Poland.
10 chances to make a difference
For 23 years, Amnesty International’s Write for Rights campaign has transformed the lives of people whose rights have been wronged.
This annual campaign brings together millions of compassionate people from around the world to make a stand for freedom, justice and equality. By collectively challenging injustice, we change lives. And every time we secure justice for one individual, we move closer to a world where human rights are enjoyed by all.
Every year in the lead up to World Human Rights Day (10 December), Amnesty supporters and activists from over 200 countries and territories take action – writing letters, signing petitions and much more – urging governments to uphold justice and right wrongs.
This year we’re taking action for individuals and communities from 10 different countries who are courageously speaking truth to power.
In Brazil, an activist was killed for arranging “walks of peace” to speak out against police abuses against Black communities. In various countries the right to protest is being met with police violence and trumped-up charges leading to imprisonment. The leader of a grassroots movement is being targeted for working to improve the lives of people in South Africa, while a human rights blogger in UAE is being held in isolation for addressing problems within their justice system.
There’s more we all can do to defend the rights of women, Indigenous communities, press freedom, the right to protest, and the right to a healthy environment.
We can defend our human rights when ordinary people from all walks of life courageously challenge the injustices they face with the Amnesty movement standing in solidarity alongside them.
When we mobilise, our movement can make a real difference in people’s lives and drive lasting societal change. Through the power of collective action, Amnesty supporters and activists put pressure on governments to challenge injustice wherever and whenever it happens.
Join in today. Write a letter, change a life and drive lasting change.
CloseYour actions have the power to make a difference.
Every year, real change happens because of Write for Rights.
From 2,326 letters in 1991 to 5.8 million letters, emails and petition signatures from around the world in 2023, Write for Rights has transformed the lives of over 100 people over the years.
Together, our voices are powerful enough to challenge injustice and change the world.
WRITE FOR RIGHTS AND CHALLENGE INJUSTICE
When we promote and defend human rights, we can create a better world for ourselves and others.
23 years of writing for rights
Write for Rights is the world’s biggest human rights event. It brings millions of people together as one to take action and stand up for freedom, justice and equality.
Every year in the lead up to World Human Rights Day (10 December), Amnesty supporters and activists from 170 countries take action – writing letters, signing petitions, and much more – telling governments to challenge injustice and right wrongs.
People power works
Real positive change takes place because of those actions: people under attack are protected, people wrongfully imprisoned are released, torturers are brought to justice and people in prison are treated more humanely.
We run Write for Rights every year because it works – your words have freed people from human rights abuses and changed lives.
Magai Matiop Ngong
Magai was just 15 years old when he was sentenced to death by hanging in November 2017. A secondary school student, Magai was convicted of murder, which he says was an accident.
Magai caught global attention through Write for Rights 2019, with over 750,000 letters, emails and petitions calling for his death sentence to be commuted. In Australia, almost 18,000 actions were taken for Magai.
On 22 March 2022 the High Court of South Sudan finally freed Magai Matiop Ngong.
Yasaman and Monireh
In 2019 Yasaman Aryani and her daughter Monireh Arabshahi were sentenced to 16 years in prison for speaking out against Iran’s forced veiling laws. The two women’s rights advocates were accused of “inciting and facilitating corruption and prostitution” by promoting “unveiling”.
As a part of Write for Rights 2019, Amnesty started a petition calling on Iranian authorities to release Yasaman and Monireh. An incredible 100,000 supporters in Australia and over one million supporters around the world took action to demand their freedom.
In February 2023, after nearly four years in prison, Iranian authorities released Yasaman and Monireh.
Melike and Özgür
Student activists Melike and Özgür were taking part in a peaceful Pride march for LGBTQIA+ rights at their university in Ankara, Turkey, when they came under attack from police, who used pepper spray, plastic bullets and tear gas on the protesters. Melike and Özgür, along with 17 others, were then charged with “unlawful assembly” and “failing to disperse despite being warned,” and they faced three years in prison.
During Write for Rights 2020, 445,000 people from over 43 countries demanded the activists’ acquittal. After two years on trial, all 19 activists were acquitted on 8 October 2021.
How Write for Rights has changed lives
CloseAttend a Write for Rights event
Join an event in your local community and take action for those whose rights have been wronged.
We will be raising our collective voices to unite with the people at the heart of the event – the 10 global cases. We’ll deliver the signatures of everyone who takes action in Australia to Embassies in Canberra in June 2024 to pressure decision-makers to support their human rights.
Look out for our map – coming soon – to RSVP to a Write for Rights event near you!
WRITE FOR RIGHTS EVENTS 2024
Join an event in your local community and take action for those whose rights have been abused.
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