Write for rights

Thunder Bay residents celebrated the 50th anniversary of the International Human Rights Day by writing a letter.

More than a dozen people attended the Lakehead Unitarian Fellowship service on Sunday. The service was in part of a worldwide event held by Amnesty International where people write letters to parts of the world where human rights have been violated.

Jean Morrison, who organized the event, said a hand written letter can make a big difference for someone who has been wrongfully detained.

“It has been found that individual letters to heads of state are far more effective than a petition with a thousand names,” Morrison said. “A letter shows that someone has taken the trouble to learn about the various cases.”

Morrison said every year Amnesty chooses a case for everyone to address their letters too.  She said she wasn’t sure how many people would write a letter but encouraged everyone to look up the information about each case online and to learn more about Amnesty International.

“Many people have been released as a result of these letters,” she said. “Another thing people can do is write letters or greetings to prisoners. You have to be very careful what you say. You wouldn’t send Christmas greetings to someone in an Islamic prison for example.”