{"id":2654,"date":"2022-11-22T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2022-11-21T17:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.amnesty.or.th\/en\/write-for-rights-the-life-changing-power-of-words\/"},"modified":"2024-11-12T11:03:26","modified_gmt":"2024-11-12T04:03:26","slug":"write-for-rights-the-life-changing-power-of-words","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.amnesty.or.th\/en\/blog\/2022\/11\/write-for-rights-the-life-changing-power-of-words\/","title":{"rendered":"Write for Rights \u2013 the life-changing power of words"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Reading the news can be really depressing. Sometimes there seems to be so much wrong in the world, the idea of changing it for the better feels impossible. But as Amnesty International\u2019s Write for Rights campaign shows, you can make a big difference by doing something \u201clittle\u201d. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Writing a letter, sending a tweet, signing a petition. Surely you can\u2019t change the world with something so simple? Yes, you can! <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Since Write for Rights started in 2001, millions of people, just like you, have changed the lives of those whose human rights had been stripped from them. Taking just a little bit of time to send a tweet or write a letter has made the world of difference to the people we have supported through the campaign. In the past year alone, we\u2019ve seen positive developments for several people recently featured in the campaign. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

HUMAN RIGHTS DEFENDER FREE  <\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Bernardo Caal Xol, a Guatemalan teacher and environmental activist, worked tirelessly to defend communities affected by hydroelectric projects on the Cahab\u00f3n river, in northern Guatemala. In November 2018, he was sentenced to more than seven years in prison on bogus charges aimed at preventing his human rights work. During Write for Rights 2021 more than half a million actions were taken for Bernardo and in March 2022 he was released. In a video message to Amnesty International activists, he said: <\/p>\n\n\n

\u201cI, Bernardo Caal Xol, a member of the Maya Q\u2019eqchi\u2019 people of Guatemala, am grateful to each and every one of you. You have given me hope for the justice, liberty and equality that must prevail in every people and nation.\u201d<\/em><\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n

\"\"<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

\u00a9 Anny Matzir<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bernardo Caal Xol with his family after his release from the penitentiary centre in Cob\u00e1n, Guatemala after more than four years of imprisonment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

FATHER OF THREE REUNITED WITH FAMILY <\/h2>\n\n\n\n

On 30 June 2021, Burundian human rights defender Germain Rukuki was released from prison four years into a 32-year sentence. He had been found guilty of a number of sham charges relating to his human rights work. He was jailed before getting a chance to hold his youngest child, born just weeks after he was arrested in July 2017. His family were forced to flee the country for fear of reprisals. Initially unable to leave Burundi following his release, Germain was finally reunited with his family in Belgium in February 2022. Supporters from around the world took more than 436,000 actions calling for Germain\u2019s release. He told Amnesty International: <\/p>\n\n\n

\u201cWrite for Rights really does have a positive impact. Their support has made me, Germain Rukuki, come out of prison even more committed to defending human rights.\u201d <\/span><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n

\"\"<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

\u00a9 Private<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On Saturday 5 February, 2022, Burundian HRD Germain Rukuki, was finally reunited with his family in Belgium. After serving more than four years in prison, Germain met his youngest son for the first time, since he was arrested when his wife was pregnant.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

FREED FROM DEATH ROW  <\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Magai Matiop Ngong was a 15-year-old schoolboy in South Sudan when he was sentenced to death on 14 November 2017 for murder. Magai recounted how he told the judge the death was an accident and that he was only a child; despite this, Magai faced trial for capital murder without any access to a lawyer. More than 700,000 actions were taken for Magai during Write for Rights 2019, and in March 2022 the High Court agreed that given his age at the time of the conviction, he should be released<\/a>. Magai is now safely out of the country and determined more than ever to help people like him. Of the people who campaigned on his behalf, he said:  <\/p>\n\n\n

\u201cThey are life-saving individuals\u2026They made it possible for me to be here today\u2026I\u2019m quite sure that my life is not the only one they have saved. They have saved the lives of people all around the world\u201d<\/span><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n

\"\"<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

\u00a9 Amnesty International<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Magai Matiop Ngong celebrates his freedom at Amnesty\u2019s regional office in Kenya, 5 April 2022. He also viewed some of the cards and letters he received as part of the Write for Rights campaign in 2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

YOU TOO CAN CHANGE THE WORLD AND HERE\u2019S HOW <\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Write for Rights 2022<\/a>\u202fis nearly here! This year, we\u2019re teaming up with Amnesty\u2019s global Protect the Protest<\/a> campaign. Throughout history, protest has been a powerful tool for change. But governments around the world are cracking down on protests and restricting people\u2019s rights. Write for Rights 2022 will feature 13 people who have paid a great price for speaking truth to power. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you have any doubts that your words can make a difference, Jani Silva, an environmental activist from Colombia can assure you they do. Jani\u2019s fearless opposition to environmental contamination and human rights violations has had frightening consequences. She\u2019s been followed, intimidated, and threatened with death. Following the 2020 Write for Rights campaign, Jani said: <\/p>\n\n\n

\u201cI am so very grateful for the letters. From the bottom of my heart, this campaign has kept me alive. It\u2019s what has stopped them from killing me, because they know that you are there.\u201d <\/span><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n

LEARN MORE ABOUT WRITE FOR RIGHTS<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u0e1a\u0e23\u0e34\u0e08\u0e32\u0e04\u0e2a\u0e19\u0e31\u0e1a\u0e2a\u0e19\u0e38\u0e19\u0e41\u0e2d\u0e21\u0e40\u0e19\u0e2a\u0e15\u0e35\u0e49<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Reading the news can be really depressing. Sometimes there seems to be so much wrong in the world, the idea of changing it for the better feels impossible. But as Amnesty International\u2019s Write for Rights campaign shows, you can make a big difference by doing something \u201clittle\u201d.  Writing a letter, sending a tweet, signing a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":2655,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-noindex":"","_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-nofollow":"","_yoast_wpseo_canonical":"","_yoast_wpseo_opengraph-title":"","_yoast_wpseo_opengraph-description":"","_yoast_wpseo_opengraph-image":"","_yoast_wpseo_opengraph-image-id":0,"_yoast_wpseo_twitter-title":"","_yoast_wpseo_twitter-description":"","_yoast_wpseo_twitter-image":"","_yoast_wpseo_twitter-image-id":0,"_hero_title":"","_hero_content":"","_hero_cta_text":"","_hero_cta_link":"","_hero_alignment":"","_hero_background":"","_hero_size":"","_hero_show":"","_hero_type":"","_hero_embed":"","_hero_video_id":0,"_hero_hide_image_caption":true,"_hero_hide_image_copyright":false,"_nav_style":"","_disable_share_icons":false,"_disable_sidebar":false,"_display_author_info":false,"_hide_featured_image":false,"_hide_featured_image_caption":true,"_maximize_post_content":false,"_reduce_content_width":false,"_sidebar_id":0,"_stretch_thumbnail":false,"byline_context":"","byline_entity":"","byline_is_author":false,"disable_related_content":false,"download_id":0,"download_text":"","show_published_date":true,"show_updated_date":true,"term_slider":"","amnesty_index_number":"","recipients":"","recipients_refresh":"","recipients_refreshed":"","amnesty_umbraco_data":"","document_ref":"","amnesty_updated":"","footnotes":""},"category":[1584],"location":[1588,1587,1589],"resourceType":[],"topic":[],"class_list":["post-2654","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-blog","location-southeast-asia","location-thailand","location-world"],"datePosted":"November 22, 2022","mlpRelationships":{"1":3129,"2":2654},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.amnesty.or.th\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2654","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.amnesty.or.th\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.amnesty.or.th\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.amnesty.or.th\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/14"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.amnesty.or.th\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2654"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.amnesty.or.th\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2654\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.amnesty.or.th\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2655"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.amnesty.or.th\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2654"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.amnesty.or.th\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/category?post=2654"},{"taxonomy":"location","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.amnesty.or.th\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/location?post=2654"},{"taxonomy":"resource-type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.amnesty.or.th\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/resourceType?post=2654"},{"taxonomy":"topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.amnesty.or.th\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/topic?post=2654"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}