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News about Amnesty International’s work and campaigns
new ambassadors of conscience
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Pakistani schoolgirl and education rights campaigner Malala Yousafzai, and American singer and activist Harry Belafonte, received Amnesty International’s highest honour – the Ambassador of Conscience Award – in September. Malala Yousafzai said: “I hope that by working together we will one day realise our dream of education for every child.” Harry Belafonte called Amnesty “our moral compass” and said he was especially honoured to share the award with Malala: “a true hero of our time”. The award was inspired by the poem From the Republic of Conscience, written for Amnesty International by the late Irish poet, Seamus Heaney.
A woman and child from Paga Hill in Papua New Guinea, 2013. They live in the ruins of one of 20 houses destroyed by the police while community leaders were in court challenging the eviction notice, in May 2012. Police officers attacked residents with sticks, metal bars, machetes and automatic rifles. Those residents who were brave enough to return are now living in makeshift shelters under constant threat of another eviction. Amnesty will launch a briefing and campaigning action to end forced evictions in Papua New Guinea in early 2014.
the fight goes on
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Diana Nyakowa from the Deep Sea slum in Nairobi, Kenya, said it felt great to be featured on the cover of WIRE September/October. The fight against forced evictions in the city goes on: “We don't eat, we don't sleep – we just don't know when the bulldozers will come. We are worried because our Governor [Kidero] says he's going to clean Nairobi. And we know what he means: The slums are the dirtiest houses in this city and he wants the investors here, not us," she told us.
During a short, experimental campaign in August, a clandestine network of Freedom Agents intercepted and subverted repressive authority messages. Armed with camera phones, they created imaginative advertisements promoting freedom of expression. Why? Because small acts of defiance start conversations. Conversations lead to action, and actions lead to change. Ai Weiwei, Chinese artist and activist, loved this small, but radical art project and retweeted it several times.
visit amnesty.org/en/endforcedevictions
Find out more at Ifoundtheletter.org/secretvideo and facebook.com/ifoundtheletter
2 wire [ noV/dec 2013 ]
25,000 signatures for chiLe join 16 daYs of actiVism for women and girLs Just before the 40th anniversary of the Chile coup in September, during an event at the Presidential Palace, La Moneda, Amnesty activists handed the Chilean authorities a petition signed by more than 25,000 activists in countries including Spain, Germany, the UK, Uruguay, Peru, Venezuela, Italy and Japan. Together, we called for an end to impunity for the gross human rights violations committed during Pinochet’s military regime. Many thanks to everyone who signed – your support remains crucial for victims of torture and disappearances, and their relatives.
Violence against women is a human rights violation. We highlight this in our annual 16 Days of Activism campaign, which will run from 25 November to 10 December 2013. Through letters, petitions and other actions we’ll call for perpetrators to be held accountable for gender-based violence during past or current armed conflicts in Bangladesh, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Egypt, Venezuela and Syria.
Get involved in promoting real security for women and girls: amnesty.org/en/womensrights/16-days