Amnesty International: 60 Years of Human Rights

 This weekend marks the 60th anniversary of Amnesty International, which means that this venerable organization is younger than I am. Yikes. Somehow I would have thought that it was older, in part because I first wrote a letter through Amnesty when I was in university decades ago. Was that letter to an imprisoned person or the government which had taken away his or her freedom as a violation of human rights? I have no recollection, but I felt it important to take action. The website for Amnesty offers: 

Amnesty International was founded in 1961 on the idea that together ordinary people can change the world. Today Amnesty is a worldwide movement for human rights, calling on the collective power of 10 million people, each one committed to fighting for justice, equality and freedom everywhere.  From London to Santiago, Sydney to Kampala, people have come together to insist that the rights of each and every human are respected and protected.

AI is a secular organization but through the years Christians have been vitally involved, because of our commitment to the Christ of justice and love. In my final congregation, Bridge St. United, there were letter writing events in our building, organized, in part, by a member. Folk came from across the community and a number of them were from other congregations. 

The participants were mostly older, and who actually puts pen to paper anymore? Yet there are times when powerful social media, which the organization does employ, can't replace the written word, and I hope the Amnesty candle continues to burn brightly. 

How do we measure 60 years of collective action? It’s there in the accused who is given a fair trial; the prisoner saved from execution; or the detainee who is no longer tortured. It’s there in the activists freed to continue their defence of human rights; the school children learning about their rights in the classroom; or the families escorted safely home from refugee camps. And it’s there in the marginalized communities marching to demand an end to discrimination, the marginalised communities who defended their homes from destruction and the woman whose government finally outlaws the abuse she faces every day.

Sixty years on, we’re still battling for a world where human rights are enjoyed by all. And we won’t stop until it’s achieved. 

Thank you, Amnesty International.

     
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