Dialogue City Episode #007: Write for Rights Campaign with Amnesty International Calgary
Dialogue City went on location to Rosso Coffee shop to meet with volunteers and passionate individuals for Amnesty Canada’s Write For Rights campaign on International Human Rights Day (December 10).
We sat down with Shelby Dewhirst Dewhirst, who is a field worker with Amnesty International based on Calgary; Arunan Sivalingam who has recently re-connected and re-engage back into human rights work; Sarah Damberger, who is a board member at Amnesty International Canada; and finally Christian Kindrachuk who is a journalism student at Mount Royal University and a journalist at the Calgary Journal.
Amnesty International Canada had 10 profiles this year that individuals could write to the individual(s) affected or the government to petition for their rights. However, one more case was added at that pertained to the Site C Dam project that could have huge consequences for the First Nations people that live in the Peace River valley. More information on the Site C Dam can be found in the YouTube video below and in the show notes.
Two success stories that have come out of various human rights campaigns that Amnesty International have been a part of are highlighted below.
The first is Mohamed Fahmy who was a journalist with Al Jazeera English. In 2013, he was arrested by Egyptian authorities and sentenced to seven (7) years in a maximum security prison. He was pardoned in 2015 and released a book in 2016 called The Marriott Cell: An Epic Journey from Cairo’s Scorpion Prison to Freedom, which details his journey from his wrongful incarceration to his release and fight for justice.
The second is the case of Angel Amilcar Colon Quevedo in his journey to migrate to the United States to get treatment for his son, was arrested by Mexican authorities under false charges. He was placed in a maximum security prison with no trial and no contact to the outside world. Amnesty International only knew of his case when one of his former cellmates reported his case.
More information on Angel’s case:
Truly, as one of the volunteers at the Write For Rights campaign on December 10, “one letter makes all the difference.”
Below are the YouTube videos for all the cases that have an online video associated with the case for our listeners to learn more about it. You can also find more information about the Write For Rights campaign at their website: http://www.writeathon.ca/materials
Ni Yulan (China)
Sakris Kupila (Finland)
Indigenous Lenca people (Honduras)
Farid al-Atrash and Issa Amro (Israel — OPT)
Shackelia Jackson (Jamaica)
Clovis Razafimalala (Madagascar)
Taner and the Istanbul 10 (Turkey)
First Nations Indigenous groups (Canada)
We want to thank Shelby, Arunan, Sarah, and Christian for taking time out of their day to come chat with us. You can connect with Amnesty Calgary by visiting their Facebook and Twitter, and Amnesty Canada by visiting their website, Facebook, and Twitter.
You can find this episode and more on iTunes, Google Play, Soundcloud, Stitcher, and TuneIn. Reach us on Twitter, Facebook, and via email at dialoguecity@gmail.com.
Show notes
- December 10th is International Human Rights Day and celebrates the day the United Nations General Assembly adopted, in 1948, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. More information at http://www.un.org/en/events/humanrightsday/
- The Rohingya crisis in Myanmar refers to the mass exodus of the Rohingyas in the Rakhine state in Myanmar, escaping persecution from the Myanmar army and nationalist Buddhists. The Rohingyas are majority Muslim while the ethnic Barmar are majority Buddhists.
- Edward Snowden was a previous Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) employee who leaked classified documents related to the National Security Agency (NSA) and programs related to government surveillance programs on the American people.
- Site C Dam is a multi-billion dollar hydroelectric dam of BC Hydro that will provide alternative electricity for British Columbia, a province in Canada. However it has come under attack for its costs, over-estimated power demand, and affects on the environment and the Peace River valley. However, its original design was to align the province with its climate change initiatives, and recently NDP Premier John Horgan would continue ahead with the project.
