Amnesty International Letters to Prisoners of Conscience

Amnesty International is an awesome organization that works to improve human rights through campaigning and international solidarity.

One of the coolest things they do is fight for the rights and release of “Prisoners of Conscience” which is anyone imprisoned because of their race, religion, color, language, sexual orientation, belief, or lifestyle so long as they have not used or advocated violence. It also refers to those who have been imprisoned and/or persecuted for the non-violent expression of their conscientiously-held beliefs.

There are thousands of these prisoners in countries all over the world and Amnesty puts pressure on the governments of those countries to release those prisoners without conditions and creates campaigns to help their supporters advocate for the prisoners as well. You can find out more about their campaigns on the Detention and Imprisonment page of their website.

A big part of this program involves supporters sending letters to the prisoners of conscience telling them that they are not forgotten. When these letters get delivered it is often the one glimmer of hope they needed to keep on keeping on…Amnesty has all kinds of amazing stories from released prisoners who told them what a difference that one little card made. If the letters get confiscated before reaching the prisoners, it often results in better treatment of the prisoner because the government becomes aware that the world is watching them. Either way, it’s a win-win. 

So all you have to do today is print out your letter of solidarity, sign it and send it to Amnesty International. They’ll see that it gets to a prisoner of conscience. If you’d like to find out about specific cases, or send cards to specific people, check their list of Priority Cases and follow the directions on how to become their advocate and or encourage them personally.  

Click HERE to download the card.