Together, we are powerful!
"I learned that Amnesty International had taken up my case and right away I knew that I would not be killed."
- Dr. Bushra Gamar, released prisoner of conscience, Southern Kordofan, Sudan
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Displaced children fleeing the terrible violence that has gripped Central Afrcian Republic
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Dear friend,
Imagine that you and I are part of something so powerful!
The
certainty in Dr. Gamar's words – that he owed his freedom to Amnesty
International and was determined to continue his important work – was
beyond inspiring to hear.
I met Dr. Gamar in January, while part
of an Amnesty International mission to the volatile frontier between
Sudan and South Sudan. He had been imprisoned by Sudanese authorities
because of his efforts to draw attention to human rights violations in
Sudan's Southern Kordofan state.
Amnesty took up Dr. Gamar's case, and today he is out of prison and safe.
Help Amnesty protect others like Dr. Gamar by making a tax-creditable gift today. If you have made a recent gift, then I thank you for your support.
As an Amnesty International supporter you know that our work is so powerful and vital
because we strive to make a difference in the lives of individuals and
communities who face human rights violations - and at the same time, we
campaign for global change that prevents violations from happening in
the first place.
This year, 2013, has been such a
compelling reminder that working at both of those levels is so
necessary. Some of what we accomplished together:
With your help, we experienced inspiring success in our work to protect individuals at risk of human rights violations:
- in August, Chinese poet and human rights activist Shi Tao was released
- in September, courageous Iranian human rights lawyer Nasrin Sotoudeh was freed following three years in prison for her work to protect women’s rights
- in October, housing activist Ni Yulan was released in China.
With your help, we continued our work strengthening human rights worldwide and making the world a safer place for civilians living amidst conflict:
- after decades of campaigning, we witnessed the signing of a global Arms Trade Treaty that truly has the power to save lives
- we protected civilians amidst crackdowns and violence in Egypt, Turkey and elsewhere by attracting world attention to the right to freedom of expression and peaceful protest
- we had researchers on the ground reporting on human
rights violations in Syria and are campaigning for the protection of
the shocking number of refugees left in the wake of this conflict
- we highlighed that important human rights protections are at stake
in high profile cases such as Edward Snowden, Chelsea Manning and
Wikileaks, dealing with surveillance, secrecy and access to information
in the digital age
- we are mobilizing quickly in response to a spiraling human rights nightmare in the Central African Republic.
Please help Amnesty International continue to be a powerful voice for human rights around the world by making a secure online donation today.
As I appeal to you now in these year-end reflections to generously support Amnesty International's work, I'd like to share with you two stories from our campaigning for individuals that speak to the triumph and despair of our human rights work.
 First, a story of triumph – a heartwarming moment of pure joy - happened this autumn, when Hamid Ghassemi-Shall was reunited with the woman who did so much to save his life, his wife Antonella Mega.
Throughout
Hamid's more than five years of wrongful imprisonment in Iran, the
torture, the solitary confinement, the dread of Hamid's death sentence,
Antonella did so much to inspire members with her stirring mantra of
‘I’m not giving up’. Then, earlier this month, Hamid & Antonella
unexpectedly dropped in on an Amnesty letter-writing event on Human
Rights Day, and Hamid wrote a letter to help someone else, in the very
spot where only a year earlier others wrote for his freedom.
What a triumph of the human spirit! What an honour to be a part of this inspiring Amnesty moment.
To make your year-end gift use our secure donation form or call 1-800-AMNESTY (1-800-266-3789).
 And then a story of despair
- this story comes from a very recent encounter while on a human rights
mission in November. I was in remote corners of eastern Chad,
interviewing refugees who have streamed across the border of Sudan and
Chad escaping a very worrying surge in violence and human rights
violations in Darfur.
That is where I met 10 year old Khadija, who talked of the loss of her father, her family’s escape into Chad and her sense of fear; all in a quiet, sorrowful voice. She said:
"My father was shot and killed during the attack. We all ran away. I have never been so afraid in my life. In the past it was my father who made me feel okay when I was afraid, but he couldn’t do that this time ..."
I
travel to some of the world's worst trouble spots on human rights
research missions, knowing that Amnesty missions by their very pressing
and urgent nature often unearth these terribly sad stories. But little
prepares you for this. As a father myself, I felt this young girl’s sadness so deeply.
Khadija
& I kept on speaking, and I told her about all the people who care
about her, who are trying to protect her. And while Amnesty
International’s work and the caring and dedicated efforts of its
supporters was an abstraction to a little girl, and no replacement for
her father, our moment together brought not quite a smile, but at least a
glimpse of light in her eye.
We do this hard work of human rights because we can turn despair into the promise of something better,
whether it’s hope for protection for a young girl like Khadija, or the
so many vulnerable refugees and displaced people like her in Chad, Syria
and the Central African Republic, or the hope for reunification with
his family for someone wrongfully jailed like Hamid.
With the support of people like you, we can bring light where there was darkness, hope where there was sadness, and change where it’s desperately needed.
Your
support through activism and through financial support is what helps to
unlock the prison doors for Hamid Ghassemi-Shall and Bushra Gamar,
stand with Khadija and her family in a Darfuri refugee camp; convince
states to adopt the wonderful new Arms Trade Treaty; and insist, ever
louder, that the crisis in Syria come to an end.
Thank you.
 Sincerely,
Alex Neve
Secretary General,
Amnesty International Canada
P.S. I hope we can count on your support in 2014. Please click here to donate today.
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