Amnesty International Needs Your Help. Write A Letter, Save A Life.

Amnesty International is an organization dedicated to helping people who are the victims of injustice, in particular political prisoners and citizens imprisoned and tortured. One of their most important functions is to get people from around the world to write a letter to government authorities and ask that a political prisoner be freed. This gives notice to the authorities that the case of the prisoner is being watched by people around the world, and that the authorities will be held accountable for their actions. These letter-writing campaigns have gained the freedom for thousands of political prisoners.

Here is a link to the website. Amnesty International wants 300,000 letters to go out on Saturday, December 5, 2009. I think we can do that. All the information is at the website. http://www.amnestyusa.org/writeathon/resources.php?ICID=I1012A01&tr=y&auid=5653578

They've got a photo and description of each of the prisoners they are asking people to write letters for, and an explanation of the circumstances under which this person has been held in prison. Then they have a link to "Sample Letter," and you just click on that, print it out, sign it, put it in the mail. Or you can copy and paste the letter into your own wordprocessing program. Or, copy and paste the letter into an e-mail and send it that way. They include e-mail addresses and fax numbers. Here's one of the letters, as an example:

Lic. Enrique Peña Nieto
Gobernador Constitucional del Estado de México
Lerdo Poniente No. 300, 1er piso, puerta 216
Palacio del Poder Ejecutivo
Col. Centro, C.P. 50000
Toluca, Estado de México
MÉXICO
Fax: 011-52-722-276-0046
E-mail: gob@gem.gob.mx

Dear Governor:

I must express my deep concern about the torture and sexual assault of Bárbara Italia Méndez and other women during their detention on 3 and 4 May 2006 in San Salvador Atenco. More than three years have passed, yet no one has been held accountable for these horrendous crimes.

I know that the Special Prosecutor for Crimes of Violence Against Women and Human Trafficking (FEVIMTRA) recently decided it does not have jurisdiction in the case of the women assaulted by police officers in San Salvador Atenco in 2006, despite having identified 34 members of the state security forces as suspects in the crimes.

The investigation is once again in the hands of authorities under your responsibility, and I urge you to ensure that justice is done in this case. Please take advantage of the documentation on sexual torture collected by FEVIMTRA. In light of the Mexican Supreme Court’s resolution declaring that human rights violations occurred at San Salvador Atenco in May 2006, I call on you to ensure that full reparations are made to Bárbara Italia Méndez and all the victims.

Sincerely,

(Your Name and Signature)

cc: Ambassador Arturo Sarukhan Casamitjana
Embassy of Mexico
1911 Pennsylvania Avenue N.W.
Washington, D.C. 20006f
ax: 202-728-1698
email: mexembusa@sre.gob.mx