On 10 December 1948, sixty-three years ago today, the United Nations General Assembly adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.  The preamble begins with this stirring assertion:  “Whereas recognition of the inherent dignity and of the equal and inalienable rights of all members of the human family is the foundation of freedom, justice, and peace in the world,” and concludes:

Now, Therefore, THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY proclaims THIS UNIVERSAL DECLARATION OF HUMAN RIGHTS as a common standard of achievement for all peoples and all nations, to the end that every individual and every organ of society, keeping this Declaration constantly in mind, shall strive by teaching and education to promote respect for these rights and freedoms and by progressive measures, national and international, to secure their universal and effective recognition and observance, both among the peoples of Member States themselves and among the peoples of territories under their jurisdiction.

In recognition of this anniversary, Amnesty International is sponsoring a Global Write-a-Thon, which began on 3 December and ends tomorrow.  For some reason, I’m on the AI mailing list, which is how I heard about it; I responded to the email message by declaring my intent to participate.  We were emailed a packet of information and sample letters, which I carefully studied.  AIUSA is focussing on fifteen cases, from China, Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Cameroon, Indonesia, Iran, Mexico, Nigeria, North Korea, Sri Lanka, Yemen, Zimbabwe, and the good old USA.  I chose eight of the fifteen to write for, and also decided to send cards to five of the victims or prisoners.  So I hand-wrote each of the letters (I print, so my handwriting is legible) and mailed them off.  These days it costs 98 cents for an airmail stamp (80 cents to Mexico) and we’re holding at 44 cents for domestic postage.  Here are the cases I chose:

China – letter to Premier Wen Jiabao, on behalf of Liu Xiaobo, Nobel Peace laureate serving 11 years in prison for seeking political and legal reforms in China

Bahrain – letter to Shaikh Hamad bin ‘Issa Al-Khalifa, on behalf of Jalila al-Salman and Mahdi ‘Issa Mahdi Abu Dheeb, Teachers Association leaders imprisoned for exercising rights to freedom of expression and assembly

Cameroon – letter to His Excellency Paul Biya, on behalf of Jean-Claude Roger Mbede, prisoner of conscience due to perceived sexual orientation

Mexico – letter to President Felipe Calderón, on behalf of Inés Fernández Ortega and Valentina Rosendo Cantú, assaulted by soldiers who were never prosecuted

Sri Lanka – letter to President Mahinda Rajapaksa, on behalf of Ragihar Manoharan (deceased), shot by Sri Lankan security forces for no reason

Zimbabwe – letter to Honorable Patrick Chinamasa, on behalf of the human rights organization Women of Zimbabwe Arise (WOZA), members of which have been harassed, intimidated, and jailed

USA Louisiana – letter to Governor Bobby Jindal, on behalf of Christi Cheramie, juvenile offender facing life imprisonment without possibility of parole

USA Missouri – letter to Governor Jay Nixon, on behalf of Reggie Clemons, sentenced to death for being an accomplice to 1991 murders

It is unlikely that I will receive any responses, but one should “light a candle rather than curse the darkness,” don’t you think.  Why not hold leaders accountable for their violations of the noble sentiments expressed in the Declaration?  If I ever hear back from these people, I will update this post.