The Providence Journal/ Kathy Borchers
Guest speaker Samy Ndayisaba, of Providence, originally from eastern Congo, lights the ceremonial Amnesty International Candle of Hope before he speaking to the gathering at the 25th annual Amnesty International Write-a-thon for Human Rights at the First Unitarian Church on Sunday. He and his family were granted asylum in the United States during the war in Congo and settled in Providence.
PROVIDENCE, R.I. -- The parish hall of the First Unitarian Church of Providence was filled Sunday with individuals lending their voices to a global campaign on behalf of people who have been silenced for their beliefs. Sponsored by Amnesty International, the annual write-a-thon supports prisoners of conscience and victims of human rights abuses.
"Writing letters to government authorities, if it's done in a volume, has an effect," said Marcia Lieberman, one of the local organizers. "We have met in person people who were prisoners of conscience in China and Liberia, all sorts of places, who credit their lives with the letters we've poured out."
Said Sen. Jack Reed: "I try to come by every year. This is awfully important. These are concerned citizens of Rhode Island who are communicating with governments around the world about prisoners of conscience -- people who have tried to exercise rights that we take for granted, and who have been arrested, suppressed."
More on the letter campaign is at the Amnesty International site.
The Providence Journal / Kathy Borchers
Lucy and John Armstrong, left, of East Providence, and Kristin Fitzharris, right, of Warren, write letters at the Amnesty International write-a-thon on Sunday.