Actions

Actions: shine a candle into the darkness

You can ACT for these people simply by clicking on these links and sending an email.

Use your voice where others are silenced.

If you would like to write a letter or send a card of support, email your college rep for your free materials.

Urgent Action 

Ukraine: Release rocker and social activist

Igor Koktysh is being held in Ukraine and is facing extradition to Belarus, where he could be executed on trumped-up charges.

Stop Violence Against Women:

JUSTINE MASIKA BIHAMBA – Democratic Republic of Congo

Justine Masika Bihamba and her family have been attacked because of her work for a women’s rights organisation. In September 2007, soldiers forced their way into their home and assaulted her children.

NINE WOMEN’S HUMAN RIGHTS DEFENDERS – Nicaragua

These nine women are all facing legal proceedings for their involvement in the case of a nine-year-old girl who was raped and made pregnant in 2003 and obtained a legal abortion in Nicaragua.

SONIA PIERRE – Dominican Republic

Human rights defender Sonia Pierre has been threatened and harassed as a result of her work to stop anti-Haitian prejudice and racism that migrant workers and Dominicans of Haitian descent face everyday.

CLAUDINA VELÁSQUEZ – Guatemala

19-year-old law student Claudina Velásquez was shot dead in 2005. Deficiencies in the murder investigation mean her killers are yet to be brought to justice.

RONAK SAFARZADEH – Iran

In April Ronak Safarzadeh was imprisoned for belonging to the Free Life Party of Kurdistan, an armed opposition group. However her involvement was reportedly limited to researching women’s participation in the party.

Greeting Cards Campaign

Send a card of support to these prisoners of conscience.

THAO MOUA AND PA FUE KHANG – Laos

Thao Moua and Pa Fue Khang are serving prison sentences of 12 and 15 years for working as guides for two European journalists researching a story about ethnic Hmong rebels hiding in the Laos jungle.

CHEN GUANGCHENG – China

Legal adviser Chen Guangcheng, has been imprisoned for over four years for drawing attention to an illegal campaign of forced abortion and sterilisation affecting thousands of women in Shandong province, China.

ARTSYOM DUBSKI – Belarus

22-year-old Artsyom Dubski was sentenced in July 2009 to a year in prison, after peacefully exercising his rights to freedom of expression and assembly at a peaceful protest in Minsk in 2008.

PABLO PACHECO AVILA – Cuba

Journalist Pablo Pacheco Avila was arrested in 2003 and sentenced to 20 years’ imprisonment during a severe crackdown on the dissident movement in Cuba.

Demand Dignity

Stop gas flaring in the Niger Delta

Gas flaring pollutes the air and water, causing health problems for the communities in the Niger Delta. Email Shell Chief executive to stop this now.

Protect the right to water for Palestinians

Israeli policies and practices in the West Bank prevent the Palestinians from accessing the water they need. Express your concern to the Head of the Israel Water Authority.

Protect the right to shelter for Kenyan ’slum’ dwellers, threatened with eviction

Inhabitants of the Deep Sea settlement live under constant threat of forced eviction. The Nairobi ’slum’ is home to around 7,000 people but private companies are trying to take the land for development.