Amnesty International: Ales Bialiatski supported by about 100,000 people
Amnesty International summed up the
results of the world letter marathon in support of Ales Bialiatski.
All in all, 104,731 actions were taken to support the Belarusian
human rights defender who was declared a prisoner of conscience by
this authoritative international organization.
Participants
of the campaign expressed their solidarity with the imprisoned head
of the "Human Rights Center "Viasna" and
vice-president of the International Federation for Human Rights
(FIDH) by various means, proposed by activists of Amnesty
International, among which there were signing petitions in his
support, writing letters and holding art actions (concerts, light
projections, etc.).
According to AI, such actions were taken
in Austria, Belgium, the Bermudas, Bulgaria, Canada, Cyprus, the
Czech Republic, Finland, Ghana, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Japan,
Latvia, Luxembourg, Mali, Malta, Moldova, Mongolia, Paraguay, Poland,
Portugal, Puerto-Rico, Romania, Russia, Slovakia, Slovenia, South
Korea, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, Togo, Tunisia, Ukraine,
Venezuela, the UK.
The organization also draws some examples
of actions in support Ales Bialiatski's rights.
In Japan, more
than 1,000 lanterns were lit within the framework of the AI
marathon.
In South Korea, many people gathered together to
make such lanterns.
In Luxembourg, waterproof water-proof
lanterns featuring the images of the individuals including Ales
Bialiatski went on a cruise down the river.
In Mali, a group
of activists tried to tell about human rights violations in the
following way.
In Togo, schoolchildren wrote letters to Ales
Bialiatski.
In Montreal (Canada), volunteers had an
opportunity to read more about Ales before writing letters to
him.
In Paraguay, people took part in a bicycle rally within
the framework of the marathon, and then signed petitions.
In
Slovenia, posters were put on the streets to encourage passers-by to
take part in the campaign in support of Ales Bialiatski.
In
frosty Finland, activists went out to the street, holding candles and
portraits of political prisoners.
Poland joined the marathon by
holding various artistic actions. A graffiti artist painted letters
falling into a postbox.
An image of Bialiatski on a street
painting in Warsaw.
"Calendar of compassion",
symbolizing the prison cell of Ales Bialiatski, was passed to
President Bronislaw Komorowski.
An activist from Poznan
showed solidarity with Ales Bialiatski by taking part in a special
photo action. In Poland, 30,894 actions in support of the political
prisoner were taken for 24 hours only!
AI marathon united many
Europeans who wrote letters to Mr. Bialiatski, starting from Italy
and ending with the UK.
Those who wrote solidarity letters
were also given stickers with the image of the human rights defender.
Former political prisoner and presidential candidate Andrei
Sannikau took part in the marathon in the AI Secretariat in London on
the Human Rights Day.
Bear in mind that Amnesty Marathon
launched the marathon of letters to Ales Bialiatski on 7 December
2012, on the eve of the Universal Day of Human Rights under the
slogan "Write for Rights!". The aim of the marathon was to
draw the international attention to the fate of the human rights
defenders who are persecuted by the authorities in different parts of
the world.