Amnesty International is asking Poles to speak out against human rights violations.

 

 

The 10th International Letter Writing Marathon is taking place this weekend in 150 locations around the country. The event lasting for 24 hours  is organised by the Polish chapter of Amnesty International to ęłęómark the anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The marathon in Warsaw is to be kicked off by Belarusian youth activists lobbying against President Aleksander Lukashenka's regime.

 

Just like in the previous editions of the International Letter Writing Marathon its participants will be writing petitions on behalf of people whose human rights are being violated around the world - says Andrzej Jaroszkiewicz of Amnesty International Polska. Among those to kick off the Marathon in Warsaw will be Belarusian youth activist Tatyana Tishkevich who was sentenced to 'restricted freedom' for attending a peaceful rally supporting small businesses in Minsk in January 2008. She was targeted by the authorities, with police seeking to control almost every aspect of her daily life. She was forbidden from socialising, visiting family and taking part in cultural or leisure activities. The terms of 'restricted freedom' were so severe that she escaped Belarus, fleeing to Poland.