Amnesty Int. Going Strong At H.S.

Amnesty International is a global grassroots organization dedicated to protecting the human rights of people in this country, of every ethnicity, religion and backround. Democratic principles such as freedom of speech, freedom of the press, and protection against arbitrary imprisonment are ideals Amnesty International does it’s best to defend, launching massive letter-writing campaigns whenever these freedoms are violated. Last spring, a chapter of this organization was started at the high school, sponsored by Mr. Doug Sheer. The chapter is mainly student-run. Juliana Thorstenn, is president and founder of the chapter, Greg Baltz and Christine O’Conor are co vice-presidents, Alexandra Ortego is treasurer, Lisa Sether and Katie Way co-secretaries, and Kristen Rudy is publicist.

Amnesty held a letter writing campaign last spring for Leyla Zana, a political prisoner in Turkey, and wrote a total of 30 letters urging the Turkish government to free her. Happily, Leyla was finally freed over the summer. A second letter-writing campaign was held to bring attention to the epidemic of violent crime against women in Juarez, Mexico. Amnesty once again collected many letters from Garden City High School students who are concerned about the world around them. This year, Amnesty has signed up many new members, and membership is now at about 40. This fall, Amnesty’s first letter-writing campaign concerned the humanitarian crisis occurring in Darfur, Sudan. More than 50 letters were collected! All the money raised at Amnesty’s bake sales and candy sales go directly to aid Amnesty International’s various causes. The second letter-writing campaign of the year will be held to draw attention to the sex trafficking that is occurring unchecked in Kosovo. Amnesty hopes to draw even more members in to join the fight for human rights. All are welcome at meetings and all students, teachers and even outside guests are encouraged to attend the letter-writing campaigns. All Amnesty activities are placed in the high school’s bulletin. Taking the time to write just one letter could help change the world!