"A CALL FOR INTERNATIONAL JUSTICE" HUMAN RIGHTS WALK
SUNDAY, OCTOBER 19, 2008
The 20th Anniversary San Diego Candlelight Walk for Human Rights hosted
by the North County Chapter of Amnesty
International will be held on Sunday, October 19, 2008 at the outdoor
amphitheater and pier in Oceanside at 5:30pm.
The event is free to the public. This year's theme, "A Call for
International Justice" will give participants an opportunity
to be a voice for victims of human rights abuses, to celebrate the 60th
Anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human
Rights, and to call on elected officials to support the International
Criminal Court.
A brief reception – with refreshments, materials, and the live music of
Akayaa & Bolga Zohdoomah will be followed by a
program of courageous speakers.
The featured guest speaker will be Ms Rebiya Kadeer, the chapter's
former "adopted" prisoner of conscience from the
Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region in China. Kathy Ford, the founder and
coordinator of the North County Amnesty
International group said, "This brave woman, a women's activist, was on
her way to meet with a U.S. Congressional Team
when she was arrested in their hotel lobby. She was sentenced in 2000 to
eight years in prison. For many years while she
suffered harsh prison conditions in China, hundreds here in Oceanside
carried her name and image out the pier,
hundreds more at our walks signed petitions or sent postcards calling
for her freedom, and this year in Oceanside she will
stand before us, as a free woman." Since her early release, having
served 5 ½ years of her sentence, Ms Kadeer has said:
"I don't believe that I would be alive today without the support of
Amnesty International."
Other presenters will be Peter Schey, the Founder, President and
Executive Director of the Center for Human Rights and
Constitutional Law Foundation who will speak about the Reconciliation
Process in South Africa, and Ms. Brigitte Suhr,
the Director of Regional Programs at the Coalition for the International
Criminal Court who leads the advocacy
campaign for global support for the International Criminal Court.
The North County Chapter's 2008 Digna Ochoa Human Rights Defender Award
will be presented to the Joan B. Kroc
Institute for Peace and Justice in San Diego with Dee Aker, their
interim Director, accepting the award.
Designed as an evening of hope and inspiration, the walk will culminate
with the symbolic candlelight "Freedom Walk"
on the Oceanside Pier. Participants will be invited to take up the cause
of another person who needs a voice and action, or
one of the articles of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, or the
cause of the International Criminal Court.
Everyone is reminded to dress warmly.
For information: (760) 731-9174 or www.Amnesty471.org
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