This year's campaign was centred on ten young people aged under 25, from countries such as Belarus, Canada, Iran, Mexico, Nigeria and South Sudan.
Yasaman Aryani from Iran is one of them. She dared to oppose a law that requires women to cover their heads. As a form of protest, she handed out flowers to train passengers with her hair exposed, the Dziennik daily reported.
A video showing her activities gained popularity on the internet. The Iranian authorities then arrested her. Aryani was sentenced to 16 years in prison, the paper said.
Last June, a Tehran court sentenced Aryani and two other women to prison for “assembly and collusion to act against national security," "propaganda against the state," and "encouraging and providing for [moral] corruption and prostitution," according to international organisation Human Rights Watch.
Amnesty International said that letters have been its key weapon in the struggle for human rights since the beginning of its existence.
The organisation added that every year the letter-writing marathon makes a real difference in the lives of several or more people whose rights have been violated.
A tradition of writing mass appeals was started in 2001 by Warsaw activists and now takes place in over 150 countries across the world around International Human Rights Day, December 10.
(aba)
Source: Dziennik