Campaigns
In 2011 the ARTillery Festival will be focusing nationally on Amnesty International's Individuals at Risk campaign. Events will showcase local artists' interpretations of the stories of different individuals at risk of human rights violations around the world.
Individuals at risk of human rights violations are at the heart of Amnesty International's work. Amnesty International tackles these issues in a novel way' moving away from working on a case to working for and with individuals at risk, people who are themselves active participants in the struggle their rights and the rights of others.
Between the 1st - 10th December ARTillery is inviting people in Canberra, Melbourne, Brisbane, and Perth to take action for the freedom and human rights of these individuals:
Filep Karma, a Papuan human rights activist who is serving 15 years in prison after taking part in an annual ceremony at which a Papuan independence flag was raised. He was charged and convicted of rebellion on 26 May 2005. Filep Karma is in prison for exercising his right to freedom of expression. Amnesty International considers him to be a prisoner of conscience.
Khun Bedu, Khun Kawrio and Khun Dee De, young ethnic Karenni activists in Burma who organised peaceful opposition activities to campaign for a 'No' vote in a 2008 referendum for a new constitution proposed by the military government, which contained provisions designed to keep the military in power. The three were arrested on the day of the referendum, and later summarily sentenced by a military court. Khun Bedu, Khun Kawrio and Khun Dee De have been tortured and otherwise ill-treated. Amnesty International is strongly campaigning for the release of these three, and all other political prisoners in Burma.
Dr Liu Xiaobo, a prominent scholar, and 2010 Nobel Prize Laureate, and his wife Liu Xia, a poet and artist, both Chinese human rights defenders who Amnesty International considers to be prisoners of conscience. Dr Liu Xiaobo is serving an 11-year sentence for "inciting subversion of state power" based on six articles he wrote and distributed on websites outside of mainland China between 2005 and 2007, and devising "Charter 08", soliciting signatures to it, and publishing it online. "Charter 08" calls for the effective protection of universal human rights and democratic reform. Liu Xia is under illegal house arrest in China, and was last heard from on 18 October 2010.
Iranian Campaign for Equality activists whose work to end discrimination against women in Iranian law is being impeded by Iranian authorities. The Campaign for Equality, also known as the One Million Signatures campaign, is a grassroots women's rights initiative, aimed at ending discrimination against women in Iranian law. Launched in August 2006, the campaign is collecting the signatures of one million Iranians supporting the call for legal reform.
To find out more about Amnesty International's campaigns, and to take action online see www.amnesty.org.au
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