Urgent: Torture can be stopped with the stroke of a pen‏


Urgent: Torture can be stopped with the stroke of a pen
Amnesty International Canada 11/10/15 Keep this message at the top of your inbox Newsletters
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Torture: You can help us make it stop with the stroke of a pen

Together, we can end the de-humanizing act of torture.


Dear Joseph,

I’m writing to you because we face a unique moment to prevent torture with the simple stroke of the pen: the stroke of Canada’s pen on a vital global treaty, and the strokes of millions of pens braced to protect those who have been tortured while wrongfully in prison and must be released.

Please help us seize the moment:

1. Demand that the new Canadian government signs on to the global treaty allowing inspections of detention centres

Amnesty International believes that government commitment to this treaty is the single most important step we can make to help put an end to this needless, cruel, illegal act of torture.

If our collective voices can convince Canada’s new government to sign on to this global treaty, we’ll close a loophole that allows torture to go undetected, and Canada will regain its influence and credibility when it speaks out to prevent torture from happening elsewhere in the world.

>> Ask our new government to make this a priority.


2. Help us prevent the torture of Yecinia Armenta

Yecinia Armenta was tortured and raped by undercover policemen in Mexico. She was hung upside down by her ankles, suffocated and beaten.

“They said they would bring my two children, rape them and cut them up into pieces,” she told Amnesty. “After many hours of torture and after they’d raped me, I signed the confession. I was still blindfolded. I never even read what I had signed.” Her ordeal lasted 15 hours.

Join us in taking action for Yecinia and other victims of torture. In five weeks, on December 10th, we’ll be speaking out with a powerful, unified voice on International Human Rights Day to stop torture and release prisoners of conscience during Amnesty’s global event Write for Rights.

>> Sign up to Write for Rights


3. Your financial support can make the difference

Joseph, if you’ve taken a moment through the past year to follow our campaign to Stop Torture, or if you saw us mobilize 3.2 million actions in 138 countries last year on Human Rights Day, you’ll know how much good can come from your support to Amnesty.

>> PLEASE DONATE NOW

When we work together – our campaigning backed by your activism and financial support - we can get results. I can promise you this because I've seen the absolute human magic created when millions of us speak with one voice against injustice:

All charges were dropped against Claudia Medina Tamariz who had been tortured and forced into a false confession in Mexico; hers is a story eerily similar to Yecinia’s

Your support helped me visit a prison in Mexico with a team of Amnesty researchers and film Angel Colon who had been wrongfully detained – and tortured. Our presence there helped tell Angel's story, and this summer Angel made a trip to Canada to thank Amnesty supporters - as a free man. It brought tears to our eyes.

Young Moses Akatugba was released from prison in Nigeria after being sentenced to death and tortured as a 16-year old. He's now reaching out to Amnesty activists around the world to urge us to get involved in Write for Rights, to help others like him

Please help us seize this moment.

We’re so close to a breakthrough on the treaty to prevent torture in detention centres. And, with your help, we’re pulling out all the stops for Yecinia Armenta, and ending the torture that goes on behind closed doors where no one watching.

>> Please give your voice to stop torture in detention centres

>> Please give generously to help Amnesty International lead a loud and robust campaign to protect people from torture

Thank you for taking action at this important moment and helping us seize this crucial moment in our campaign to Stop Torture.



Alex Neve
Secretary General, Amnesty International Canada

P.S. You can see how we're organizing right now to defend Yecinia Armenta and other victims of torture during our International Human Rights Day event Write for Rights. Your support will make our voice more powerful.



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