Summer Postcard Action

This campaign uses communication - messages sent by members of the public on a simple paper postcard - as an effort to spur on the efforts of those activists who are at risk or are suffering due to their courage in speaking out about human rights abuses - or to victims of various forms of discrimination. By sharing information on several cases of concern, Amnesty hopes to mobilise the public to express support and encouragement - in whatever way they wish to do so. Organisers do offer suggestions to would-be postcard writers, such as: keep messages simple ("We are thinking of you"), refrain from discussing politics or the particular accusations against the prisoner, and choose postcard images (in the case of picture postcards) with sensitivity to different cultural and religious mores.

Information and communication technology (ICT) is used as a tool to help personalise the experiences of those whose lives and rights have been placed at risk, and to disseminate information about how to communicate with these persons using postcards. The campaign website - available in English and Spanish - includes narrative, photographs, and mailing addresses for each of the human rights defenders around the world who are being reached by this campaign. For instance, featured cases in 2005 included persons from China, Democratic Republic of Congo, Mexico, Russia, and USA/Kuwait. For example, "Obtilia Eugenio Manuel, an indigenous rights activist, human rights defender and mother of two, is a leading member of the organization Organización del Pueblo Indigena Tlapaneco, AC (OPIT), which documents reports of human rights violations against members of the indigenous communities in the southern state of Guerrero. At a 2004 conference on indigenous rights in Guerrero, she publicly condemned the authorities' failure to fully and independently investigate the rapes of two women by Mexican soldiers in 2002. Since then, she has received threats against herself and her family. Both her home and the OPIT offices have been the targets of surveillance for several days by unknown men..." The 2006 campaign features tales such as that of 4 members of an unregistered organisation called the Initiative Partnership who were preparing to monitor the presidential elections that took place in Belarus in March 2006....Weeks before the elections, KGB officers raided and searched the organisation’s regional offices, then detained the activists (who are still being held...).

Children are being asked to participate in the campaign, as well. The AIKids' Summer Postcard Action is meant to be a simplified, child-friendly version of the regular Summer Postcard Action. It can be used on rainy days at camp, in classes, or as an arts and crafts activity. Children are invited to make postcards using crayons, paints, or collage, and to include simple greetings. (To receive a copy of the AIKids' Summer Postcard Action in English or in Spanish, please see contact information, below).

Amnesty advises United States postcard writers that International Airmail postage is generally 70 cents for standard size postcards and 80 cents for 1-page letters. Should you receive a reply to your cards, organisers ask that you please mail a printed copy to the address listed below. A Spanish version of the Summer Postcard Action is also available from that address.

The 2004 Summer Postcard Action apparently helped contribute to the release of Isidro Baldenegro Lopez and Hermenegildo Rivas Carrillo of Mexico from prison in June 2004, as well as the release of Habib Salih and Kamal al-Labwani of Syria and Saleh Mahmud Osman of Sudan in September 2004.