“Imagine a teenager walking down the streets of Israel. All of a sudden, without any apparent reason, he’s arrested by the Israeli Defense Force and taken to the Khiam detention center, a South Lebanon Army run prison—a prison infamous for prolonged detention without trial or charge as well as for torture (including severe beatings, whippings, and use of electric shocks) during interrogation. He also has no access to family.
Maybe this sounds like just another story in the news, but it’s real. Adults aren’t the only ones whose rights are violated. Things like this actually happen to teenagers-some in third world countries, others in technologically advanced nations like the one we live in.
That’s when Amnesty International steps in. By bringing attention to these violations, Amnesty makes it harder for governments and authorities to deny that such crimes are being committed. Sometimes Amnesty is able to get prisoners released, keep someone from being executed or help a victim of torture.
Many teens are involved
There are about 50 Amnesty International high school clubs in Southern California where teens take the time to help people halfway across the globe in countries they’ve never heard of. Eileen Yang, president of the Amnesty club of North Hollywood High school, first got started when she read of a couple in Mexico who were shot for speeding. Outraged that such an event could actually occur, she decided to take action with the Amnesty program.
For Tammy Tran, president of the Amnesty club of Fountain Valley HS, the involvement with Amnesty is a chance to “participate in the struggle to help people in Communist Vietnam to receive their right of living free without losing their life. As a Vietnamese, I feel a strong connection to the nearly 70 million people suffering there.”
Thousands send letters of protest and concern
Upon the news of human rights violations, whether it pertains to a single person or thousands of people, an “”Urgent Action”” appeal letter is written up, telling all details of the situation: who is suffering and how, where to write. Thousands of people take their pen each day to write a polite letter expressing concern and to request a beneficial impact on the victims they are writing for. Masses of letters are sent to these governments, all carrying the same message, and putting pressure on the governments. Sometimes no action is taken, but many times the situation improves.
Laying in my little safe haven, I am shocked when I read about such happenings, like the Colombian “social clean-up operations,” where thousands of street children in Bogotá were killed, tortured and disappeared after they were blamed for a wave of petty crime. It is difficult to conceive of the existence of such brutality when my life has always been privileged with rights and immune to such fears.
When most people are hurt, they turn to the government and law for help and protection. Yet in many Amnesty cases the government is responsible for the wrong-doing. “It’s beyond me how the government can be so arbitrary and apathetic to the nation. The government isn’t supposed to just be there—it is there for the people. Governments can get away with the horrible things they do when they scare the people,” said Lily Wang, president of the Amnesty club in Thousand Oaks.
Human rights work can open your eyes
The three club presidents all agree that doing the work of Amnesty International educates students about what the real world is like. It has brought an “awareness to our school’s bubble of rights and privileges and the shortage of windows to the outside world,” “an opened global view for the students,” and “a better appreciation for our rights,” the students said.
Helping Amnesty International can be a truly rewarding experience. For Lily, it gives “A sense of knowing. I’ve lived in a bunch of countries, hence I consider myself a citizen of the world. It is truly gratifying to help people of countries, letting someone out there know that I care.”
Sometimes it is hard to stay encouraged about the work, especially since you may never know the results. Eileen and Tammy concur that the motivation lies in knowing that there is evil in the world and knowing that the small difference they may make is a big difference for that one person they may save.
Sometimes someone will feel hopeless, wondering how their letter can save the life of a teen in a country they’ve never even heard of. But as Tammy said, “sometimes, of course we feel helpless, but if we step back and look again, we are not alone—and more people do care than we think.””