Write for human rights at CR library Dec. 12

This year’s International Human Rights Day on Dec. 10 is the 75th Anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Thirty articles in the Declaration describe the rights belonging to everyone everywhere. Standing up for these rights for others is also standing up for our rights. There is the saying that if anyone is not free, than I am not free. And you are not free. Apathy to injustices to others only causes an increase in injustice and does not serve democracy.

The local group of the nonpartisan Amnesty International USA will be writing letters for people whose rights are being taken away. Write For Rights is a global event generating millions of “actions” including hundreds of thousands of letters. Our local event will be on Dec. 12 from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the downtown Cedar Rapids Library. Please join us. When I feel despair about the world, I think of a person in a jail cell arrested during a peaceful protest and could be released with a few more letters asking for justice.

Bruce R. Bachmann

Cedar Rapids