Population of Bahrain: approximately 700,000 or about the same as Suffolk, England--my rural home county. How can such a tiny nation win democracy without a global outpouring of care and support?
Average per capita income in Yemen: around $1,300, or about the cost of Alandi Ashram's annual water bill. Schoolchildren in Yemen complain that their schools have no desks, chairs, books or even toilets. How can a poor country like Yemen fulfill its democratic aspirations without steadfast support from all who care about humanitarian values?
There is a simple way to provide genuine support for protesters in Yemen, Bahrain, Syria and Libya. Human rights organizations such as Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International are active in monitoring the situation in these countries, offering information and advocacy for those who undergo arbitrary imprisonment, unjustified attacks, rape, torture and silencing of the right of peaceful assembly. And they are active not only in these countries but around the world in places like Dafur which are not garnering media attention.
By making annual donations to these organizations, we can materially support the advocacy work we cannot personally carry out. By connecting to human rights organizations via email and social networking sites, we can obtain unbiased and accurate information about rapidly-evolving situations where human rights are threatened. Information is power. And by contributing our voices to petitions and similar actions originated by human rights organizations, we can create a global voice of decency and common humanity.
We have been hearing a lot recently about the "international community." Yet beyond the community of nation-states--many of of whom are not themselves democracies or who actively suppress the rights of their own minorities--there is a much vaster and more powerful community, that of all men and women of good will. Coming together through organizations which represent our deepest aspirations for the welfare of all, we have a voice seven billion strong which cannot be repressed.
http://www.amnesty.org/
http://amnesty.org/en/appeals-for-action/bahrain-ensuring-accountability-excessive-force-and-protection-protesters
Human Rights Watch http://www.hrw.org/
Average per capita income in Yemen: around $1,300, or about the cost of Alandi Ashram's annual water bill. Schoolchildren in Yemen complain that their schools have no desks, chairs, books or even toilets. How can a poor country like Yemen fulfill its democratic aspirations without steadfast support from all who care about humanitarian values?
There is a simple way to provide genuine support for protesters in Yemen, Bahrain, Syria and Libya. Human rights organizations such as Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International are active in monitoring the situation in these countries, offering information and advocacy for those who undergo arbitrary imprisonment, unjustified attacks, rape, torture and silencing of the right of peaceful assembly. And they are active not only in these countries but around the world in places like Dafur which are not garnering media attention.
By making annual donations to these organizations, we can materially support the advocacy work we cannot personally carry out. By connecting to human rights organizations via email and social networking sites, we can obtain unbiased and accurate information about rapidly-evolving situations where human rights are threatened. Information is power. And by contributing our voices to petitions and similar actions originated by human rights organizations, we can create a global voice of decency and common humanity.
We have been hearing a lot recently about the "international community." Yet beyond the community of nation-states--many of of whom are not themselves democracies or who actively suppress the rights of their own minorities--there is a much vaster and more powerful community, that of all men and women of good will. Coming together through organizations which represent our deepest aspirations for the welfare of all, we have a voice seven billion strong which cannot be repressed.
http://www.amnesty.org/
http://amnesty.org/en/appeals-for-action/bahrain-ensuring-accountability-excessive-force-and-protection-protesters
Human Rights Watch http://www.hrw.org/
