Defending human rights and ensuring that everyone is treated fairly regardless of who they are, what they look like, or what they believe is a fundamental value of the TRU Students’ Union. The Equity Committee has worked to put this value into practice this fall by participating in Amnesty International’s Urgent Action Network. Since September, the Committee has sent nine letters to governments around the world to pressure them to intervene to protect the human rights of marginalized groups and communities.  

Unfortunately, we continue to see an alarming trend of governments using the cover of the COVID-19 crisis to undermine human rights, attack activists, and silence their opponents. The Urgent Action Network has ensured that hundreds of thousands of volunteers are able to shine a spotlight on this shady behavior and pressure oppressive governments to clean up their act.   

For example, the equity committee has written to: 

• The Slovak government to request they reject legislation that would restrict women’s access to safe abortion 
• The Russian government to request they drop a criminal case for “pornography” against an artist Yulia Tsvetkova for her body-positive artwork of female reproductive organs which she posted on social media as part of her women’s empowerment campaign 
• The Guatemalan government to request they release Indigenous rights activist Bernardo Caal Xol who’s in prison on trumped up robbery charges 

Click here to see all nine letters we’ve sent this fall!  

If you’re interested in getting involved in the fight for global human rights, you can find more information about joining Amnesty International’s Urgent Action Network here.  

For more information contact: