Credit: Amnesty Luxembourg
This year, Amnesty International is dedicating its Luxembourg-based Human Rights Festival (Festival des droits humains) and its international Write for Rights initiative to ten young people and youth groups, who are emblematic of children, adolescents and young adults fighting for human rights around the world.
As part of the Human Rights Festival, organised with the support of the City of Luxembourg and Rotondes, several events will take place in Luxembourg between 29 November and 10 December 2019. These events provide an opportunity to discuss youth movements, fight for children and young people whose basic rights are violated and reflect on how to build a better future.
On the theme of this year's festival, Nathalie Bollen, change manager and interim director of Amnesty International Luxembourg, commented: "It is often said that today's young people will be the leaders of tomorrow. But they already are!". She added: "Too often, young people are the first victims of injustices and many people decide to fight, for example, for more climate justice, women's rights or to denounce police violence. Children and young people are one of the driving forces of change".
One of the highlights of the Human Rights Festival is a screening of "Everything Must Fall", a film about the student movement in South Africa, on Monday 2 December 2019 at 20:30 at the Cinémathèque in Luxembourg-ville. The screening will be followed by a debate with director Rehad Desai. Moreover, Rotondes (Luxembourg-Bonnevoie) will host an evening centred on new approaches to journalism on Saturday 9 December 2019 at 18:00, during which Amnesty will announce the winner of its "Medienpräis" (media prize). After the presentation, Henrik Grunnet, a journalist for many years, senior strategic advisor for the International Media Support organisation in Copenhagen and former Fellow of the Constructive Institute in Aarhus, will speak at a conference about the possibility of "Reinventing the media: the experience of constructive journalism". The festival will close with the traditional torchlight procession on the occasion of International Human Rights Day, on Sunday 10 December 2019 at 18:00 in Place d'Armes.
In addition, the festival offers the chance to participate in the Write for Rights international letter writing marathon, either by attending a letter writing evening on 10 December at 19:00 at the "Independent" bar-brasserie or by organising their own Write for Rights event at home, in a cafe, at work or even at school. During this event. thousands of people will send letters, petitions, postcards and tweets to support ten young people and youth groups at risk.
The stories of young people for whom Amnesty is mobilising are very diverse: in Iran, young activist Yasaman Aryani was sentenced to sixteen years in prison for campaigning against the compulsory wearing of the hijab, whilst Nasu Abdulaziz was shot at and forcibly evicted from his by order of the government in Nigeria. In Canada, Grassy Narrows youth are committed to achieving justice in relation to mercury contamination in their aboriginal community.
Further details about all the people involved in the Write to Right marathon and the full festival programme are available from the website: www.festival.amnesty.lu.
