Amnesty International, Write for Rights

That the Parliament supports Write for Rights, which is Amnesty International’s global individuals at risk campaign and, it believes, the world’s biggest human rights event; understands that, every year, Write for Rights calls on millions of people globally to show solidarity with human rights defenders, victims of torture, prisoners of conscience and people facing the death penalty, while also demanding action from governments to address human rights abuses; notes that 2020’s campaign, which launched on 1 November, focuses on the cases of Gustavo Gatica from Chile, who is a student who was blinded by police while protesting against rising prices and inequality, Nassima Al-Sada, who is a women human rights defender in prison for campaigning for civil and political rights in Saudi Arabia, including the right for women to drive; Melike Balkan and Özgür Gür, and 16 other students and one academic at Middle East Technical (METU) University in Turkey, who are  facing charges of unlawful assembly after organising a peaceful Pride sit-in and Germain Rukuki who is serving a 32 year prison sentence simply for his involvement in an organisation opposing torture in Burundi; encourages the people of Scotland, and MSPs and their staff, to take part in showing solidarity with human rights defenders, and urges all parliaments to uphold the Universal Declaration on Human Rights.