Welcome to Oakville Group 75! We generally meet on the first Tuesday of each month. Check our Meetings page for more information. Find Amnesty Oakville on Facebook! Letter Writing Event: Feb 6 Huseyin Celil, a resident of Burlington, will spend another Chinese New Year in a Chinese prison. Amnesty Oakville will be holding a letter-writing event during which the public will be asked to sign letters to Chinese officials and to write cards of support for Huseyin Celil. This event will take place on Saturday, February 6, from 11-3 at the Oakville Library on Navy Street. We will be located in the auditorium on the children's level.

Our Prisoner of Conscience Huseyin Celil Huseyin Celil is a Uighur; this ethnic group is based in western China. In the early 1990’s, Celil joined the protests against the treatment of his people. Arrested and tortured, he eventually fled China and came to Canada as a refugee. He became a Canadian citizen and moved to Burlington with his wife and four children. However, in 2006, he visited his wife’s family in Uzbekistan, unaware that country had a treaty with China. He was extradited to China, tried and convicted of ‘terrorism.’ A life sentence was imposed in April, 2007. Both the Canadian and American governments have asked China to release Celil but to no avail as yet.

Movement

Amnesty International is worldwide movement of people dedicated to the protection and promotion of human rights. We are building a world in which every person enjoys the rights included in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and other international human rights standards.

Action

Amnesty International takes action to stop grave abuses of the rights to physical and mental integrity, freedom of conscience and expression, and freedom from discrimination. We campaign to free all prisoners of conscience, protect refugees, abolish the death penalty, and bring an end to political ‘disappearances’ and torture.

Independence

Amnesty International is independent of all governments, political persuasions and religious creeds. We are governed by our members, and financed by membership and other fundraising activities -- donations from governments are neither sought nor accepted.