After a two-year absence Amnesty International Luxembourg is again holding a Human Rights March in the centre of the capital city. “On this symbolic day, we hope to send a strong message of the commitment to human rights of the people of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg,” explains Amnesty International Luxembourg director Olivier Pirot. Last year’s planned march was cancelled amid safety fears following the violence at protests against covid restrictions in the capital city a few days earlier.
As well as shining a light on its universal values, the march this year will focus on the 13 prisoners of conscience for which Amnesty has been organising mass letter-writing sessions.
“Every day, we are exposed to news concerning the violation of human rights around the world, whether in Iran, Afghanistan, Ukraine, Ethiopia... But we also see that many people decide to defend these rights, all over the world and also in Luxembourg,” says Pirot. “We want to tell all these people that we are many and that together we can make a difference.”
The march will culminate in a gathering on the Place d'Armes at 5.30 pm, where torches and candles will be made available to participants.
Afterwards, a letter-writing evening will take place at the Geesseknäppchen Forum (40 Bd Pierre Dupong), which participants can reach via a charter shuttle bus.
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Among the 13 prisoners of conscience that the letter-writing campaign aims to highlight is Russian activist Aleksandra Skochilenko, who was arrested after replacing price tags in supermarkets with anti-war slogans following the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
“Always loved Russia”
An artist and musician who performs anti-war songs, Skochilenko was initially detained on 11 April, before being interrogated until 3am the next morning. She was then ordered into pre-trial detention until 1 June after being charged with “discrediting the Russian Armed Forces.” She faces up to 10 years in jail.
Skochilenko was previously an independent journalist who documented the Bolotnaya Square protests. She also created a comic about depression, shot videos for poet and musician friends and recorded lectures held at Eve’s Ribs, a feminist organisation in St. Petersburg.
Following her detention, Skochilenko’s girlfriend, Sofya Subbotina, said that the couple had thought about leaving Russia when Vladimir Putin ordered the invasion of Ukraine. “But she’d always loved Russia and thought she could be useful here. She didn’t want to leave. And so we decided to stay.”
Marie Struthers, Amnesty International’s director for Eastern Europe and Central Asia, says that the Russian authorities continue to wage war against the human rights of Russian people. “All activists detained for peacefully participating in acts of anti-war dissent must be immediately and unconditionally released,” Struthers writes. “Cracking down on this feminist-led anti-war movement represents yet another desperate attempt to silence criticism of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.”
More information about Amnesty’s letter-writing campaign can be found at: write4rights.amnesty.lu.