WEST VANCOUVER sec-
ondary student  Violetta
Kokolus learned the vatue of
human rights at an early age.

By lan Noble
News Reporter

Kokolus, 17, was born in Poland
when the Communists were in
power. She remembers not being
allowed outside at certain times in
the early 1980s and not understand-
ing why.

Now she knows why — her
country was suffocating under mar-
tial law.

Her parents’ friends were arrest-
ed for speaking against the govern-
meat, censorshiz;.was rampant and
citizens had difficulty leaving the
country, she said.

“We felt ‘ike prisoners.”

. Finally, after six years of trying,
then four-year-old Violetta and her
family received permission to leave

Poland in 1981 during the time of
the Solidarity movement.

Their personal experiences ted
Kokolus’ family to write letters
under the banner of Amnesty
International to help people impris-
oned for their beliefs.

Last year, with the help of fellow
West Vancouver secondary student
Sophie Depauw, Kokolus co-found-
ed the = school’s Amnesty
International Club.

The club’s 27 members work to
win freedom for those imprisoned
for their beliefs by participating in
Amnesty International's letter-writ-
ing campaigns.

Amnesty International is a
London-based organization that
supports the United Nations
Universal Declaration of Human
Rights and humane treatment of
prisoners.

When those standards are not

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met, Amnesty International mem-
bers engage in a letter-writing cam-
paign that targets people in authori-
ty in countries where abuses ure tak-
ing place.

As 16-year-old student Andy
Somody notes, one letter may not be
very effective, but the voices of
thousands could help save someone
from continued imprisonment or
torture.

“Amnesty International acts as a
catalyst.” he said. “It brings atten-
tion to issues other countries can
choose to act upon."

Somody points to one of
Amnesty’s recent successes: the
release of Burmese opposition
leader Aung San Suu Kyi. “She con-
tinued to support the same things
but the government decided it just
had to release her... in large part
due to pressure from outside groups
like Amnesty International.” he said.

Friday, January 5, 1996 — North Shore News — 14

Vest Van students fight for rights

Global letter-writing campaigns conducted

Not all campaigns end in suc-
cess.

Kokolus said club members can’t
let failures, which include execu-
tions of those they support, be a
deterrent. After someone is killed,
she said, “you have the urge to do
more, You get this strength and con-
linue on writing letters, trying to
make a difference. I'm always con-
stantly hoping something will come
of it.”

The students are motivated by a
desire to see everyone enjoy the
freedoms and material advantages
they have, said Andy.

He notes that talented people liv-
ing under dictatorships will be
repressed, and their talents will
never enrich the world,

Said Depauw, a Grade 12 stu-
dent: “We're not just rich. We're
rich in our freedoms.”

Club members also attempt to

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make their fellow students aware of
human rights abuses.

To promote awareness, students
have held innovative events such as
Slave Day and Frecdom of Speech
Day, when some students had their
inouths taped shut.

Club members also conducted a
successful penny drive that netted
nearly $2,500 — $2,000 of which
went directly to Amnesty
International.

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