Will You Be Going On The Bus?

March 7, 2016  By: Joseph Donlon 

On Friday April 8, Salem State's Amnesty International chapter will be going to New York City to participate in the annual Get On The Bus For Human Rights protests. The Get On The Bus draws hundreds of other human rights activists from many universities and high schools. The numerous activists who participate in Get On The Bus demonstrate in front of various embassies, consulates, and corporate offices. Some of the actions will take place in front of Tibet\China, Sri Lanka, Iran and the main focus will be Saudi Arabia. The reason why Saudi Arabia is the main action this year is due to the fact that there is a Saudi Arabian journalist by the name of Raif Badwai. Badwai was arrested for criticizing the Saudi Arabian government as a result of this he was arrested and jailed. Worse all he will be publicly whipped for his actions. Get on the bus has seen many successes by these types of actions namely the case of a journalist from Sri Lanka named Tissa. Tissa is a journalist and was sentenced to 20 years hard labor for his crimes. Tissa was the main focus of the 2010 Get On The Bus protests. He was later released from the Sri Lankan jail and now resides in United States. Get On The Bus was originally founded by a local group of Amnesty International members from  Somervillem Massachusetts. This year's Get On The Bus looks like it is going to be better than its previous predecessors.

Contributor's Note: Joseph Donlon is the president of Salem State's Amnesty International.  For more information, you can reach him at donlonjoseph@comcast.net