By Community Correspondent Aarti Shankar. Our mission was simply to raise awareness and to join the force already attempting to stop the intolerable violation of human rights in the Niger Delta and as a representative of the Sutton High Amnesty International youth group, I am proud to say we did just that.

Amnesty International is a charity devoted to protecting the basic human rights that every person on this Earth is entitled to and upholding justice and freedom for every man and woman, young or old, rich or poor, no matter the creed, no matter the colour. And this is the worthwhile cause that gripped the hearts of so many of us at school.

Nowhere in the world is it acceptable to profit at the expense of others, yet this is what is happening in the Niger Delta. Famous for its abundance of oil, the Niger Delta has been a major resource for the multinational, Shell. I'm sure, dependent as we are on fuel and electricity, we would not object to this or force Shell to stop all involvement. However, does this really make it right for them to destroy the livelihoods of the innocent Nigerians in the process: is it right to put profit before people? Our unanimous answer was simple: no. So we launched a campaign against Shell's approach to the extraction of oil.

Using the all-important tool of creativity, paint, we produced our own petition to gain the attention of Shell. Our tactics were simple and effective: we covered the sheet of paper in red and black handprints, to symbolise the oil and the corruption, and carefully wrote out our letter to Shell. We asked them to show true consideration for the Nigerians, improve their transportation of oil to minimise pollution through spillage, and offer some form of compensation to those whose lives have been destroyed by their work.

To truly encapsulate how significant this issue was, we invited a local Amnesty speaker, Janice Davis, to join us and do us the favour of accepting our petition. Ms. Davis was invaluable in drilling home the abominable extent of human rights' violation across the world and to encourage us to "protect the human".

Amnesty International is a vital charity and without our help, and the help of millions of others, the hopes and pleas of many innocent individuals would remain unheard, so why not think of joining the fight for freedom?