People from throughout North County are expected to gather by the hundreds at the Oceanside Municipal Pier and amphitheater Oct. 18 for a candlelight walk to draw attention to those around the world imprisoned or tortured for standing up for the rights of others.

"It's kind of symbolic to walk on behalf of people who don't have that freedom," said Kathy Ford, coordinator of the North County Chapter of Amnesty International, which sponsors the yearly Walk for Human Rights.

A goal of the walk ---- now in its 21st year ---- is to encourage people to write letters and e-mails or sign petitions on behalf of people who are being wrongly held in jail or otherwise abused, she said.

This year, the focus is on 40 or 50 human rights workers throughout the world who themselves have been victimized for standing up for the rights of others, Ford said.

Each person who joins in the candlelight walk will get a placard with the name of someone Amnesty International is trying to free, Ford said. They will read the name off as part of the ceremony, and with luck, join in trying to help the person named on their placard, she said.

"The idea for the evening is to kind of educate folks about human rights and, hopefully, inspire them to take some action," Ford said.

As part of the walk, Amnesty's North County Chapter will give Thomas Jefferson School of Law professor Marjorie Cohn its human rights award, created in honor of activist Digna Ochoa y Placido, a Mexican lawyer who was gunned down in her Mexico City office in 2001.

Cohn, who teaches criminal law, has written books and essays on human rights and lectured internationally on the topic.

"This award is very timely because many of us are trying to bring justice to the officials of the Bush administration and their lawyers who approved of and sanctioned the torture of prisoners in U.S. custody," Cohn said in a telephone interview Monday.

Efforts such as letter-writing campaigns by Amnesty and other groups have been effective in drawing attention to human rights violations and curtailing them," Cohn said.

"When countries know they're coming under scrutiny for violations of human rights, it might make them think twice," Cohn said.

Call staff writer Ray Huard at 760-901-4062