Amnesty International is the world’s largest grass roots human rights organization. Founded in London in 1961 by lawyer Peter Benenson, Amnesty has grown to encompass over 3 million members and supporters. Together, as a movement, they work to fight injustices and promote human rights. Amnesty concentrates their efforts in six key areas: women’s, children’s and minorities’ rights, ending torture, abolishing the death penalty, rights of refugees, rights of prisoners of conscience and protecting human dignity. In 1977, Amnesty was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize and in 1978, the United Nations Prize for human rights. Their ultimate goal is for every person – independent of race, religion, ethnicity, sexual orientation or gender identity – to have the same internationally recognized standards of human rights.
Amnesty works to accomplish their goals in 3 different ways: through research, action, and advocacy. Examples of Amesty’s work include advocating for the release of2010 Nobel Peace Prize winner and prominent Chinese scholar Liu Xiaobo who was sentenced to 11 years in prison for co-authoring a proposal for political and legal reform in China, organizing a Write for Rights Global Write-a-thon where through letters, cards, etc people call for the individual human rights to be upheld and protected and gathering 5,000 signatures for a petition to stop African governments from forcibly evicting people from their homes in informal settlements.
Fun fact: did you know author J.K. Rowling once worked for Amnesty International in their research department? In a quote on their website, here’s how she described Amnesty’s work: “Ordinary people, whose personal well-being and security are assured, join together in huge numbers to save people they do not know, and will never meet. My small participation in that process was one of the most humbling and inspiring experiences of my life.”
To learn more about Amnesty International, visit their website and check out their Human Rights Now blog.
