Amnesty International is a worldwide movement of people who campaign for internationally recognised human rights to be respected and protected for everyone.
Our history
Outraged by a 1961 newspaper report of two Portuguese students sentenced to seven years in prison for raising their glasses in a toast to freedom, British lawyer Peter Benenson wrote an article titled ‘The Forgotten Prisoners’. The London Observer published this article in which Benenson called for people to protest against the imprisonment of men and women for their political or religious beliefs.
His letter received a tremendous response and within a month more than a thousand readers had sent letters of support and offers of practical help. They also sent details of many more ‘prisoners of conscience’.
Within 6 months, what started as a brief publicity effort was being developed into a permanent, international movement. And so Amnesty International was born.
Amnesty today
Historically our campaigning has focused on prisoners, but today people are more likely to become victims of abuse because of who they are rather than what they think, say or do. With this in mind we have responded to the changing nature of human rights violations in the world today.
Amnesty International won a Nobel Peace Prize for being the global voice promoting all the human rights enshrined in our guiding document, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, first adopted in 1948 by the General Assembly of the United Nations.
More information
- Amnesty International in New Zealand
- Our Vision, Mission and Values
- How we work
- FAQs
- The Universal Declaration of Human Rights
"Only when the last prisoner of conscience has been freed, when the last torture chamber has been closed, when the United Nation's Universal Declaration of Human Rights is a reality for the world's people, will our work be done."
Peter Benenson, Founder of Amnesty International
