Amnesty+International.

Term 4 Explorers Christian Studies By Chris

**Brief History:** The //Amnesty International// organisation was first established in 1961 by British lawyer, Peter Benenson. It was originally started because there were many prisoners around the world who had been convicted of offences and Benenson wanted to obtain an amnesty for these prisoners (or “The Forgotten Prisoners”). Starting off as a small committee of workers, they eventually realised the work had to be carried out more regularly as the number of prisoners of conscience was enormous. Amnesty International is a world wide movement working for the protection of human rights, but it wasn't always like this. The organisation started out as a British organisation, however, in 1963 an international committee was founded. At this time, the organisation was rapidly growing. The first chairman of Amnesty International was Sean Mac Bride. Some ten years later, after the international establishment of the group, the organisation was made of over 1000 volunteer groups in 28 countries. The membership continued to rise and by February of 1997 there were 1874 groups in 33 countries. Since then, the organisation has gone on doing its work and has carried out campaigns against torture, illnesses and capital punishment as well as its work for the prisoners. According to the organisation's records in 1974, these missions were among the most important works for Amnesty International. The organisation now has a lot of power and has become a source of information for the U.N.

**Purpose and Goals:** Amnesty International is a global movement organisation which campaigns around the world to stop and put an end to abuses of human rights. The organisation's vision is “for every person to enjoy all the rights enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and other international human rights standards.” Amnesty International work with, for and on behalf of people and each other to defend human rights. They believe that the abuses of human rights anywhere are of concern to people everywhere around the world. Their slogan, “Together, we make a difference.” They are strongly motivated to continue their work and efforts until every single person can enjoy all their rights.

**Their work:** Amnesty International work to protect and defend people where justice, fairness, freedom, and truth are abused. The organisation works on a wide range of issues and campaigns including the rights of refugees and Indigenous people, countries in crisis, individuals at risk, weapons & human rights, poverty, human rights education, torture and terror and violence against women. Amnesty International address many issues across the globe, the defence of human rights being of most importance to them. The organisation mainly targets governments of countries who are unjust. Some of their specific work is to: -get rid of the death penalty, -ensure prison conditions meet human rights standards, -ensure fair trial for all prisoners, -ensure free education to all children worldwide, -end the use of child soldiers, -free all prisoners of conscience, -stop torture and ill treatment, -legalise abortion and -protect human dignity <span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14.6667px;"> In certain situations, an immediate response is needed in which case Amnesty International calls on urgent action networks or crisis response networks and always has people prepared for the job. The organisation's large population of people is one of it's key strengths. Another part of their role is to get people on board with focusing on human rights issues.

<span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14.6667px;">**Example of their work:** <span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14.6667px;">An example of Amnesty International's work is writing letters to free people from prison who have been imprisoned for unjust reasons. A big part of Amnesty International's “Prisoners of Conscience” campaign involves sending these letters to the prisoners letting them know that they are not forgotten. When they receive these letters, it is the one glimmer of hope they need to keep on going. The organisation has many inspiring stories from released prisoners about what a difference their letters have made. If the letters do not reach the prisoners and become confiscated, it causes the government to become aware that the world is watching them, so it's not a risk at all.

<span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14.6667px;">**Contact Information:** <span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14.6667px;">Amnesty International Australia: <span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14.6667px;">Phone: 1300 300 920 <span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14.6667px;">Fax: 02 8396 7663 <span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14.6667px;">Email: media@amnesty.org.au <span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14.6667px;">Postal Adress: Locked bag 23 Broadway NSW 2007 Australia <span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14.6667px;">Donate: []

<span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14.6667px;">**Bibliography:** <span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">[|http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amnesty_International#Work] <span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">[|www.amnesty.org.au] <span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14.6667px;">[] <span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14.6667px;">[] <span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14.6667px;">[]