The organization was started by a British lawyer, Peter Benenson, who in an article he wrote in in The Observer posited that the pressure of public opinion could be brought to bear on those who were imprisoning, torturing, and killing people based on their political opinions. Benenson wrote in support of several political prisoners whom he termed "prisoners of conscience" because they had been imprisoned for expressing their beliefs in a peaceful manner.
The term came to encompass all men, women, and children who have been imprisoned because of their political or religious beliefs. Amnesty International carries out its struggle for human dignity for all human rights victims by mobilizing public opinion throughout the world to pressure government officials and other influential persons to stop human rights abuses.
Amnesty International describes "disappeared persons" as persons who are taken into custody, kept hidden and unable to communicate with others, and whose whereabouts are denied by the government agents who arrested them. The prisoners are often tortured. If they are not murdered, they can be held incommunicado for years while the government agents responsible routinely deny that they have custody of these prisoners or knowledge of their fates and often suggest that the prisoners have "disappeared" of their own volition.
Amnesty International's primary goals include the following: 1 freeing all prisoners of conscience; 2 ensuring prompt and fair trials for all political prisoners; 3 abolition of the death penalty, torture, and other degrading punishment; 4 ending extra judicial executions and "disappearances"; and 5 working to ensure that the perpetrators of human rights abuses are brought to justice in accordance with international standards.
Over time Amnesty International has expanded its scope to cover human rights abuses committed by non-governmental bodies and private individuals, including armed political groups. The organization has also begun to focus on human rights abuses in homes or communities where governments have permitted such abuses or failed to take action to stop them.
Amnesty International does not accept government funding and remains independent of governmental, economic, or political interests. It has no religious affiliations.
Members include people of various religious, political, and societal points of view who share the common goals mentioned above.
Financial support for the organization comes from individual members and groups as well as trusts, foundations, and companies that are committed to support the cause of human rights worldwide.
The central body of Amnesty International is the International Secretariat, which is located in London. The organization has more than staff members and over volunteers from more than 50 countries around the world. The International Council that represents the sections elects committee members every two years. The organization consists of more than 7, groups representing local activists, youths, specialists, and professionals in more than countries and territories.
The following table shows the income and expenditures of the IS from April through The International Board is the source of guidance and leadership for Amnesty worldwide. Accountability for the International Board lies with the International Council IC , the most senior decision-making body within Amnesty as a whole.
However, board members are elected from within the movement, and upon election, these members may not have the necessary skill-set and experience to lead a constantly-evolving international organization with a multi-million dollar budget.
The IC is composed of representatives from the International Board and individual country sections. In addition, Amnesty has more than 80 country sections, each one with differing levels of independence from the IS.
Country sections are essential to Amnesty, because they provide the majority of its funding and membership. Though highly centrally structured, Amnesty functions on a local level, and views itself largely as a grassroots organization. Country sections comprise a variety of individuals who originate from local groups, such as university and youth groups. Although they are bound by the IS vision and mission, these groups largely function independently from the IS.
Under the guidance of country section leaders, sections decide on issues to address and how actions are implemented. In large countries, Amnesty also has regional branches that operate on a local level. To fund the current restructuring process discussed below , large sections are expected to increase their IS assessment.
Each country section holds an Annual General Meeting AGM , where participants attend discussion panels and vote on resolutions. This problem is not new. AIUSA is also suffering from falling membership numbers. Of those who remained, more than half are age 55 and over; at the current rate, this age group will be two-thirds of AIUSA membership by Despite these reports, AIUK has been unable to maintain sufficient membership.
This means that despite successes in major donor and legacy fundraising, we are struggling to increase income in other ways which is cause for concern. The financial struggles of Amnesty in the U. These contributions are the decisive reason why the U. The third phase, in , will set up offices in either Lima or Bogota, at a location in the Middle East or North Africa, and in a larger office than the present one in Moscow.
Amnesty has been trying unsuccessfully to build a presence in the developing world for decades. Amnesty has not clearly stated its objectives for the restructuring. You know, people taking injustice personally. Whatever the reason, it remains to be seen whether a decentralized Amnesty will be more effective or if the restructuring amounts to an expensive failed experiment. Failure to establish legally registered offices in the planned timescale, which would be likely to cause delays in the establishment of the new regional operating model.
Not effectively managing the staff related aspects of the GTP during the transition period, which could adversely affect human rights impact, as highlighted in the following point on resourcing risk.
Amnesty International opposes the imprisonment not only of those imprisoned for their conscientiously held beliefs who neither use nor advocate violence. This standard was so strict that Nelson Mandela was originally excluded from advocacy by the organization. Thus, it does not matter so very much what they do, so long as they do something. And by definition the Universal Declaration of Human Rights is wide. In accordance with this vision, and more importantly — to stay relevant — Amnesty, like Human Rights Watch and other similar groups, broadened the menu of issues on which it claims expertise.
It also opposes the imprisonment of people imprisoned by reason of their ethnic origin, sex, colour or language, who neither use nor advocate violence. To call these detainees prisoners of conscience, as Amnesty International does, is highly artificial. Amnesty continued to expand its scope as an organization as additional types of human rights violations were defined. This helped keep Amnesty relevant, but also had negative aspects. The movement works for the release of women and men who have been arrested for their convictions, the colour of their skin, their ethnic origin or their faith — provided that they have not themselves used force or exhorted others to resort to violence.
To begin with, Amnesty International was a British organization, but in an international secretariat was established. Ten years after its foundation the organization comprised more than voluntary groups in 28 countries and the figures are steadily rising.
In February this year there were groups in 33 countries. In the statutes adopted by the organization in these three tasks are named as the most important ones for Amnesty International. Power, Jonathan. Amnesty International. The Human Rights Story. New York: McGraw Hill,
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