Amnesty International

Overview

Amnesty International is an international human rights nongovernmental organization headquartered in London, with more than ten million members and supporters worldwide. Founded in 1961, it campaigns for a world in which every person enjoys the rights set out in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and it was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1977.

Key functions and role

Amnesty investigates and publicizes human rights violations by governments, armed groups, companies and other actors through research missions, newsletters and reports, and mobilizes its global network of volunteer groups and members to pressure offending governments through letter-writing campaigns, demonstrations and petitions. It also works with intergovernmental bodies, having advocated for the creation of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights and the International Criminal Court, and it maintains national sections, or offices, in more than 50 countries.

History

British lawyer Peter Benenson founded the organization in London in 1961 after publishing "The Forgotten Prisoners," an article in The Observer about people imprisoned for their beliefs; the campaign, formally named Amnesty International in September 1962, coined the term "prisoners of conscience" for such detainees. Amnesty's mandate broadened significantly over subsequent decades under successive secretaries general, from an initial focus on prisoners of conscience in the 1960s and 1970s to torture, the death penalty, women's rights, the international arms trade, and economic and social rights following a 1991 mandate expansion. Membership grew from roughly 250,000 in 1981 to more than seven million by the late 1990s under Secretary General Pierre Sané.

Political positions

Amnesty International describes itself as independent of all governments and neutral with respect to political ideologies, applying an "own country rule" under which members generally do not campaign on issues in their home nation to preserve impartiality. The organization has drawn criticism from governments it has investigated across the political spectrum, including the United States, Russia, China and Israel, following its published findings on their conduct.

Leadership

Dr. Agnès Callamard has served as Secretary General since March 2021, having previously served as UN Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions. Kathryn Tomlinson serves as Deputy Secretary General.

Location and contact info

Address
Peter Benenson House
1 Easton Street
London, WC1X 0DW, United Kingdom
Phone
+44 (0)20 7413 5500
Email
amnestyis@amnesty.org
Website
https://www.amnesty.org