About Amnesty
We are ordinary people from across the world standing up for humanity and human rights. Our purpose is to protect individuals wherever justice, fairness, freedom and truth are denied.
Amnesty International is independent of any government, political ideology, economic interest or religion, and is solely dependent on the financial support of its members and the general public. Campaigning activities range from public demonstrations to letter writing, from human rights education to fundraising concerts; from individual appeals on a particular case to global campaigns on a particular issue.
"It is better to light a candle than
to curse the darkness"
Amnesty International was launched in 1961 by Peter Benenson, a British lawyer, after reading about two Portuguese students who had been sentenced to seven years' imprisonment for raising their glasses in a toast to freedom.
His newspaper appeal, 'The Forgotten Prisoners', was published worldwide on 28th May 1961 and brought in more than a thousand offers of support for the idea of an international campaign to protect human rights.
Over forty years on, Amnesty continues its impartial fight for human rights. Today it has over a million members in 162 countries and 7500 local groups. It has been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize and the UN Human Rights Prize.
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