Introduction
Amnesty International (AI) is an IGO (Intergovernmental Organization) which boasts of a global membership in approximately over 150 countries and a total of approximately three million members (Amnesty International, 2011). Its main area of interest is in protection of human rights and campaigns to stop crimes against humanity. The vision of Amnesty International describes a world where all individuals enjoy international standards of human rights as per the International Declaration of Human Rights. AI is independent of any religious, political, governmental or economic interests.
History of Amnesty International
AI began in 1961 as a result of the outrage of a British lawyer called Peter Beneson. He was outraged when he learnt of the arrest of two students from Portugal who had been arrested for making a toast to freedom. He wrote an article named ‘The Forgotten Prisoners’ which was published and reprinted in various newspapers across the world (Amnesty International, 2011). This led to the global campaign known as ‘Appeal for Amnesty 1961’that drew international reactions to the plight of the two students. This appeal led to the formation of Amnesty International, an international movement aimed at defending individual liberty of opinion and of religion.
The 1960s saw the establishment and expansion of the membership of AI. In this period, AI was involved in the rights of prisoners. The Prisoner of Conscience Fund was established in 1962 so as to give prisoners and their family members some relief and advocates for the release of prisoners of conscience. By the end of the 1960s, over 2000 prisoners were released as a result of efforts by AI. The 1970s witnessed the continual growth of AI and in 1972; a global campaign to end torture was established. In 1975, the United Nations adopted a Declaration on Torture which was advocated by AI. In 1979, AI became involved in efforts to prevent political killings and began this campaign by publishing approximately 2665 names of people who had disappeared in Argentina after a military coup by Jorge Videla (Anna, 2011).
In the 1980s AI continued its campaigns established in earlier years. In 1985, an educational pack on human rights was published. The 1990s saw AI expand its operations to include hostage situations, discrimination due to sexual orientation and human rights abuses by armed militia or groups. In 1997, AI began its campaigns for the rights of refugees from all over the world. In the 2000s focus also expanded to women’s rights with the ‘Stop Violence against Women’ campaign being established in 2004 (Parry, 2005, 356). In 2009, AI launched the campaign dubbed ‘Demand Dignity’ which advocated for corporate accountability, maternal mortality and formulation of rights laws.
Contributions and Success of Amnesty International
Amnesty International is a global movement with members from all walks of life. Since inception, AI took upon itself the Herculean task of advocating for the rights of all individuals. The membership of AI has grown to over two million members. It began by advocating for the rights of prisoners of conscience like political prisoners. This led to the release of over 2000 prisoners by the close of the 1960s in a number of countries globally with more releases continuing into the following years. The campaigns by AI have been instrumental in securing the release of political prisoners by making their cases public and subject to international condemnation. The campaign to end torture, which was launched in 1972, has been instrumental in the reduction of torture across the globe. Their campaigns led to the formal denunciation of torture by the United Nations with the UN passing a Declaration on Torture in 1975 (Mutua, Terlingen and Vega, 2008, 331).
The contributions of AI globally can be appreciated in regions as the issues are region- specific. In Africa, AI has been instrumental in fighting for the rights of civilians as the continent has faced many armed conflicts. Examples include resolved conflicts in Liberia, Angola, Southern Sudan, Rwanda and Angola and those currently in progress like Libya.
Whether resolved or in progress, these conflicts lead to long term human rights abuses. AI has worked with other bodies like the African Union and the UN to mediate for peace treaties and to advocate for reduced civilian casualties in addition to maintaining the dignity of human life even in war situations. It has also been instrumental in advocating for the rights of women, children and refugees on the continent. Through the efforts of AI and other interested parties, the death penalty was abolished in Rwanda, and while several other countries may still give the death penalty, campaigns by local AI and other interested groups lead to a reduction into life sentences (Amnesty International, 2011).
In the Americas, human rights have become largely embraced, and return to civilian rule in many states in contrast to military rule has caused a corresponding reduction in extrajudicial killings and political assassinations. The biggest debate with regards to human rights is the anti-terror war. Terror suspects being held in prisons like Guantanamo Bay where they are subjected to torture and lack of trials. While AI and other bodies have campaigned vigorously for the rights of these suspects, they continue to be detained and subjected to torture like sleep deprivation, waterboarding and others. Latin America has reported great progress in reducing violence against children and women.
Many Asia-Pacific countries have recently attained independence and therefore aspire to achieve a state of human dignity. AI advocated for the respect of human rights in some regions when they were in conflict like Myanmar. AI is part of the bodies which are advocating for the respect of human rights, including women and children. In some countries, the rights of women are greatly violated as they are forced into prostitution through human trafficking in addition to violence and other violations. Asia-Pacific countries have recently become part of the Human Rights Council where they have vowed to uphold human rights. AI will be instrumental in monitoring and advocacy.
The Middle East and North Africa has not made great strides in upholding human rights because of complex reasons. AI reports that its efforts and those of interested bodies to advance human rights have been misinterpreted as an attempt to ‘westernize’ them. In 2008, the Arab Charter on Human Rights was put into action; however, it has not prohibited child execution which is in contravention of international human rights laws. Europe and Central Asia are considered a leader in the preservation of human rights. AI has played a significant role in enhancing accountability, and encouraging the upholding of human dignity (Rouke-Boyer 2011, 282). In this region, AI has played a role in fighting for the rights of refugees, reducing domestic violence, fighting racial discrimination and human trafficking. In countries like Turkey, Chechnya, Russia and Uzbekistan, AI has been instrumental in advocating for freedom of expression.
Conclusion
Since inception, AI has been at the forefront in advocacy for human rights and its membership has increased to over two million globally. AI is associated with the advances in human rights and its enforcement. As a result of its efforts, many milestones have been reached in different regions. While AI advocacy has been more successful in certain regions than others, it continues to advance its work because no region can claim to be perfect in the observation of human rights.
References
Amnesty International, Accessed ,26 May 2011, ‘Amnesty International’, www.amnesty.org.
Anna Tomforde. "Amnesty urges backing for Arab Spring "human rights revolution"." McClatchy - Tribune Business News 13 May2011.
Mutua, M., Y. Terlingen, and C. de la Vega. "Just Back From the Human Rights Council." American Society of International Law. Proceedings of the Annual Meeting (January 1, 2008): 329-338.
Parry Ann. Humanitarian Organizations: Amnesty International. (South Yatta: MacMillan Education, 2005) 354-370.
Rouke-Boyer. International Politics on the World Stage, Brief. (New York: McGraw Hill Companies, 2011) 131-383.
