In 105 of these countries and territories, they were organized in more than 4,300 local Amnesty International groups, over 3,400 youth and student groups, and several hundred professional and other groups. In 55 countries and territories the groups were coordinated by sections. These activists mobilize their communities, put pressure on governments, support victims and their families, lobby for legal reform, and raise public awareness through the media and human rights education work. Alongside traditional campaigning methods such as letter-writing, each group looks for new and more effective ways of making their distinct contribution to promoting and protecting human rights. A group in a small village may focus on solidarity work with victims of torture in a faraway country.
Children can give immense joy to prisoners and their families by sending drawings and cards.
Some members concentrate on public education, others work with sympathetic members of parliament to introduce laws to protect human rights. All these activities, as well as the policies and overall strategies of the movement as a whole, are decided by Amnesty International members themselves through internal democratic structures. Amnesty International groups around the world mobilized in support of the 1997 campaign to raise awareness about the rights of refugees and the direct link between refugee movements and human rights abuses. Many materials were produced by Amnesty International s International Secretariat in London, United Kingdom, to help members achieve this goal. A briefing, Respect my rights, and poster display showed the individual consequences of refugee crises, by allowing refugees to be seen and to speak for themselves.