page_title: Amnesty International
section_title: Objectives
hierarchical_section_title: Amnesty International / Objectives
caption_attribution_description: English: Amnesty International at the 2009 Marcha Gay in Mexico City. Español: Amnistía Internacional presente en la Marcha Gay del año 2009 en Ciudad de México.
context_page_description: Amnesty International is a non-governmental organization with its headquarters in the United Kingdom focused on human rights. The organization says it has more than eight million members and supporters around the world.
  The stated mission of the organization is to campaign for "a world in which every person enjoys all of the human rights enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and other international human rights instruments."
  Amnesty International was founded in London in 1961, following the publication of the article "The Forgotten Prisoners" in The Observer on 28 May 1961, by the lawyer-Peter Benenson. Amnesty draws attention to human rights abuses and campaigns for compliance with international laws and standards. It works to mobilize public opinion to generate pressure on governments where abuse takes place. Amnesty considers capital punishment to be "the ultimate, irreversible denial of human rights." The organization was awarded the 1977 Nobel Peace Prize for its "defence of human dignity against torture," and the United Nations Prize in the Field of Human Rights in 1978.
context_section_description: Amnesty International primarily targets governments, but also reports on non-governmental bodies and private individuals ("non-state actors").
  There are six key areas which Amnesty deals with:
  Women's, children's, minorities' and indigenous rights
  Ending torture
  Abolition of the death penalty
  Rights of refugees
  Rights of prisoners of conscience
  Protection of human dignity.
  Some specific aims are to: abolish the death penalty, end extra judicial executions and "disappearances", ensure prison conditions meet international human rights standards, ensure prompt and fair trial for all political prisoners, ensure free education to all children worldwide, decriminalize abortion, fight impunity from systems of justice, end the recruitment and use of child soldiers, free all prisoners of conscience, promote economic, social and cultural rights for marginalized communities, protect human rights defenders, promote religious tolerance, protect LGBT rights, stop torture and ill-treatment, stop unlawful killings in armed conflict, uphold the rights of refugees, migrants, and asylum seekers, and protect human dignity. It also supports worldwide decriminalisation of prostitution.
  Additionally, Amnesty International has developed ways to publicize information and mobilize public opinion. The organization considers the publication of impartial and accurate reports as one of its strengths. Reports are researched by: interviewing victims and officials, observing trials, working with local human rights activists, and monitoring the media. It aims to issue timely press releases and publishes information in newsletters and on web sites. It also sends official missions to countries to make courteous but insistent inquiries.
  Campaigns to mobilize public opinion can take the form of individual, country, or thematic campaigns. Many techniques are deployed, such as direct appeals (for example, letter writing), media and publicity work, and public demonstrations. Often, fund-raising is integrated with campaigning. In 2018, the organization started to adopt a new communications strategy based on a message of shared humanity and a hope-based communications approach.
  In situations which require immediate attention, Amnesty International calls on existing urgent action networks or crisis response networks; for all other matters, it calls on its membership. It considers the large size of its human resources to be another of its key strengths.
  The role of Amnesty International has a significant impact on getting citizens on board with focusing on human rights issues. These groups influence countries and governments to give their people justice with pressure and in human resources. An example of Amnesty International's work is writing letters to free imprisoned people that were put there for non-violent expressions. The group now has power, attends sessions, and became a source of information for the UN. The increase in participation of non-governmental organizations changes how we live today. Felix Dodds states in a recent document: "In 1972 there were 39 democratic countries in the world; by 2002, there were 139." This shows that non-governmental organizations make enormous leaps within a short period of time for human rights.
caption: Amnesty International at the 2009 Marcha Gay in Mexico City, 20 June 2009
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