This month the world's largest NGO for human rights, Amnesty International completed 60 years. So this post is a tribute to them. We all must to work to strengthen the human rights, democracy and justice and I hope all human rights defenders understand the importance to share each other work, messages and stories, creating a large net of information about violations happening and possible risks to human rights defenders. If we all want a fairer and more democratic world, we all should become a human rights defender. Professionals defenders like those from Amnesty should have more power to make their claims. And I think everybody want a better world. This post is a summary of three articles. The first was published at https://northeastbylines.co.uk/amnesty-international-is-sixty-years-old/. The second was published at https://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/CU2105/S00248/amnesty-international-turns-60.htm. The third was published at https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2021/05/60-years-of-humanity-in-action/
"Open your newspaper any day of the week and you will find a story from somewhere of someone being imprisoned, tortured or executed because his opinions or religion are unacceptable to his government...." These words are taken from an article by the late British lawyer Peter Benenson entitled "The Forgotten Prisoners" which was published in The Observer on 29 May 1961 yet they could have been written today. Beneson put pen to paper 60 years ago after learning of the imprisonment of two Portuguese students for raising a toast to freedom. (At that time the dictator Salazar ruled Portugal). Peter Benenson's article launched the "Appeal for Amnesty 1961", a worldwide campaign that provoked a huge response. Reprinted in newspaper across the world, his call to action resonated with the values and aspirations of decent people everywhere. This became the genesis of Amnesty International, the world's largest grassroots human rights organization. On 28 May representatives from North East England Amnesty International attended a 60th anniversary commemoration event. Glasses were raised in a toast to freedom in front of a stained glass window depicting the iconic Amnesty candle. This symbolic act is important not only as a mark of recognition for all cases that Amnesty has worked on over the decades, but also as a means of raising awareness of the ongoing violations that need our attention today. Steve Newman, Chair of Amnesty International's Wearside Group and one of the organisers behind the event, first got involved with the charity after travelling around the Asia in the 1980s. He learnt about a wide range of human rights abuses. Amnesty International works to protect people wherever justice, truth and dignity are denied, whether that is in the south or here in the U.K. Benenson's call to action was a heartfelt response to appalling abuse of power by state apparatus. He intended a simple year long campaign focused on 'prisoners of conscience'. 60 years later the work of Amnesty continues to be just as important. Sustained pressure has changed laws in dozens of countries on issues such as refugees, reproductive rights, LGBT equality, and free speech. A stunning film with Amnesty activists in five iconic global landmarks and dramatic celestial drone art is released to day to celebrate Amnesty International's 60th anniversary. An orchestral version of Peter Gabriel's human rights anthem 'Biko' provides the soundtrack with vocals from The Spirituals choir in London. Peter Gabriel, an Amnesty International Ambassador of conscience, said: "It was a race against time but definitely worth it. Now more than ever, we need as many people as possible to start taking injustice personally and to get involved in any way they can. Amnesty has been doing extraordinary work around the world which I believe is really important and supported for forty years." Bill Shipsey, Founder of Art for Amnesty, who conceived the idea of the film said: "This film combining art, music, poetry and technology is a thank you and testament to the contributions of the millions of Amnesty members present and past who have worked tirelessly for human rights over the past 60 years. We hope the film will inspire a new generation of activists to take action for human rights." Amnesty International was founded in 1961 on the idea that together ordinary people can change the world. Today is a worldwide movement for human rights, calling on the collective power of 10 million people, each one committed to fighting for justice, equality and freedom everywhere. Change has not happened overnight. It's taken persistence and a belief in the power of humanity to make a difference. And the result? The release of tens of thousands of people imprisoned for their beliefs or their way of life. Previously untouchable leaders brought to account. Amended laws and changed lives. How do we measure 60 years of collective action? It's there in the accused who is given a fair trial. It's there in the activists freed to continue their defence of human rights. It's there in the marginalised communities who defended their homes from destruction. Sixty years on, we are still battling for a world where human rights are enjoyed by all. And we won't stop until it's achieved. In 1973, Amnesty issues its first full urgent action, encouraging the public to act on behalf of Luiz Basilio Rossi, a Brazilian professor arrested for political reasons. "I knew that my case had become public, I knew they could no longer kill me. Then the pressure on me decreased and conditions improved." Since then, Amnesty supporters across the world have campaigned on behalf of thousands of individuals, families and communities. In the 1970s, Chile's regime under General Pinochet agrees to admit a Amnesty International mission to investigate allegations of massive human rights violations. More than 20 years later, Amnesty is a party to legal proceedings that lead to Pinochet's arrest in the U.K. for crimes committed in Chile. In 1979, Amnesty International publishes a list of 2,665 cases of people known to have "disappeared" in Argentina after the military coup. In 2017, the Kenya High Court blocks the government's decision to shut Dadaab refugee camp. the world's largest refugee camp. The ruling comes in response to a petition by two Kenyan human rights organizations, which was supported by Amnesty. In 2018, an European Court of Human Rights ruling finds that the U.K. intelligence services bulk interception of millions of private communications breached human rights laws. The landmark judgment was further expanded by the Grand Chamber of the European Court of Human Rights in 2021, marking clear that unfettered surveillance, violates people's rights to privacy and to free expression and requiring the establishment of robust safeguards against abuse.
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