Question

What is Amnesty International?

Answer 1

Hint:
> It was founded by the human rights activist Peter Benenson.
> It was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for its defense of human rights against torture.

Complete answer:
Amnesty International is a non-government organization based in the United Kingdom. Its main focus is the protection of human rights. It is often called Amnesty or AI. The organization claims to have more than seven million members and supporters spread across the globe. It works to deploy the opinions of the public and uses it to create pressure against the governments where abuse of human rights takes place.

It was founded in 1961, in London by human rights activists Peter Benenson, Eric Baker and Luis Kutner. Peter Benenson published an article in The Observer newspaper. The article was called ‘Forgotten Prisoners’ and it grabbed the attention of the readers by telling them about the people who were imprisoned, tortured and executed. It described these acts as violations occurring on a global scale. Benenson proposed the Appeal for Amnesty 1961, which with representations from the leaders of all the three major parties, soon became an international movement.

It was simply called Amnesty from the time of its inception till 30th of September, when it was officially named as Amnesty International. The organization has always been funded largely by fees and donations from its members who are spread worldwide. Amnesty International claims that they do not take donations from the government or any government organization.

It was awarded with the Nobel Peace Prize in 1977, for its ‘defense of human rights against torture’. In the following year it was also awarded with the United Nations Prize in the Field of Human Rights.

Note:
> Amnesty International has the third longest history in the field of protection of human rights internationally.
> Anti-Slavery society is the oldest human rights organization in the world which is also headquartered in the United Kingdom.