Amnesty International is a worldwide voluntary movement of people who campaign for human rights. They are independent of any government, political ideology, economic interest or religion. Amnesty International's vision is of 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 standards.
Amnesty's Mission
1: Promoting general awareness of human rights
• We promote awareness of the values contained in the Universal Declaration of Human
Rights and other internationally-agreed standards of human rights
• We encourage people to accept that all human rights must be protected.
• We encourage all governments to ratify (agree to be bound by) and enforce international standards of human rights
• We carry out a wide range of education activities about human rights
• We encourage governments and other political bodies (such as armed opposition
groups) to support and respect human rights
• We also encourage non-governmental organisations, groups, businesses, financial
institutions and individual people (sometimes called 'non-state actors') to support and
respect human rights
2: Opposing Specific Abuses of Human Rights
• Torture or other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment
• The use of the death penalty by governments
• 'Disappearances'
• Deliberate and arbitrary killings
• Detaining prisoners of conscience
• Detaining any political prisoner without holding a fair trial within a reasonable time
• Excessive use of force by law enforcement officials
• Taking hostages
• Children taking part in armed conflict
• Other severe suffering inflicted because of a person’s beliefs or identity
We campaign against the above abuses whether they are committed by government officials or by members of armed political groups. We may also challenge any government if 'non-state actors' in their country commit these kinds of abuses, and the government has either been an accomplice in the abuse, or failed to prevent it. An example of this is our recent work towards ending female genital mutilation.
We also oppose:
The return of refugees to countries where they may be at risk of serious violations and abuses. Arms and security transfers (including weapons and training) to countries where these can reasonably be assumed to contribute to human rights abuses. The manufacture, use or transfer of indiscriminate weapons of warfare, particularly anti-personnel landmines.
For more information please visit the Amnesty International website: http://www.amnesty.org.uk