II.

Early Years

The idea for Amnesty International was born when British lawyer Peter Benenson and other political activists launched Appeal for Amnesty 1961, a one-year worldwide campaign calling for the release of all prisoners of conscience. Benenson started the campaign in response to the imprisonment of two students in Portugal who had made a toast to freedom in a public restaurant. The toast was considered a form of political opposition to Portugal’s dictator Antonio Salazar, and the students both received seven-year prison sentences in 1960. Benenson published an article titled “The Forgotten Prisoners” in the London Observer in May 1961 urging people to write letters to government officials around the world to protest the imprisonment of all prisoners of conscience. The campaign gained much attention and the article was reprinted in numerous newspapers in many countries. By the end of 1961, more than 1,000 people had pledged their support to the campaign. Amnesty International was established that year.

The organization’s original mission statement was based on the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, a doctrine adopted by the United Nations in 1948 to recognize the fundamental rights of all people regardless of “race, color, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status.” Among the founders of Amnesty International was Seán MacBride, Irish human rights advocate who received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1974. MacBride served as chairman of Amnesty International from 1961 to 1974.

At first the organization mainly engaged in letter-writing campaigns to free prisoners. Members sent letters to government leaders, prison officials, and the news media to publicize human rights violations. They also sent letters to the prisoners and their families to show support and coordinate efforts more effectively. By 1964 many prisoners of conscience had been released from countries such as Ireland, Romania, Greece, and Egypt due in part to the organization’s campaigns.

During the late 1960s Amnesty International received criticism for supposedly accepting funds from government organizations and for publishing biased reports about human rights abuses. Newspapers in England and other countries accused the nonpartisan organization of being affiliated with certain political parties. Some critics claimed that MacBride, a former officer of the Irish Republican Army (IRA), prevented the organization from investigating certain allegations of human rights abuses in Northern Ireland. It was also rumored that Amnesty International received funding from the United States Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), although Amnesty International claimed to refuse money from government organizations. As a result of the bad publicity, donations for the group dropped and membership declined.