Amnesty is made up of ordinary people from across the world standing up for humanity and human rights. Their purpose is to protect individuals wherever justice, fairness, freedom and truth are denied.
During much of Amnesty’s history, their campaigning has focused on prisoners, but they have responded to the changing patterns of human rights violations in the world. Today the biggest threat to human rights is the mass violations in armed conflicts. People are now more likely to become victims of abuse because of who they are, rather than for what they think, say or do.
Amnesty has two main ways of working to achieve human rights for everyone:
Promoting general awareness of human rights
Amnesty carries out a wide range of educational activities about human rights, promoting the values contained in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. They encourage people to accept that all human rights must be protected by
•Encouraging governments to accept and enforce international standards of human rights
•Encouraging governments, political organisations, businesses, other groups and individuals to support and respect human rights
Opposing specific abuses of human rights
Amnesty undertakes research and action focused on stopping abuses of the following rights:
•Physical and mental integrity
•Freedom of conscience and expression
•Freedom from discrimination