Amnesty International founder dead
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Amnesty International founder dead
Saturday, February 26, 2005 Posted: 9:40 PM EST (0240 GMT)
Benenson began the human rights group in 1961.
(CNN) -- Peter Benenson, the founder of the human rights group Amnesty International, has died, the group has announced.
Benenson, who was 83, started the human rights group while working as a lawyer in 1961. He died Friday night.
At first, the group was started as "a one-year campaign for the release of six prisoners of conscience," according to a news released on the Amnesty Web site.
It started in a May 28, 1961 Observer article called "The Forgotten Prisoners."
"That appeal attracted thousands of supporters, and started a worldwide human rights movement.
"The catalyst for the original campaign was Mr. Benenson's sense of outrage after reading an article about the arrest and imprisonment of two students in a cafe in Lisbon, Portugal, who had drunk a toast to liberty," the Web site said.
"From there came a worldwide movement for human rights and in its midst an international organization -- Amnesty International -- which has taken up the cases of many thousands of victims of human rights violations and inspired millions to human rights defense the world round."
Irene Khan, Secretary General of Amnesty International, was quoted as calling Benenson's life "a courageous testament to his visionary commitment to fight injustice around the world."
Amnesty said Benenson died at 10:45 p.m. Friday in the John Radcliffe Hospital, Oxford.
Amnesty International will be holding a public memorial service and there will be private ceremony for family members. There will be no funeral service.
The group calls itself "the world's largest independent human rights organization, with more than 1.8 million members and committed supporters worldwide." -
Sad news as the world loses yet one of the true visionary leaders who devoted his life like the sheepdog to look the lost sheeps.
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Yeah.Sad.
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i minutes silence for him.
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I dont mind people fighting for human rights, but a lot are too extreme in their views, for example USA believing that human rights and democracy is the only way out and tries to force it down people throat, and acting like big brother by writing an annual Dept of State Human Rights reports on others, and checking people state of democracy
dont they know the word 'sovereignty' too? -
We all grow up with different belief systems.You think US is overzealous with human rights and democracy?Then I suggest you tell the soldiers who parachuted into German flak for the sake of all our freedom today.
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there got to be a limit or a boundary of how much one can fight for freedom..
while we appreciate what US has done 60 years ago, we cant use that to justify present situations whereby they go around checking people states
that is autocracy in guise of democracy..and dont we also have the freedom to express our own views and live our own way of life as well? -
just look at the Iraqi war .........
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duplicated.
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I agree on that part.But then again, most decisions are judged only by those after us and in hindsight,what we deem unpalatable today might turn out to be a lesser evil.The Middle East is now in a domino wave of elections and democracy.Originally posted by laurence82:there got to be a limit or a boundary of how much one can fight for freedom..
while we appreciate what US has done 60 years ago, we cant use that to justify present situations whereby they go around checking people states
that is autocracy in guise of democracy..and dont we also have the freedom to express our own views and live our own way of life as well? -
I agree on that part.But then again, most decisions are judged only by those after us and in hindsight,what we deem unpalatable today might turn out to be a lesser evil.The Middle East is now in a domino wave of elections and democracy.Originally posted by laurence82:there got to be a limit or a boundary of how much one can fight for freedom..
while we appreciate what US has done 60 years ago, we cant use that to justify present situations whereby they go around checking people states
that is autocracy in guise of democracy..and dont we also have the freedom to express our own views and live our own way of life as well? -
ooops, triple posts..kekekeOriginally posted by LazerLordz:I agree on that part.But then again, most decisions are judged only by those after us and in hindsight,what we deem unpalatable today might turn out to be a lesser evil.The Middle East is now in a domino wave of elections and democracy.
anyway, just hope the mid east elections end in peace... -
Sorry la.Lag problems.Yeah, let's hope they did not die in vain.Originally posted by laurence82:ooops, triple posts..kekeke
anyway, just hope the mid east elections end in peace... -
I believe USA is only forcing democracy when it invades otehr countries, like in the Iraq War. FYI, the UN also publishes its own HR reports. SO unless u r going to claim that kofi is forcing democracy down the throats of UN member states, then I don't think thsi comment is valid...Originally posted by laurence82:I dont mind people fighting for human rights, but a lot are too extreme in their views, for example USA believing that human rights and democracy is the only way out and tries to force it down people throat, and acting like big brother by writing an annual Dept of State Human Rights reports on others, and checking people state of democracy
dont they know the word 'sovereignty' too?