Key dates

1961

  • Peter Benenson launches an “Appeal for Amnesty” with the publication of “The Forgotten Prisoners” in the Observer , which is later reproduced in numerous newspapers around the world
  • Delegates from Belgium, France, Ireland, UK, USA and Switzerland meet in Luxembourg to establish a permanent international movement that will be known as “Amnesty International”
  • British artist Diana Redhouse designs the Amnesty International logo, inspired by the ancient Chinese proverb "better to light a candle then to curse the darkness"
  • The first candle is lit on Human Rights Day at St Martins-in-the-Fields, London


1962

  • Amnesty International undertakes its first research mission to Ghana
  • 152 political prisoners are released in Ghana following pressure by Amnesty International
  • First of Amnesty International's annual reports published


1963

  • The International Secretariat (Amnesty International's headquarters) is established in London


1964

  • The United Nations gives Amnesty International consultative status


1965

  • The Council of Europe grants Amnesty International consultative status
  • Amnesty International sponsors a resolution at the UN to suspend and abolish capital punishment for peacetime political offences


1966

  • 1,000 prisoners of conscience, adopted by Amnesty International, released since movement started


1967

  • Amnesty International represents over 2,000 prisoners in 63 countries


1968

  • First Prisoner of Conscience week
  • Martin Ennals appointed Secretary General


1969

  • UNESCO grants Amnesty International consultative status
  • Since Amnesty International 's founding, 4,000 prisoners have been adopted - half of these have been released


1970

  • 520 prisoners released this year


1971

  • Amnesty International adopts 1,050 new cases; 700 prisoners released this year alone


1972

  • Amnesty International's first worldwide campaign to abolish torture is launched
  • Amnesty International is granted consultative status at the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights of the Organization of American States


1973

  • Amnesty International , on behalf of Brazilian Professor Luiz Basilio Rossi, issues its first ever Urgent Action Appeal
  • UN General Assembly approves Amnesty International resolution denouncing torture


1974

  • Sean MacBride (Chair of Amnesty International's Executive Committee) awarded Nobel Peace Prize for lifelong work in human rights
  • 1,059 prisoners released this year


1975

  • UN unanimously adopts declaration against torture following Amnesty International campaign


1976

  • AI lists 167 trade unionists imprisoned in 16 countries
  • First “Secret Policeman's Ball” staged, includes Monty Python actors and other celebrities such as Peter Gabriel, Mark Knopfler and Bob Geldof


1977

  • Amnesty International awarded Nobel Peace Prize for "having contributed to securing the grounds for freedom, for justice, and thereby also for peace in the world"


1978

  • Amnesty International wins UN Human Rights award for "outstanding contributions in the field of human rights"


1979

  • Amnesty International widens its mandate to work against political killings
  • Amnesty International publishes a list of 2,665 cases of people known to have disappeared in Argentina following a military coup


1980

  • Thomas Hammerberg appointed Secretary General


1981

  • Candle lighting ceremony to mark Amnesty International 's 20th anniversary


1982

  • Amnesty International further condemns and opposes laws and practices of apartheid
  • Amnesty International reaffirms its opposition to inhumane treatment of people who are open about their sexuality


1983

  • More than one million signatures handed to the UN on Human Rights Day in a global appeal for a universal amnesty for all prisoners of conscience
  • Amnesty International broadens its condemnation of abuses by governments to include acts committed by non-governmental entities
  • International Secretariat moves to its current London site on Easton Street


1984

  • Adoption of UN Convention Against Torture on Human Rights Day


1985

  • Amnesty International widens its mandate to include work for refugees
  • Over half a million Amnesty International members, supporters and subscribers in 50 countries
  • Ian Martin appointed Secretary General


1986

  • Amnesty International members write to more than 10,000 members of state and people of influence in South Africa to protest against apartheid
  • “Conspiracy of Hope” rock concert with U2, Peter Gabriel, Lou Reed, Neville Brothers and others


1987

  • Amnesty International reports that the death penalty in USA violates international treaties, is racially biased and arbitrary
  • Amnesty International widens its mandate to include deliberate killings of people who are not prisoners and no longer distinguishes between political and non-political characteristic of sufferers of human rights abuses


1988

  • “Human Rights Now” campaign and concert tour in 15 countries raises awareness and membership - it is viewed by millions when broadcast on Human Rights Day to mark the 40th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights


1989

  • Tiananmen Square protests in Beijing: Amnesty International members write 25,000 letters and telegrams to China within five days of the massacre on 4 June
  • Amnesty International publishes “When the state kills”, a landmark report on the death penalty


1990

  • Death penalty abolished in Hungary, Ireland, Mozambique, Namibia, Andorra, Sao Tome and Principe


1991

  • Amnesty International widens its mandate to include abuses by armed opposition groups, hostage taking and considers people imprisoned by the state due to their sexual orientation as prisoners of conscious
  • Amnesty International formalizes its move away from an exclusive orientation on prisoners


1992

  • Amnesty International membership hits one million with 6,000 local groups in over 70 countries
  • Former Yugoslavia and Somalia human rights disasters are the focus of Amnesty International campaigns
  • Pierre Sané appointed Secretary General


1993

  • The UN Office of the High Commission for Human Rights established after persistent campaigning by Amnesty International


1994

  • Amnesty International launches its campaign on women's rights, “Human rights are women's rights”
  • Amnesty International 's campaign on "disappearances" and political killings launched worldwide


1995

  • Amnesty International campaigns on “Stop the Torture Trade”
  • Amnesty International starts campaigning against female genital mutilation
  • Amnesty International gathers testimonies confirming mass killings in Srebrenica


1996

  • Amnesty International campaigns for permanent International Criminal Court, adopted by the UN in 1998


1997

  • The human rights of refugees are the focus of Amnesty International's worldwide campaign
  • Amnesty International broadens its mandate to address human rights abuses by private actors


1998

  • Amnesty International launches the “Get up, Sign up” campaign in 124 countries collecting 13 million signatures to mark the 50th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights
  • Amnesty International campaigns against land mines

 
1999

  • Amnesty International starts promoting measures to prevent the proliferation of small arms
  • Amnesty International 's campaign draws attention to the plight of 300,000 child soldiers
  • Amnesty International hits the 1.8 million members mark with national branches engaging hundreds of thousands of other donors and supporters

 
2000

  • Amnesty International joins forces with Oxfam to argue for tough new export laws on arms trade
  • The site www.stoptorture.org takes Amnesty International 's campaigning into cyberspace  


2001

  • Amnesty International adopts its new mission focusing on the indivisibility of human rights and paving the way for work on economic, social and cultural rights
  • Amnesty International has covered more than 47,000 cases - only 2,000 are still open
  • Irene Khan appointed Secretary General


2002

  • Establishment of the International Criminal Court
  • Amnesty International is granted access to Myanmar for the first time after years of requests
  • Amnesty International is granted access to Sudan for the first time in 19 years
  • Work to combat torture in the context of the “war on terror” begins in earnest


2003

  • Amnesty International , Oxfam and IANSA launch the global Control Arms campaign
  • Amnesty International adopts a focussed human rights strategy leading up to 2010
  • Amnesty International undertakes its first research mission to Iraq after not being allowed into the country in 20 years
  • Amnesty International brings world attention to the plight of the mothers of young women murdered in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico
  • Amnesty International's Ambassador of Conscience award goes to Vaclav Havel


2004

  • Amnesty International launches its global campaign to Stop Violence Against Women, with its first phase focussing on women in armed conflict
  • Amnesty International field research exposes the extent of mass rape, abduction and murder in Darfur, Sudan
  • At the International World AIDS Conference Amnesty International calls for respect for the human rights of those living with HIV/AIDS
  • Amnesty International's Ambassador of Conscience award goes to Mary Robinson and Hilda Morales Trujillo


2005

  • The US Supreme Court rejects death penalty for juveniles and those with mental disabilities
  • Amnesty International is the world's largest independent human rights organisation with over 2 million members and many more supporters worldwide
  • Amnesty International's Ambassador of Conscience award goes to U2 and their manager Paul McGuinness
  • Peter Benenson, Amnesty International's founder, dies aged 83


2006

  • Amnesty International launches an emergency campaign to again highlight the situation in Sudan’s Darfur region, calling for a robust peacekeeping response from the UN
  • Amnesty International's Stop Violence Against Women campaign addresses domestic violence
  • Amnesty International exposes and condemns human rights violations perpetrated in the Israel/Lebanon conflict  
  • Victory for the Control Arms campaign sees the UN General Assembly vote overwhelmingly for work towards an International Arms Trade treaty
  • Irene Khan accepts the City of Sydney Peace Prize on the behalf of the Amnesty International family and the millions of human rights activists the world over
  • Nelson Mandela accepts Amnesty International's Ambassador of Conscience award and congratulates Amnesty International for making the struggle against poverty its focus for the coming years
2007
  • Amnesty International demonstrates against five years of unlawful detentions in Guantánamo and continues its call for the camp’s closure
  • Official opening of newly refurbished London office of the International Secretariat