Saturday, May 28, 2011
On May 28, 1961, British lawyer Peter Beneson’s article “The Forgotten Prisoners” is published on the front page of the London Observer, launching the “Appeal for Amnesty 1961”–a campaign calling for the release of all people in various parts of the world jailed for peacefully expressing their beliefs. Beneson’s inspiration for the article comes from the imprisonment of two Portuguese students jailed for raising their glasses in a toast to freedom in a public restaurant. At the time, Portugal is a dictatorship ruled by Antonio de Oliveira. Beneson’s article garners international support and coins the phrase “prisoners of conscience.” After the widespread publishing of Beneson’s article in various international newspapers, delegates from the United States, Belgium, the U.K., France, Germany, Ireland, and Switzerland convene to begin “a permanent international movement in defense of freedom of opinion and religion.” Thus Amnesty International was born.
Today, at 50, Amnesty International is a global movement with 3 million supporters, members, and activists, in over 150 countries. The organization is marking its golden anniversary by launching a Global Call to Action designed to “help tip the scales against repression and injustice.” Events are planned in 60 different counties around the world to commemorate five decades of human rights advocacy. As a tribute to the Portuguese students who inspired Beneson’s seminal article, Amnesty supporters in dozens of countries, from Argentina to Ghana, Turkey to New Zealand, will make a symbolic toast to freedom.
