Mission: To protect and advance human rights throughout the world.
Founded: In 1961, following a protest against the incarceration of two Portuguese prisoners of conscience.
Demographics: Amnesty International has over 2.2 million members living in 150 countries. It operates internationally under the leadership of a secretary-general and an international board, who oversee 89 national or regional divisions.
Supporters Say: Amnesty International is the world's leading human rights organization. It could be argued that no group on Earth does more to save human lives than does Amnesty, which received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1977.
Critics Say: Amnesty's coverage of the Bush administration's post-9/11 civil liberties abuses has been criticized by those who ask why Amnesty has not done more to address fundamentalist Middle Eastern regimes. It is also criticized by supporters of fundamentalist Middle Eastern regimes who ask why Amnesty has not done more to address international human rights abuses perpetrated by the United States.
I Say: Amnesty International produces such a high volume of material that one will probably disagree with some of it sooner or later, but its overall mission is as flawless as any organization's overall mission can be. Perhaps its only significant weakness it is the fact that it has not fully capitalized on the power of grassroots organizing by encouraging the formation of more local chapters.
