50 years of Amnesty International

On 28 May 1961, The Observer newspaper published an article by a man called Peter Benenson, written in response to the plight of two Portuguese students imprisoned for raising their wine glasses in a toast to freedom. This was the genesis of Amnesty International. Read the Amnesty story

Over the past 50 years we have shone a light on human rights abuses that previously went unseen and unpunished and grown to 3 million members. Our movement has helped bring about the the release of thousands of political prisoners, the abolition of the death penalty in 95 countries and the founding of the International criminal Court.

As we celebrate 50 years of standing up for human rights, this is the place to remind yourself what we do and why we do it. How you can get involved