Amnesty
International
Amnesty
International is a global movement
of more than 7 million people who take injustice personally. It is campaigning
for a world where human rights
are enjoyed by all. It is funded by members and people. It is independent of
any political ideology, economic interest or religion.
The stated objective of the organisation is "to conduct research and
generate action to prevent and end grave abuses of human rights, and to demand
justice for those whose rights have been violated.
Amnesty International
was founded in London in 1961, following the publication of the article "The Forgotten Prisoners" in The Observer
on 28 May 1961, by the lawyer Peter
Benenson. Amnesty draws attention to human rights abuses and
campaigns for compliance with international
laws and standards. It works to mobilise public
opinion to put pressure on governments that let abuse take place.
Amnesty considers capital punishment to be "the ultimate,
irreversible denial of human rights". The organisation was awarded the
1977 Nobel Peace Prize for its "campaign
against torture,"
and the United
Nations Prize in the Field of Human Rights in 1978.In the field of international human rights organisations, Amnesty has the second longest history, after the International Federation for Human Rights and broadest name recognition, and is believed by many to set standards for the movement as a whole.
Amnesty
International primarily targets governments, but also reports on
non-governmental bodies and private individuals ("non-state
actors").
There
are six key areas which Amnesty deals with:
- Women's, children's, minorities' and indigenous rights
- Ending torture
- Abolition of the death penalty
- Rights of refugees
- Rights of prisoners of conscience
- Protection of human dignity.
Some
specific aims are to: abolish the death penalty, end extra judicial executions and "disappearances," ensure prison
conditions meet international human rights standards, ensure prompt and fair
trial for all political prisoners, ensure free education to
all children worldwide, decriminalise abortion, fight impunity
from systems of justice, end the recruitment and use of child soldiers, free all prisoners of conscience, promote economic,
social and cultural rights for marginalised communities, protect human rights defenders, promote religious tolerance, protect LGBT rights,
stop torture
and ill-treatment, stop unlawful killings in armed conflict, uphold the rights
of refugees,
migrants,
and asylum
seekers, and protect human dignity.
Human Rights Watch
(HRW)
Human
Rights Watch was founded by Robert L. Bernsteinas a private American NGO in 1978, under the
name Helsinki Watch, to monitor the former Soviet Union's
compliance with the Helsinki Accords. Helsinki Watch
adopted a practice of publicly "naming and
shaming" abusive governments through media coverage and through
direct exchanges with policymakers.
Human
Rights Watch is a nonprofit, nongovernmental human rights organization made up
of roughly 400 staff members around the globe. Its staff consists of human
rights professionals including country experts, lawyers, journalists, and
academics of diverse backgrounds and nationalities. Established in 1978, Human
Rights Watch is known for its accurate fact-finding, impartial reporting,
effective use of media, and targeted advocacy, often in partnership with local
human rights groups. Each year, Human Rights Watch publishes more than 100
reports and briefings on human rights conditions in some 90 countries,
generating extensive coverage in local and international media. With the
leverage this brings, Human Rights Watch meets with governments, the United
Nations, regional groups like the African Union and the European Union,
financial institutions, and corporations to press for changes in policy and practice
that promote human rights and justice around the world.
Human Rights Watch (HRW) is an American-founded
international non-governmental organization that
conducts research and advocacy on human rights.
HRW headquarters are in New York City with offices in Amsterdam,
Beirut,
Berlin,
Brussels,
Chicago,
Geneva,
Johannesburg,
London,
Los Angeles,
Moscow,
Nairobi,
Paris,
San Francisco,
Sydney,
Tokyo,
Toronto,
Washington, D.C., and Zurich
It
publishes Word Report
International Committee of the Red
Cross
The
International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement is an international humanitarian
movement with approximately 97 million volunteers,
members and staff worldwide which was founded to protect human life and health,
to ensure respect for all human beings, and to prevent and alleviate human
suffering.
The
movement consists of several distinct organizations that are legally
independent from each other, but are united within the movement through common
basic principles, objectives, symbols, statutes and governing organisations.
The movement's parts are:
- The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) is a private humanitarian institution founded in 1863 in Geneva, Switzerland, by Henry Dunant and Gustave Moynier. Its 25-member committee has a unique authority under international humanitarian law to protect the life and dignity of the victims of international and internal armed conflicts. The ICRC was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize on three occasions (in 1917, 1944 and 1963).
No comments:
Post a Comment