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Who we are and what we do [Home]




Amnesty International’s purpose is to protect people where justice, fairness and freedom are denied.
Get involved with us as we try to raise awareness by hosting film nights, creating posters, conduct informative roundtable debates, learning from esteemed speakers and even put together great social nights or live performances.
Everyone is welcome to join the society or committee and get involved with the events, especially if you feel strongly about a campaign.
We start the year with a series of exciting events for Protect the Human Week, come along and together we can campaign for Human Rights and make a difference!

Please join the mailing list to get our weekly email with up-to-date information about our meetings and other events. Just mail to amnesty [at] abdn.ac.uk!

Check out Pics and Past Events!


About Amnesty International [Home]

Amnesty International (AI) is a worldwide movement of people who campaign for internationally recognized human rights.

Amnesty International was founded on the belief in the power of ordinary people to make extraordinary change. It’s vision is of a world in which every person enjoys all of the human rights enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and other international human rights standards.

In 1961, British lawyer Peter Benenson wrote a newspaper appeal, 'The Forgotten Prisoners', calling for an international campaign to protest against the imprisonment of men and women for their political or religious beliefs.

The appeal received a tremendous response. Within a month, more than a thousand readers had sent letters of support and offers of practical help. They also sent details of the cases of many more prisoners of conscience.

Within six months, what started as a brief publicity effort, was being developed into a permanent, international movement.

The principles of impartiality and independence were established from the beginning. The emphasis was on the international protection of human rights: our members would campaign for individuals anywhere in the world.

As we grew, our focus expanded to take in not just prisoners of conscience, but other victims of human rights abuses - such as torture, 'disappearances' and the death penalty - throughout the world.

We are now the world's largest international voluntary organisation dealing with human rights. With over 1.8 million members and supporters in more than 150 countries and territories united by a determination to work for a world where everyone enjoys human rights.