Amnesty International founder dead
Saturday, February 26, 2005 Posted: 9:40 PM EST (0240 GMT)
Benenson began the human rights group in 1961.
(CNN) -- Peter Benenson, the founder of the human rights group
Amnesty International, has died, the group has announced.
Benenson, who was 83, started the human rights group while working
as a lawyer in 1961. He died Friday night.
At first, the group was started as "a one-year campaign for the
release of six prisoners of conscience," according to a news
released on the Amnesty Web site.
It started in a May 28, 1961 Observer article called "The Forgotten
Prisoners."
"That appeal attracted thousands of supporters, and started a
worldwide human rights movement.
"The catalyst for the original campaign was Mr. Benenson's sense of
outrage after reading an article about the arrest and imprisonment
of two students in a cafe in Lisbon, Portugal, who had drunk a
toast to liberty," the Web site said.
"From there came a worldwide movement for human rights and in its
midst an international organization -- Amnesty International --
which has taken up the cases of many thousands of victims of human
rights violations and inspired millions to human rights defense the
world round."
Irene Khan, Secretary General of Amnesty International, was quoted
as calling Benenson's life "a courageous testament to his visionary
commitment to fight injustice around the world."
Amnesty said Benenson died at 10:45 p.m. Friday in the John
Radcliffe Hospital, Oxford.
Amnesty International will be holding a public memorial service and
there will be private ceremony for family members. There will be no
funeral service.
The group calls itself "the world's largest independent human
rights organization, with more than 1.8 million members and
committed supporters worldwide."
