• Amnesty International is a worldwide voluntary movement of people who campaign for human rights.
• We are independent of any government, political ideology, economic interest or religion.
• Our 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.
• It is affiliated to the AIUK and is a campaign group.

There has been an active Amnesty International Group in Guernsey since the 1970's. During this time many people have contributed their time and effort to letter-writing (and, more recently, e-mail), raising the profile of the organisation in the media, bringing speakers to visit Guernsey and fund-raising. Because of the way Amnesty works we do not campaign on local issues where our views may be misinterpreted as political but we work with colleagues around the world on cases in many countries. Here are examples of some of things we have done locally:

We arrange for speakers to come over from the UK and give talks to the public and schools and on the radio. These people have typically had direct contact with prisoners of conscience and done research in other countries. We value their role in making people aware of what happens outside Guernsey.

We have worked on long-term campaigns writing to authorities on behalf of prisoners of conscience. A typical case was an elderly Presbyterian minister in South Korea who was imprisoned for making statements about wanting to see an eventual re-unification of the North and South. We sent letters and faxes to the authorities enquiring after his health and a review of the sentencing policy (he was in his 70's) and received feedback from a Korean group of human rights activists. Guernsey shared this case with others in Norway and the UK. Eventually he was released in a general amnesty and we would like to think that AI's highlighting of this and similar cases had some positive effect.

We also keep people aware of our work and raise funds for research by organising various events, this year a flag day, a pub quiz at the Peninsular Hotel, a stall at the Fermain Tavern with the Vale Earth Fair and Vale Castle and towards the end of the year a musical event at the Fermain Tavern. UK members have been made aware of our existence also since we have raised funds by selling locally manufactured Guernseys via mail order.

This ancient Chinese proverb inspired Amnesty International to adopt the candle surrounded by barbed wire as the symbol of our movement. The barbed wire stands for the darkness, and the candle represents hope. The message is that Amnesty International provides hope when things seem hopeless.

Amnesty International works throughout the world to promote and protect human rights. This means that we work on issues like the right not to be tortured, the right to fair trials, the right to be able to think for yourself and the right to express yourself. We work on behalf of people who are sometimes discriminated against because of who they are.

Every year on December 10, the world celebrates Human Rights Day. This day is to mark the anniversary of when the Universal Declaration of Human Rights was adopted over 50 years ago setting out the rights of every person in the world no matter where they live, how old they are, or the colour of their skin – they have them because they are human.