The Top Ten Reasons to Join Amnesty International
10. AMNESTY WORKS. Since our founding 50 years ago, Amnesty actions have contributed to the release of tens of thousands of unjustly imprisoned individuals and a worldwide reduction of torture, executions, and other human rights abuses.
9. NO ONE ELSE CAN DO IT. No other organization has the international strength and moral authority to respond to injustice as effectively as Amnesty can.
8. THINGS CHANGE. We are living in a time of unprecedented political change. Amnesty helps make sure the changes are for the better. In a world full of clashing ideologies, Amnesty’s basic principles stay on a steady course towards justice for all.
7. IT IS GOOD FOR YOU. Most people are isolated from the great movements and ideas of their time, observing them from some distance. Amnesty membership involves you in a practical and tangible way in the great movement of our century: the movement for universal human rights.
6. YOUR CHILDREN WILL THANK YOU. A world where human rights violations go unchecked is a dangerous world for everyone Unless we eliminate institutionalized human rights violations everywhere, none of us is safe.
5. AMNESTY IS THE ONLY HOPE FOR THOUSANDS OF HUMAN RIGHTS VICTIMS. Without you, political prisoners and victims of torture around the world will be alone, without hope. You justify their hope by joining Amnesty’s community of concern.
4. AMNESTY IS INDEPENDENT AND IMPARTIAL. Amnesty applies a single standard of human rights to every country in the world. Amnesty is independent of all governments, political factions, ideologies, and economic interest.
3. YOUR MEMBERSHIP WILL MAKE A DIFFERENCE. There is strength in numbers and each new membership increases Amnesty’s cry for human rights.
2. WE HAVE A RESPONSIBILITY. The free must work on behalf of the unfree.
1. The MOST IMPORTANT REASON OF ALL: NAFIJE ZENDELL was 17 years old high school student when she was arrested in Yugoslavia in October 1988 for peaceful protesting he discontinuation of classes taught in the Albanian language. She was sentenced to four for “counter-revolutionary” activities. Amnesty International learned of Nafije’s case after her imprisonment and launched a series of appeals on her behalf, utilizing its volunteer membership networks around the world. She was featured on US televison and her case drew the attention of members of the US Senate. Nafije Zendeli was releases on January 30, 1990.
Amnesty International’s greatest tool against human rights abusers is the spotlight of international pressure. And in Nafije’s case, that spotlight proved to be the light of freedom.
