Few human rights organizations devoted to the spread of peace or humanity have been as successful in achieving their goals as has Amnesty International, an international human rights organization with 1,100,000 members and subscribers in more than 150 countries and territories (AI 1).
Amnesty International was formed in the 1940s and issues and adopted its Universal Declaration of Human Rights in December 1948. The Declaration includes a preamble and thirty-four articles. This document defines the purpose of the organization and outlines in its articles the rights it believes are inherent to all individuals regardless of color, race, economics, religion, culture, or country. The articles are to represent “A common standard of achievement for all peoples and all nations” (AI 2). Among these articles is Article 5 which proclaims that “No one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment” (AI 2). This article is important for our assessment of one of AI’s programs, the AI Moratorium 2000 Project, a project aimed at a moratorium on the death penalty by the year 2000. This analysis will assess the methods used by AI to achieve this goal as well as its worldview on the issue of the death penalty. A conclusion will provide an assessment of whether or not AI has been successful in achieving its Moratorium 2000 Project goal.
AI has been quite successful in a variety of actions designed to promote the rights of human beings as outlined in the articles of its Declaration of Human Rights. For example, many political prisoners have been freed, prisoners who were subjected to torture and cruelty while captive, and the impact of AI has been seen in victories of peace from the ending of Apartheid in South Africa to other successes. However, AI is a staunch opponent of the death penalty, viewing it as the kind of cruel and inhuman punishment outlined in article two of its Declaration. ...