Welcome

Welcome to the St Albans Group of Amnesty International (AI) (http://www.amnesty.org), within its UK section (AIUK) (http://www.amnesty.org.uk) We are part of  AI’s worldwide membership of some 1,800,000 members.The UK section has some 229,000 members, 270 local groups, of which the St Albans Group is one, some 120 student groups, and some 650 youth groups. 

AI was the brainchild of Peter Benenson, a British lawyer, who in 1961 conceived the idea of making representations to authority, chiefly by letter, about the plight of those unjustly imprisoned because of their peacefully expressed views. This remains a central part of our work.

From then, AI has grown phenomenally and extended its campaigning beyond the defence of the human rights of the unjustly imprisoned, to general human rights issues such as the control of the arms trade, the death penalty and violence against women.

It is widely recognised that AI has been very successful in highlighting the plight of prisoners of conscience and helping to free some of them. Each letter sent in their cause reminds governments that they are accountable.

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