Amnesty International has more than one million members, support in more than 160 countries, more than 4,200 local groups and a budget of £19.5 million. Judged in terms of growth, it is an undoubted success story. More importantly, it continues to have a positive impact on law, policy and practice within states. The world's leading human rights non-governmental organisation is 40 this year.
It has come a long way since Peter Benenson, Eric Baker and Louis Blom-Cooper launched the campaign "Appeal for Amnesty" in 1961 to call attention to the plight of political prisoners. This impressive book provides an accessible analysis of Amnesty's work so far, focusing primarily on its efforts in particular countries, though two chapters ("Amnesty's Forty Years" and "Amnesty's Success Stories") do offer useful insights into the organisation's development. The genius of the organisation lies in its ability to adapt to new trends without neglecting its core functions and values. It has stood the test of time.
What is remarkable is how often history proves Amnesty right. In 1981, Amnesty came out strongly against the Guatemalan government's extensive involvement in torture and murder. The painstaking search for evidence (one of the organisation's great strengths) demonstrated the extensive role of the US in supporting the regime. Amnesty was often a lone voice highlighting human rights violations in the country, and as the violence winds down its work, as Jonathan Power notes, is now directed at bringing human rights violators to justice.
This unerring stress on justice was evident also in the Pinochet case. Events demonstrated the powerful symbolism that can surround individual cases. Power attributes much to the "Pinochet effect", and Amnesty has made great claims about the impact of the case; it is, however, questionable whether the more excessive assertions of practical significance are altogether convincing. What is striking is the steady expansion of international human rights law to embrace weighty positive duties on the state to investigate, prosecute and punish those responsible for human rights abuses.
The chapter on Northern Ireland is revealing. Again, it is plain that Amnesty was prepared to take a public stand on human rights abuses (state and non-state) which are now widely acknowledged. Its 1994 report on political killings documented severe problems surrounding the use of lethal force and inquest procedures. However, it took a series of recent judgments from the European Court of Human Rights to provoke renewed calls for decisive action. As the book confirms, there is plenty of unfinished business in Northern Ireland, from a human rights perspective.
Power describes Amnesty's work on the treatment of the Baader-Meinhof gang as a "black mark" on the organisation's record. Although he concedes that Amnesty was right to intervene, blame is placed on the German national group for becoming too close to a terrorist organisation opposed to democratic values. He argues that this was not Amnesty's finest hour. Power notes and acknowledges the problems of states in dealing with groups in society which have no commitment to human rights. More generally, Amnesty's example has encouraged recognition of the fact that activists should address abuse wherever it occurs, and from whatever quarter it comes.
The chapters on China and the US show that Amnesty has no fear of making powerful enemies. The organisation has rejected the idea that keeping quiet on some human rights issues will assist constructive engagement with China. Its work on the death penalty in the US is well known but, as Power notes, Amnesty has also taken on police brutality, the ill-treatment of asylum-seekers, the prison system and the restrictive approach to human rights treaties. The impartiality of Amnesty is demonstrated by the fact that it tends to draw criticism from all sides. Its robust commitment to universal values of human rights guarantees that it is not the prisoner of a particular perspective.
This is a fine book which tells Amnesty's story in a spirited way. Resignation has become a virtue in this sceptical age. Nevertheless, the proverb which inspired the famous Amnesty symbol remains apt: "Better to light a candle than curse the darkness". Acting on this, there can only be one, albeit partisan, conclusion to this review: join Amnesty International now in the global struggle for human rights.
Colin Harvey is Professor of Constitutional and Human Rights Law at the University of Leeds