History - Exposing torture
In 1966, Amnesty International published a major report exposing the use of torture by the military government in Greece. A government press official was quick to respond, calling Amnesty's research "an unbridled and malicious figment of imagination." Later, however, courtroom testimony confirmed Amnesty's disclosures.
In 1972, Amnesty launched its first worldwide campaign to abolish torture, with the issuing of a groundbreaking report that shocked the world.
Refuting claims that torture was a thing of the past, Amnesty revealed that governments of all types everywhere in the world were using torture - often in routinely institutionalized ways, as in political psychiatric prisons in the Soviet Union.
Amnesty's gaze has always aimed at being unflinching and unbiased.
This approach created the first storm of controversy in 1966 when Amnesty reported on the torture of detainees by British officials in Aden. At first the British government was furious - but over time it did make some changes to better protect detainees.
When Amnesty exposed the Brazilian authorities' use of torture, the government banned all mention of the organization in the press.
Within a few years, Amnesty members had succeeded in making governments listen and respond. "Human rights" was attracting the world's attention.