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You are here: Home > About Amnesty > History > History of Amnesty International Canada |
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History of Amnesty International History of Amnesty International Canada
 “You were my light in the darkness of my jail. You were my hope that pushed me to survive.” Antoinette Chahin, imprisoned and tortured in Lebanon, thanks Amnesty members for their support Other people thank Amnesty. >>  “I support Amnesty because it is a grassroots organization. People can contribute in many ways. I am a mother. I also work with people who are often not given a voice. I am sensitive to small voices and to injustice. Working with Amnesty is a way to give people a voice, to make the world a more equal place. The people I have met through Amnesty give me inspiration.” Seiko Watanabe, Amnesty Canada member, Abbotsford, B.C. Read more >>  
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History of Amnesty International Canada
 In 1981, hundreds of Amnesty International members from around the world gathered in Montreal for the organization’s policy-setting meeting, called the International Council Meeting. It was the first time such an Amnesty gathering had been held outside Europe. That same year, the Toronto Arts Group for Human Rights - including many Amnesty supporters - invited authors from more than 30 countries to an international writers congress. Many participants had been targets of censorship, imprisonment and exile. You can read their presentations in “The Writer and Human Rights” (published 1983). Amnesty Canada opened a new office in Toronto in 1981 - and one in Vancouver in 1984. The organization now had more than 20,000 supporters, many of them active in dozens of community groups throughout the country.
During 1986-1987, Amnesty Canada members participated in a coalition of 25 organizations that campaigned against the return of the death penalty in Canada. Amnesty members lobbied MPs, wrote articles and letters for newspapers, gave radio and television interviews, spoke out in public debates, organized vigils, raised funds, sponsored prayer services, and distributed tens of thousands of pamphlets, postcards and buttons. Everyone got involved, everyone worked with boundless commitment and energy. And in the end, there was reason to celebrate. In a House of Commons vote on June 30, 1987, MPs defeated the motion to reinstate the death penalty by a vote of 148 to 127.
During the fall of 1988, Amnesty’s 19-country Human Rights Now! music tour - with Bruce Springsteen, Tracy Chapman and many other stars - touched down in Canada, playing to packed houses everywhere it went. Many other musicians - Alanis Morissette, members of Radiohead and U2, Annie Lennox and Shania Twain, to name only a few - have also declared their support for Amnesty’s human rights work. >> Learn more about Amnesty Canada’s Artists for Amnesty. [ back to top ] |
