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Essay Subject: Organization promoting global human rights & documenting abuses. Goals, origins, leadership, organization, treatment of prisoners, role of U.S. government, torture, Code of Professional Ethics, death penalty.... More...

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Paper Abstract: Organization promoting global human rights & documenting abuses. Goals, origins, leadership, organization, treatment of prisoners, role of U.S. government, torture, Code of Professional Ethics, death penalty. Paper Introduction: This paper will discuss the organization Amnesty International and its efforts toward the establishment of human rights around the world. Amnesty International has three basic goals as its agenda. Its first goal is to seek the release of "prisoners of conscience" around the world. Prisoners of conscience are defined as individuals who have been "imprisoned or otherwise detained by reason of their political, religious or other conscientiously-held beliefs, or on the grounds of their ethnic origin, race, sex or cultural background" (Garling 7). In addition, Amnesty International defines prisoners of conscience as those who have been imprisoned for such beliefs without having "used or advocated violence" (Amnesty International Report 2). The second goal of the Amnesty International organization is the encouragement of "fair and prompt trials for all political Text of the Paper: The entire text of the paper is shown below. However, the text is somewhat scrambled. We want to give you as much information as we possibly can about our papers and essays, but we cannot give them away for free. In the text below you will find that while disordered, many of the phrases are essentially intact. From this text you will be able to get a solid sense of the writing style, the concepts addressed, and the sources used in the research paper. There have also been reports fromvarious Middle East countries of torture being used not only for theextraction of information but as a means for punishment as well. Thus, "as allegedly mentally sickpeople, dissidents are deemed to be of unsound mind and therefore deniedthe status of political opposition" (64). The fifth treaty, the International Covenant on Economic, Social andCultural Rights, is actually an addition to the International Covenant onCivil and Political Rights. . Manysimilar atrocities have been reported from nations around the world. As of 1989, Amnesty International was ableto claim that it consisted of "more than 7 , members, subscribers andsupporters in over 15 countries and territories, with over 3,985 localgroups in more than 6 countries in Africa, the Americas, Asia, Europe andthe Middle East" (Amnesty 2). Thus, there aretoday 35 nations that have abolished the death penalty altogether; another18 nations that have abolished it for all but the most heinous crimes; andanother 27 nations have not abolished the death penalty per se, but havenot carried out an execution for several years (When the State 4). . 2nd ed. For example, hanging, shooting,electrocution, injection, gassing, beheading, and stoning are all extremelypainful to the person receiving them. In addition, they provide a series ofenforcement procedures in order to ensure that the participating nationsfollow through with the obligations contained within them. Many critics of torture believe that the practice is used not so much toextract information as it is to satisfy the violent impulses of sadistictorturers. From these humble origins, AmnestyInternational has now grown into "a vast international complex coordinatinglocal voluntary action with high-level diplomatic initiatives and aworldwide network of information on political imprisonment, torture andrelated questions" (Garling 5). This paper will discuss the organization Amnesty International andits efforts toward the establishment of human rights around the world.Amnesty International has three basic goals as its agenda. Often, advocates of the use of torture claim that it is an importantmeans for extracting information from political prisoners. Thus, "while government representatives universally and collectivelycondemn torture, more than a third of the world's governments have used ortolerated torture or ill-treatment of prisoners in the 198 s" (169). As an example of the Amnesty International Code of ProfessionalEthics, it is stated that law enforcement officials should "respect andprotect human dignity and maintain and uphold the human rights of allpersons . Therefore, the work of Amnesty Internationalon this issue is far from completed at this time. The Death Penalty: A Human Rights Issue. The United States of America is one of the many nations listed byAmnesty International as being a death penalty retentionist state. If this code were to develop into a unified effort among theworld's professional workers, it would result in a statement which would"make it abundantly clear to all states and to world opinion that torturecan never be condoned and that no professional body of doctors, police orlawyers can restrict their activities to the nice technicalities of thejob" (11). Inan effort to get the United States to ratify these United Nations treaties,Amnesty International has called upon the Senate Foreign RelationsCommittee in the U.S. Thus, "like torture, an execution constitutes an extremephysical and mental assault on a person already rendered helpless bygovernment authorities" (When the State 2). The Convention Against Torture and otherCruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment adopted by the UnitedNations General Assembly would be a very useful tool in this regard,because it provides enforcement procedures as well as guidelines for humanetreatment. Inother cases, Amnesty International workers strive for reform in aparticular country through media campaigns. In its reports andpublications, Amnesty International distinguishes between retentionist andabolitionist states around the world. . The second treaty pending in theU.S. In Mayof 1961, Peter Benenson composed an "Appeal for Amnesty," which was printedin two prominent European newspapers, The Observer in London and Le Mondein Paris (Wiseberg and Sirett 35). There is a much better chancethat a government will re-evaluate its human rights policies if protestarrives from outside its borders rather than from within. In addition,Amnesty International defines prisoners of conscience as those who havebeen imprisoned for such beliefs without having "used or advocatedviolence" (Amnesty International Report 2). To this end, Amnesty International has developed helpfulcodes of ethics and international agreements which are designed to guideboth individuals and governments toward adopting more humane practices.Even when a particular prisoner has committed an extremely horrible actagainst the people or the state, there is still no justification for thestate itself to follow through with equally horrible acts of torture orexecution. Unfortunately,there have been many reported cases in which innocent people have beentortured or in which the wrong information has been extracted under duress. In addition to these guidelines for law enforcement and medical personnel,Amnesty International also provides guidelines for lawyers who wish to dotheir part in the elimination of torture. Ratification of Human Rights Treaties." Amnesty International USA Legal Support Network Newsletter 6 (Summer 1989): 1-4.Human Rights and U.S. However, Benenson soon learned that the efforts ofone person against the policies of an entire government did not amount tomuch. Furthermore, the unique cruelty of the death penaltyin that nation can be seen in that "it is not uncommon for prisoners toremain under sentence of death for several decades" (When the State 158). However, despite these arguments, there has never beenany evidence that the death penalty deters criminals from their crimes, northat it protects society in any other way (When the State 9). Clearly this is a policy whichdirectly violates the principles of Amnesty International. "AIUSA's Campaign for U.S. . governmentmore deeply in worldwide human rights issues includes a recent "campaignfor U.S. The current laws of South Africa are vagueenough to allow the police to arrest and detain virtually anyone. This treaty was adopted by the United Nations General Assembly in1966. The third treaty, adopted by the U.N. Nonetheless, the development of such acode is very important because it helps doctors, lawyers, and policeofficers around the world to have a basis to avoid "becoming silent orovert accomplices in the infamous crime of torture" (Codes of ProfessionalEthics 11). Thus, "from the moment the sentence ispronounced, the prisoner is forced to contemplate the prospect of beingtaken away to be put to death at an appointed time" (61). GeneralAssembly in 1965, is the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms ofRacial Discrimination. Healey, executive director for Amnesty InternationalUSA, "we have a leftover cowboy philosophy in this country with regard tothe death penalty" (Gray and Stanley 373). The third goal ofAmnesty International is to oppose "the death penalty and torture and anyother cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment of all prisoners,without reservation" (35). Thus, this Convention "would establish 'universaljurisdiction,' meaning that an alleged torturer could be brought to justicewherever he or she might be and whatever the nationality of theperpetrators or victims" (173). As noted in arecent Amnesty International publication, "some 8 countries . Inaddition to working for the release of specific prisoners, AmnestyInternational also engages in "special campaigns directed at countrieswhich consistently violate human rights" (35). Senators on this issue arecontinuing at the present time. In particular, Amnesty International workers werehopeful for positive change in Japan at the time because the government wasrevising its criminal law codes. During the 195 s, Benensonhad already become interested in the fight against "government repressionof dissent" (Voices 8). It has been noted that in Iraq the victims have "includeddetainees below the age of 18, who were said to have been beaten, whipped,sexually abused, given electric shocks and deprived of food" (259). It hasbeen noted that the torture of political prisoners is commonplace in Iran,and that there have been recent allegations of "widespread secretexecutions" there (255). In this regard,Amnesty International's plan for U.S. According to Healey, thisphilosophy runs contrary to the humane approach to governance, because "thebasic obligation of governments is to protect people, not to destroy them"(373). In this twelve-point program, it is notedthat individual governments can make great strides toward the eliminationof torture in the world by: (1) officially condemning torture; (2) limitingincommunicado detention of prisoners; (3) eliminating all secret detentionof prisoners; (4) providing safeguards for prisoners during interrogationand custody; (5) independently investigating all allegations of torture;(6) not permitting the legal use of statements or confessions which wereextracted under torture; (7) creating laws to prohibit the use of torture;(8) prosecuting alleged torturers; (9) providing better training for policeofficers and interrogation officers; (1 ) providing compensation andrehabilitation for the victims of torture; (11) maintaining aninternational response network with other governments; and (12) ratifyinginternational treaty instruments, such as those contained in the variousUnited Nations conventions for human rights (175). In addition, Benenson became interested in goingbeyond his individual efforts of the past in order to develop a system for"concerted worldwide protests at acts of political injustice" (8). Amnesty International has also developed a"twelve-point program" for the prevention and elimination of torture in thevarious nations of the world. In some cases, Amnesty International adoption groups work to releasespecific prisoners who have been arrested for conscientious beliefs. . In this regard, the AmnestyInternational Code of Professional Ethics points out that defense lawyersaround the world have.an obligation to treat seriously allegations oftorture among their clients and to do anything possible to investigate suchallegations. Thus, theseenforcement procedures "provide forums in which pressure can be brought tobear against governments which refuse to live up to the international humanrights commitments they have made" (Hoffman 1). However, they must be ratified by individual nations in order forthem to be put into effect in those nations. In addition, there are high costs involved in the executionitself and in employing the various personnel required to effectively carryout an execution (Gray and Stanley 43-45). These arguments can be briefly summarized as follows:"(1) The moral viewpoint, emphasizing sanctity of life over the payment ofa life with a life; and (2) the law and order view, emphasizing the needfor a strong deterrent over the notion that violence begets violence" (Grayand Stanley 41). As a result of this situation,many regular police officers who are not actually sadists per se may becomeinvolved in the use of torture methods, simply because they have beeneither implicitly or overtly sanctioned by their own government leaders. At that time, it was felt that there were "a number of factorsprevailing in Japan which should facilitate abolition of the death penalty"(Death Penalty 23). In this regard, Amnesty International hascalled upon "all U.S. According to a pamphlet published by Amnesty Internationalregarding this code of professional ethics, it is stressed that theactivities of such professionals is but one step in the overall effort tostop torture wherever it occurs. The efforts of Amnesty International to eliminate the death penaltyaround the world have made some headway in recent years. Inparticular, this state of emergency has "extended police powers of stop andsearch and conferred on the police and other law enforcement personnel,including the military, wide powers of arbitrary arrest and detentionwithout trial" (Voices 2 1). Despite the recent humanitarian changes inthe Soviet government being instituted by the current president MikhailGorbachev, there have still been reports of this type of treatment ofpolitical dissenters. Amnesty International has developedfour suggested actions for U.S. In recent years, for example, the nation of SouthAfrica has become a focal point for human rights struggles because of theefforts of the government there "to silence all opposition" ("South AfricaCampaign" 23). Many such reports have arisen from Third World nations in LatinAmerica, Africa, the Middle East, and Asia. To date, the United Stateshas not ratified any of these five United Nations treaties, despite theavowed interest in human rights professed by U.S. Senate is the International Covenant on Civil and PoliticalRights. This isa sign that Amnesty International's efforts are helping to improve thecurrent international situation regarding the death penalty. Thus,"according to the nature of the case [Amnesty International] will press forfreedom from pre-trial intimidation or torture; access to legal advice andfamily visits; the right to a fair trial and adequate defence; the right toappeal against sentence; and while in prison, adequate conditions, accessto medical care, exercise, study facilities, and so on" (Garling 1 ). government leaders.These five treaties include the Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel,Inhuman and Degrading Treatment or Punishment, which was adopted by theUnited Nations General Assembly in 1984. In addition, Amnesty International is struggling toinsure fair and speedy trials for political prisoners everywhere and toeliminate the practices of torture and the death penalty wherever theycurrently exist. Iraq has also been cited for routinely torturingpolitical prisoners and for reports of torture being used as a prelude toexecution (259). over 4 per cent of all countries in the world . But on the basis of their investigations into the nature ofsadism and cruelty, scientists have taught us that there is a furtherpurpose" (Voices 64). ." and that they should "use force only when strictly necessaryand to the extent required for the performance of their duty" (Codes 3 ).The Code of Professional Ethics developed by Amnesty International alsoprovides six basic principles for members of the medical profession intheir efforts to avoid being involved in the use of torture methods. Those who argue in favor of the death penalty do so on either moralor legal grounds. A great deal of Amnesty International's effort is geared toward theelimination of torture around the world. Thus,repeated attempts at executing a person increases the overall impact of theexecution's cruelty. In this regard, a recent Amnesty International publication haspointed out, "Extortion of information and confessions, intimidation of thepolitical opponent, deterrence--these are often the ostensible reasons forusing torture. government officials includes (1)taking action to free prisoners of conscience and to promote fair trials inpolitical cases; (2) taking action to stop torture in the world; (3) takingaction to stop arbitrary and discriminatory death sentencing in the world;and (4) taking action to ensure just treatment of refugees (3-5). The events atTiananmen Square in the spring of 1989 have raised further questions abouthuman rights violations on the part of the Chinese government. New York: Amnesty International, 1989.Codes of Professional Ethics. Although Benenson'scampaign was originally intended to last for only one year, "the appealquickly attracted international support and within a few short months thegroundwork was laid for a permanent organization that eventually becameknown as Amnesty International" (8). Foreign Policy: A Mandate for Leadership. Although many people,including government human rights leaders, have spoken out against the useof torture in recent years, Amnesty International has nonetheless foundevidence that the practice is continuing on a wide scale at the presenttime. Furthermore, theUnited States possesses a Constitution which strongly supports the valuesof freedom and democracy as well as the right of people to voice theirpolitical opinions without being imprisoned or tortured in any way.Although the United States advocates the death penalty, the nation as awhole is not as offensive as other nations which also permit torture andother human rights violations. Furthermore, such efforts are important in themaintenance of the United States' international position because"recognition of the inherent dignity and of the equal and inalienablerights of all members of the human family is the foundation of freedom,justice, and peace in the world" (1). Aside from working for therelease of prisoners of conscience around the world, Amnesty Internationalis also concerned with protecting the basic human rights of prisonersduring the time that they are in police custody or imprisonment. AmnestyInternational is a self-financing organization: "Its income derives fromindividual membership fees, donations, fund-raising campaigns, sale ofpublications, public events, and contributions by [local] groups" (11).The basic method used by Amnesty International in its worldwide efforts isknown as "case-adoption." In this method, groups of private individuals onthe local level "work on behalf of up to three political prisoners--alwaysselected from contrasting backgrounds and never from the group's owncountry" (9). Yet anotherproblem with the death penalty is that it is possible for innocent peopleto be executed (Gray and Stanley 45). Thus, the efforts of Amnesty Internationalto gain the support of the majority of U.S. The idea of working only for people from countries outsideof one's own is important because it insures that Amnesty International'sefforts are indeed international in scope. The government of South Africa has declared a long-running"state of emergency" which has in turn given greater power to local lawenforcement officials in their capacity to deal with political dissent. Theseprinciples point out that the purpose of the medical profession is torespect and preserve human life, and on this basis, "it is a grosscontravention of medical ethics . government officials can become involved in these goalsis through supporting Amnesty International's efforts and throughcondemning those nations which fail to live up to the basic standards ofhuman rights within their own borders. In this regard, it can be seen that"torture is frequently part of the state-controlled machinery forsuppressing dissent" (169). Thus, Amnesty International has published aHuman Rights Policy Paper which calls for the United States to adopt a"mandate for leadership" in supporting human rights and the just treatmentof prisoners around the world. In 1961, Benenson's interest in world human rights was again stirredwhen he read a newspaper account of two young students in Portugal who hadbeen "arrested in a restaurant and sentenced to 7 years imprisonment forraising their glasses in a toast to freedom" (8). Thus,the laws permit officers in that nation to "detain anyone who they have'reason to believe' has committed or intends to commit offenses connectedwith state security, or is withholding information about such offenses"("South Africa" 23). . Amnesty Internationalhas pointed out that the establishment of basic human rights around theworld would be an important factor in creating true stability and peace inthe world (Human Rights 1). As a nationwhere political dissent and religious practice are harshly dealt with,China has gained a reputation for imprisoning, torturing, and executingpeople simply for their beliefs. Instead it endangers their lives byjoining in the same practices as the countries whose standards of civilrights it abhors" (13). These fivetreaties have all been adopted by the General Assembly of the UnitedNations. It is apparent thatAmnesty International still has a great deal of work to do in its effortsto help prisoners of conscience and to stop the torture of politicalprisoners. London: Amnesty International, 1984.The Death Penalty in Japan: Report of an Amnesty International Mission to Japan, 21 February-3 March 1983. As a result of these humanitarian efforts in the globalcommunity, the Amnesty International organization became a recipient of theNobel Peace Prize in 1977 (Wiseberg and Sirett 35). New York: Amnesty International, 1987."South Africa Campaign and Lawyers' Action." Amnesty International USA Legal Support Network Newsletter 6 (Summer 1989): 23-25.Voices for Freedom: An Amnesty International Anthology. A Punishment in Search of a Crime: Americans Speak Out Against the Death Penalty. ratification of five major international human rights treatiescurrently pending before the United States Senate" (Hoffman 1). As such, state-sanctioned death sentencing represents "an irreversible andtotally unacceptable abuse of power" (Voices 87). For example, a 1983 Amnesty Internationalmission to Japan sought the elimination of the death penalty in thatcountry. . This is particularly true in the regionof Tibet, where the local religious community has f ought a long-runningstruggle for freedom and autonomy. However, a report published by AmnestyInternational in 1989 disclosed the fact that the death penalty is still inuse in Japan today. The importance of these international treaties can be seen in thefact that they do more than simply provide guidelines for the humanetreatment of national citizens. Benenson then established an office in London and developed a year-long campaign "whose object was to obtain an amnesty for all political andreligious prisoners of conscience" (Voices 8). government officials which are in accordwith the three basic goals of the organization itself. Amnesty International directs a great deal of attention towardabolishing the death penalty in the various nations of the world which arestill labeled as retentionist. Thus, according to Amnesty International,"each killing, whether by the State or by its enemies, is shameful andsenseless" (Voices 87). Reading this storyrenewed Benenson's desire to do something about stopping the imprisonmentof people guilty of nothing more than protesting against the policies oftheir own government. In particular, the costs ofkeeping a person alive on death row while awaiting execution can be quiteexpensive. New York: Avon, 1989.Hoffman, Paul. have abolished the deathpenalty in law or in practice" (4). It is the role of democratic governments everywhere to set apositive example and to strive toward making the world a better, safer andmore humane place to live. The mainways in which U.S. The existence of prisoners of conscience in the nation of China hasalso been a long-running problem for Amnesty International. According to AmnestyInternational, the participation of the U.S. Recent reports by Amnesty Internationalhave pointed to numerous allegations of extremely cruel tortures beingimposed upon Buddhist monks and nuns in Tibet (Amnesty 169). Its first goalis to seek the release of "prisoners of conscience" around the world.Prisoners of conscience are defined as individuals who have been"imprisoned or otherwise detained by reason of their political, religiousor other conscientiously-held beliefs, or on the grounds of their ethnicorigin, race, sex or cultural background" (Garling 7). The use of amputation as a punishment for crimes such as theftis commonplace in Saudi Arabia, for example, where at least one suchsentence was carried out in 1989 (274). AmnestyInternational professes the view that taking another human life is neverjustified in any circumstance. From the perspective of Amnesty International, it is a terribleshame that the United States maintains retentionist as opposed toabolitionist views on the death penalty. Other writers have pointed out, however, that it isnot just sadists who become torturers. Senate is the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms ofDiscrimination Against Women, which was adopted by the United NationsGeneral Assembly in 1979. . It is universallyopposed "on the grounds that it is a violation of the right to life and theright not to be subjected to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment orpunishment as proclaimed in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights andother international human rights instruments" (Death Penalty i). Amnesty International has made many specific efforts in the variousnations of the world to free prisoners of conscience and to stop thepractice of torture. Asnoted in one Amnesty International publication., "If the United States wereto abolish the death penalty it could take the moral high ground andcondemn state killing under all circumstances, thereby giving addedprotection to its citizens world wide. At the same time, however, this meansthat the majority--6 per cent--of the nations of the world still use thedeath penalty to some extent. This issue iscomplicated by the fact that American citizens abroad may be subjected tothe death penalty laws of other nations under certain circumstances. In thisregard, it has been noted that, "in both the long and short run theratification by the United States of these treaties is essential if theyare to be fully effective in achieving their human rights goals" (1). The United States isprobably the strongest nation in the current international community, andit has already established itself as a leader in a number of otherimportant political areas concerning world affairs. Part of Amnesty International's plan to involve the U.S. According toAmnesty International, people should have the right to make politicalprotests without being subject to cruel or unreasonable punishments of thistype. Those that are retentionist continueto use the death penalty, whereas those who are abolitionist have stoppedusing it. Amnesty International makes absolutely noexceptions in its condemnation of the death penalty. The foundations for Amnesty International I s basic goals arecontained in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights which wasestablished by the United Nations in 1948 (Garling 5). leadership inprotecting human rights, to stand firm in opposition to these abuses and tostate clearly what actions they will take in this endeavor" (Human Rights1). In addition, all of these methodshave the potential of not working properly on the first attempt. TheU.S. New York: Facts on File, 1979.Gray, Ian, and Moira Stanley. Thus, it can be seen thatAmnesty International's adoption groups "work for release of theirallocated prisoners of conscience either directly through approaches to theauthorities concerned or indirectly through local publicity and themobilizing of public interest in the cases" (Wiseberg and Sirett 35). It has been noted that "Amnesty International believes that anygovernment that wishes to stop torture has the means to do so" (Voices173). In many nations of the world, officialgovernments are tolerant or even supportive of the use of torture when itinvolves extracting information from, or punishing, guerrillas, terrorists,and other obvious enemies of the state. Amnesty International has specifically appealed to the United Statesto take the leading role in world human rights. Amnesty International has also developed a "Code of ProfessionalEthics" for use by law enforcement officials, medical professionals, andlawyers in their personal efforts to eliminate the use of torture in theirown countries. Infact, there have been so many cases of alleged torture in recent years thatit is impossible to simply summarize them here. Prosecuting lawyers, on the other hand, have theresponsibility of not introducing evidence in court which they know wasbrought about by the use of torture (35-36). In addition,some opponents of the death penalty have argued that executions place anextremely high financial burden on society. Government officials to reaffirm U.S. . for health personnel, particularlyphysicians, to engage, actively or passively, in acts which constituteparticipation in, complicity in, incitement to or attempts to committorture or other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment" (33). The second goal of the AmnestyInternational organization is the encouragement of "fair and prompt trialsfor all political prisoners" (Wiseberg and Sirett 35). London: Amnesty International, 1986.When The State Kills . Works CitedAmnesty International Report: 1989. North American Human Rights Directory. Five types of death penalty are permitted in the United States,including shooting, hanging, electrocution, gassing, and lethal injection.As noted by John G. The origins of Amnesty International can be traced to 1961 and theactivities of British lawyer Peter Benenson. The use of psychiatric hospitals in such cases is justified by theofficial Soviet government view "that opposition in their country [is] akind of schizophrenia" (Voices 64). AmnestyInternational denounces the use of capital punishment as "the premeditatedand cold-blooded killing of a human being by the state" (When the State 1). government to hold hearings on the treaties.According to a recent report published by Amnesty International, "we havefound considerable support for hearings on these treaties and for action onratification but there is a need for letters in support of hearings and insupport of ratification to be sent to all members of the Senate to ensurethat the Senate will act" (3). In Brazil, for example, a 1989Amnesty International report indicated that there were still numerousallegations "both of torture and ill-treatment of criminal suspects as ameans of obtaining confessions, and of deaths in custody" (Amnesty 1 9).In the Middle East, Amnesty International is concerned not only withallegations of torture but also with the practice of punishment byamputation. Related to its goal for the release of allprisoners of conscience around the world, Amnesty International is alsoinvolved in working "for the release of people imprisoned because of theirrefusal, on conscientious grounds, to perform military service" (Voices forFreedom 196). For example, a government may adopt and ratify the United Nations'treaty contained in the Convention Against Torture and other Cruel, Inhumanor Degrading Treatment or Punishment; or it may adopt and ratify otherlegislation which provides for similar establishment of basic human rightsamong prisoners and detainees. The activities of Amnesty International are also largely concernedwith addressing allegations of government-sponsored torture around theworld. As in the case of eliminatingtorture and the imprisonment of innocent people around the world, theUnited States is in a position where it can and should take the lead towardencouraging positive change in the international community. Its basic goals include the freeing of prisoners of conscience whohave done nothing more than hold certain beliefs or come from certainethnic backgrounds. Supreme Court has permitted the individual states to decide on thisissue, and a number of states have been quite active in maintaining capitalpunishment for extreme crimes such as aggravated murder (When the State227). Inall, Amnesty International has received reports of alleged torture or ill-treatment of prisoners "in some 98 countries" around the world (169).According to one Amnesty International writer, "the torture of politicalprisoners is at present spreading like an epidemic throughout the world andeven more terrible, just because of this, it seems to become more and moredifficult to rouse people against it" (63). New York: Amnesty International, 1989.Wiseberg, Laurie S., and Hazel Sirett, eds. Amnesty International considers the death penalty to be a cruel formof punishment. The Amnesty Internationalorganization considers the torture of political prisoners to be "afundamental violation of human rights" (Voices 175). The Human Rights Handbook: A Guide to British and American International Human Rights Organisations. London: Amnesty International, 1983.Garling, Marguerite, ed. Writers for Amnesty International have also pointedout that the procedure of making a prisoner await his or her execution isyet another form of cruelty. A report on the Soviet Union from 1988 showed that"at least nine people were suspected to have been forcibly confined inpsychiatric hospitals solely for their non-violent political activity"(238). Amnesty International is also involved in efforts to abolish thedeath penalty as it is currently imposed around the world. In theSoviet Union, Amnesty International is faced with a unique situation inwhich Soviet prisoners of conscience are frequently placed in psychiatrichospitals against their will. Washington, DC: Human Rights Internet, 1984.----------------------- 22 government in ratifying thesetreaties is important in giving international legitimacy to them. According to the Amnesty International perspective, the adoption ofspecific government policies aimed, toward the establishment of humanrights internationally would be a positive step for the United States.Such a step would be in support of United States national securityinterests as it would help to protect the values of democracy and freedomwhich are contained in the nation's Constitution. It has also been noted thatthe various methods used for imposing the death penalty are cruel andinhumane in and of themselves. Since its origins in the early 196 s, Amnesty International has beenextremely active in its efforts to instill human rights values around theworld. 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