In 1961, two young Portuguese men sat in a café and decided to celebrate their freedom by raising a toast. The government was infuriated and sent those two men to jail for seven years. All the way in Britain, a lawyer named Peter Benson heard about his incident and was shocked at the actions being done to these two innocent young men. He quickly brought up a one year campaign called “Appeal for Amnesty 1961” with the help of the local newspaper, ‘The London Observer.’ The purpose of this campaign was to force release of the innocent prisoners who did not belong in jail. They were people who expressed their beliefs in public and were judged wrongly. This campaign succeeded and the two men were released. But that was only one country.

Peter Benson wanted to have fair trial in all countries. This led to the organization Amnesty International on May 28. Today, there are less torture and executions than there were before. In over 150 countries, Amnesty International was adopted and now there are local groups based on the organization. It can be as big as Amnesty International USA or it can be as small as a school chapter. The purpose of this organization is to have each individual feel free and happy without being imprisoned. At this very moment, there is someone being tortured for something that is right to them and Amnesty International will be there to help them.