In November 1960, British barrister Peter Benenson traveled to work on London's Underground as usual, wearing his customary bowler hat, with a newspaper tucked under his arm. It contained a story that would change not only his life, but the course of tens of thousands of other lives too.The article told the story of two Portuguese students, overheard raising a toast to liberty in a Lisbon cafe, who had been jailed for seven years. Benenson was outraged, but rather than launch a one-man protest, he came up with an idea he hoped would mobilize people just like him. In a full-page article in a national newspaper, Benenson launched a 12-month "Amnesty" letter-writing campaign, urging readers to lobby governments in support of "forgotten prisoners"those imprisoned, tortured or executed because their opinions or religion appeared unacceptable.
The response was overwhelming: thousands wrote in the first six months. Within the year, affiliated campaigning organizations had set up in a dozen countries; in 1977 Amnesty International (
Benenson stayed at the helm of the group he founded only until 1966he left following disagreements with other members, and suffering from exhaustionbut he remained a passionate advocate of human rights (later reconciling with the group), until his death last year, aged 83. And though he is now gone, Amnesty, with its universally recognized symbol of a candle wrapped in barbed wireBenenson had in mind the proverb: "It's better to light a candle than curse the darkness"burns on.