UNIT 5: HELPING DEVELOPING COUNTRIES

STUDENT'S WORKSHEETS

 


SESSION 3:PRESSURE GROUPS: AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL

  By the end of lesson you should be able to:
  • know about pressure groups, specially the work of Amnesty International
  • be aware that some people are tortured in some places in the world
  • make use of letter-writing campaigns which put pressure on powerful people in order to help the innocent

Pressure groups allow people to become active citizens. A pressure group is an organisation that is set up to campaign for a specific issue. There are a number of pressure groups that campaign to improve human rights throughout the world. Perhaps the most well-known of these groups is Amnesty International. With 1.8 million members, Amnesty International is the world’s biggest pressure group and it aims to protect the human rights which are listed in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.  AI opposes human rights abuses such as torture, capital corporal punishment and the killing of prisoners. They contact governments, organise protests and publicise human rights abuses in the media.

Some of the people Amnesty International aims to help are called ‘Prisoners of Conscience’.  These people often live in dictatorships and have been put in prison because the leaders of their country do not agree with their personal beliefs.  Many are kept in prisons, never allowed to speak their minds and face torture and the prospect of execution. Other groups of innocent people are mistreated simply because of their religion, gender, age or ethnic group.

Amnesty International encourages people to take urgent action to help those who are suffering by using letter-writing campaigns which put pressure on powerful people to help the innocent.  Letter writing campaigns have helped to release thousands of prisoners since this pressure group was created in 1961.

EXERCISE 1


Answer the following questions in sentences in your jotter.

1. What does Amnesty International aim to do?

2. Find one fact to show that Amnesty International is an important pressure group.

EXERCISE 2

Letter writingGo to www.amnesty.org and try to find a good reason to write a letter following the model below.