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Peter Benenson Quotes

The candle burns not for us, but for all those whom we failed to rescue from prison, who were shot on the way to prison, who were tortured, who were kidnapped, who disappeared. That's what the candle is for

The candle burns not for us, but for all those whom we failed to rescue from prison, who were shot on the way to prison, who were tortured, who were kidnapped, who "disappeared". That's what the candle is for

Peter Benenson
Rights, Amnesty International, Way

Once the concentration camps and the hell-holes of the world were in darkness. Now they are lit by the light of the Amnesty candle; the candle in barbed wire. When I first lit the Amnesty candle, I had in mind the old Chinese proverb: 'Better light a candle than curse the darkness.'

Peter Benenson
Light, Darkness, Chinese

Open your newspaper - any day of the week - and you will find a report from somewhere in the world of someone being imprisoned, tortured or executed because his opinions or religion are unacceptable to his government.

Peter Benenson
Government, World, Opinion
The Observer, May 28, 1961.

Its the publicity function of Amnesty that I think has made its name so widely known, not only to readers in the world, but to governments - and thats what matters.

Peter Benenson
Thinking, What Matters, Government

Those who today still feel a sense of impotence can do something: they can support Amnesty International. They can help it to stand up for freedom and justice.

Peter Benenson
Rights, Justice, Support
The Amnesty International Report, p. 22, 2002.

Pressure of opinion a hundred years ago brought about the emancipation of the slaves'.

Peter Benenson
Years, Pressure, Opinion
Peter Benenson's remarks in 1961, as quoted in Paul Gordon Lauren "The Evolution of International Human Rights: Visions Seen" (p. 251), 2011.

Torture is banned but in two-thirds of the world's countries it is still being committed in secret. Too many governments still allow wrongful imprisonment, murder or "disappearance" to be carried out by their officials with impunity.

Peter Benenson
Country, Government, Two
The Amnesty International Annual Report (p. 22), 2002.

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