UPSC Prelims 2015 Q53: Current Affairs – International Organisations & Groupings

UPSC Prelims 2015, General Studies Paper I · Current Affairs

Amnesty International is

(a) an agency of the United Nations to help refugees of civil wars
(b) a global Human Rights Movement
(c) a non - governmental voluntary organization to help very poor people
(d) an inter - governmental agency to cater to medical emergencies in war - ravaged regions

Answer: (b) a global Human Rights Movement

Explanation

Amnesty International

Amnesty International is a global human rights movement, founded in London in 1961 by the lawyer Peter Benenson.

Feature	Detail
Type	Non-governmental; funded by members and donors
Work	Campaigns for prisoners of conscience, against torture and the death penalty
Award	Nobel Peace Prize, 1977
Report	Annual report on the state of the world's human rights

The options checked:

Option	Verdict
(a) Agency of the United Nations to help refugees of civil wars	Incorrect; that is the UNHCR
(b) A global Human Rights Movement	Correct
(c) Voluntary organization to help very poor people	Incorrect
(d) Inter-governmental agency for medical emergencies in war-ravaged regions	Incorrect

Answer: (b) a global Human Rights Movement.

(a) Incorrect. The United Nations agency for refugees is the UNHCR, not Amnesty.
(b) CORRECT. Amnesty International is a global Human Rights Movement.
(c) Incorrect. It does not work mainly to help very poor people; its focus is rights.
(d) Incorrect. It is not an inter-governmental agency and does not handle medical emergencies.

Amnesty International (London, 1961, Peter Benenson): non-governmental human rights movement; Nobel Peace Prize 1977.

Amnesty International = human rights movement, 1961.

Treating it as a United Nations body.
Confusing it with Doctors Without Borders, which handles medical emergencies.
Mixing it up with Human Rights Watch, a separate organisation based in New York.

Amnesty = human rights; Medecins Sans Frontieres = medical aid; UNHCR = refugees.