Mnesty International’s Strategies

Amnesty International (AI) is one of the most important international HumanRights NGOs in the world, and one of the real “international” Human Rights NGOsuntil now when considering their activity range. AI has the longest history, the mostprofound effects and the most extensive activity range in all international HumanRights NGOs. For AI is a typical international Human Rights NGOs, it has great valuesto research. There are many researches on international NGOs in China now.Nonetheless, researches on international Human Rights NGOs are lacking, to saynothing of case study of AI or other international Human Rights NGOs. This paper willdo some research on AI, investigating its strategies and influences through textanalysis and case study.This paper will make a research on AI, and the main questions are: What are AI’sstrategies in its actions? And is there a distinct difference between AI’s strategies forChina and other countries? This paper deals with AI’s publications about China andthe United States from2001till2011, including reports, press releases and urgentactions–using content analysis, data statistics and analysis and comparative analysis.Margaret E.Keck and Kathryn Sikkink’s perspective in Activists beyond Borders:Advocacy Networks in International Politics do make a great help when analyzing I’sstrategies. They summarized four strategies when doing a research on InternationalHuman Rights Advocacy Network, including Information Politics, Symbolic Politics,Leverage Politics and Responsible Politics.This paper makes a standpoint that AI can make a combination of strategies ofInformation Politics, Symbolic Politics, Leverage Politics and Responsible Politics in itsactions as an important actor in International Human Rights Advocacy Networks.They also can make some adjustments in according with different countries andcircumstances to make influences ranging from international level, national level to individual level. AI makes a great concern both for China and the United States aboutall aspects of their Human Rights, and adjusts its strategies in according withdifferent countries and circumstances in its actions in these two countries. Textanalysis on China and the United States and case studies on the2008Beijing OlympicGames and the US Guantanamo prison can demonstrate it.We can make a conclusion through comparative analysis of I’s actions in Chinaand the United States that I’s characteristics of strategies are paying attentions toeffects of conceptions and ethics about Human Rights; concerning all Human Rightsproblems in all countries all over the world; having interests in new cases and specificin some countries and regions, and updating Human Rights informations in time. Inthe same time, AI has an obverse bias in its actions: AI emphasizes civil and politicalrights and does more works in big powers like China and the United States. It isdifferent to objects and targets which AI said in public before, having an influence onAI’s fairness and neutralityThough China is a socialist state, AI does not make a different in its concern andactions. AI chooses China to be one of its biggest objects just because China is one ofthe big powers in international society and there are some Human Rights problems inthe process of development in China. This conculsion is different to prevalentcognition about AI in China now.For I’s concern for China is increasing these years, and its defect can not to bechanged or eliminated, we have to make a study on AI and other internationalHuman Rights NGOs. Therefore, we can understand their strategies and featuresprofoundly, and make some policies to develop relations with them better.