Amnesty International USA history

1963 In 1963, Ukrainian Archbishop Josyf Slipyi in Siberia became the first prisoner freed as the result of an Amnesty International campaign.

Starting in 1964 Cockburn studied theory, composition, and arranging at the Berklee College of Music in Boston, Massachusetts.

1968: Martin Ennals is appointed secretary general; the First Amnesty International Week--Prisoner of Conscience Week--is observed in November.

In the statutes adopted by the organization in 1974 these three tasks are named as the most important ones for Amnesty International.

Winner of the Nobel Peace Prize in 1977, Amnesty International (AI) is a force to be reckoned with.

1980 Ending the death penalty became another key campaign for Amnesty International in 1980, when only nine countries had abolished capital punishment.

Cockburn created and produced Inner City Front in 1981.

Cockburn’s political activism and anger with the state of the world became more apparent on The Trouble With Normal (1983), especially on the title track, as well as on “Civilization and its Discontents” and “Planet of the Clowns.”

Cockburn’s words and music took on even greater urgency on Stealing Fire (1984), which followed his first trip to Central America on behalf of the international development group Oxfam International.

1986: Ian Martin becomes secretary general.

1992: Pierre Sané becomes secretary general; membership passes the 1 million mark.

Canadian environmentalist David Suzuki and Canadian singer-songwriter Gordon Lightfoot inducted Cockburn into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame in 2001.

The album You’ve Never Seen Everything (2003) revealed a definite jazz influence and retained Cockburn’s politically charged global perspective while also incorporating cameos from such roots music friends as Canadian singer-songwriter Sarah Harmer and American singer-songwriter Emmylou Harris.

29, respectively, in a list of the “most essential Canadian songs of all time” compiled by the CBC Radio series 50 Tracks in 2005.