Amnesty International Celebrates 50 Years Of Human Rights Advocacy

09:55

November 12, 2010

Burmese pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi is greeted by jubilant crowd on Tuesday, July 11, 1995 after she was released from house arrest in Rangoon. (AP)

Amnesty International will celebrate its 50th anniversary at a conference in Boston this weekend.

For five decades, the group has fought for human rights across the globe. It has brought attention to the cases of political prisoners, including that of the Myanmar pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi, whose latest house arrest term is scheduled to expire Saturday.

We'll speak with Clark University professor Taner Akcam, who was deemed a "prisoner of conscience" by Amnesty International when, years ago, he was imprisoned in Turkey because of his views regarding the Armenian genocide.

We'll also talk with Amnesty International's Northeast regional director, Josh Rubenstein, about Suu Kyi and about the group's current work.

Guests:

Josh Rubenstein, Northeast regional director, Amnesty International
Taner Akcam, associate professor of history, Kaloosdian/Mugar Chair in Armenian Genocide Studies, Clark University

This segment aired on November 12, 2010.