06-625_02_A-B.qxd
14 •
1/17/07
8:42 AM
Page 14
AMERASINGHE, HAMILTON SHIRLEY
than procedure (Article 27). The same year, the size of the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) was enlarged from 18 to 27. The membership of the ECOSOC was further enlarged to 54 in 1973 (Article 61). In 1968, the number of votes required in the Security Council to convene a General Conference to review the charter was increased from 7 to 9 (Article 109). See also REFORM, UNITED NATIONS; SPECIAL COMMITTEE ON THE CHARTER OF THE UNITED NATIONS AND ON THE STRENGTHENING OF THE ROLE OF THE ORGANIZATION. AMERASINGHE, HAMILTON SHIRLEY (1913–1980). Sri Lankan diplomat who presided over a number of United Nations bodies, including the General Assembly 1976–1977. He is best remembered for his skillful chairmanship of the United Nations Conference on the Law of the Sea, which he assumed from 1973 to his death. AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL (AI). Influential London-based voluntary worldwide nongovernmental organization (NGO) created in 1961 to promote respect for human rights. With its 2 million members and supporters in 150 countries and a budget in excess of £25 million, AI undertakes grassroots campaigns and carries out research focused on the prevention and redress of human rights violations. AI initially focused its research work and campaigns on political prisoners, the abolition of the death penalty, torture, extrajudicial executions, and “disappearances.” Its reports and international campaigns exposing political oppression and the widespread commission of atrocities in Chile and Argentina in the 1970s contributed in no minor way to the return of law and democracy in these countries. In 1991, AI expanded its mandate to encompass all the rights in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and started to work on such human rights abuses committed by nonstate actors and armed political groups as hostage-taking, unlawful killings, and abuses against civilians and noncombatants in armed conflicts. AI has targeted governments complicit in or failing to take effective action against human rights abuses and, in that context, actively campaigned for the creation of a permanent International Criminal Court (ICC). AI enjoys consultative status with the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC), the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organiza-