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Amnesty International

(Encyclopedia)Amnesty International (AI,) human-rights organization founded in 1961 by Englishman Peter Benenson; it campaigns internationally against the detention of prisoners of conscience, for the fair trial of...

Court of Justice of the European Union

(Encyclopedia)Court of Justice of the European Union, judicial institution of the European Union (EU). Located in Luxembourg, it was founded in 1958 as the joint court for the three treaty organizations that were c...

Baker, Ella Josephine

(Encyclopedia)Baker, Ella Josephine, 1903–1986, U.S. civil rights activist, b. Norfolk, Va. Ella Baker was an activist and organizer whose b...

Kadyrov, Ramzan Akhmadovich

(Encyclopedia)Kadyrov, Ramzan Akhmadovich, 1976–, Chechen rebel and political leader. The son of assassinated (2004) Chechnya president Akhmad Kadyrov, he was a guerilla leader in the first Chechen war (1994–96...

Khan, Sadiq Aman

(Encyclopedia)Khan, Sadiq Aman, 1970–, British political leader. The son of Pakistani immigrants, he studied law at the Univ. of North London (now London Metropolitan Univ.) and the College of Law (now the Univ. ...

natural law

(Encyclopedia)natural law, theory that some laws are basic and fundamental to human nature and are discoverable by human reason without reference to specific legislative enactments or judicial decisions. Natural la...

Starmer, Sir Keir Rodney

(Encyclopedia)Starmer, Sir Keir Rodney, 1962–, British political leader. A member of the Labour party, he was a human-rights lawyer before becoming director of public prosecutions and head of the crown prosecutio...

Lewis, John Robert

(Encyclopedia)Lewis, John Robert, 1940–2020, African-American politician and civil-rights leader, b. near Troy, Ala., B.A. American Baptist Theological Seminary, 19...

minority

(Encyclopedia)minority, in international law, population group with a characteristic culture and sense of identity occupying a subordinate political status. Religious minorities were known from ancient times, but e...

Ford Foundation

(Encyclopedia)Ford Foundation, philanthropic institution, established (1936) in Michigan by Henry Ford and his son, Edsel, for the general purpose of advancing human welfare. Until 1950 the foundation was involved ...