Amnesty’s goals brought attention to a darkness

More widespread than many had previously thought:

We discovered that nations cooperated, in starkness,

Against freedom of expression, with a vigilance wrought

Of tyranny, fear of the governed, and militant action.

As the Amnesty movement grew – from a mere faction

To a “Prisoners of Conscience” petition to the UN against torture,

Its missions grew also, seeking to end the ‘death penalty.’

Benenson’s idea grew, like a candle in the otherwise dark future*

Of thousands of prisoners, released as a result of reports

By Amnesty, the media, global and local cohorts.

Then, two hundred thousand; now, millions continue their retort:

Oppression and torture of persons for speaking their minds

Must stop. Human rights are concrete and serve peaceful ends.

The winner this year was a neutral organization

Whose focus was “prisoners of conscience,” persons elated –

Who saw freedom due to the work of its members and devotees.

“In brutal strife, your sword and shield shall be

Belief in life and human dignity.”

These lines were written by the poet, Nordahl Grieg,

Expressing a philosophy of harmony, a creed

That was practiced by Peter Benenson, a London lawyer,

When he began his “Appeal for Amnesty’ in an office corner.

He worked for prisoners who had unfairly been

Imprisoned for their beliefs, opinions, nailed

For speaking, for peaceful acts, choice of religion,

And who were, until then, without an advocate, now hailed

By a group investigating and reporting:  they were unfairly jailed!

“Wherever war stalks the land,” the killing of children

Is the “logical result of the mindless brutality of War.”

In this case, a housewife and aunt were the first to bend

The hopeless resignation of thousands, rich and poor:

“I stand here in the name of courage, to give name to a challenge,”

Said Betty, “The words are simple but the path is not easy.

Reject the use of all techniques of violence,

Then seek out the work of peace . . . and do it. See,

New cloth from old woes: the “Peace People,” where fear had been,

Came with a clear, simple message: “we must put an end

To the use of violence and to acts of terrorism.”

Their simple “War is senseless” breached the chasm.

Their work grew from the ground up, common people

Fed up with the costs and contrivances of the “violence” principle.

The year was 1976, and Ireland was set to explode:

The Irish Republican Army had just killed ten more Protestant men;

Northern Ireland then lost control of their government – to England.

Contemptible butchery on religious grounds continued, the stories told

Of neighbour against neighbour, guerrillas imprisoned for murder and unrest.

In August, three children were killed by a car as a fugitive was shot by the Brits.

Ten thousand women gathered to protest for Peace, at the end of their wits –

The ‘Troubles,’ they’d called it – soft war with no winner, as all could attest.

A witness who ran to the car, Betty Williams, determined the terror must cease,

While the aunt of the children who died, Mairead Corrigan, helped her organize for Peace.

These women were working class gals who’d grown up in Catholic Belfast.

Their impact, while somewhat short-lived, was, in hindsight, the knock on a door:*

“The cycle of violence must stop,” co-existence in Peace cannot be ignored.

The message, guerrillas, religions, politicians? Peace must be explored.

His brilliant and difficult research into nuclear physics and power

Brought the hydrogen bomb to the Soviets. Now none could glower

That they alone held survival of all in their hands – in an hour.

But Sakharov emphatically argued nuclear’s potential for peace:

Not only would its cataclysmic ‘signature’ prevent its use,

But its power could be key to the peaceful survival of the planet;

Its power could in fact help us to produce

The food necessary to feed an overpopulated Earth,

And, effectively, reduce carbon pollution, our environmental dearth.

He joined Schweitzer’s call to end nuclear weapon testing – commit

To global cooperation across political and ideological borders

And in this way, secure the future of all – against economic hoarders.

Wise Norns, who wove the ropes that tied the Gods to their Fates,

Tell us how to hinder a rolling wheel, now at our gate.

Andrei Sakharov was born poor in Soviet Russia.

His father, a physics professor, taught him. In Stalin’s

Time, bleak, he continued in theoretical physics, ushered

From the university to war work making munitions.

He finished his doctorate as World War II was ending,

And Russia was clamouring to make nuclear weapons, themselves.

He joined that research endeavour, certain that mending

Relations and peace would result from sharing “the bomb,”

Convinced it would lead to peace and prosperity. Then Hell’s

Politicians and nations began actively testing them. Fallout

And the effects of radioactivity chilled, in hindsight,

His heart. He began to write, to oppose, to protest, to shout

Against testing. For bans. For peaceful uses and for “human rights.”

He was targeted, exiled, disgraced, wire-tapped, banned and committed.*

MacBride saw his father executed for his path

Into the Irish fight for independence from Britain.

He then rose as a fighter and lawyer, fighting both

For a united and a free Ireland. He defended

IRA members successfully in Irish courts,

And rose as a statesman in Ireland and beyond.

His work resulted in Ireland’s joining the Marshall Plan.

The European Declaration of Human Rights? His work.

His work for the release of political prisoners

Led to the founding plus 13 years with Amnesty International.

“There is nothing more damaging to the concept of world order

And peace than the massive violations of human rights

That continue to occur in various parts of the world.”

Toward Peace and cooperation, he was an effective spur.

Eisaku Sato was Asia’s first winner of the Prize.

Japan’s Prime Minister from 1960, he’d used his position

To encourage peace treaties with other Asian nations

And to open new global trade routes and trading ties.

In this way, he felt, the greatest leaps would be made

Toward normalization of relations, through modern trade.

Sato reminded us Japan was the sole victim

Of a nuclear attack and his policy became

That Japan would not build up such weapons

But with friendship between nations create a new frame.

“The attainment of peace” could be “something very ordinary” –

When each family can live “without fear” and with “hope,”

Devoted to “creative and constructive” achievements. Here, see,

Were the culturally “essential” requirements for Peace’s scope.   

These two men formed the diplomatic helm

Of the Vietnam War, where Agent Orange and bombs

Were the currency of diplomacy.  Overwhelmed

With issues, Kissinger’s strategy put ‘thumbs on the button’

For a Christmas bombing, killing many civilians.

Le Duc Tho rejected colonial rule

Before and after the war. He led millions

For a free and unified Vietnam. He was chosen

To be their negotiator, but the U.S. was just another

Colonial power, following France, and an end

To the war was not secured when the prize was given.

Tho’s goal was always to unite Vietnam – and he did.

He refused to accept the prize due to Kissinger’s actions

Of cheating, aggressively pushing his people’s demise.

Kissinger’s warmonger tactics followed him. Sad. 

In the eyes of many, neither deserved this Prize.

He took the name, Willy Brandt, while fighting the Nazis,

Undercover with the Socialist Workers’ Party. To sea

He went at twenty by ship to Norway, neutral,

Where he excelled in the language, politics and writing. Youthful,

He worked for Labor and wrote profusely (Nazi crimes).

Germany took his citizenship, upon which he was granted Norwegian.

He’d escaped to Sweden until the war’s end. Now was his time:

Brandt became mayor of West Berlin at a moment

When the cold war with Russia reigned. When and how could it end?

He worked to defuse growing tensions by specific detente.

Non-violence was later agreed between Russia and Germany.

Initiatives repairing Europe’s relations and harmony began.

He said he was “well aware of the difficult journey” asked

Of a people struggling to bring an end to “an evil past.”