AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL USA

PRESS RELEASE

November 14, 2005

(New York) -- Academy Award®-winning actress Jennifer Connelly has been named Amnesty International USA's (AIUSA) Ambassador for Human Rights Education, the organization announced today.

As ambassador, Ms. Connelly will encourage educators, elected officials and parents to impart human rights values to the nation's children from an early age. Her first official role as ambassador will be participating in the launch of Mine & Yours: Human Rights for Kids (powerHouse kids; 48 pages; $8.95), the first instructional book on human rights for young children, during which she will donate 700 copies of the book to New York City's elementary schools.

"I welcome the opportunity to bring attention to this critical effort and help create a global human rights culture for our kids," said Ms. Connelly.

"Creating a new generation that has an inherent respect for human dignity is perhaps one of the most effective means of preventing human rights abuses in the decades to come," added Dr. William F. Schulz, Executive Director for AIUSA. "We are grateful to Jennifer for her support, time and generous donation to New York City public schools."

Ms. Connelly recently served as an AIUSA spokesperson for the United Nation's screening of Innocent Voices, a film about child soldiers in El Salvador, where she stated her commitment to ensuring that the tenets of Article 26 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights are communicated effectively. Article 26 states that every person has the right to education, and that education shall be directed to the full development of the human personality and to the strengthening of respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms.

"As our collective understanding and knowledge of human rights increases, we are better able to stop violence against men, women and children, to stop torture, to improve access to and the quality of education for children everywhere," Ms. Connelly stated.

AIUSA's Human Rights Education Program offers both a lens for children to observe and make sense of the world and a methodology for them to teach and lead others. The program provides resource materials, as well as training and networking opportunities, to educators nationwide. Based on the premise that learning human rights is the first step toward building a culture that respects and defends human dignity, the program advocates teaching children in classrooms, learning communities and at home throughout a child's school years.

Amnesty International is a worldwide grassroots movement that promotes and defends all of the human rights enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Independent of any government, political ideology, economic interest or religion, Amnesty International believes that human rights should be enjoyed by all people at all times.