Martin Ennals; Played Key Role in Amnesty International

Martin Ennals, 64, the former secretary-general of Amnesty International who helped build it into a leading human rights group. Ennals led the development of the London-based group as a major international monitor of human rights during his tenure as secretary-general from 1968 to 1980. In 1977, he accepted the Nobel Peace Prize on Amnesty’s behalf. Ennals was born into a politically active family in Walsall, England, and went on to the London School of Economics. He worked for eight years with the United Nations Education Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) before serving as general secretary of the National Council for Civil Liberties from 1960 to 1966. After his tenure with Amnesty, Ennals served in the 1980s as director of the Police Committee Support Unit of the Greater London Council and also founded the human rights group International Alert. In Saskatoon, Canada, on Saturday of lung cancer.