Amnesty International's vision is of a world in which every person enjoys all of the human rights enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and other international human rights standards. In pursuit of this vision, Amnesty's mission is to undertake research, education and action focused on preventing and ending grave abuses of the rights to physical and mental integrity, freedom of conscience and expression, and freedom from discrimination, within the context of its work to promote all human rights.

The United States section of Amnesty International (AIUSA) works on domestic rights, including fighting the death penalty, calling for a moratorium on the use of TASER's, ending racial profiling, and calling for needed changes in the criminal justice system. AIUSA's project in the Gulf Coast utilizes a human rights framework to approach the loss of rights that persist as a result of the Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. AIUSA stands with the thousands of New Orleans residents that were evacuated and still displaced to support their struggle to uphold their right to return. Through legislative campaigning, membership mobilization, human rights education and training, Amnesty is committed to a just rebuild for the Gulf Coast.