award recognises

The Edge to present Peter Gabriel with Ambassador of Conscience Award

Peter Gabriel is the recipient of the Amnesty International ‘Ambassador of Conscience Award’ 2008, Art for Amnesty has announced. The award will be presented to him by The Edge at a the Hard Rock Cafe in London, on September 10th, 2008.

The Ambassador of Conscience Award recognises exceptional individual leadership and witness in the fight to protect and promote human rights. In 2005, U2 and Paul McGuinness were the recipients of the award.

It’s a fun packed week for Edge as the Davis Guggenheim documentary ‘It Might Get Loud‘ in which he’s featured alongside Jimmy Page and Jack White will officially premiere at the Toronto Film festival this Friday, September 5th.

U2 win ‘2005 Ambassadors of Conscience’ award

U2 and their manager Paul McGuinness have been named ‘2005 Ambassadors of Conscience’, an Amnesty International Award.

Art for Amnesty spokesperson Bill Shipsey said that ‘for their art and music alone U2 would be worthy recipients of Amnesty’s most prestigious human rights Award’. The Irish poet Seamus Heaney, whose work inspired the award, commented ‘U2 have sung themselves to where great singing comes from, that place where art and ardency meet in the light of conscience.’

The band were lauded for their promotion of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights during the shows on their current Vertigo World Tour.

Amnesty International Secretary Irene Khan said: ‘From Live Aid in 1985 and Amnesty International’s 1986 ‘Conspiracy of Hope’ tour, through to Live 8 this past July, U2 has arguably done more than any other band to highlight the cause of global human rights in general and Amnesty International’s work in particular. Their leadership in linking music to the struggle for human rights and human dignity worldwide has been ground-breaking and unwavering. They have inspired and empowered millions with their music and by speaking out on behalf of the poor, the powerless and the oppressed.”

Amnesty International’s “Ambassador of Conscience” Award recognises exceptional individual leadership and witness in the fight to protect and promote human rights. Past winners include Vaclav Havel and former UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Mary Robinson.

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(via U2 Sweden. More at U2.com)