U2's The Edge Presents Peter Gabriel With Human Rights Award

New Amnesty International Small Places Tour Launched

LONDON, Sept. 10 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Amnesty International's new Ambassador of Conscience honoree, Peter Gabriel, and former recipient, U2's The Edge, attended the launch of the organization's Small Places Tour today in London. The event, held at the Hard Rock Cafe, outlined a preliminary list of 545 Small Places concerts (that could grow in excess of 1000
events) in 50 countries.

The Small Places Tour is Amnesty International's most ambitious global music and human rights project since the Human Rights Now! Tour in 1988; it will feature hundreds of concerts and events around the globe between September 10th and December 10th (Human Rights Day).

The tour marks the 60th Anniversary of the Universal Declaration of
Human Rights (UDHR).

Inspired by Eleanor Roosevelt's famous "small places" speech in 1958, musicians are being asked to raise their voices in song and action in support of Amnesty International's UDHR 60 plans which focus on making the promise of universal, indivisible human rights a reality for all.

The organizers took great pains to develop a project that would be both human rights conscious as well as environmentally friendly. The Small Places Tour is unique in that artists worldwide can participate to raise funds and awareness by performing benefit concerts, tabling, offering
premium-seating packages, or auctioning off meet and greets and other unique fan experiences during their regularly scheduled touring cycle.

"The Small Places Tour will reach more people than the Conspiracy of Hope, Human Rights Now! and UDHR 50 concerts combined," said Art For Amnesty's Bill Shipsey. "This shows how alive and vibrant the cause of human rights still is to artists and their fans. The Declaration may be 60 years old, but it is still inspiring the next generation of activists to get involved."

The launch came after Peter Gabriel was recognized as AI's 2008 Ambassador of Conscience for his tireless work for human rights. Accepting the award previously held by Nelson Mandela, Vaclav Havel, Mary Robinson and U2, Gabriel said: "It was through the tours for Amnesty International that I first met many people around the world engaged in human rights work.
It was these people and their extraordinary stories of suffering and courage that I found impossible to walk away from, so the Ambassador of Conscience Award means a great deal to me.

"I hope that the Small Places Tour on the 60th anniversary of the UDHR will really help to reinforce and underpin this extraordinary document that has been crucial to the lives of so many citizens of the world, and to be a similar source of inspiration to all those who take part." Gabriel was presented the award by The Edge.

For information on the Ambassador of Conscience Award, go to
http://www.artforamnesty.org/aoc.

For information about the Small Places Tour, go to http://www.myspace.com/smallplacestour.