LONDON, Feb 26: The founder of the Amnesty International, Peter Benenson, has died at the age of 83, the international human rights group said on Saturday.

"Peter Benenson's life was a courageous testament to his visionary commitment to fight injustice around the world," Amnesty International Secretary-General Irene Khan said in a statement.

"He brought light into the darkness of prisons, the horror of torture chambers and tragedy of death camps around the world," she added.

Benenson, who founded Amnesty in 1961, died on Friday.

He founded Amnesty first as a one-year campaign for the release of six prisoners of conscience, but it emerged into a worldwide movement for human rights.

The Amnesty International now has over 1.8 million members and committed supporters in more than 150 countries.-Reuters