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Stop Funding Hate is a pressure group which asks companies to stop advertising in, and thus stop providing funds for, certain British newspapers that it argues use "fear and division to sell more papers".

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71-958: The Stop Funding Hate campaign was established in August 2016 by Richard Wilson, a former Corporate Fundraising Officer at Amnesty International . The campaign gained over 70,000 likes on its Facebook page in the first three days of activity and the campaign's launch video was viewed over 6 million times. In February 2017, Stop Funding Hate launched a crowdfunding campaign to raise funds, finishing with £102,721 raised. The campaign has called on companies including Aldi , Asda , Barclays , British Airways , Co-op UK , Gillette , Iceland , John Lewis , Lego , Marks & Spencer , Morrisons , Virgin Media and Waitrose to cease advertising in newspapers such as The Sun , Daily Mail and Daily Express . Stop Funding Hate's campaign targeting Virgin Media , claimed that their values were "totally at odds with

142-414: A United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (established 1993) and an International Criminal Court (established 2002). Amnesty continued to work on a wide range of issues and world events. For example, South African groups joined in 1992 and hosted a visit by Pierre Sané to meet with the apartheid government to press for an investigation into allegations of police abuse, an end to arms sales to

213-541: A Valentine's Day action to combat hatred and extremism, inspired by the founder of the #ExtinguishHate campaign begun by Darryn Frost, the man who fought off a terrorist in the 2019 London Bridge stabbing using a narwhal tusk . In May 2020, Stop Funding Hate urged organisations to withdraw their advertising from OpIndia , an Indian far-right website, after it published an article asserting that businesses should be able to declare that they do not hire Muslims. In February 2021, Stop Funding Hate announced their boycott of

284-913: A "ploy to divert attention" from their activities which were in clear contravention of laid down Indian laws. Amnesty International received permission only once in Dec 2000, since then it had been denied Foreign Contribution permission under the Foreign Contribution Act by successive Governments. However, in order to circumvent the FCRA regulations, Amnesty UK remitted large amounts of money to four entities registered in India by classifying it as Foreign Direct Investment (FDI). The current Prime Minister of India, Narendra Modi , has been criticized by foreign medias for harming civil society in India, specifically by targeting advocacy groups. India has cancelled

355-717: A "toxic culture" of workplace bullying , and found evidence of bullying , harassment , sexism and racism , after being asked to investigate the suicides of 30-year Amnesty veteran Gaetan Mootoo in Paris in May 2018 (who left a note citing work pressures), and 28-year-old intern Rosalind McGregor in Geneva in July 2018. In April 2019, Amnesty International's deputy director for research in Europe, Massimo Moratti, warned that if extradited to

426-760: A 2017 update by Nick Crofts, President of the National Members' Council, it was stated that after investigation, "Many people buy these papers at the Co-op and some of them will be our members. Advertising in these papers also drives sales which are important to our businesses". Virgin Trains West Coast stopped selling the Daily Mail onboard the trains which it operates in conjunction with Stagecoach Group in November 2017. After criticisms that

497-404: A December 2018 filing by Saudi dissident Omar Abdulaziz, who claimed NSO's software targeted his phone during a period in which he was in regular contact with murdered journalist Jamal Kashoggi . In September 2019, European Commission President-elect Ursula von der Leyen created the new position of "Vice President for Protecting our European Way of Life ", who will be responsible for upholding

568-606: A briefing 26 Nov, during which he discussed other acts of terrorism. In August 2020, Amnesty International expressed concerns about what it called the "widespread torture of peaceful protesters" and treatment of detainees in Belarus. The organization also said that more than 1,100 people were killed by bandits in rural communities in northern Nigeria during the first six months of 2020. Amnesty International investigated what it called "excessive" and "unlawful" killings of teenagers by Angolan police who were enforcing restrictions during

639-538: A prominent representative at the United Nations , had "undeclared private links to men alleged to be key players in a secretive network of global Islamists ", including the Muslim Brotherhood and Hamas . The Times also detailed instances where Hussein was alleged to have had inappropriately close relationships with the al-Qazzaz family, members of which were high-ranking government ministers in

710-736: A response to the Republic of China (Taiwan)'s arrest and prosecution of Chen Yu-hsi, whom the Taiwan Garrison Command had alleged committed sedition by reading communist literature while studying in the United States. In 1976, Amnesty's British Section started a series of fund-raising events that came to be known as The Secret Policeman's Balls series. They were staged in London initially as comedy galas featuring what The Daily Telegraph called "the crème de la crème of

781-526: A toast to liberty". Researchers have never traced the alleged newspaper article in question. In 1960, Portugal was ruled by the Estado Novo government of António de Oliveira Salazar . The government was authoritarian in nature and strongly anti-communist , suppressing enemies of the state as anti-Portuguese. In his significant newspaper article " The Forgotten Prisoners ", Benenson later described his reaction as follows: Open your newspaper any day of

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852-569: The African Great Lakes region and the abolition of the death penalty. In particular, Amnesty International brought attention to violations committed on specific groups, including refugees , racial/ethnic/religious minorities, women and those executed or on Death Row . In 1995, when AI wanted to promote how Shell Oil Company was involved with the execution of an environmental and human-rights activist Ken Saro-Wiwa in Nigeria, it

923-505: The Daily Mail after social media criticism. In November 2017, Paperchase also announced that they would stop advertising in the Daily Mail , saying that they had "listened to customers". A campaign which targeted The Co-operative Group led to their chief executive Richard Pennycook saying in 2016 that they would be "looking at our advertising for next year to see whether we can align it more closely with our natural sources of support rather than more generic media advertising". However, in

994-567: The Metropolitan Police . Lord Hoffman had an indirect connection with Amnesty International, and this led to an important test for the appearance of bias in legal proceedings in UK law. There was a suit against the decision to release Senator Pinochet, taken by the then British Home Secretary Jack Straw, before that decision had actually been taken, in an attempt to prevent the release of Senator Pinochet. The English High Court refused

1065-473: The Sun ' s track record of misleading reporting", and was signed by over 40,000 people. Following their coverage of the high court's November ruling on Brexit , advertisers in the Daily Mail were targeted by the campaign and its supporters using the hashtag #StopFundingHate. In a Christmas campaign by Stop Funding Hate, the group released a mock advert in the style of John Lewis Christmas adverts , calling on

1136-413: The "Appeal for Amnesty, 1961" and September 1962 the organization had been known simply as "Amnesty". By the mid-1960s, Amnesty International's global presence was growing and an International Secretariat and International Executive Committee were established to manage Amnesty International's national organizations, called "Sections", which had appeared in several countries. They were secretly supported by

1207-594: The "total vacuum of responsibility within the journalism world when it comes to how our content is going to affect our audience". In Spiked , Naomi Firsht described the campaign as "entirely about censorship", arguing that consumers should simply not buy newspapers if they disagree with their content. Writing in The Spectator , Brendan O'Neill described the campaign "elitist, repugnant and illiberal, as are all attempts at press censorship". In an article for UnHerd , conservative author Douglas Murray accused

1278-680: The 1970s, under the leadership of Seán MacBride and Martin Ennals , to include miscarriages of justice and torture . In 1977, it was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize . In the 1980s, its secretary general was Thomas Hammarberg , succeeded in the 1990s by Pierre Sané . In the 2000s, it was led by Irene Khan . Amnesty draws attention to human rights abuses and campaigns for compliance with international laws and standards. It works to mobilize public opinion to generate pressure on governments where abuse takes place. Amnesty International

1349-544: The British Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament as well as becoming head of Quaker Peace and Social Witness . In his memoirs, Benenson described him as "a partner in the launching of the project". In consultation with other writers, academics and lawyers and, in particular, Alec Digges, they wrote via Louis Blom-Cooper to David Astor , editor of The Observer newspaper, who, on 28 May 1961, published Benenson's article "The Forgotten Prisoners". The article brought

1420-605: The British comedy world" including members of comedy troupe Monty Python , and later expanded to also include performances by leading rock musicians. The series was created and developed by Monty Python alumnus John Cleese and entertainment industry executive Martin Lewis working closely with Amnesty staff members Peter Luff (assistant director of Amnesty 1974–1978) and subsequently with Peter Walker (Amnesty Fund-Raising Officer 1978–1982). Cleese, Lewis and Luff worked together on

1491-727: The British government at the time. The international movement was starting to agree on its core principles and techniques. For example, the issue of whether or not to adopt prisoners who had advocated violence, like Nelson Mandela , brought unanimous agreement that it could not give the name of "Prisoner of Conscience" to such prisoners. Aside from the work of the library and groups, Amnesty International's activities were expanding to helping prisoners' families, sending observers to trials, making representations to governments, and finding asylum or overseas employment for prisoners. Its activity and influence were also increasing within intergovernmental organizations; it would be awarded consultative status by

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1562-494: The Enforcement Directorate has said the investigation could take three months to complete. On 30 October 2018, Amnesty called for the arrest and prosecution of Nigerian security forces claiming that they used excessive force against Shi'a protesters during a peaceful religious procession around Abuja, Nigeria. At least 45 were killed and 122 were injured during the event. In November 2018, Amnesty reported

1633-558: The OLF in the village of Gawa Qanqa, Ethiopia. In April 2021, Amnesty International distanced itself from a tweet by Agnès Callamard , its newly appointed Secretary General, asserting that Israel had killed Yasser Arafat ; Callamard herself has not deleted the tweet. Richard Pennycook Richard John Pennycook CBE (born February 1964) was chief executive officer of the Co-operative Group . Pennycook took

1704-556: The Treatment of Prisoners and of existing humanitarian conventions; to secure ratifications of the two UN Covenants on Human Rights in 1976, and was instrumental in obtaining additional instruments and provisions forbidding the practice of maltreatment. Consultative status was granted at the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights in 1972. Amnesty International established its Japan chapter in 1970, in part

1775-672: The U.N. Human Rights Council is at stake. Since joining the council, Saudi Arabia's dire human rights record at home has continued to deteriorate and the coalition it leads has unlawfully killed and injured thousands of civilians in the conflict in Yemen ." In December 2016, Amnesty International revealed that Voiceless Victims , a fake non-profit organization which claims to raise awareness for migrant workers who are victims of human rights abuses in Qatar , had been trying to spy on their staff. In October 2018, an Amnesty International researcher

1846-1275: The UN to act promptly to implement the mission's recommendations. In February 2010, Amnesty suspended Gita Sahgal , its gender unit head, after she criticized Amnesty for its links with Moazzam Begg , director of Cageprisoners . She said it was "a gross error of judgment" to work with "Britain's most famous supporter of the Taliban". Amnesty responded that Sahgal was not suspended "for raising these issues internally... [Begg] speaks about his own views ..., not Amnesty International's". Among those who spoke up for Sahgal were Salman Rushdie , Member of Parliament Denis MacShane , Joan Smith , Christopher Hitchens , Martin Bright , Melanie Phillips , and Nick Cohen . In July 2011, Amnesty International celebrated its 50 years with an animated short film directed by Carlos Lascano , produced by Eallin Motion Art and Dreamlife Studio, with music by Academy Award-winner Hans Zimmer and nominee Lorne Balfe. In August 2012, Amnesty International's chief executive in India sought an impartial investigation, led by

1917-635: The US government's detention facility at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba , to a Soviet Gulag . During the first half of the new decade, Amnesty International turned its attention to violence against women , controls on the world arms trade , concerns surrounding the effectiveness of the UN, and ending torture. With its membership close to two million by 2005, Amnesty continued to work for prisoners of conscience. In 2007, AI's executive committee decided to support access to abortion "within reasonable gestational limits...for women in cases of rape, incest or violence, or where

1988-613: The United Kingdom. The organization says it has more than ten million members and supporters around the world. The stated mission of the organization is to campaign for "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 instruments ." The organization has played a notable role on human rights issues due to its frequent citation in media and by world leaders. AI

2059-534: The United Nations' Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), played a series of concerts on five continents over six weeks. Both tours featured some of the most famous musicians and bands of the day. Throughout the 1990s, Amnesty continued to grow, to a membership of over seven million in over 150 countries and territories, led by Senegalese Secretary General Pierre Sané . At the intergovernmental level, Amnesty International argued in favour of creating

2130-513: The United Nations, the Council of Europe and UNESCO before the decade ended. In 1966, Benenson suspected that the British government in collusion with some Amnesty employees had suppressed a report on British atrocities in Aden. He began to suspect that many of his colleagues were part of a British intelligence conspiracy to subvert Amnesty, but he could not convince anybody else at AI. Later in

2201-606: The United Nations, to render justice to those affected by war crimes in Sri Lanka. On 18 August 2014, in the wake of demonstrations sparked by people protesting about the fatal police shooting of Michael Brown , an unarmed 18-year-old who assaulted a police officer and then resisted arrest, and subsequent acquittal of Darren Wilson, the officer who shot him, Amnesty International sent a 13-person contingent of human rights activists to seek meetings with officials as well as to train local activists in non-violent protest methods. This

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2272-784: The United States, WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange would face the "risk of serious human rights violations, namely detention conditions, which could violate the prohibition of torture". On 14 May 2019, Amnesty International filed a petition with the District Court of Tel Aviv, Israel, seeking a revocation of the export licence of surveillance technology firm NSO Group . The filing states that "staff of Amnesty International have an ongoing and well-founded fear they may continue to be targeted and ultimately surveilled" by NSO technology. Other lawsuits have also been filed against NSO in Israeli courts over alleged human-rights abuses, including

2343-669: The administration of Mohammed Morsi and Muslim Brotherhood leaders at the time. Ms Hussein denied supporting the Muslim Brotherhood and told Amnesty that "any connections are purely circumstantial". In June 2016, Amnesty International called on the United Nations General Assembly to "immediately suspend" Saudi Arabia from the UN Human Rights Council . Richard Bennett, head of Amnesty's UN Office, said: "The credibility of

2414-582: The annual accounts showed that the Stop Funding Hate board had been remunerated. Writing for the Press Gazette , Dominic Ponsford criticised Stop Funding Hate and its campaigners for "encouraging people to influence the content of newspapers they do not read themselves", and raised concerns about advertisers influencing the content of newspapers. In a response to Ponsford's article, Charlie Brinkhurst-Cuff argued that Ponsford did not consider

2485-538: The application, and Senator Pinochet was released and returned to Chile. After 2000, Amnesty International's primary focus turned to the challenges arising from globalization and the reaction to the 11 September 2001 attacks in the United States. The issue of globalization provoked a major shift in Amnesty International policy, as the scope of its work was widened to include economic, social and cultural rights, an area that it had declined to work on in

2556-618: The arrest of 19 or more rights activists and lawyers in Egypt . The arrests were made by the Egyptian authorities as part of the regime's ongoing crackdown on dissent. One of the arrested was Hoda Abdel-Monaim, a 60-year-old human rights lawyer and former member of the National Council for Human Rights. Amnesty reported that following the arrests Egyptian Coordination for Rights and Freedoms (ECRF) decided to suspend its activities due to

2627-536: The authority and capabilities of government leaders. Aakar Patel, the executive director of the Indian branch claimed, "The Enforcement Directorate's raid on our office today shows how the authorities are now treating human rights organizations like criminal enterprises, using heavy-handed methods. On Sep 29, the Ministry of Home Affairs said Amnesty International using "glossy statements" about humanitarian work etc. as

2698-487: The campaign and its supporters, Lego announced in November 2016 that it was ending its advertising with the Daily Mail , stating they were "not planning any future promotional activity with the newspaper", making it the first company to end its advertising in one of the targeted newspapers since the campaign's inception. In February 2017, the internet service provider Plusnet withdrew adverts from The Sun and The Body Shop announced they had no future plans to advertise in

2769-510: The campaign to boycott GB News fed into the channel's belief that there is a cancel culture . Stop Funding Hate responded to allegations of censorship by saying that they "fully support freedom of choice & are not calling for any publication to be removed from sale". The Daily Mail , responding to Paperchase 's decision to cease advertising with them, described Stop Funding Hate as "a small group of hard left Corbynist individuals seeking to suppress legitimate debate and impose their views on

2840-581: The collapse of the Twin Towers in New York." In the years following the attacks, some believe that the gains made by human rights organizations over previous decades had possibly been eroded. Amnesty International argued that human rights were the basis for the security of all, not a barrier to it. Criticism came directly from the Bush administration and The Washington Post , when Khan, in 2005, likened

2911-442: The coronavirus pandemic. In May 2020, the organization raised concerns about security flaws in a COVID-19 contact tracing app mandated in Qatar . In September 2020, Amnesty shut down its India operations after the government froze its bank accounts due to alleged financial irregularities. On 2 November 2020, Amnesty International reported that 54 people – mostly Amhara women and children and elderly people – were killed by

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2982-453: The criticism from Members of Parliament at the time. In July 2024, Stop Funding Hate announced that it would become a Company Limited by Guarantee, ending its CIC status and merging with its sister (climate-focused) campaign Stop Funding Heat. Amnesty International Amnesty International (also referred to as Amnesty or AI ) is an international non-governmental organization focused on human rights , with its headquarters in

3053-545: The deaths of more than 1,400 Palestinians and 13 Israelis. The 117-page Amnesty report charged Israeli forces with killing hundreds of civilians and wanton destruction of thousands of homes. Amnesty found evidence of Israeli soldiers using Palestinian civilians as human shields. A subsequent United Nations Fact Finding Mission on the Gaza Conflict was carried out; Amnesty stated that its findings were consistent with those of Amnesty's own field investigation, and called on

3124-513: The department store to stop advertising in certain newspapers. In August 2017, Stop Funding Hate undertook its first street campaign in conjunction with the social justice charity Citizens UK . The campaign targeted mobile network operators including BT Mobile , EE Limited , O2 , Sky Mobile , Tesco Mobile and Virgin Mobile UK using the slogan "Start Spreading Love". In February 2020, Stop Funding Hate joined I Am Here International in

3195-426: The director of Amnesty, said, "Social media re-energises the idea of the global citizen". James M. Russell notes how the drive for profit from private media sources conflicts with the stories that AI wants to be heard. Amnesty International became involved in the legal battle over Augusto Pinochet , former Chilean dictator, who sought to avoid extradition to Spain to face charges after his arrest in London in 1998 by

3266-553: The first two shows (1976 and 1977). Cleese, Lewis and Walker worked together on the 1979 and 1981 shows, the first to carry what The Daily Telegraph described as the "rather brilliantly re-christened" Secret Policeman's Ball title. The organization was awarded the 1977 Nobel Peace Prize for its "defence of human dignity against torture " and the United Nations Prize in the Field of Human Rights in 1978. During

3337-490: The grounds that it was bugged and infiltrated by the secret services, and said that he could no longer live in a country where such activities were tolerated. (See Relationship with the British Government ) Amnesty International's membership increased from 15,000 in 1969 to 200,000 by 1979. At the intergovernmental level Amnesty International pressed for the application of the UN's Standard Minimum Rules for

3408-415: The group of "using a deliberately vague definition of 'hate'" and only targeting what it perceives to be right-leaning media, claiming "its modus operandi is always the same: it identifies a conservative outlet full of "hate", and then lobbies its advertisers to pull their cash — thus eliminating one of the major revenue streams of the free press." Media columnist Ian Burrell of the i newspaper wrote that

3479-497: The hostile environment towards civil society in the country. On 5 December 2018, Amnesty International strongly condemned the execution of the leaders of the " black realtors " gang Ihar Hershankou and Siamion Berazhnoy in Belarus . They were shot despite UN Human Rights Committee request for a delay. In February 2019, Amnesty International's management team offered to resign after an independent report found what it called

3550-676: The launch of "Appeal for Amnesty, 1961", the aim of which was to mobilize public opinion, quickly and widely, in defence of these individuals, whom Benenson named "Prisoners of Conscience". The "Appeal for Amnesty" was reprinted by a large number of international newspapers. In the same year, Benenson had a book published, Persecution 1961 , which detailed the cases of nine prisoners of conscience investigated and compiled by Benenson and Baker (Maurice Audin, Ashton Jones , Agostinho Neto , Patrick Duncan , Olga Ivinskaya , Luis Taruc , Constantin Noica , Antonio Amat and Hu Feng ). In July 1961,

3621-602: The leadership had decided that the appeal would form the basis of a permanent organization, Amnesty, with the first meeting taking place in London. Benenson ensured that all three major political parties were represented, enlisting members of parliament from the Labour Party , the Conservative Party , and the Liberal Party . On 30 September 1962, it was officially named "Amnesty International". Between

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3692-536: The media". In August 2021, Stop Funding Hate was accused of breaching company laws by engaging in "political activity" by Members of UK Parliament in a letter to the British Secretary of State for Business Kwasi Kwarteng . In the letter, the Members of Parliament said: "We are concerned that since 2017 the campaign group Stop Funding Hate has been exploiting the prestige that is afforded by CIC status, and

3763-409: The mid-to-late-1980s, Amnesty organized two major musical events took place to increase awareness of Amnesty and of human rights. The 1986 Conspiracy of Hope tour, which played five concerts in the US, and culminated in a daylong show, featuring some thirty-odd acts at Giants Stadium, and the 1988 Human Rights Now! world tour. Human Rights Now!, which was timed to coincide with the 40th anniversary of

3834-598: The move censored the newspapers that passengers could read, Richard Branson , founder of the Virgin Rail Group , reinstated the paper in January 2018. Speaking in a statement on his own behalf and that of Stagecoach chairman Brian Souter , Branson said: "Brian and I agree that we must not ever be seen to be censoring what our customers read and influencing their freedom of choice. Nor must we be seen to be moralising on behalf of others. Instead we should stand up for

3905-493: The past. Amnesty International felt this shift was important, not just to give credence to its principle of the indivisibility of rights, but because of what it saw as the growing power of companies and the undermining of many nation-states as a result of globalization. In the aftermath of 11 September attacks, the new Amnesty International Secretary General, Irene Khan , reported that a senior government official had said to Amnesty International delegates: "Your role collapsed with

3976-609: The position as CEO in 2014 after being named Chief Financial Officer in 2013. In 2013, he became Chairman of The Hut Group , an online retailer in North-West England with multiple brands. In 2016, he received The Retail Leader of the Year award at the prestigious Retail Week Awards. In February 2017, Pennycook stepped down as CEO of The Co-operative Group after three years at the helm, with Steve Murrells (previously CEO of Co-op Food division) taking charge. Pennycook

4047-736: The pregnancy jeopardizes a mother's life or health". Amnesty International reported, concerning the Iraq War , on 17 March 2008, that despite claims the security situation in Iraq has improved in recent months, the human rights situation is disastrous, after the start of the war five years earlier in 2003. In 2009, Amnesty International accused Israel and the Palestinian Hamas movement of committing war crimes during Israel's January offensive in Gaza, called Operation Cast Lead , that resulted in

4118-630: The privileged access that CICs have to many grants of taxpayers money, for overtly political means." Stop Funding Hate is registered as a Community Interest Company (CIC), a type of organisation which should not be formed for political purposes. A spokesman for the Department of Business said: "We expect all Community Interest Companies to act in accordance with their legal obligations, and are clear that they should not be formed for political purposes, or have engagement in political activities among their main objectives". Stop Funding Hate did not respond to

4189-483: The reader's attention to those "imprisoned, tortured or executed because his opinions or religion are unacceptable to his government" or, put another way, to violations, by governments, of articles 18 and 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR). The article described these violations occurring, on a global scale, in the context of restrictions to press freedom, to political oppositions, to timely public trial before impartial courts, and to asylum. It marked

4260-548: The registration of about 15,000 nongovernmental organizations under the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA); the U.N. has issued statements against the policies that allow these cancellations to occur. Though nothing was found to confirm these accusations, the government plans on continuing the investigation and has frozen the bank accounts of all the offices in India . A spokesperson for

4331-560: The rule-of-law, internal security and migration. Amnesty International accused the European Union of "using the framing of the far right" by linking migration with security. On 24 November 2019, Anil Raj , a former Amnesty International board member, was killed by a car bomb while working with the United Nations Development Project. U.S. Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo announced Raj's death at

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4402-401: The same year, there were further allegations, when the US government reported that Seán MacBride , the former Irish foreign minister and Amnesty's first chairman, had been involved with a Central Intelligence Agency funding operation. MacBride denied knowledge of the funding, but Benenson became convinced that MacBride was a member of a CIA network. Benenson resigned as Amnesty's president on

4473-554: The upcoming television news channel GB News , based on speculation of what the station would represent. In September 2016, Specsavers withdrew an advertisement from the Daily Express after hundreds, including Stop Funding Hate, complained that it was funding "fear and division". Gary Lineker showed support for the campaign, saying that he had spoken to Walkers about their advertisements in The Sun . Following calls from

4544-712: The values we hold dear and defend them publicly, as I have done with the Mail on many issues over the years." In addition to the £102,721 initially raised, a further crowdfunding campaign generated £80,251 from supporters in January 2018. The campaign that finished in March 2019 raised £5,067 against a target of £45,000. Accounts filed at Companies House with a balance sheet date of 30 April 2018 showed that Stop Funding Hate had current assets of £130,549 and owed £130,549 to creditors. It had zero net assets and zero reserves . The Community Interest Company Report (CIC 34) filed with

4615-529: The week and you will find a story from somewhere of someone being imprisoned, tortured or executed because his opinions or religion are unacceptable to his government... The newspaper reader feels a sickening sense of impotence. Yet if these feelings of disgust could be united into common action, something effective could be done. Benenson worked with his friend Eric Baker – a member of the Religious Society of Friends who had been involved in funding

4686-618: Was abducted and beaten while observing demonstrations in Magas, the capital of Ingushetia, Russia. On 25 October, federal officers raided the Bengaluru office for 10 hours on a suspicion that the organization had violated foreign direct investment guidelines on the orders of the Enforcement Directorate . Employees and supporters of Amnesty International say this is an act to intimidate organizations and people who question

4757-445: Was founded in London in 1961 by the lawyer Peter Benenson . In what he called "The Forgotten Prisoners" and "An Appeal for Amnesty", which appeared on the front page of the British newspaper The Observer , Benenson wrote about two students who toasted to freedom in Portugal and four other people who had been jailed in other nations because of their beliefs. AI's original focus was prisoners of conscience , with its remit widening in

4828-513: Was founded in London in July 1961 by English barrister Peter Benenson , who had previously been a founding member of the UK law reform organization JUSTICE. Benenson was influenced by his friend Louis Blom-Cooper , who led a political prisoners' campaign. According to Benenson's own account, he was travelling on the London Underground on 19 November 1960 when he read that two Portuguese students from Coimbra had been sentenced to seven years of imprisonment in Portugal for allegedly "having drunk

4899-408: Was over the issue of whether it would be appropriate for an anti-racism campaign with a "single focus". The Jewish Chronicle noted that Amnesty International had previously published a report on discrimination against Muslims in Europe. In August 2015, The Times reported that Yasmin Hussein, then Amnesty's director of faith and human rights and previously its head of international advocacy and

4970-422: Was stopped. Newspapers and advertising companies refused to run AI's ads because Shell Oil was a customer of theirs as well. Shell's main argument was that it was drilling oil in a country that already violated human rights and had no way to enforce human-rights policies. To combat the buzz that AI was trying to create, it immediately publicized how Shell was helping to improve overall life in Nigeria. Salil Shetty ,

5041-425: Was the first time that the organization has deployed such a team to the United States. In the 2015 annual Amnesty International UK conference, delegates narrowly voted (468 votes to 461) against a motion proposing a campaign against antisemitism in the UK. The debate on the motion formed a consensus that Amnesty should fight "discrimination against all ethnic and religious groups", but the division among delegates

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