Regular readers will be aware of my recent reporting on the Walthamstow protest and subsequent letter to my former colleague Sacha Deshmukh, Amnesty UK CEO.
I’m pleased to say that Amnesty have finally replied via their Head of Media, Kai Akram. The full text of the response can be found below, and I provide an update in the above UK Column news segment from September 16.
This is a very small step in the right direction.
It’s certainly good to hear that an organisation ostensibly set up to protect human rights “strongly oppose(s) any kind of hateful speech, including the statements made by Ricky Jones on the 7th August.”
But the issue has not gone away, and Amnesty have done really the very least amount possible to address the situation.
Some further questions for Sacha and team:
Why did it take Amnesty a month to come out with this very simple and uncontroversial statement?
When will the statement be shared across all of Amnesty’s communication channels? I.e. not just in my inbox, but across Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn and all other platforms owned and / or operated by the charity?
When will Sacha Deshmukh, as CEO and leader of Amnesty in the UK, be making a public statement to condemn the statements made by Ricky Jones?
When will Amnesty, and the geopolitical powers it ultimately represents, begin listening to native populations in UK and further afield about their very reasonable objections to the unwanted, aggressively enforced and completely artificial transformation of their Nations in order to align with a totalitarian global agenda?
This is the beginning, not the end, of this discussion, Sacha.
More soon.
Full text response received on September 13:
Dear Ben,
Thank you for contacting us.
We issued the following statement on 8th August:
“Members and supporters of Amnesty UK attended yesterday’s mass anti-racism rally in Walthamstow.
“The activist in the video has made clear to us that they were distracted and hadn’t heard the speaker’s comments when they applauded generally with the crowd.
“The speaker at the event is not affiliated with Amnesty and we strongly oppose violence and any kind of hateful speech.”
The woman in the video is Ulrike Schmidt, who is a volunteer activist. She is not a member of Amnesty staff.
Ulrike was subject to threats following the release of the video which are of serious concern. You can find more information here: Anti-racism activist in London reports break-in attempt after far-right threats | Crime | The Guardian
Amnesty UK did not play a role in organising the rally.
We strongly oppose any kind of hateful speech, including the statements made by Ricky Jones on the 7th August.
Kind regards,
Kai Akram
(Contact details redacted for publication)
From London.
Ben Rubin
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Amnesty UK condemn Ricky Jones