A group of Christian organisations has written to the Charity Commission to criticise a now-deleted briefing by Amnesty International UK, which accused them of being “anti-rights”.
The commission confirmed last week it had opened a compliance case into Amnesty International UK Charitable Trust, its charitable arm, after it filed a serious incident report over the removed briefing, which sparked concerns from some MPs and other organisations named.
This week, Christian Action, Research and Education (CARE) and 10 other organisations named in the report urged the commission to reaffirm their rights to “engage in public debate on contested moral questions without being mischaracterised as a threat to human rights by other charities”.
They also asked the regulator to reiterate that Christian charities “as well as faith-based organisations working on the sanctity of life, marriage and the family, and biological sex-based rights, make a legitimate and valuable contribution to public life”.
In their letter to commission chair Julia Unwin, the organisations criticised Amnesty International UK for describing them as “anti-rights organisations” in its report, which they said made “sweeping generalisations, allegations, and inaccuracies”.
Following its decision to remove the report, Amnesty International UK said: “Human rights protections are strongest when they apply equally to everyone, and no community should be singled out for unfair treatment or denied their dignity and rights.”
On this point, the Christian organisations said: “We agree with that principle without qualification – and it is precisely the principle according to which Amnesty should review its own work.”
In response to the letter, an Amnesty International UK spokesperson said: “We are aware of this letter and are engaging constructively with the process.”
It previously said it regretted the briefing being uploaded to its website as its “use of language does not reflect the position of Amnesty International UK”.
The Charity Commission has been asked to comment.
