LONDON: An independent inquiry into the human rights charity Amnesty International UK has found evidence of negative comments about fasting during Ramadan from colleagues, amid other findings that the institution is “institutionally racist” and faces bullying problems within its own ranks.
Global HPO’s review into the charity has been released in a final 106-page report, which found that equality, inclusion and anti-racism are “not embedded into the DNA” of the organization.
Reacting to the report’s findings, Sacha Deshmukh, Amnesty International UK’s chief executive, said: “It is critical in the change that we need to make at Amnesty UK that we acknowledge that this report makes abundantly clear the scale of the transformation we must make to change lots about Amnesty UK as a place to work.
“GHPO have helped us to identify where we must make changes, and we will not shy away from this work, especially as it is clear it is long overdue.
“I am glad that the inquiry team have recognized that some improvements have started here in the last year, but that doesn’t in any way diminish the seriousness of the findings, nor should it make us at all complacent about the task ahead of us.
“But I do believe that with a transformation we can make Amnesty UK an example of a cause-driven organisation with an excellent working environment and culture for all colleagues,” he added.
“That should be our goal, and it is our duty not just to our colleagues but to our hundreds of thousands of supporters that we deliver it.”
