Protect The Human Recent Articles

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Emerson — Thu, 05 Jan 2012 12:40:06 +0000

You've followed a link through to a closed action on Protect the Human. But don't worry - you can still take action for human rights. Just head to our campaign centre and make a difference on one of our newer campaign actions.

In pictures: 50 years of Amnesty

MaryAlex — Fri, 27 May 2011 16:07:31 +0100

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The Forgotten Prisoners - the article that began it all

MaryAlex — Fri, 27 May 2011 15:28:10 +0100

Download a pdf of the article or scroll down to read it online.

The Observer, Saturday 28 May 1961

ON BOTH SIDES of the Iron Curtain, thousands of men and women are being held in gaol without trial because their political or religious views differ from those of their Governments. Peter Benenson, a London lawyer, conceived the idea of a world campaign, APPEAL FOR AMNESTY, 1961, to urge Governments to release these people or at least give them a fair trial. The campaign opens to-day, and "The Observer" is glad to offer it a platform.

OPEN your newspaper any day of the week and you will find a report from somewhere in the world of someone being imprisoned, tortured or executed because his opinions or religion are unacceptable to his government. There are several million such people in prison—by no means all of them behind the Iron and Bamboo Curtains—and their numbers are growing. The newspaper reader feels a sickening sense of impotence. Yet if these feelings of disgust all oer the world could be united into common action, something effective could be done.

In 1945 the founder members of the United Nations approved the Universal Declaration of Human Rights

Article 18.

Everyone has the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion: this right includes freedom to change his religion or belief, and freedom either alone or in company with others in public or private, to manifest his religion or belief in teaching, practice, worship and observance.

Article 19.

Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression: this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers.

There is at present no sure way of finding out how many countries permit their citizens to enjoy these two fundamental freedoms. What matters is not the rights that exist on paper in the Constitution, but whether they can be exercised and enforced in practice. No government, for instance, is at greater pains to emphasize its constitutional guarantees than the Spanish, but it fails to apply them.

There is a growing tendency all over the world to disguise the real grounds upon which "non-conformists" are imprisoned. In Spain, students who circulate leaflets calling for the right to hold discussions on current affairs are charged with "military rebellion." In Hungary, Catholic priests who have tried to keep their choir schools open have been charged with "homosexuality." These cover-up charges indicate that governments are by no means insensitive to the pressure of outside opinion. And when world opinion is concentrated on one weak spot, it can sometimes succeed in making a government relent. For instance, the Hungarian poet Tibor Dery was recently released after the formation of "Tibor Dery committees" in many countries; and Professor Tierno Galvan and his literary friends were acquitted in Spain this March, after the arrival of some distinguished foreign observers.

London office to gather facts

The important thing is to mobilise public opinion quickly, and widely, before a government is caught up in the vicious spiral caused by its own repression, and is faced with impending civil war. By then the situation will have become too desperate for the government to make concessions. The force of opinion, to be effective, should be broadly based, international, non-sectarian and all-party. Campaigns in favour of freedom brought by one country, or party, against another, often achieve nothing but an intensification of persecution.

That is why we have started Appeal for Amnesty, 1961. The campaign, which opens to-day, is the result of an initiative by a group of lawyers, writers and publishersd in London, who share the underlying conviction expressed by Voltaire: "I detest your views, but am prepared to die for your right to express them." We have set up an office in London to collect information about the names, numbers, and conditions of what we have decided to call "Prisoners of Conscience;" and we define them thus: "Any person who is physically restrained (by imprisonment or otherwise) from expressing (in any form of words or symbols) any opinion which he honestly holds and which does not advocate or condone personal violence." We also exclude those people who have conspired with a foreign government to overthrow their own. Our office will from time to time hold Press conferences to focus attention on Prisoners of Conscience selected impartially from different parts of the world. And it will provide factual information to any group, existing or new, in any part of the world, which decides to join in a special effort in favor of freedom of opinion or religion.

In October a Penguin Special called "Persecution 1961" will be published as part of our Amnesty campaign. In it are stories of nine men and women from different parts of the world, of varying political and religious outlook, who have been suffering imprisonment for expressing their opinions. None of them is a professional politician; all of them are professional people. The opinions which have brought them to prison are the common coinage of argument in free society.

Poet flogged in front of family

One story is of the revolting brutality with which Angola's leading poet, Agostino Neto, was treated before the present disturbances there broke out. Dr. Neto was one of the five African doctors in Angola. His efforts to improve the health services for his fellow Africans were unacceptable to the Portugese. In June last year the Political Police marches into his house, had him flogged in front of his family and then dragged away. He has since been in the Cape Verde Isles without charge or trial.

From Rumania, we shall print the story of Constatin Noica, the philosopher, who was sentenced to twenty-five years' imprisonment because, while "rusticated," his friends and pupils continued to visit him, to listen to his talk on philosophy and literature. The book will also tell of the Spanish lawer, Antonio Amat, who tried to build a coalition of democratic groups, and has been in trial since November, 1958; and of two white men persecuted by their own race for preaching that colored races should have equal rights—Ashton Jones, the sixty-five-year-old minister, who last year was repeatedly beaten-up and three times imprisoned in Lousiana and Texas for doing waht the Freedom Riders are now doing in Alabama; and Patrick Duncan, the son of a former South African Governer-General, who, after three stays in prison, has just been served with an order forbidding him from attending or addressing any meeting for five years.

'Find out who is in gaol'

The technique of publicising the personal stories of a number of prisoners of contrasting politics is a new one. It has been adopted to avoid the fate of previous amnesty campaigns, which so often have become more concerned with publicising the political views of the imprisoned than with humanitarian purposes.

How can we discover the state of freedom in the world to-day? The American philosopher, John Dewey, once said, "If you want to establish some conception of a society, go find out who is in gaol." This is hard advice to follow, because there are few governments which welcome inquiries about the number of Prisoners of Conscience they hold in prison. But another test of fredom one can apply is whether the Press is allowed to criticise the government. Even many democratic governments are surprisingly sensitive to Press criticism. In France, General de Gaulle has intensived newspaper seizures, a policy he inherited from the Fourth Republic. In Britian and the United States occasional attempts are made to draw the sting of Press criticism by the technique of taking editors into confidence about a "security secret," as in the Blake spy case.*

Within the British Commonwealth, the Government of Ceylon has launched an attack on the Press, and is threatening to take the whole industry under public control. In Pakistan the Press is at the mercy of the Martial Law administration. InGhana, the opposition Press operates under great disabilities. In South Africa, which leaves the Commonwealth on Wednesday, the government is planning further legislation to censor publications. Outside the Commonwealth, Press freedom is espeically in peril in Indonesia, the Arab World, and Latin American countries such as Cuba. In the Communish world, and in Spain and Portugal, Press criticism of the Government is rarely tolerated.

Churchill's dictum on democracy

Another test of freedom is wheher the government permits a political opposition. The post-war years have seen the spread of "personal regimes" across Asia and Africa. Wherever an opposition party is prevented from putting up candidates, or from verifying election results, much more than its own future is at stake. Multi-party elections may be cumbrous in practice, and the risk of coalitions makes for unstable government; but no other way has yet been found to guarantee freedom to minorities or safety to non-conformists. Whatever truth there may be in the old remark that democracy does not fit well with emergent nationalism, we should also remember Winston Churchill's dictum: "Democracy is a damned bad system of government, but nobody has thought of a better."

A fourth test of freedom is, whether those accused of offences against the State receive a speedy and public trial before an impartial court: whether they are allowed to call witnesses, and whether their lawyer is able to present the defence in the way he thinks best. In recent years there has been a regrettable trend in some of those countries that take pride in possessing an independent judiciary: by declaring a state of emergency and taking their opponents into "preventative detention," governments have side-stepped the need to make and prove criminal charges. At the other extreme there is the enthusiasm in Soviet countries to set up institutions which, though called courts, are really nothing of the sort. The so-called "comradely courts" in the U.S.S.R., which have the power to deal with "parasites," are in essence little more than departments of the Ministry of Labor, shifting "square pegs" to empty holes in Siberia. In China the transmigration of labor by an allegdly judicial process is on a gigantic scale.

The most rapid way of bringing relief to Prisoners of Conscience is publicity, especially publicity among their fellow-citizens. With the pressure of emergent nationalism and the tensions of the Cold War, there are bound to be situations where governmetns are led to take emergency measures to protect their existence. It is vital that public opinions should insist that these measures should not be excessive, nor prolonged after the moment of danger. If the emergency is to last a long time, then a government should be induced to allow its opponents out of prison, to seek asylum abroad.

Frontier control more efficient

Although there are no statistics, it is likely that recentyeas have seen a steady decrease in the number of people reaching asylum. This is not so much due to the unwillingness of other countries to offer shelter, as to the greatly increased efficiency of frontier control, which to-day makes it harder for people to get away. Attempts to reach agreement on a workable internaitonal convention on asylum at the United Nations have dragged on for many years with little result.

There is also the problem of labour restrictions on immigrants in many countries. So long as work is not available in "host" countries, the right of asylum is largely empty. Appeal for Amnesty, 1961, aims to help towards providing suitable employment for poltical and religious refugees. It would be good if in each "host" country a central employment office for these people could be set up with the co-operation of the employers' federations, the trade unions and the Ministry of Labour.

In Britain there are many firms willing to give out translation and correspondence work to refugees, but no machinery to link supply with demand. Those regimes that refuse to allow their nationals to seek asylum on the ground that they go abroad only to conspire, might be less reluctant if they knew that, on arrival, the refugess would not be kicking their feet in idle frustration.

The members of the Council of Europe have agreed a Convention of Human Rights, and set up a commission to secure its enforcement. Some countries have accorded to their citizens the right to approach the commission individually. But some, including Britian, have refused to accept the jurisdiction of the commission over individual complaints, and France has refused to ratify the Convention at all. Public opinion should insist on the establishment of effective supra-national machinery not only in Europe but on similar lines in other continents.

This is an especially suitable year for an Amnesty Campaign. It is the centenary of President Lincoln's inauguration, and of the beginning of the Civil War which ended with the liberation of the American slaves; it is also the centenary of the decree that eemancipated the Russian serfs. A hundred years ago Mr. Gladstone's budget swept away the oppressive duties on newsprint and so enlarged the range and freedom of the Press; 1861 marked the end of the tyranny of King "Bomba" of Naples, and the creation of a united Italy; it was also the year of the death of Lacordaire, the French Dominican opponent of Bourbon and Orleanist oppression.

The success of the 1961 Amnesty Campaign depends on how sharply and powerfully it is possible to rally public opinion. It depends, too, upon the campaign being all-embracing in its composition, international in character and politically impartial in direction. Any group is welcome to take part which is prepared to condemn persecution regardless of where it occurs, who is responsible or what are the ideas suppressed. How much can be achieved when men and women of good will unite was shown during World Refugee Year. Inevitably most of the action called for by Appeal for Amnesty, 1961, can only be taken by governments. By experience shows that in matters such as these governments are prepared to follow only where public opinion leads. Pressure of opinion a hundred years ago brought about the emancipation of the slaves. It is now for man to insist upon the same freedom for his mind as he has won for his body.

PETER BENENSON

________________________________________

Appeal for Amnesty, 1961: THE AIMS

1.    To work impartially for the release of those imprisioned for their opinions.

2.    To seek for them a fair and public trial.

3.    To enlarge the Right of Asylum and help political refugees to find work.

4.    To urge effective international machinery to guarantee freedom of opinion.

To these ends, an office has been set up in London to collect and publish information about Prisoners of Conscience all over the world. The first Press Conference of the campaign will be held to-morrow, where speakers will include three M.P.s, John Foster, Q.C. (Con.), F. Elwyn Jones, Q.C. (Lab.), and Jeremy Thorpe (Lib.).

All offers of help and information should be sent to: Appeal for Amnesty, 1, Mitre Court Buildings, Temple, E.C.4.

Make Shell Come Clean

fionamc — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 14:46:56 +0100

<font>Shell's damaging practices are stripping the people in the Niger Delta of their human rights and keeping them in poverty.</font><font> </font>

<font>Oil spills, gas flaring and pollution are all having a devastating impact on the land and rivers these communities depend upon. This has to change.</font>

<font>We need your help to improve the human rights situation in the Niger Delta.</font>

<font><font><font><font>It’s your voice that Shell will listen to. </font><font>We’ve got a long way to go, but here are a few things you can do to help get us started and ramp up the pressure on Shell to come clean:</font><font>

1. <font>Tell Shell to clean up their act</font></font></font></font></font><font><font><font><font><font>

</font></font></font></font></font>

<font><font><font><font><font>2. Share this campaign </font></font></font></font></font>

<font><font><font><font>3. <font>Add your local Hell Station to our map</font></font></font></font></font><font><font><font><font><font>

</font></font></font></font></font>

<font><font><font><font>Once you’ve done these then keep an eye on our Campaign Centre and join us on Twitter or Facebook to get the latest news on the campaign as we progress. </font></font></font></font>

<font>Read Amnesty's full report on Shell & the Niger Delta (PDF)

</font>

<font><font><font><font></font></font></font></font>

I Protect The Human

fionamc — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 09:41:35 +0100

Find your pic on our photostream

If you've arrived here, you have probably met Amnesty out and about and had your photograph taken to show your support for human rights.

Thank you so much for standing up to be counted, for demonstrating that YOU Protect The Human.

You have already given us your voice, and now we need you to continue to speak out with us – the journey doesn’t end here.

It is only by building our movement, with millions of people speaking with one, unified voice, that Amnesty succeeds in affecting change. Continue to stand with us and Protect the Human.

To find your picture, just follow these steps:

1. Click on the image below to go through to our Flickr photostream

2. Use the search bar at the top right on Flickr to search for your full name

Enjoy!

Want to do more?

Why not upload your image as your profile pic on your social networking sites?

Thank you to all Unsubscribers

vero — Wed, 27 May 2009 12:27:54 +0100

<font>Unsubscribe has been vital in tackling the human rights abuses carried out in the “war on terror”.</font>

<font> It has been an incredibly busy time; full of challenges and real successes.</font>

<font><font> 40,000 of you made yourselves heard and these are just some of your achievements. </font></font>

<font><font>Help us continue the fight now.</font></font>

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Thousands of you stood up against the practice of waterboarding and called for an end to this illegal and barbaric practice. President Obama has now outlawed waterboarding and other torture techniques used by the CIA . This is a hugely important step in ensuring such abuses do not continue.

You worked with us to help individual detainees such as Binyam Mohammed, Jamil El Banna and Bisher Al Rawi. You sent cards of solidarity and campaigned tirelessly to ensure their release. Now, finally, all three are back in the UK and can begin rebuilding their lives.

You called over and over and over again for the closure of Guantanamo Bay. Some of you demonstrated with us and even more of you sent letter upon letter. You won. President Obama has signed the order for its closure and transfer of prisoners has already begun.

Closer to home you opposed the introduction of a 42 days detention period without charge. You spread the word and nearly 10,000 people signed our petition. On the night we marched in Leeds, the UK government issued a statement that the proposal to extend pre-charge detention was to be dropped .

We could not have achieved any of this without your support. There are however still victories to be claimed and now, more than ever, we need your help to ensure these abuses are not allowed to continue. We can not stand by and watch whilst Governments torture and restrict freedom in the name of security; now is the time to join ProtectTheHuman.com and continue fighting for what you believe in.

Nothing happened in Tiananmen Square in June 1989

vero — Wed, 20 May 2009 11:45:58 +0100

Is this the full history of Tiananmen Square? What about the day the tanks rolled in and silenced the protesters?

On 3-4 June 1989 hundreds of pro-democracy Chinese civilians were killed. Countless others were injured and detained by the Chinese authorities. Since then, the Chinese government has concealed the truth about what happened at Tiananmen Square.

This year it is the 20th anniversary of the Tiananmen crackdown - yet Chinese students seem unaware of what happened in Tiananmen Square 20 years ago.

Watch some students trying to make sense of the 'tank man' photo...

The people of China deserve to know what happened on Tiananmen Square.

Richard Hughes - A Keane supporter of Troy Davis

Aggy — Wed, 21 Jan 2009 15:59:38 +0000

Richard Hughes, drummer with Keane, is a committed human rights campaigner and has pledged his support to Troy Davis's case.

He recently received a personal letter of thanks from Troy's sister Martina, after he wore a similar t-shirt to the one pictured on 'Later with Jools Holland' which did a lot to raise awareness of the case.

Not only is Richard a personal supporter of human rights, but Keane are also screening Amnesty's film You are Powerful ahead of each show on their upcoming UK arena tour, helping us to reach hundreds of thousands of people.

The tour starts this Friday in Belfast- for more information, see the list of dates on their website

Richard hopes to do more to support Troy's case over the coming months, so stay tuned. In the meantime, check out You are Powerful and be like Richard - a proper human rights Keane-o (cringe!)

Celebrate 60 years of human rights

fionamc — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 11:46:44 +0000

The 10th of December marks the 60th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. This is a big day for Amnesty, and more importantly, for everyone who stands up for human rights worldwide.

On their birthday we are not only celebrating these rights, but we want to shout about them, be proud of them and ensure that they continue to be recognised by a global community. Here are just a few ways in which you can help get the message out:

Upload a video, photo, or piece of art answering the question 'What do human rights mean to you?' on Flickr or YouTube and be part of a global conversation

Share our short film You Are Powerful by embedding it on your blog, MySpace page, or website, or by sending it to your friends

Find time to attend one of our Fire Up! events which are happening across the UK

Use your Facebook status to spread the word and say '(Your name) is saying Happy Birthday to human rights. Join in at http://protectthehuman.com/udhr'

Head to our UDHR campaign centre right here on Protect the Human, watch some films, take action and start talking to like-minded users

Fire Up for human rights

Aggy — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 17:08:22 +0000

In December we will mark the 60th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and we want you to Fire Up and celebrate with us!

In hundreds of locations around the world, people will gather holding lights to form the shape of the iconic Amnesty candle.

The images captured will send a unified message of solidarity around the world, and prove there is a global community of us committed to ensuring the basic human rights articles laid out in the UDHR 60 years ago, will become a reality for us all.

So join in and show your solidarity with other people who are committed to making human rights a reality for everyone - 100 cities are already involved and this number continues to grow.

Check out the photos from Saturday’s event in London where we joined local groups to hold a Fire Up moment and enjoy a moment of celebration for the work that Amnesty does around the world and encouraged people to take action on the Greetings Card Campaign

Create your own Fire Up moment

If you would like to join in with the global action, create your own Fire Up moment. To find out how:

Download our toolkit

Read our rough guide for using the candle formation templates (pdf)

For large groups - download 27m template (pdf)

For medium size groups - download 20m template (pdf)

For smaller groups - download 12m template (pdf)

Take lots of photos and upload them to Protect The Human!

Stand Up For Justice: Comedy at Belfast Festival

Aggy — Mon, 10 Nov 2008 16:10:13 +0000

Saturday 25 October saw the 6th year of Amnesty’s legendary comedy event Stand Up For Justice, as part of Belfast Festival at Queen’s.

Despite the wind and rain, it went down a storm (!) as a 600 strong audience packed into the Whitla Hall for a great night of international stand-up comedy.

MC for the night was Scouse comic John Bishop, who worked the crowd brilliantly and kindly plugged Amnesty throughout the show. Comedy-wise, the audience was treated to performances from included Daniel Rigby, Katherine Ryan, Mike Wozniak, Andi Osho and Damian Clark.

Punters and the media reacted with delight as the event gained some great coverage in The Irish News, Belfast Telegraph preview, Belfast Telegraph review, and the Newsletter: "If you do one thing this weekend" and a very encouraging comment on our Flickr stream: “I was at last night's 'Stand Up', as I have been for last number of years - last night was best show yet, all acts were 'first class' - John Bishop was a great compere.”

Find out more about what happend at this year's Belfast Festival at Queen's:

Read the (almost) live blogs

Watch an interview with Mary Robinson

See the photos from the festival

Amnesty International and the Ulster Bank Belfast Festival at Queen's

Aggy — Wed, 15 Oct 2008 12:04:35 +0100

Oct 17th - Nov 1st 2008

Together with the Belfast Festival at Queen's, we're celebrating the 60th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. At this year’s festival, there are four Amnesty events. Take your pick from:

The Amnesty International Lecture by Mary Robinson

The first woman president of Ireland and former UN commissioner for Human Rights remains a tireless advocate for human rights for all.

Find out more and book your ticket

Human Rights: Poetic Redress

Readings and debate on the role of the writer in explaining, examining and ultimately protecting human rights.

Find out more and book your ticket

Stand up for justice: Comedy at Belfast Festival

Stand Up For Justice is back for its sixth year at the Festival, and will once again showcase an all-star international comedy line-up.

Find out more and book your ticket

We are All Born Free - exhibition

Amnesty has brought together some of the world’s foremost children’s illustrators to interpret the 30 articles of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

Find out more about this free exhibition

And that's not all: Included in the price of tickets to Amnesty International events at this year's Belfast Festival is six months membership of Amnesty International.

We believe it's the voices and actions of the many who change humanity, and that together we can make a difference. So come and join us at this year's Ulster Bank Belfast Festival at Queen's, or if you can’t make it in person, follow the action online right here - where we'll be bringing you live blogging, video footage and photos of all the action.

Find out more about the Belfast Festival 2008

Ten GOOD reasons why extending pre-charge detention is a BAD idea

damianrafferty — Wed, 24 Sep 2008 12:59:32 +0100

1. UNDERMINES one of our most basic rights, enshrined in UK law as far back as Magna Carta and now at the heart of the European Convention on Human Rights, to which UK is a signatory: the right for anyone who is detained by the state to be told promptly why they are being held and what they are charged with before being put on trial.

2. COMMUNITY relations will suffer if the Muslim community appears to be particularly targeted for prolonged pre-charge detention. This could have an impact on intelligence gathering and policing, and could undermine positive efforts to engage with Muslims in the UK.

3. IMPACT on any individuals detained for such a long time - in terms of their job, family, house, friendships and relationships within their community - would be devastating.

4. QUESTIONED widely by experts - Lord Goldsmith (former Attorney General), Stella Rimington (former MI5 Chief), Sir Ken Macdonald (Director of Public Prosecutions and head of the Crown Prosecution Service), Lord Woolf (former Lord Chief Justice) and parliament's Joint Committee on Human Rights and Home Affairs Select Committee.

5. UNDERMINES presumption of innocence - lengthy pre-charge detention is similar to the time one might serve in prison for an offence. It would impose what is in effect a 'sentence' of six weeks on somebody who may never be charged with any crime.

6. UK ALREADY has by far the longest pre-charge detention period for offences related to terrorism of any common law state.

7. INTERNATIONAL STANDING - it is much harder for the UK to criticise the human rights records of other countries that lock people up without charge when we are doing so at home. This measure would give other countries a 'green light' to curtail civil liberties.

8. HISTORY - from Northern Ireland and Amnesty's experience all over the world - shows that locking people up without charge doesn't work.

9. STATEMENTS obtained from suspects could be deemed inadmissible at trial if detention conditions are considered to be unduly harsh.

10. SAFEGUARDS discussed are insufficient - the kind of judicial oversight proposed is little more than a parliamentary 'rubber stamp' and is in no way the same as charging someone and giving them the chance to defend themselves in a fair trial.

Subscribe to Amnesty's podcasts

vero — Wed, 17 Sep 2008 18:48:01 +0100

Want to get the latest news on Amnesty's campaigns and activism?

You can subscribe to one of our podcast below and receive regular updates on Amnesty International's activities.

Amnesty UK - Protect The Human podcast

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Secret Policeman's Cinecasts

vero — Fri, 12 Sep 2008 11:56:46 +0100

Amnesty International and City Screen Picturehouse are collaborating once more to “cinecast” Amnesty International’s famous Secret Policeman’s Ball comedy event in cinemas across the UK, Australia and Canada when the show returns to the Royal Albert Hall on the 4th October at 7.00pm

Buy tickets for Picturehouse venues at www.picturehouses.co.uk/spb08

Participating cinemas in the UK

Festival photos

Aggy — Tue, 09 Sep 2008 09:22:13 +0100

Amnesty is back from a summer of festival fun!

This year we had hugely successful presences at both Lovebox Weekender and The Big Chill, where our photographers snapped over 1000 people standing up for human rights.

Some truly fanatastic images of everyday people out and about at the festivals have been produced, which you can find here.

To start off with, check out a compilation of some of my faves, best of the fests

Terms and Conditions

Sara — Thu, 14 Aug 2008 19:29:11 +0100

1. ABOUT US

1.1 We are Amnesty International United Kingdom Section, a private company limited by guarantee, incorporated in England and Wales under registration no. 01735872, whose registered office is at Human Rights Action Centre, 17-25 New Inn Yard, London, EC2A 3EA and whose VAT number is 466341638.

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These Terms govern your use of the Sites. You can print off these Terms, or store them in your computer, for future reference. Please read them carefully. If you do not wish to accept these Terms, then please do not use the Sites.

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In these Terms, certain defined expressions are used, which will appear in bold. See clause 19 below for an explanation of these.

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4.1.1 to provide information on and encourage participation in Amnesty International UK’s various campaigns to stand up for humanity and human rights and to protect individuals wherever justice, fairness, freedom and truth are denied; and

4.1.2 to provide an online community for like-minded people to take action together.

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5.1 The Sites are aimed at people who are aged 14 years old and over. If you are aged 14 to 18, we advise you to inform your parent or legal guardian that you are registering on and/or using the Sites. If you are under the age of 14, you may not register on and/or use the Sites.

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9.2 We strongly recommend that when using the Sites you do not:

9.2.1 disclose your personal contact details such as phone numbers, postal or email addresses;

9.2.2 leave your browser logged on to any of the Sites without you being there, so that someone else can access or amend your Account without your knowledge; or

9.2.3 exit from the Sites without properly logging off using the “Logout” link.

9.3 You must notify us immediately if you become aware of any unauthorised use of the Service or any of the Sites.

9.4 The Content provided on the Sites is protected by Intellectual Property owned by us or others.

9.5 Except as expressly permitted by these Terms, you may not copy, download or distribute any Content from any of the Sites, other than Your Content.

(Please also see the section on Abuse on our Help page.)

10. RULES ON YOUR CONTENT AND BLOGGING

10.1 The following terms and conditions relate to Your Content..

10.2 Communication between Users on the Sites is an integral part of the Service. We do not vet, and are not responsible for, any information which is Posted on the Sites. All Content on the Sites is viewed and used by you at your own risk and we do not guarantee the accuracy or reliability of any of this information. The views expressed are those of the individual contributors and not necessarily those of Amnesty International UK. Please remember that with free speech comes responsibility.

10.3 You will permit us to use Your Content for the promotion of the aims and objectives of Amnesty International UK and other Amnesty organisations worldwide.

10.4 While we will make reasonable efforts to give you a credit if we use all or part of Your Content, we do not guarantee that we will do so in every case. Accordingly, you agree to waive your so-called ‘moral rights’ in this regard.

10.5 By Posting Your Content to any of the Sites, you confirm that Your Content:

10.5.1 is your own original work and that you have the right to make it available to us for all the purposes specified above;

10.5.2 is not false or defamatory;

10.5.3 does not infringe the rights of confidentiality or privacy of anyone else ;

10.5.4 does not infringe any law or any Intellectual Property of anyone else; and

10.5.5 does not otherwise breach any of these Terms.

10.6 When Blogging, you must not:

10.6.1 disrupt the Blogging process in any way, such as:

(a) intentionally causing the Blog screen to scroll faster than other Users are able to read, or setting up macros with large amounts of text that, when used, can have a disruptive effect on the normal flow of Blogging;

(b) Posting commercial solicitations and/or advertisements for goods and services; or

(c) sending repeated unsolicited or unwelcome messages to a single User or repeatedly Posting similar messages on a Blog Page, including continuous advertisements to sell goods or services.

10.7 When using the Sites, you must not:

10.7.1 Post any Content to the Sites which may reasonably be regarded as Abusive, crude, vulgar, offensive, sexist, extremist, unlawful, encouraging violent or illegal activity, threatening, hateful, harassing, homophobic, false, defamatory, inaccurate, obscene, pornographic, sexually explicit, or racially, ethnically or otherwise discriminatory or objectionable (please note that using a misspelling or alternative spelling of a word or using asterisks for some letters will not get round this requirement);

10.7.2 Post any Content which does not represent your own personal views;

10.7.3 add links on the Sites to other websites unless you are sure they do not contain material which is defamatory, obscene, racist, pornographic, sexually explicit or otherwise contain unlawful material or material which infringes the Intellectual Property of any third party, which encourages illegal activity, or relates exclusively to commercial products or services or which may offend other Users and we reserve the right to remove any such links;

10.7.4 Post any telephone numbers, email or postal addresses in Your Content, unless these details are already publicly available;

10.7.5 Post any other person’s personal information;

10.7.6 Post any Content or other material that contains a virus or other malicious code;

10.7.7 Post any Content which does not relate to Amnesty International UK’s campaigns and general objectives;

10.7.8 Post any Content which is ‘off-topic’ on subject specific Blog Pages or which does not relate to Amnesty International UK’s campaigns and general objectives;

10.7.9 use any automated techniques (including so-called ‘bots’) to collect information from a Blog Page;

10.7.10 harass, threaten, stalk, embarrass or cause distress, unwanted attention or discomfort to any User or other person;

10.7.11 use an offensive username; or

10.7.12 impersonate someone else.

10.8 By Posting Your Content to the Sites, you acknowledge that Your Content may be read by others.

10.9 Some parts of the Sites, including Blog Pages, are intended for Users only, and you agree not to use them for any unauthorised purpose.

10.10 You agree to abide by the ‘Guidelines for Content You Submit to The Sites’ at clause 20.

10.11 We reserve the right to terminate your registration on the Sites if you undertake any of the activities prohibited by this clause.

11. LINKS TO THIRD PARTIES’ SITES

11.1 The Sites may provide links to other websites. Selecting any of these links will direct you to a website that may not related in any way to us. We take no responsibility for the Content contained on any such website. Any link to such other websites does not imply an endorsement or recommendation of the website, its products or services.

11.2 Before supplying any personal information to any other website, we recommend that you check the website’s Privacy Policy. We do not accept responsibility for the protection of any data supplied to other websites.

12. JOINING AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL UK

12.1 You can join us by paying the fees specified on http://www.amnesty.org.uk/content.asp?CategoryI...

12.2 Your Membership will run for twelve (12) months from the date on which we notify you that your Membership is accepted. You may renew your Membership for a further twelve (12) months, and we will send you a renewal notice to let you know when your Membership is due to expire.

12.3 We will send you an email confirming receipt of the Membership Fee as soon the payment has been authorised.

12.4 You may terminate your Membership at any time, for any reason. To terminate your Membership, please email our Supporter Care Team at sct@amnesty.org.uk .

13. PAYMENT

13.1 You may pay the Membership Fee, a Donation and any items you wish to purchase from any of the Sites subject to the following conditions:

13.1.1 we may not accept certain credit or debit cards;

13.1.2 we reserve the right to change the Membership Fee or price payable for any item available for sale on any of the Sites from time to time.

13.1.3 if you have set up a direct debit for the payment of your Membership Fee, our Supporter Care Team will notify you of any change to the Membership Fee by at least thirty (30) days before the change takes effect. If you do not agree to a change in the Membership Fee, you may terminate your Membership prior to the date on which the change to the Membership Fee takes effect. The revised fee will be debited to your Account if you do not so notify us; and

13.1.4 payment is not made until your credit or debit card has been authorised in respect of the full amount outstanding. We have no control over the operation of any payment systems available on the Sites and cannot be held responsible for any failure in their performance.

13.2 You may correct any input errors in your payment details before the payment is processed, but if there is an error which you wish to correct after you have submitted your payment details, you can email our Supporter Care Team at sct@amnesty.org.uk .

14. LIABILITY

14.1 We will not have any liability arising out of your use of or inability to use the Service or any of the Sites for:

14.1.1 any business losses (including loss of profit, business, contracts or goodwill); or

14.1.2 any unforeseeable losses or damages.

14.2 Please note that you are responsible for Your Content and you will be responsible for any costs and/or losses which Amnesty International UK suffers as a result of Your Content including legal fees and damages.

14.3 In certain circumstances, we may have a legal obligation to disclose your contact/registration details and other material. Should we do this you agree to take no action against Amnesty International UK.

14.4 We are not responsible for and do not endorse the Content or any views Posted by any User on any of the Sites or the accuracy or reliability of such Content. We do not accept any responsibility for the publication of any Defamatory material/content or any loss which you may sustain as a result of any Defamatory or otherwise harmful material/content being Posted by any person on the Sites. We reserve the right to remove from the Sites any such Content of which we may become aware. We set out below at clause 18 how to draw material to our attention if you have any complaint.

14.5 We do not seek to exclude or limit our liability for death or personal injury caused by negligence, or for fraudulent misrepresentation, or any other liability which may not be excluded by law.

14.6 Nothing in these Terms will exclude or limit any of your rights as a consumer.

14.7 We shall not have any liability to you for any delay in performance of the Service or any other matters to the extent that such events or matters are due to any events outside our reasonable control.

14.8 We will have no liability arising from any link being placed on the Sites to another website which we are not responsible for.

14.9 The Sites are accessed via the World Wide Web, which is independent of us. Your use of the World Wide Web is solely at your own risk and subject to all applicable national and international laws and regulations. We do not represent that the Sites are appropriate or available for use in any jurisdiction other than the United Kingdom. We shall have no responsibility for any information or service obtained by you on the World Wide Web.

14.10 If you breach any of these Terms, you will be responsible for our losses and costs resulting from your breach.

15. AVAILABILITY OF THE SERVICE

15.1 The Service is provided as it is in its current form. While we use reasonable skill and care in providing the Service, we do not guarantee that the Sites or the Service or any part of it will meet your requirements or expectations.

15.2 We make reasonable efforts to ensure that the information and material provided on the Sites is accurate and up-to-date, however errors or conflicts in the data may occur, and may not be correctable.

15.3 We reserve the right to interrupt the Service on a regularly scheduled basis or otherwise, with or without giving prior notice, in order to perform maintenance. However, we will use reasonable efforts to schedule maintenance during low-usage times of day.

15.4 You acknowledge that the Service may be interrupted for reasons beyond our control, and we cannot guarantee that you will be able to access the Service or your Account whenever you may wish to do so. We will not be liable for any interruptions to the Service, or any inability to access any of the Sites, resulting from any causes beyond our reasonable control, such as the quality of your Internet connection or the operation of payment systems on the Sites.

15.5 You are responsible for obtaining Internet access to the Sites from where you are in order to use Service. We cannot be held responsible for your failure to access the Sites or use the Service from any location or browser. Any access fees incurred in reaching the Sites (e.g. dial up charges) and any equipment necessary to access the Service are your responsibility.

16. DURATION AND TERMINATION

16.1 We reserve the right to send you one or more written warnings or immediately suspend or terminate your registration with or your use of the Sites if you breach these Terms (repeatedly or otherwise).

16.2 On termination of your registration under these Terms:

16.2.1 we will immediately deactivate your Account and bar any further access to the Service; and

16.2.2 we will delete your Profile and may also delete Your Content, except as required by law or any regulatory authority.

17. GENERAL

17.1 These Terms are governed by English law, and you and we agree to submit to the non-exclusive jurisdiction of the English Courts. If you live in Northern Ireland, Scotland or Wales, the laws and courts of that country will apply, if you so wish.

17.2 We will be entitled to process your personal data in accordance with the terms of our Privacy Policy, which may involve transfer of your personal data outside of the EEA.

17.3 We may make changes to these Terms from time to time, and place the new version on the Sites before the change takes effect. We will also mention any intended change to this on the Sites’ home page. Your continued use of any of the Sites after a new version of these Terms has been placed on the Sites will constitute your acceptance of such changes. If you do not agree to any changes to these Terms, your only remedy is to terminate your registration and cease using the Sites.

18. COMPLAINTS AND CUSTOMER CARE

18.1 If you have a complaint about the Content Posted by any User on any of the Sites please contact us using the contact form provided on the ‘Contact Us’ page of the relevant Site or email our Supporter Care Team at sct@amnesty.org.uk .

18.2 If you are unhappy with any aspect of the Service, you may write to us using the contact details given on the ‘Contact Us’ page of the relevant Site or email our Supporter Care Team at sct@amnesty.org.uk .

19. DEFINITIONS

19.1 In these terms and Conditions, the following definitions are used:

19.1.1 ‘Abuse/Abusive’: conduct described in our help pages;

19.1.2 ‘Account’: the account allocated to you as part of the registration process;

19.1.3 ‘Amnesty Communities’: the Blog Pages provided on the Sites including http://blogs.amnesty.org.uk , those operated by local groups in various parts of the United Kingdom which are hosted by www.amnesty.org.uk , on www.unsubscribe-me.org and www.protectthehuman.com , or any other part of the Sites on which Users can communicate with each other ;

19.1.4 ‘Blog Page’: a blog facility provided on some of the Sites, enabling Users to communicate with each other and submit content; and ‘Blogging’ means communicating with other Users on a Blog Page;

19.1.5 ‘Content’: any content or material (including text, logos, graphics, sound recordings, films, images, links to other websites);

19.1.6 ‘Defamatory material/content’: any Content which negatively affects a person’s or organisation’s reputation;.

19.1.7 ‘Donation’: any donation of money which you wish to make to us in respect of any particular campaign or otherwise;

19.1.8 ‘Intellectual Property’: any patent, copyright (including so-called ‘moral rights’), trade mark, design right, database or similar right anywhere in the world;

19.1.9 ‘User’: a person who has registered for the Service on any of the Sites;

19.1.10 ‘Post’: upload, display, exhibit, publish, submit, distribute, transmit and/or disclose information, details and/or other material on the Sites;

19.1.11 ‘Profile’: the section of the Sites in which you Post information about yourself;

19.1.12 ‘Service’: the service provided to you on the Sites;

19.1.13 ‘Sites’: the websites owned and controlled by us and located at www.amnesty.org.uk , www.unsubscribe-me.org , www.irrepressible.info and www.protectthehuman.com (and any other URLs which forward to such URLs) and which include the Amnesty Communities and ‘Site’ shall mean any one of the Sites;

19.1.14 ‘Membership Fee’: the fee payable by you for yourMembership;

19.1.15 ‘Membership’: your membership of Amnesty International UK;

19.1.16 ‘these Terms’: these terms and conditions governing your use of the Sites;

19.1.17 ‘we, us, our/Amnesty International UK’: Amnesty International United Kingdom Section, a company incorporated in England and Wales with registration no. 01735872, whose registered office is at Human Rights Action Centre, 17-25 New Inn Yard, London, EC2A 3EA

19.1.18 ‘you’: the person who wishes to use the Sites and/or register on the Sites and ‘your’ has a similar meaning; and

19.1.19 ‘Your Content’: any Content which you submit to the Sites while using the Service, in correspondence on Blog Pages and similar areas on the Sites in which Users may communicate with each other or in emails or live chat.

20. GUIDELINES FOR CONTENT YOU SUBMIT TO THE SITES

1. When Posting Your Content please take time to reflect on what you are publishing;

2. First, consider Amnesty International UK’s aims and objectives. Is Your Content relevant to these? Is Your Content relevant to the subject of the Blog Page you are Posting Your Content to?

3. Set out your view clearly without using offensive or aggressive language.

4. Consider if the view that you wish to express could be considered ‘Defamatory material/content’ (this is explained at clause 19.1.6 above) and if so, do not express it.

5. Show respect to others who will access the Sites– Your Content may be read by people with differing ages, backgrounds, nationalities, beliefs and may be the subject of your comments.

6. Set out the facts and matters which lead you to the view you are expressing;

7. Be open to other peoples’ views and beliefs, and respect their right to hold views that differ from yours.

© Amnesty International United Kingdom Section, 2008. All rights reserved.

Version 1, 14 August 2008

Accessibility help

Sara — Thu, 14 Aug 2008 19:18:30 +0100

Amnesty International aims to provide a website that is as accessible to people as possible. Whilst we cannot guarantee the quality or accessibility of content not published by Amnesty we have designed the website to W3C standards and we aim for AA compliance.

The World Wide Web consortium develops protocols and guidelines to ensure websites are as accessible to as many people as possible.

For Amnesty this involved using a number of technological and design implementations, meeting certain standards criteria and developing clear editorial guidelines for content published by Amnesty. This includes:

text size throughout the site can be altered by using your browser settings

all Amnesty produced images, audio and video files are accompanied by descriptions or alt tags

Clear and consistent navigation and layout

Use of XHTML Transitional 1.0

Amnesty content written in plain language

Use of jargon kept to a minimum

Standard formats for different page types

Get going

Aggy — Wed, 13 Aug 2008 14:08:31 +0100

Firstly, thanks for signing up. Now it’s time to turn your good intentions into actions that make a difference. It’s easy, if you know how...

Have a nose around

Hundreds of people have uploaded articles, videos and galleries that you may be interested in. You can find them easily by clicking on tags – or by visiting our campaign pages.

See Bookmarks (added by users like you)

Watch videos

View galleries

Find tags

See our campaigns

Express yourself

After you've seen watched a video, or read an article, you can rate it, comment on it or share it with friend. This makes it easier for other people to find the best stuff on the site and shines a much-needed light on injustices. You’ll see some chunky icons under each content item to help you.

Put it about a bit

We're only as good as what you put in. If you've seen something you'd like to share, you can upload a video, bookmark a webpage or create a gallery and show the world. Better yet, turbo-charge your sharing ways with our bookmark gadget, which lets you add links on this site in a jiffy.

Bookmark an article to the In the news section

Embed or Upload a video

Create a gallery

Install the bookmark gadget

You’re filling out nicely

Cut a dash with your own profile picture and make the site work harder for you by telling it what you are interested in. It only takes a minute but you will look better, sound more interesting and smell fresher. Not only that, but you’ll find features like What’s next in the profile area will be lovingly hand-crafted just for you. Click the 'Me' link at the top of the page

Tickets on sale

Aggy — Wed, 13 Aug 2008 10:26:51 +0100

Stop press: Secret Policeman's Ball tickets are on sale now! Get your ticket to this unbeatable comedy experience from any of the websites listed below.

Buy your Secret Policeman's Ball ticket from the Royal Albert Hall

Buy your Secret Policeman's Ball ticket from Seetickets

Buy your Secret Policeman's Ball ticket from Ticketmaster

Hospitality packages

Treat yourself to the exclusive use of a box, a variety of food and drink, a commemorative programme and much more at this year's Secret Policeman's Ball. Better still, there is a £50 contribution to Amnesty International included in each package price.

Buy your Secret Policeman's Ball hospitality package from Cavendish

Can't make it to the Royal Albert Hall? Check out the Secret Policeman's cinecasts

We can bring the ball to you as we have once again teamed up with City Screen Picturehouse to provide a live 'cinecast' of the event to 37 cinemas around the UK on the night.

The Ball will also reach as far afield as Canada and Australia. Watch this space for more info on international cinecasts.

See map of cinemas showing the Ball in the UK

Find out out about the cinecast in Belfast

Join Amnesty International

Bassie — Wed, 13 Aug 2008 10:12:08 +0100

Amnesty International is a movement of ordinary people from around the world standing up for humanity and human rights.

And we're a movement that produces extraordinary results. Prisoners of conscience are released. Death sentences are commuted. Torturers are brought to justice. Governments are persuaded to change their laws and practices.

Our achievements have a huge impact on the lives of individual people. And your support makes us even stronger.

Join us today

By montly direcr debit (minimum £2.00)

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With a single payment of £24 by credit or debit card

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</form>

Concessionary rates available for

Students

Young people (14-18)

Senior citizens and those on reduced income

What next? A warm welcome

You'll receive Amnesty Magazine every two months. It's packed with news, campaign and activity updates, special features and human rights stories from around the world to show you how your money helps. You'll also receive our monthly email newsletter and a DVD welcome pack.

About Protect The Human

Sara — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 18:46:56 +0100

Ever wanted to know what is really happening in the world and to find like-minded souls ready to do something positive about it?

Protect The Human is brought to you by human rights activists Amnesty International UK. Amnesty International is a movement of people from around the world standing up for humanity and human rights.

We’ve designed this site to make it really easy to find human rights video, links and images from around the web and to share your own finds with the community of users here.

Get the latest Flash Player to watch this video.

Be a nuisance

There is some bad stuff happening out there in the world and this community is all about addressing that head on. A lot of people will not want you to see some of the videos, links and images on this site, which makes it all the more important you do.

And they are really going to hate the practical actions you can do such as sign petitions, write emails and generally be a pain in the neck to the world’s tyrants, traffickers, torturers and arms dealers.

Do what you can

Every content page has a range of actions. Some you can do in a second like rating the content while other actions will involve a greater level of commitment and hopefully produce even greater change. The level of engagement you have at any one moment can change and the site is there to help you do as much as you can.

You are not alone

You can personalise the site to get more about the campaigns that matter most to you and we really recommend you join a group or two as it is a great way to get things done and having other people doing things with you is much more motivating.

Bookmarking gadget

damianrafferty — Tue, 05 Aug 2008 14:29:59 +0100

To install the bookmarklet, in Firefox or Safari just drag this icon to your Bookmarks toolbar:

Drag the candle

The ‘Post to Protect The Human’ gadget lets you select any page around the web and even a chunk of text within that page to be added to the Protect The Human site for others to see, share and comment on. It should only take a couple of minutes to install but it will then let you add pages literally at the click of a button directly to this site.

Not only does that mean you should never lose a page of interest again, it also means that together we can create an amazing resource centred around common human rights themes like torture, death penalty, violence against women or the ‘war on terror’.

Installation for Firefox and Safari users (Mac and PC)

If you can’t see a list of your bookmarks at the top of the browser, go to View > Toolbars > Bookmarks Toolbar and make sure it is checked. On Safari this is called Show Bookmarks Bar.

Now simply drag and drop the ‘Post to Protect The Human’ icon to the left hand side of your other bookmarks.

You should now see a bookmark with that name and you can quickly and easily add any page to this site as you travel round the web by clicking the ‘Post to Protect The Human’ icon when you see something of interest.

Hint: if you select a block of text in an article, that text ends up automatically copied into the bookmarked page for you.

Installation for Internet Explorer users (PC)

If you can’t see a list of your bookmarks at the top of the browser, go to View > Toolbars > Links and make sure that option is checked.

Now right click the ‘Post to Protect The Human’ icon and choose ‘Add to favourites’. Select the Links box and click ‘OK’.

You should now see a bookmark with that name at the top of your browser and you can quickly and easily add any page to this site as you travel round the web by clicking the ‘Post to Protect The Human’ icon when you see something of interest.

Hint: if you select a block of text in an article, that text ends up automatically copied into the bookmarked page for you.

Social bookmarks

damianrafferty — Tue, 05 Aug 2008 14:16:26 +0100

Social bookmarking sites allow the most interesting content on the web to float to the top. When people start marking a page or a site on Digg, Reddit, Del.icio.us or StumbleUpon, then more people get to see that page and if they agree that it is worth visiting, it gets marked even more and then more people see that page and so on.

Bringing attention to…

Facebook also allows you to share links with all your friends and in groups too. As there are so many people on Facebook, this can be a really good way of getting news out there.

In every case, to use these sites, you’ll need to register for free first and then you can easily and swiftly mark interesting content you see to bring it to a wider audience. In most cases, this is just a matter of clicking the share button on the bottom of one of our Protect The Human pages.

You can also find out more about social bookmarking on Wikipedia.

For more details about each of these services follow the links:

Del.icio.us : register / find out more

Digg : register / find out more

reddit : register / find out more

Facebook : register / find out more

StumbleUpon : register / find out more

Community guidelines

damianrafferty — Tue, 05 Aug 2008 14:01:59 +0100

Our guidelines in a nutshell

Amnesty will delete racist, homophobic, sexist or hateful content that undermines the rights of others

Amnesty will not patronise younger visitors by talking down to them but we will act immediately to protect their safety at all times

Amnesty welcomes robust and critical comments on our positions and will always seek to respond on the issues but we will not tolerate personal attacks on individuals or groups

When we don't know, haven't made up our minds or are speaking on a personal level, we will say so

Amnesty will publish its guidelines and endeavour to explain to those affected why we have taken the actions we take

As an organisation, it goes without saying that Amnesty is all about the freedom to express opinions and engage in debate. It is also inevitable that lots of people will say lots of things that we don't agree with. Fine. The problem comes when the things people say infringe the rights of others to lead their lives free from hate and oppression.

People sometimes say things that haven't been thought through properly and are unintentionally offensive. We will delete those comments and leave it there. On the other hand, some people will always be attracted to making a series of abusive comments on a site where people of a different viewpoint are more numerous. If these comments contravene our guidelines, we will consider banning the user.

These are all matters of last resort though and our preference is to see our own users engage with the debate and steer it away from harming others.

We are going to do our best to make this a vibrant community and we invite you to help us.

Privacy policy

damianrafferty — Tue, 05 Aug 2008 12:59:48 +0100

1. INTERPRETATION

2. INTRODUCTION

3. CHILDREN

4. YOUR PERSONAL DATA

5. YOUR PROFILE

6. UPDATING YOUR INFORMATION

7. HOW WE USE YOUR PERSONAL INFORMATION

8. DISCLOSURE OF YOUR INFORMATION TO THIRD PARTIES

9. TRANSFER TO THIRD PARTIES

10. YOUR PAYMENT DETAILS

11. ‘INVITE A FRIEND’

12. LINKS TO THIRD PARTIES’ SITES

13. COOKIES

14. SECURITY

15. CHANGES TO PRIVACY POLICY

1. INTERPRETATION

1.1 In this Privacy Policy:

1.1.1 the ‘Sites’ means the websites located at www.amnesty.org.uk, www.unsubscribe me.org, www.irrepressible.info and www.protectthehuman.com; and

1.1.2 ‘we’, ‘us’ and ‘Amnesty International UK’ mean Amnesty International United Kingdom Section, a private company limited by guarantee, incorporated in England and Wales with registration no. 01735872, whose registered office is at Human Rights Action Centre, 17-25 New Inn Yard, London, EC2A 3EA, which owns and operates the Sites.

2. INTRODUCTION

2.1 The Sites provide various services which include, but are not limited to, providing information on and encouraging participation in Amnesty International UK’s various campaigns to stand up for humanity and human rights and protecting individuals wherever justice, fairness, freedom and truth are denied; and providing an online community for like-minded people to take action together.

2.2 The Sites are UK-based websites and we take reasonable care to comply with the requirements of the UK Data Protection Act 1998 (‘the Act’) relating to the personal information you supply on the Sites.

2.3 For the purpose of the Act, we are the data controller. If you have any queries concerning this Privacy Policy or the way in which your personal data is used by us, please email our Supporter Care Team at sct@amnesty.org.uk

3. CHILDREN

3.1 The Sites are aimed at people who are aged 14 years old and over. If you are aged 14 to 18, we advise you to inform your parent or legal guardian that you are registering on and/or using the Sites. If you are under the age of 14, you may not register on and/or use the Sites or submit any personal information to any of the Sites.

3.2 If we become aware that we have collected any personal information from any person under the age of 14, we will delete this information as soon as possible.

4. YOUR PERSONAL DATA

The information we gather (‘Information’) may include the name and address of registered users and members, their credit or debit card number and expiry date, and email address. If you have registered on any of the Sites, the Information will include any personal information which you submit to the Site.

5. YOUR PROFILE

If you have registered as a member on any of the Sites, you may be asked to provide personal information in order to set up a profile. If your profile is published on a Site, it may be accessed (and transferred) outside of the European Economic Area (‘EEA’). By supplying personal information for your profile, you accept that it may be published on the Site in question and you consent to such transfer.

6. UPDATING YOUR INFORMATION

6.1 If any of the Information you have submitted for any account or profile on any of the Sites changes, you can update your personal information by logging in to your account on the Site in question and selecting the option provided.

6.2 If you are a member of Amnesty International UK and any of your membership details changes, you can amend your membership details by emailing our Supporter Care Team at sct@amnesty.org.uk.

7. HOW WE USE YOUR PERSONAL INFORMATION

7.1 We may use the Information you submit to the Site to notify you by email about important functionality changes and alterations to the Site, and we also use your Information to provide you with information about our other services which are similar to those we provide on the Sites, if you have indicated that you wish to receive such communications from us.

7.2 The Information you give us will be stored on a database and may be used by us for the purposes explained in this Privacy Policy.

7.3 We may also use your Information to help us to know what incentives, appeals and actions are working well and which are not so strong and to inform future activity across the organisation, helping Amnesty International UK to be more effective in combating human rights abuses.

7.4 We may permit selected third parties to use your Information, to contact you about products, services or issues which may be of interest to you, if you have given us permission to do so. If you do not wish to receive any such communications from us or third parties, you may opt out by notifying our Supporter Care Team at sct@amnesty.org.uk.

7.5 We may offer you the opportunity to sign up to a mailing list and/or newsletter, to participate in a survey or a competition, or to receive information by email about third parties’ products and services, or any other products and services which we provide. If you sign up for any of these and subsequently change your mind, you may opt out by notifying us at our Customer Services email address above.

8. DISCLOSURE OF YOUR INFORMATION TO THIRD PARTIES

8.1 Except as set out below, we will not sell, distribute or disclose your Information without your consent, unless we believe in good faith that the law requires it.

8.2 If you have subscribed to any of our e-communications, e-zines or e-newsletters, we will not sell or rent this information to anyone.

8.3 As stated above, we may share your Information with selected third parties (including Amnesty International UK Section Charitable Trust and other like-minded organisations), in order to provide you with information about products, services or issues which may be of interest to you, unless you have indicated that you do not wish to receive such communications.

8.4 From time to time we may work in partnership with other organisations on a campaign and so you may receive joint communications from Amnesty International UK and the partnership organisation(s) in question, unless you have indicated that you do not wish to receive such communications.

8.5 The Co-operative Bank Plc shares with us any personal information you provide to them in the course of setting up and using an Amnesty Credit Card. Further information on this may be found at http://www.amnesty.org.uk/content.asp?CategoryI...

9. TRANSFER TO THIRD PARTIES

9.1 The Information that we collect from you may be transferred to, and stored at, a destination outside the EEA for our own administration purposes or for the purpose of any international campaign run by Amnesty International UK and an organisation located outside of the EEA. Such organisations may be engaged in, among other things, the processing of your personal details as a subscriber to the campaign in question and the processing of your payment details, if you make a donation to the campaign.

9.2 By submitting your Information, you agree to this transfer, storing or processing. We cannot guarantee that any organisation located outside of the EEA will have adequate safeguards for the protection of personal data, but we will take all steps reasonably necessary to ensure that your Information is treated securely and in accordance with this Privacy Policy.

9.3 If Amnesty International United Kingdom Section or substantially all of its assets are acquired by a third party, personal data held by it about its members may be one of the transferred assets.

10. YOUR PAYMENT DETAILS

10.1 If you use our secure financial pages on any of the Sites to join Amnesty International UK or to donate money to us online, you are going through to the website of our reputable financial partner company, RSM Technology Limited, whose principal office is at Dralda House, 24-28 Crendon Street, High Wycombe, Bucks, HP13 6LS, United Kingdom (‘World RSM’). World RSM handles all the secure financial transactions on the Amnesty International UK website on our behalf. The information you provide as part of any online financial transaction (such as your credit card number and contact information) is collected only so that the transaction can take place.

10.2 We have a valid secure socket layer certificate running on all the financial information input pages and by working with World RSM we are ensuring that we are using the best security technology with regards to collection and transmission of personal financial data. Also, once we receive your Information, we do everything we can to make sure that it is secure on our systems.

11. ‘INVITE A FRIEND’

We may from time to time operate an ‘Invite a friend’ or similar service. This is a referral service, designed to make it easy for you to recommend the Sites and related websites or offers to a friend, and is a two-step process. First, you send us your friend’s name and email address, and secondly, we contact the friend, telling them who we are, and inviting them to join a campaign or to visit one or more of the Site. When we contact your friend, we always advice them of the name and email address of the friend who made the original referral. We will not use your friend’s details for any other purpose.

12. LINKS TO THIRD PARTIES’ SITES

We may provide links to other websites. Before supplying any personal information to any other website, we recommend that you check that website’s Privacy Policy. We do not accept responsibility for the protection of any data supplied to other sites.

13. COOKIES

We may use cookies to monitor how you are using the Sites, as these will help us make improvements for the future. You may refuse to accept cookies by activating the setting on your browser which allows you to refuse the setting of cookies, but if you do so parts of the Sites may not work correctly. Information about your computer such as your IP address, operating system and browser type may also be used to examine usage trends.

14. SECURITY

14.1 When you submit your Information to us on any of the Sites, we take steps to ensure that your information is treated securely. Unfortunately, it is not possible to guarantee the total security of any data transmitted over the Internet. While we strive to protect your Information, Amnesty International UK cannot ensure or warrant the security of any information you transmit to us, and you therefore do this at your own risk. Once we receive your transmission, we take reasonable steps to ensure its security on our systems, but we take no responsibility for any unauthorised access or loss of personal information that is beyond our control.

14.2 Please remember that other methods of Internet communication, such as emails and messages sent via a website, are not secure unless they are encrypted.

15. CHANGES TO PRIVACY POLICY

Our Privacy Policy may change from time to time. In this case, the amended version will be published on the Site.