Amnesty International

[biddyboo]

Amnesty International is getting a lot of pushback on Twitter for a post celebrating Roxy Tickle's win yesterday.

Helen Staniland has highlighted this excerpt from an article they wrote about women in Afghanistan

https://www.amnesty.org.uk/womens-rights-afghanistan-history

The article contains this sentence "Under the Taliban, women and girls were discriminated against in many ways, for the 'crime' of identifying as a girl".

Who the f*ck wrote this? The Taliban treat them appallingly because they 'identify' as a girl, rather than because of the fundamental reality of their biological sex? It has made me so angry.

I used to support Amnesty, but not anymore? Are there any human rights charities that aren't in thrall to gender ideology?

There was a documentary about it, but pretty sure it wasnt Afghanistan, but somewhere in Eastern Europe.

They aren't the values of liberal democracy, but they are what a lot of non-westerners would consider liberal-progressivism.

It's of left, even if it's different from traditional leftism - it comes out of an idea of breaking down traditional categories and boundaries in order to reach a kind of utopia or historical endpoint.

It's random. If you do, you are wrong. If you don't, you are wrong. It just depends on what is more useful in terms of berating you.

Brilliant use of complaining!

Writing emails absolutely works, much more than twitter, but enough have to write in.
So glad its been effective in this case.

And I'm just going to post this website again, which we should donate to because he provides a resource I for one couldnt do without in this fight.
www.ceoemail.com/

I had a monthly donation to Amnesty International for decades and got involved in their campaigns. Even months when money was incredibly tight I made that donation. I stopped donating to them over this issue a few years ago (I told them why, never got a response). Now I have plenty of spare income my on;y regular contributions are to the crowdfunders although I am looking for the best way to support women in Afghanistan.

The last is tricky. If you have the internal channels JKR was offered then its great, but when the Taliban took over several charities appeared. I contacted one of them, it was run by middle class girls, I tried to find out for what and to whom the money was going to, obviously not giving away crucial details, but the responses were so weak and evasive I became really uncomfortable.

There is this which looks preferable to the UN and their pushing of ideologies,
they dont seem captured, but you never know.
https://www.womenforwomen.org/blogs/7-ways-we-keep-supporting-afghan-women

Obviously it’s the women’s fault for identifying as women when they ought to have identified as men. According to Amnesty it is that simple. Another way to understand they’re thinking is that they are victim blaming Afghan women.

https://lindanorgrovefoundation.org/
another FWR poster suggested this charity

The first thing I thought about “I am who I say I am” was “I’m a friend of your mummy. She sent me to collect you. Get in my car.”

How could any organisation, or any person, be so oblivious to child safety? And the appalling arrogance of that statement? Which, to me, translates as “I am a man. Obey me without question.”

EXACTLY.

Well done to everyone who complained to amnesty international over this as they seem to have had a rethink and have changed the page again
https://x.com/lnmackenzie1/status/1828449361493156086

good that they've changed it but I'm still waiting for my grovelling apology

That was absolutely disgraceful, and with that they became another charity I won't donate to any more. What the hell were they thinking? Freedom of belief is their absolute raison-d'etre.

Yes! I was coming here to say they replied telling me they'd changed it. And they have!

Amnesty Ireland to temporarily layoff some staff due to ‘cash flow crisis’ (thejournal.ie)
This is, once you strip out the ideological schadenfreude, very sad.

Hm. I don't know, actually.

An organisation that becomes captured can end up doing more harm than good. There was a time Amnesty did a lot of good, but perhaps that time has passed.

I agree with you - I'm sad about the capture, decline and fall of something that should still be doing good, as it once did.

they did send me a half hearted apology which said they wanted people to focus on the issue of how women and girls are treated rather than picking apart the language used

is it though? Yes, it's tragic that yet another organisation has become FUBAR, but that being the case it now deserves to die in a ditch as another useless, dangerous sick joke. fuck them.

No shit.

If they were focused on that rather than fiddling about with verbal sophistry we may almost be able to make progress.

As I replied to ArabellaScott, I'm sad that Amnesty has come to this only because of the good it used to do, but yes of course, now that it has come to this, good riddance.
I seem to have expressed myself badly in my original post!

I’m glad Amnesty International Ireland are failing, I hope they go completely under. Their disappearance would make Ireland a little safer for women.

I continue to be despondent that whatever else I had to sacrifice my donation to Amnesty International used to happen. I feel like I unknowingly and unwillingly helped fund the oppression of women.

I'd be really happy to see Amnesty disappear, the sooner the better as far as I'm concerned.

I think so.

Is there another organization that focuses on political prisoners in the same or even a similar way?

The ability for political opposition to exist is so foundational to functional democracy, and also I would say to any state that has a hope of being responsive to what is good for it's people. The work AMnesty did was so important.

I could never understand how they failed to recognize that an organization that centers free expression it has to stay away from other political positions, no matter how worthy they are.

I find it very similar to what is going on with universities and libraries. People within these institutions no longer seem to understand that they can't fulfill vital functions while becoming political or focusing on achieving social justice goals.

I think it points to a really serious degradation of the fabric of our liberal democracy.