Amnesty International is US State Department Propaganda

Tuesday, August 21, 2012

by Tony Cartalucci

Land Destroyer Report

Amnesty run by US State Department representatives, funded by convicted financial criminals, and threatens real human rights advocacy worldwide.

Image: From Amnesty International USA’s website, “Free Pussy Riot.” “Help Amnesty International send a truckload of balaclavas to Putin.” This childish stunt smacks of US State Department-funded Gene Sharp antics – and meshes directly with the US State Department’s goal of undermining the Russian government via its troupe of US-funded “opposition activists” including “Pussy Riot.” That Amnesty is supporting the US State Department’s agenda should be no surprise, it is run literally by the US State Department’s Deputy Assistant Secretary for International Organizations, Suzanne Nossel.   

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August 22, 2012 – Mistakenly considered by many as the final word on human rights worldwide, it might surprise people to know that Amnesty International is in fact one of the greatest obstacles to real human rights advocacy on Earth. In its most recent 2012 annual report (page 4, .pdf), Amnesty reiterates one of the biggest lies it routinely tells:

“Amnesty International is funded mainly by its membership and public donations. No funds are sought or accepted from governments for investigating and campaigning against human rights abuses. Amnesty International is independent of any government, political ideology, economic interest or religion.”

This is categorically false. Amnesty international is indeed funded and run by not only governments, but also immense corporate-financier interests, and is not only absolutely entwined with political ideology and economic interests, it is an essential tool used for perpetuating just such interests.

Amnesty International’s Funding

Finding financial information on Amnesty International’s website is made purposefully difficult – specifically to protect the myth that the organization is “independent.” Like any organized criminal operation, Amnesty separates compromising financial ties through a series of legal maneuvers and shell organizations. Upon Amnesty’s website it states:

“The work carried out through Amnesty International’s International Secretariat is organised into two legal entities, in compliance with United Kingdom law.  These are Amnesty International Limited (“AIL”) and Amnesty International Charity Limited (“AICL”). Amnesty International Limited undertakes charitable activities on behalf of Amnesty International Charity Limited, a registered charity.”

And it is there, at Amnesty International Limited, where ties to both governments and corporate-financier interests are kept. On page 11 of Amnesty International Limited’s 2011 Report and Financial Statement (.pdf) it states (emphasis added):

“The Directors are pleased to acknowledge the support of the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, the Oak Foundation, Open Society Georgia Foundation, the Vanguard Charitable Endowment Programme, Mauro Tunes and American Jewish World Service. The UK Department for International Development (Governance and Transparency Fund) continued to fund a four year human rights education project in Africa. The European Commission (EuropeAid) generously awarded a multi-year grant towards Amnesty International’s human rights education work in Europe.”

Clearly then, Amnesty does take money from both governments and corporate-financier interests, one of the most notorious of which, Open Society, is headed by convicted financial criminal George Soros. In March, 2012, it was reported that a Bloomberg’s report, “Soros Loses Case Against French Insider-Trading Conviction,” indicated that an appeal based on a “human rights” violation against Wall Street speculator George Soros had been rejected by the “European Court of Human Rights.”

Soros, whose Open Society also funds Human Rights Watch and a myriad of other “human rights” advocates, literally attempted to use the West’s human rights racket to defend himself against charges of financial fraud in perhaps the most transparent illustration of just how this racket operates.

Soros, who was convicted and fined for insider trading in 2002 regarding French bank Société Générale shares he bought in 1988, has built an empire out of obfuscating global criminal activity with the cause of “human rights.” His support, as well as that of the British and European governments, of Amnesty International aims solely at expanding this obfuscating.

Amnesty International’s Leadership

Amnesty’s leadership is also telling of its true agenda. Suzanne Nossel, Executive Director of Amnesty International USA, for instance was drawn directly from the US State Department – again, utterly contradicting Amnesty’s claims of being “independent” of governments and corporate interests. Nossel continued promoting US foreign policy, but simply behind a podium with a new logo, Amnesty International’s logo, attached to it. Amnesty International’s website specifically mentions Nossel’s role behind US State Department-backed UN resolutions regarding Iran, Syria, Libya, and Cote d’Ivoire.

Image: Same lies, different podium. Suzanne Nossel previously of the US State Department, is now executive director of Amnesty International USA. Her primary function of dressing up aspirations of corporate-financier global hegemony as “human rights advocacy” has not changed. →

AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL TARGETS RUSSIA AND SYRIA

“Trusted Messengers” (Avaaz) and “Humanitarian Groups” (Amnesty International) Target Russia and China, Endorse the US-NATO Mandate

by Richard Nogueira

Global Research, March 15, 2012

“HUMAN RIGHTS” WARRIORS FOR EMPIRE | Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch

“Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch have chosen sides in the Washington-backed belligerency – the side of Empire.” Syria has no choice but to secure every square foot of its territory. “Faced with the certainty of superpower-backed attack under the guise of ‘protecting’ civilians in “liberated” territory, Syria cannot afford to cede even one neighborhood of a single city – not one block! – or of any rural or border enclave, to armed rebels and foreign jihadis.”

by BAR executive editor Glen Ford

“NATO wants desperately to identify some sliver of Syrian soil on which to plant the ‘humanitarian’ flag of intervention.”

The largest imperial offensive since the Iraq invasion of March, 2003, is in full swing, under the banner of “humanitarian” intervention – Barack Obama’s fiendishly clever upgrade of George Bush’s “dumb” wars. Having failed to obtain a Libyan-style United Nations Security Council fig leaf for a “humanitarian” military strike against Syria, the United States shifts effortlessly to a global campaign “outside the U.N. system” to expand its NATO/Persian Gulf royalty/Jihadi coalition. Next stop: Tunisia, where Washington’s allies will assemble on February 24 to sharpen their knives as “Friends of Syria.” The U.S. State Department has mobilized to shape the “Friends” membership and their “mandate” – which is warlord-speak for refining an ad hoc alliance for the piratical assault on Syria’s sovereignty.

Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch are swigging the ale with their fellow buccaneers. These “human rights” warriors, headquartered in the bellies of empires past and present, their chests shiny with medals of propagandistic service to superpower aggression in Libya, contribute “left” legitimacy to the imperial project. London-based Amnesty International held a global “day of action” to rail against Syria for “crimes against humanity” and to accuse Russia and China of using their Security Council vetoes to “betray” the Syrian people – echoing the war hysteria out of Washington, Paris, London and the royal pigsties of Riyadh and Doha. New York-based Human Rights Watch denounced Moscow and Beijing’s actions as “incendiary” – as if it were not the empire and its allies who were setting the Middle East and Africa on fire, arming and financing jihadis – including hundreds of veteran Libyan Salafists now operating in Syria.

“Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch contribute ‘left’ legitimacy to the imperial project.”

Under Obama’s “intelligent” (as opposed to “dumb”) imperial tutelage, colonial genocidaires like France now propose creation of “humanitarian corridors” inside Syria “to allow NGOs to reach the zones where there are scandalous massacres.” NATO flatly rejected such a corridor in Libya when sub-Saharan Africans and black Libyans were being massacred by militias armed and financed by the same “Friends” that now besiege Syria.

Turkey claims it has rejected, for now, the idea of setting up humanitarian “buffer zones” along its border with Syria – inside Syrian territory – while giving arms, training and sanctuary to Syrian military deserters. In reality, it is Syrian Army troop and armor concentrations on the border that have thwarted the establishment of such a “buffer” – a bald euphemism for creating a “liberated zone” that must be “protected” by NATO or some agglomeration of U.S.-backed forces.

NATO, which bombed Libya non-stop for six months, inflicting tens of thousands of casualties while refusing to count a single body, wants desperately to identify some sliver of Syrian soil on which to plant the “humanitarian” flag of intervention. They are transparently searching for a Benghazi, to justify a replay of the Libyan operation – the transparent fact that prompted the Russian and Chinese vetoes.

Faced with the certainty of superpower-backed attack under the guise of “protecting” civilians in “liberated” territory, Syria cannot afford to cede even one neighborhood of a single city – not one block! – or of any rural or border enclave, to armed rebels and foreign jihadis. That road leads directly to loss of sovereignty and possible dissection of Syria – which western pundits are already calling a “hodge-podge” nation that could be a “failed state.” Certainly, the French and British are experts at carving up other people’s territories, having drawn the national boundaries of the region after World War One. It is an understatement to say that Israel would be pleased.

“It is the Libya formula, and might as well have come straight from Barack Obama’s mouth.”

With the Syrian military’s apparent successes in securing most of Homs and other centers of rebellion, the armed opposition has stepped up its terror tactics – a campaign noted with great alarm by the Arab League’s own Observer Mission to Syria, leading Saudi Arabia and Qatar to suppress the Mission’s report. Instead, the Gulf States are pressing the Arab League to openly “provide all kinds of political and material support” to the opposition, meaning arms and, undoubtedly, more Salafist fighters. Aleppo, Syria’s main commercial and industrial city, which had seen virtually no unrest, was struck by two deadly car bombs last week – signature work of the al-Qaida affiliate in neighboring Iraq.

The various “Friends of Syria,” all nestled in the U.S./NATO/Saudi/Qatar cocoon, now openly speak of all-out civil war in Syria – by which they mean stepped up armed conflict financed and directed by themselves – as the preferred alternative to the protracted struggle that the regime appears to be winning. There is one caveat: no “Western boots on the ground in any form,” as phrased by British Foreign Secretary William Hague. It is the Libya formula, and might as well have come straight from Barack Obama’s mouth.

Syria is fighting for its national existence against an umbrella of forces mobilized by the United States and NATO. Of the 6,000 or so people that have died in the past 11 months, about a third have been Syrian soldiers and police – statistical proof positive that this is an armed assault on the state. There is no question of massive foreign involvement, or that the aim of U.S. policy is regime change, as stated repeatedly by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton (“Assad must go,” she told reporters in Bulgaria).

Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch have chosen sides in the Washington-backed belligerency – the side of Empire. As groups most often associated with (what passes for) the Left in their headquarters countries, they are invaluable allies of the current imperial offensive. They have many fellow travelers in (again, what passes for) anti-war circles in the colonizing and neo-colonizing nations. The French “Left” lifted hardly a finger while a million Algerians died in the struggle for independence, and have not proved effective allies of formerly colonized people in the 50 years, since. Among the European imperial powers, only Portugal’s so-called Carnation Revolution of 1974, a coup by young officers, resulted in substantial relief for the subjects of empire: the withdrawal of troops from Portugal’s African colonies.

“Of the 6,000 or so people that have died in the past 11 months, about a third have been Syrian soldiers and police – statistical proof positive that this is an armed assault on the state.”

The U.S. anti-war movement lost its mass character as soon as the threat of a draft was removed, in the early Seventies, while the United States continued to bomb Vietnam (and test new and exotic weapons on its people) until the fall of Saigon, in 1975. All that many U.S. lefties seemed to want was to get the Republicans off their backs, in 2008, and to Hell with the rest of the world. Democrat Barack Obama has cranked the imperial war machine back into high gear, with scarcely a peep from the “Left.”

There was great ambivalence – the most polite word I can muster – among purported leftists in the United States and Europe to NATO’s bombardment and subjugation of Libya. Here we are again, in the face of existential imperial threats to Syria and Iran, as leftists temporize about human rights while the “greatest purveyor of violence in the world today” blazes new warpaths.

There is no such thing as an anti-war activist who is not an anti-imperialist. And the only job of an anti-imperialist in the belly of the beast is to disarm the beast. Absent that, s/he is useless to humanity.

As we used to say: You are part of the solution – or you are part of the problem. Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch are part of the problem.

BAR executive editor Glen Ford can be contacted at Glen.Ford@BlackAgendaReport.com

FLASHBACK: Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International fan the flames of conflict in Syria

One sad aspect of the propaganda war has been the role played by Amnesty International and – as we will see -the heavily compromised Human Rights Watch (HRW), organisations which used to be highly regarded (and still employ some decent, well-intentioned and brave individuals.)

The daily output of propaganda is difficult to keep up with, let alone dispel. With fabricated stories describing camel bones as mass graves containing 1270 bodies, Moussa Ibrahim reportedly being found in women’s clothing and viagra apparently being distributed as a weapon of mass destruction in order to “rape children as young as EIGHT” the propaganda is beyond parody.

Human Rights Watch – infiltrated

HRW has always been a somewhat dodgy organisation, largely funded by billionaires such as George Soros and the Rausing family whose fortune comes from Tetra Paks, exploiting cheap labor in China and (allegedly) tax dodging on an industrial scale. According to its 2010 financial statements, HRW’s annual spend on fundraising was $8,042,326 and $2,344,370 on management and general costs. →

The Gaddafi Mercenaries and the Division of Africa | Amnesty International

Exposing the lies of the use of ‘African mercenaries’ in Libya

Via Global Civilians for Peace: “Amnesty International was well aware of the false accusations of the use of ‘African mercenaries’ in Libya. It was a lie used by NATO and their mouthpieces in the mainstream media to de-legitimise and demonise the Libyan government and cover up the mass racist lynchings, torture and imprisonment of black Libyans and migrant workers by the ‘rebels’. Surely as a self-proclaimed human rights organisation Amnesty International should have exposed these heinous ‘rebel’ crimes to the world, condemned the mainstream media’s complicity and campaigned on behalf of the black communities in Libya facing this racist onslaught.”

For more information on the ‘rebels’ relentless racist campaign of mass detention, lynchings and atrocities see the following compilation of articles and videos:

http://globalciviliansforpeace.com/2011/11/22/rebel-racism-compilation-of-articles-and-videos/

For more information on the truth behind the Imperialist war on Libya visit www.thehumanitarianwar.com.

Hillary Clinton Aid Appointed New Executive Director of Amnesty International U.S.A.

Cross posted from LIBYA 360°

Editor’s Note:

Ms. Nossel is also the Visiting Senior Fellow for Global Governance at the Council of Foreign Relations. She is known for popularizing the term “smart power” and is the founder of Democracy Arsenal. A.V.

Voltaire Network
Links and video added by Libya 360°

Suzanne Nossel, former assistant to Richard Holbrooke in his capacity as UN Ambassador and currently Hillary Clinton’s Deputy Assistant for International Organization Affairs, has been selected as the new Executive Director of Amnesty International USA. In the discharge of her duties at the State Department, she diligently exploited human rights to benefit imperial ambitions.

Ms. Nossel had previously worked for Human Rights Watch, as well as for Bertelsmann Media Worldwide and the Wall Street Journal as Vice President of Strategy and Operations.

The AI-USA Board of Directors deemed that Suzanne Nossel’s commitment to the Clinton and Obama administrations was sufficient proof of her competence and decided not to hold a grudge against her for the crimes committed in Yugoslavia, Afghanistan, Iraq, Lebanon, etc.

Ms. Nossel has launched several campaigns against Iran, Libya and Syria. In recent months she made a name for herself by misinforming the Human Rights Council in Geneva with a view to getting the resolution authorizing the war on Libya adopted by the Security Council. Ms. Nossel’s allegations have since been debunked.

HUMANITARIAN WAR IN LIBYA? THERE IS NO EVIDENCE!
LIBYA AND THE BIG LIE: USING HUMAN RIGHTS ORGANIZATIONS TO LAUNCH WARS

© Copyright 2011 by Libya 360°

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Subscribe to Libya 360° for critical updates on the Imperialist war waged upon Libya: http://libya360.wordpress.com/

THE BRUTAL MURDER OF MUAMMAR AND MU’TASSIM GADDAFI

Press Release: World Wide Outcry To Make Amnesty International See Reason and Make Amends

Source: Human Rights for All

24/03/2010

March 22, 2010

People from across the world, including key human rights activists, public intellectuals and citizens groups have supported a global petition demanding public clarification and accountability from Amnesty International.

Among the prominent signatories figure: Salman Rushdie, Michael Walzer; Amitav Ghosh; Malalai Joya, (MP Afghan Parliament, suspended for criticizing warlords).; Dr. Nawal El Sadaawi (Writer and former political prisoner) Egypt.; Martha Nussbaum (Professor of Law and Ethnics, University of Chicago; co-founder of the Human Development and Capabilities Association with Amartya Sen) US.; Dr. Yakin Erturk (Former UN Special Rapporteur on Violence Against Women and board Member of UNRISD). Turkey,: I. A. Rehman and Iqbal Haidar (the most senior members of Pakistan’s Human Rights Commission); Farida Shaheed (UN Independent Expert on Cultural Rights and Director of Research at Shirkat Gah) Pakistan; Jodie Evans (Environmental activist and founder member of CODEPINK, Women for Peace) US; Nayantara Sahgal (Celebrated writer, and former Indian Ambassador to Italy) India; Romila Thapar (Eminent Historian of Ancient India) India; Madanjeet Singh (UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador and founder of South Asia Foundation) Ramachandra Guha (historian, and a regular columnist with The Telegraph of Calcutta.) [See
below wider list of notable signatories]

• On Feburary 7, 2010 Amnesty International’s controversial alliance with Moazzem Begg and his organization, Cageprisoners, who have an ambiguous position on the Taliban, was publicly questioned by Gita Sahgal, Head of the Gender Unit at the International Secretariat of Amnesty International, London.

• Sahgal raised a fundamental point of principle, which is “about the importance of the human rights movement maintaining an objective distance from groups and ideas that are committed to systematic discrimination.”

• This principle in no way contradicts or negates the Amnesty International campaign against the fundamental human rights abuses that have occurred at Guantanamo and elsewhere.

• Rather than responding to the seriousness of her concerns with an investigation of the issues and/or having a democratic debate both internally and in the public domain, Amnesty International suspended Gita Sahgal and publicly reiterated its alliance with Begg. This is a compromise of its own core values.

• In response to the petition, as well as in a recent public statement, Amnesty has quoted the concept of defensive jihad as justification for its support of Begg.

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Full text of the The Global petition to Amnesty International: Restoring the Integrity of Human Rights

The above petition is open for public signatures

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Selected list of the notable signatories includes :

Rhonda Copelon (Director of IWHR (International Women’s Human Rights Law Clinic, City University of NY) US

Meredith Tax (Writer and feminist organizer; President of Women’s WORLD). US.

Michael Walzer (Political scientist at the Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton, NJ, and editor of Dissent magazine). US.

Salman Rushdie (Internationally known writer; winner of the Booker Prize).

Amitav Ghosh (Writer and Professor of Comparative Literature at Queens College, NY; awarded the Padma Sri prize awarded by the Indian government). US and India.

Malalai Joya, (MP Afghani Parliament, suspended for criticizing warlords), Afghanistan.

Dr. Nawal El Sadaawi (Physician, writer, and former political prisoner) Egypt.

Martha Nussbaum (Professor of Law and Ethnics, University of Chicago; c-founder of the Human Development and Capabilities Association with Amartya Sen) US.

Dr. Yakin Erturk (Former UN Special Rapporteur on Violence Against Women and board Member of UNRISD). Turkey

I. A. Rehman and Iqbal Haidar (the most senior members of Pakistan’s Human Rights Commission) Pakistan

Farida Shaheed (UN Independent Expert on Cultural Rights and Director of Research at Shirkat Gah). Pakistan

Gayatri Chakravorti Spivak (Literary theorist and University Professor at Columbia, visiting faculty at Center for Studies in Social Sciences, Calcutta) US and India.

Marieme Helie-Lucas (Algerian sociologist and founder of Women Living Under Muslim Laws and coordinator of Secularism is a Women’s Issue, siawi.org). Algeria and France.

Charlotte Bunch (Founder of the Center for Women’s Global Leadership at Rutgers University, NJ). US.

Rosalind Petchesky (Professor of Women’s Studies and Political Science, Hunter College and the Graduate Center at the City University of New York and MacArthur Fellow) US.

Katha Pollitt (Poet and columnist for The Nation magazine) US

Judy Norsigian (Cofounder and Executive Director of theBoston Women’s Health Collective which publishes Our Bodies Ourselves) US

Jodie Evans (Environmental activist and founder member of CODEPINK, Women for Peace) US

Kum-Kum Bhavnani (Filmmaker) US

Gila Svirsky (Feminist peace activist, cofounder of Women in Black and the Coalition of Women for a Just Peace) Israel

Sonia Correa (Research associate at ABIA – Brazilian Interdisciplinary Association for AIDS,and DAWN coordinator for Sexual and Reproductive Rights and Health Research) Brazil

Carole Vance (Associate Clinical Professor of Sociomedical Sciences, Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University) US

Steven Lukes (Professor of Politics and Sociology, New York University) US

Tom Harrison (Co-Director, Campaign for Peace and Democracy) US

Patricia McFadden (Editor of SAFERE, Southern African Feminist Review) Zimbabwe

Cynthia Fuchs Epstein (Distinguished Professor of Sociology at the Graduate Center, City University of NY) US

Kristen Booth Glen (Surrogate Court judge in Manhattan; former Dean of the Law School of the City University of New York). US.

Mariella Sala (Writer and former director of RELAT, a Latin American network of women writers; the Latin American Press Agency; and Flora Tristan women’s association) Peru

Virginia Vargas (Sociologist; founder of the Flora Tristan women’s association, and former Latin Amerian coordinator for the 1995 UN Conference on Women in Beijing). Peru.

Dubravka Ugresic (Internationally known writer, formerly from Croatia; winner of many European prizes). Netherlands.

Wanda Nowicka (Polish feminist organizer; co-founder and Director of the Federation for Women and Family Planning, and and co-founder of ASTRA, the Central and Eastern European Women’s Network for Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights) Poland

Dan Connell (Distinguished Lecturer in Journalism and African Politics, Simmons College, Boston) US

Lynne Segal (Socialist feminist writer and activist; Anniversary Professor of Psychology and Women’s Studies, Birkbeck College, London.) UK.

Doug Ireland (Well known investigative journalist and defender of gay rights). US

Nayantara Sahgal (Celebrated writer, and former Indian Ambassador to Italy) India

Romila Thapar (Eminent Historian of Ancient India) India

Lilian Halls-French, President, European Feminist Initiative (IFE-EFI) France

J. Sri Raman (Senior journalist and Peace campaigner) India

Jean-Marie Matagne (Former presidential candidate, President of Action des Citoyens pour le Désarmement Nucléaire –ACDN) France

Madanjeet Singh (UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador and Founder of the South Asia Foundation) India

Kamla Bhasin (Co-President, PeaceWomen Across the Globe) India

Hameeda Hossain (South Asians For Human Rights) and ASK (Ain O Salish Kendra) a women’s rights organization, Bangladesh

Yvonne Deutsch (co founder of Women in Black Jerusalem and founder Feminist Center in Jerusalem) Israel

Shabnam Hashmi (founder of Act Now for Harmony and Democacy -Anhad) India

Kushi Kabir (Feminist and founder of Nijrera Kori, women’s mass organistaion) Bangladesh

Harsh Mander (former state official and founder of Aman Biradari) India

Andrej Grubacic (Associated with Global Balkans Network) USA

Sunanda Sen (renowned economist) India

Kumudini Samuel (Women and Media Collective) Sri Lanka

Uma Chakravarti (Feminist Historian, and human rights activist, India)

Amit Bhaduri (Professor Emeritus at Jawaharlal Nehru University, Delhi) India

Caroline Fourest (Writer and journalist, Editor of the Journal Prochoix) France

Anand Patwardhan (documentary filmmaker and peace activist) India

Sooni Taraporevala (widely acclaimed film scenarist) India

Bruce Portugal Amoroto (Diversity and Equality) Philippines

Sonia Jay Wright (Rede Mulher & Democracia) Brazil

Houzan Mahmoud (Kurdish women’s rights and peace activist and co-founder of the Iraqi Women’s Rights Coalition) Iraq

Martha Villanueva / www.gruposafo.org

Rina Nissim (Women’s Health Activist, Publisher) Switzerland

Stasa Zajovic (founder of Women in Black-Belgrade) Serbia

Ramachandra Guha (historian, and a regular columnist with The Telegraph of Calcutta.) India

Lino Veljak, University of Zagreb, Croatia

Asghar Ali Engineer (Director, Centre for Study of Society and Secularism) India

Sultana Kamal (Director of Ain O Salish Kendra and former advisor the Bangladesh Govt.) Bangladesh

Tanvir Mokammel (film maker) Bangladesh

Mazher Hussain (Director, Confederation of Voluntary Agencies –COVA) India

Jameela Nishat (Hyderabad-based feminist and poet) India

Gautam Navlakha (Editorial Consultant, Economic and Political Weekly, Bombay and a senior member of People’s Union for Democratic rights)

Ruth Vanita (Feminist and Writer, former co-editor of the journal Manushi)

Kavita Srivastava (General Secretary of the People’s Union for Civil Liberties) India

Deniz Kandiyoti (Reader at the Department of Development Studies and Chair of the Centre of Contemporary Central Asia and the Caucasus at the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London.) UK

Pierre Pradervand (writer and founder of vivre autrement) Switzerland

Mohammad Tahseen (Executive Director, South Asia Partnership-Pakistan) Pakistan

Sheema Kermani (Dancer, and Feminist. Founder of the group Tehrik e Niswan) Pakistan

Sheba Chhachhi (artist, photographer, feminist activist, and writer) India

Zoya Hasan (Professor of Political Science at Jawaharlal Nehru University) India

Dr Abid Suleri (Executive Director Sustainable Development Policy Institute -SDPI Islamabad (Pakistan)

Sonia Jabbar (writer, journalist, photographer, filmmaker) India

NiraYuval-Davis (Director of the Research Centre on Migration, Refugees and Belonging, University of East London) UK

Babu Gogineni (International Director of the International Humanist and Ethical Union) India

Tarek Fatah (political activist, writer and broadcaster) Canada and Pakistan

Kumudini Samuel (Women and Media Collective) Sri Lanka

Sumit Sarkar, was Professor of History at the University of Delhi and founding member of the Subaltern Studies Collective (India)

Tanika Sarkar (Professor of History at Jawaharlal Nehru University) India

Dilip Simeon (Labour Historian and founder of Aman Trust) India

Githa Hariharan (writer, and editor) India

Urvashi Butalia (Feminist Activist and founder of Zubaan Books) India

Deepa Dhanraj (Feminist and documentary Film Maker) India

Pragna Patel, Southall Black Sisters, UK

Farooq Tariq / Labour Party Pakistan

Jessica Almy-Pagán, Universidad de Puerto Rico en Arecibo

Pamela Philipose (Journalist and Director of Women’s Feature Service) India

Meghna Guhathakurta, Academic, Dhaka (Bangladesh)

Subhashini Ali, President, (All India Democratic Women’s Association – AIDWA), India

Javed Anand (General Secretary, Muslims for Secular Democracy and Co-editor, Communalism Combat; Founding Trustee, Citizens for Justice and Peace , Mumbai) India

Karamat Ali (Co Director, Pakistan Institute of Labour Education and Research and founding Member of Pakistan Peace Coalition) Pakistan

Ruchir Joshi (writer and film maker) India

Prof. Kamal Chenoy (Chairperson, Centre for Comparative Politics & Political Theory, Jawaharlal Nehru University) India

Dr John Dayal (former journalist and is Secretary General of All India Christian Council) India

Nick Cohen (journalist, author, and political commentator) UK

Kalpana Kannabiran (Asmita Collective) India

Tahir Mahmood (Jurist and Member, Law Commission of India) India

Peter Waterman (writer, scholar, initiator of a Global Labour Charter) Netherlands

Cherifa Kheddar (President “Djazairouna” association of familles of victimes of islamist, terrorism) Algeria

Harsh Kapoor (Founder South Asia Citizens Web) France and India

Organisations:

Association for Women’s Rights in Development (AWID), International

Baobab for Women’s Human Rights, Nigeria

Center for Women’s Global Leadership (CWGL), US

Fundacion Arcoiris por el respeto a la diversidad sexual, Mexico

I-NFORM, Sri Lanka

MADRE, US

Marea (Feminist journal), Italy

Revolutionary Association of the Women of Afghanistan (RAWA), Afghanistan/Pakistan

Secularism is A Women’s Issue (SIAWI), International

Urgent Action Fund for Women’s Human Rights, US

Women Against Fundamentalism, UK

Women Living Under Muslim Laws (WLUML), International

and 1500 more signatories

http://www.awid.org/eng/Women-in-Action/Announcements2/Press-Release-World-Wide-Outcry-To-Make-Amnesty-International-See-Reason-and-Make-Amends

Communication to TckTckTck Partner: Amnesty International – Feb. 21st, 2010

No response received as of March 15th, 2010.

From: Canadians for Action on Climate Change [mailto:canadiansforactiononclimatechange@bell.net] Sent: February-21-10 10:45 AM
To: ‘amnestyalgeria@hotmail.com’; ‘administracion@amnesty.org.ar’; ‘servicecentre@amnesty.org.au’; ‘aibf@aibf.be’; ‘info@amnesty.at’; ‘amnesty@aivl.be’; ‘aibenin@leland.bj’; ‘aibda@ibl.bm’; ‘info@amnesty.ca’; ‘info@amnistie.ca’; ‘info@amnistia.cl’; ‘aicotedivoire@yahoo.fr’; ‘amnesty@amnesty.dk’; ‘amnesty@amnesty.fo’; ‘amnesty@amnesty.fi’; ‘info@amnesty.fr’; ‘info@amnesty.de’; ‘info@amnesty.org.gr’; ‘rightsgy@yahoo.com’; ‘admin-hk@amnesty.org.hk’; ‘amnesty@amnesty.is’; ‘info@amnesty.ie’; ‘amnesty@netvision.net.il’; ‘info@amnesty.it’; ‘info@amnesty.or.jp’; ‘info@amnesty.or.kr’; ‘info@amnesty.lu’; ‘amnestymtius@intnet.mu’; ‘informacion@amnistia.org.mx’; ‘amorocco@sections.amnesty.org’; ‘info@amnestynepal.org’; ‘amnesty@amnesty.nl’; ‘info@amnesty.org.nz’; ‘info@amnesty.no’; ‘admin-pe@amnesty.org’; ‘section@amnesty.org.ph’; ‘amnesty@amnesty.org.pl’; ‘aiportugal@amnistia-internacional.pt’; ‘amnistiapr@amnestypr.org’; ‘aisenegal@sentoo.sn’; ‘aislf@sierratel.sl’; ‘amnesty@amnesty.si’; ‘info@es.amnesty.org’; ‘info@amnesty.se’; ‘info@amnesty.ch’; ‘amnesty.taiwan@gmail.com’; ‘aitogo@cafe.tg’; ‘admin-tn@amnesty.org’; ‘info@amnesty.org.uk’; ‘admin-us@aiusa.org’; ‘oficina@amnistia.org.uy’; ‘admin-ve@amnesty.org’; ‘perescar@ceibo.entelnet.bo’; ‘aiburkina@fasonet.bf’; ‘amnesty@amnesty.cz’; ‘info@amnesty.hu’; ‘amnesty@tm.net.my’; ‘amnesty.mali@ikatelnet.net’; ‘info@amnesty.md’; ‘aimncc@magicnet.mn’; ‘ai-info@py.amnesty.org’; ‘amnesty@amnesty.sk’; ‘info@amnesty.or.th’; ‘posta@amnesty.org.tr’; ‘office@amnesty.org.ua’; ‘amnesty@zamtel.zm’; ‘amnestyis@amnesty.org’; ‘arabai@amnesty.org’; ‘ai-efai@amnesty.org’; ‘mlleo@amnesty.org’; ‘amnesty-eu@aieu.be’; ‘mena@amnesty.org’; ‘Kolaniya@amnesty.org’; ‘gvunpost@amnesty.org’; ‘admin-ap@amnesty.org’; ‘ai-aro@amnesty.org’; ‘msk@amnesty.org’; ‘pro@amnesty.org’; ‘ybautista@amnesty.org’
Cc: ‘GlobalComplianceResearch@gmail.com’
Subject: TckTckTck Concerns | Time Sensitive – Your Response is Requested

Dear Amnesty International,

We are writing to you because we are concerned about the corporate connections, and about the weak demands in the TckTckTck campaign. We are conducting a survey related to these aspects of the campaign. We will be posting the results of our survey to the web, as well as issuing a media release. We will be issuing the press release on March 15^th, 2010. For this reason could your organization please respond no later than February 28^th, 2010?  If we do not receive a response by this time we will state that your organization did not comment.

Corporate connections of TckTckTck

We note your organization is listed in as a partner or ally of the TckTckTck campaign initiative. We are very alarmed to learn various details about the campaign. The trademark TckTckTck was registered, on November 30, 2009, by the EURO RSCG firm, a subsidiary of Havas Worldwide, a public relations firm. Partners of this campaign include multinational corporations. Two of these are Electricity of France (EDF)  which now uses the TckTckTck logo, in TV commercials. EDF, the world’s leading nuclear power utility, operates a French nuclear fleet consisting of 58 reactors spread over 19 different sites. Havas also lists GDF Suez which affirms that there is a nuclear revival. With 45 years of involvement in the nuclear industry, GDF SUEZ confirms its intention to take an active part in developing a new generation of nuclear power worldwide.

In the Havas press release (attached) it also states “Havas Worldwide incorporates the EURO RSCG” whose clients include Novartis and Adventis – both biotech industries in genetic engineering and biofuel.  Both Nuclear and Biofuel are deemed to be ‘solutions’ that are equally bad, if not worse than the problem they are intended to solve.  Through your association with the TckTckTck campaign, your organization has created intentionally or unintentionally the perception that your organization is supportive of false solutions such as nuclear and biofuel.

When challenged over the inappropriateness of associating NGO partners with the corporate sector, (see EYES WIDE SHUT | TckTckTck exposé) the TckTckTck.org campaign organizer Jason Mogus claimed the two campaigns are different.  His argument is not convincing when one sees the press release issued in September of 2009 (screenshot attached). It clearly states that the North American TckTckTck.org is Havas Worldwide.  In the September 2009 press release the last paragraph states: “Havas Worldwide Web Site: http://tcktcktck.org”.  There is further information about this in an article by ‘Peace, Earth & Justice News’. See the news article here.

One of your partners listed is at tcktcktck.org is the ‘Corporate Leaders Group on Climate Change’.  Signatories: can be found here. Of interest is the fact that on this page the multinational corporations ‘business verdict’ share your tcktcktck postCOP15 catch phrase ‘not done yet’.  This is perhaps one of the most truthful statements coming out of the entire tcktcktck campaign.  Partners in this group include Shell, Coca-Cola and RBC.  RBC is the number one financier of the most destructive project on the planet – the tar sands.  Over 1,000 corporate entities make up this TckTckTck partner group.

Furthermore, two of the same creators & partners (Havas & Euro RSCG) of TckTckTck were also initial partners of the infamous Hopenhagen campaign which was labeled a massive greenwash by the likes of Naomi Klein and others during COP15. (Farbman is reluctant to discuss what led to Ogilvy’s predicament or why previously enthusiastic partners were no longer involved.  See article here)

Many of us oppose, at least in principle if not vocally, the consumption of small community business into behemoth sized mega-corps.  We fear this is a growing trend with our NGOs.  We feel that we must work together to demand an end to this new strain of globalization which undermines and threatens our entire movement.

The entire TckTckTck campaign has been created in partnership with major multinational corporations.  These are the same multinational corporations that activists and legitimate grassroots organizations all over the world challenge on a daily basis.  People are devoting and risking their very lives defending themselves, their children and their environment from exploitation by these corporations in the name of corporate profit.  To have the largest climate change campaign on the planet formed, funded and shaped by the same corporate interests destroying our planet is a grave injustice to those already suffering.  It destroys all of our credibility, undermines true climate justice and erodes public trust.

Weak Targets advanced by TckTckTck

SIGNIFICANT OMISSIONS IN TCKTCKTCK http://tcktcktck.org DEMANDS

In the TckTckTck (http://tcktcktck.org) campaign for COP15, the organizers, allies and partners were calling for developed states to reduce developed country emissions by at least 40% by 2020. While most developed and developing states were calling for developed states to use 1990 as a baseline, the TckTckTck campaign did not have a baseline. Consequently what they were calling for was way below what developing states were demanding. How could an NGO campaign have a percentage reduction without a base-line date? In the TckTckTck campaign demands it was stated: “Reduce developed country emissions by at least 40% by 2020”. Is that from 2009 levels? or Canadian 2006 levels, or US 2005 levels?  It is far from what most of the developing states wanted, at least 45% from 1990 levels. Apart for calling for stabilization by 2015, the tcktcktck campaign had no commitment for subsequent years, such as calling the reduction of global emissions by at least 95% from 1990 levels by 2050. The TckTckTck campaign was silent on a 2050 commitment. The Key issues at COP15 were i) the need for a common baseline such as 1990, and the need for developed states to commit to high percentage reduction of greenhouse gases from the 1990 baseline, and ii) the urgent demand to not have the temperature rise exceed 1degree above preindustrialized levels and to return to no more than 300ppm. The tcktcktck campaign seriously undermined the necessary, bold targets as advanced by many of the developing states.   The TckTckTck (http://tcktcktck.org) list over 220 NGOs. We ask for your response on the following questions:

1)     Was your NGO aware that the brand “TckTckTck” has deep corporate ties?

2)     If so, how do you understand this relationship?

3)     Do you see yourselves as part of a campaign alongside “corporate partners” such as nuclear energy, genetic engineering, biofuels, aviation, automotive and other problematic sectors?

4)     If so, do you see how this creates confusion?

5)     In a release from Havas Worldwide it states “the idea behind TckTckTck was to create a movement…rather than a campaign, but a movement with a deadline. …the objective of the campaign was to make it become a movement that consumers, advertisers and the media would use and exploit.”

Were you aware that your NGO’s name and credibility would be used as a commodity in this way? (and continues to be used)

6) Do you intend to remain a partner of TckTckTck even though there are corporate ties?

7) Would you like to be removed from the list of partners of TckTckTck?

If yes to number 7;

To be removed from the list, contact laura.comer@tcktcktck.org.

8) Would your organization endorse the proposed ‘Post Cop15 Declaration’ that unequivocally supports the needs of the developing states.  It can be read here.

There are further questions related to privacy of the fifteen million people who signed on to it. There is an absolute breach of trust.  Who has collected such vital information on citizens with concern for environmental issues is anyone’s guess.  Trusting individuals disclosed personal information with no idea the campaign was aligned with corporate interests.  This is a separate and distinct issue altogether.  It is most likely that of privacy violations which warrant further investigation.

We wish that it be clear that we send this message in solidarity – that we have grave concerns with this “coalition”.  We do not wish to be patronizing but only elaborate on the concerns we share in the hope that you will share our concerns and come to the conclusion others have reached – that such a campaign is no longer the right place for any organization who believes in real climate justice to invest energies. If we say nothing – then our silence lends us as being complicit.  Therefore, we feel that must ask of all our allies to be accountable for their actions.  If we remain silent – we effectively breach the trust of those we claim to represent – the billions suffering at the hands of exploitation in the name of profits.  Let us be clear – we do not condone such a campaign and will speak out against it.

We hope that this communiqué will bring about debate that can strengthen our common understanding of the threats and opportunities for true climate justice. Our first priority is the planet, and this can only be worthwhile if it is another strand in unmasking the lies surrounding “climate politics” that threaten us with climate injustice.

Sincerely,

Canadians for Action on Climate Change | Cory Morningstar

Joan Russow | Global Compliance Research Project | www.climatechangecopenhage.org | For further information:  see Joan Russow , TckTckTck Hoodwinked NGOs, www.Pej.org)

Pacific Indigenous Peoples Environment Coalition | Aotearoa [New Zealand] | Sandy Gauntlett

Please send response to canadiansforactiononclimatechange@bell.net

The responses will be posted on the websites.

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