Christian Concern’s Head of Public Policy, Tim Dieppe, has taken Amnesty International to task for labelling a range of Christian groups “anti-rights” due to their positions on abortion and trans issues, while failing to denounce a single Islamic group.
The controversy began earlier this month when Amnesty released a report about the “anti-rights movement in the UK”.
Christian Concern was itself listed in the report as being “anti-rights” along with The Christian Institute, the Evangelical Alliance, the Catholic Bishops Conference of England and Wales, the Christian Medical Fellowship, the Society for the Protection of Unborn Children (SPUC), Christians in Parliament, CARE (Christian Action, Research and Education), Premier, the Centre for Bio–Ethical Reform (CBR UK), the Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF UK), and the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association UK among other organisations.
Following a backlash, Amnesty withdrew the report and expressed “regret” that it was published without undergoing more thorough internal checks.
Responding to the controversy, Tim Dieppe said it was “absurd” that Amnesty, which supposedly champions human rights, was targeting groups and organisations that devote themselves to the protection of rights for Christians.
Dieppe said that Amnesty had apparently fallen under the influence of anti-Christian bias.
"It is also astonishing that not one Islamic organisation was named in this report as anti-rights. Yet dozens of Christian organisations were singled out. In fact, so many Christian organisations are listed that it appears they went out of their way to name as many Christian organisations as they could think of. All this shows is that Amnesty has now become anti-Christian," he said.
Dieppe pointed out that the Amnesty report has serious implications for Christians in public life. It was not merely a naming of names but carried with it the threat of state action – Amnesty’s report demanded that the Charity Commission review the charitable status of the groups listed.
Dieppe said, "The multiple successes in our cases relating to Christian freedoms and right to life show that Christian Concern, far from being ‘anti-rights’ is actually very much on the right side of rights. Truth is on our side. It is Amnesty that is now anti-rights."
Announcing the withdrawal of the report, Amnesty said, "We regret that this briefing was uploaded to our website without going through the established internal review processes that are in place to ensure consistency, accuracy and alignment with Amnesty International UK's positions.
"Its use of language does not reflect the position of Amnesty International UK which is why it was promptly removed.
"We remain committed to defending human rights, including both the rights of women and the rights of trans people.
"Human rights protections are strongest when they apply equally to everyone, and no community should be singled out for unfair treatment or denied their dignity and rights."
