BBC screenshot. Photo: HonestReporting.

On April 21, the Jewish Chronicle reported that Amnesty International had rejected a motion to tackle rising anti-Semitism in Britain at its annual conference.

“The motion was tabled by Amnesty member Andrew Thorpe-Apps in March who said it was defeated at the International AGM on Sunday by 468 votes to 461. Mr Thorpe Apps said: ‘It was the only resolution to be defeated during the whole conference.'”

Amnesty International UK press officer Neil Durkin said: “After a really interesting debate where everyone condemned discrimination against all ethnic and religious groups, our membership decided not to pass this resolution calling for a campaign with a single focus.”

However, Amnesty International has not ruled out ‘single focus’ campaigns in the past, as the BBC has previously reported and the Jewish Chronicle goes on to point out:

In April 2012 the charity published a report into discrimination against Muslims.The report titled Choice and Prejudice Discrimination against Muslims in Europe said: ‘The aim of this report is to focus on discrimination on grounds of religion or belief and to illustrate some of its consequences on Muslims in Europe.’

NGO Monitor likewise notes that:

…AIUK [Amnesty International UK] has initiated “single focus” campaigns frequently in the past, for instance, approving “overwhelmingly” a 2010 resolution on Sinti and Roma Communities, and stating: “Within the last year widespread discrimination and violence against Sinti and Roma communities has intensified in a number of European countries, which Amnesty International has published within respective country reports.”

At the time of writing, we have found no coverage of this story on the BBC News website, despite the fact that Amnesty International is one of the NGOs most frequently uncritically quoted and promoted by the BBC, and that  AIUK has been provided with a BBC platform for fundraising.