Sir,
An article in the October 16 edition of World Sikh News “I.H.R.O. Plans to Participate in World Human Rights Conference” by Amrit Kaur disturbed me very much.
The article recounts comments I supposedly made at a meeting in Washington D.C. on October 1. First I did not attend the meeting in question; I was in San Francisco on October 1. Second I have not spoken to anyone representing your publication since July. Third the substance and tone of the remarks attributed to me do not reflect my own thinking or that of Amnesty International. Fourth 1 am not the “Director of Amnesty International” I am the Campaign Coordinator for AIUSA.
Over the last year I have worked very hard to bring balanced impartial credible pressure from the U.S. on the government of India to improve their human rights performance. Amnesty is only effective as long as it maintains both the reality and the appearance of complete integrity and independence.
Jack Rendler
National Campaign Director Amnesty International USA Editor’s Note: Our reporter Ms. Kaur regrets the error of assigning statements of one individual to another. It was not our intention to imply that IHRO and Amnesty Int have any more in common than the stated aims of protecting Human Rights.
Article extracted from this publication >> November 6, 1992
