My grandfather cofoundedAmnesty International to protect freedom of conscience. Today, the organization does the opposite.

My grandfather cofounded Amnesty International.He wouldn’t recognize it today.On July 8, 2026, Amnesty International UK published a report titled “A Growing Threat: The Anti-Rights Movement in the UK.” Included in the list of “anti-rights” villains: a rape crisis center in Scotland, various women’s rights groups and Christian societies.

They were accused of “undermining human rights protections in law and practice.”Many of the 117 organizations identified in the report immediately pushed back, publishing letters of objection online and sending them directly to the CEO and Chair of AIUK.Within 48 hours Amnesty removed the report from their website.

On July 31, AIUK issued a public apology stating that the report did not meet their standards.But their standards have long been much too low.Amnesty was created to defend human rights.

The global brand was built on evidence-led, case-by-case methods.One prisoner, one file, one fact-checked case.

In my family, we sat around the kitchen table making Christmas cards for prisoners of conscience and writing letters to the authorities that imprisoned them.I was raised to believe that freedom of expression is a fundamental safeguard in democracy. My family learned that through bitter experience. My grandfather Sean MacBride had been a political prisoner himself and cofounded the charity as a “permanent international movement in defence of freedom of opinion and religion.” It saddens me to see how far Amnesty has deviated from these founding values.

In 2020, Amnesty International Ireland signed an open letter written by Trans Equality Network Ireland that called on “media, and politicians to no longer provide legitimate representation” for people who believe that biological sex is real and material in law.I publicly challenged Colm O’Gorman, CEO of Amnesty Ireland at the time.

A journalist from a national paper interviewed me but ended up not publishing the article.When I asked why, I was told t...