Amnesty UK spokespeople
In addition to a wide range of experts located in dozens of countries, Amnesty can offer media spokespeople from its UK office.
These are listed (in alphabetical order) below.
For media requests concerning all Amnesty spokespeople – whether at Amnesty UK or globally – please contact the Amnesty International UK media office.
Kate Allen
Director
Kate has been the director of Amnesty International UK since 2000, leading on all of Amnesty’s major campaigns and its work with thousands of activists and hundreds of grassroots Amnesty groups across the UK. She regularly accompanies Amnesty advocacy, fact-finding and research trips around the world, and has visited Afghanistan, Israel/Occupied Palestinian Territories, Turkey, Bangladesh, Sierra Leone and Lebanon, among other countries. Kate is a member of Amnesty’s Global Management Team and is also part of the Foreign Secretary’s Human Rights Advisory Group. Kate makes regular appearances in the UK media, including writing for the Guardian, The Independent, the Huffington Post and The Times, among others. Kate tweets @KateAllenAI.
Kristyan Benedict
Crisis & Tactical Campaign Manager
Kristyan’s work focuses on protecting civilians in conflicts such as those in Syria, Yemen and Israel/Palestine, as well as developing Amnesty responses for sudden crises or other urgent work. He has a wide network of contacts around the world, especially among Syrian human rights activists, with whom he often works. He is a frequent media commentator – telling Huffington Post in early 2019, for instance, that “people who spend hours online peddling disinformation campaigns about the Syrian conflict ought to explain why they’re so resistant to allowing greater independent international scrutiny of what’s happening in Syria”. Kristyan tweets @KreaseChan.
Chiara Capraro
Women’s Human Rights Programme Manager
Chiara has wide experience of women’s human rights issues, including working with migrant women in Italy, women living with HIV/AIDS, and sex workers in India. She has been part of expert groups lobbying for women’s rights at the United Nations and has published on women’s rights in various peer-reviewed journals. She is a frequent media commentator. Chiara tweets @chiaracapraro.
Patrick Corrigan
Northern Ireland Programme Director
Based in Amnesty’s Belfast office, Patrick’s work includes the ongoing legacy of the Troubles, press freedom, racism and refugee rights. Patrick has worked alongside victims of clerical child abuse and Mother and Baby Homes, is a founder of the Love Equality campaign for marriage equality, and a director of the Human Rights Consortium. He is an experienced political advocate at Stormont and Westminster, and a frequent media commentator, telling the Irish Times in 2019: “When police are arresting journalists who have investigated police collusion in the killing of civilians … people everywhere should be worried.” Patrick tweets @PatrickCorrigan.
Tom Davies
I Welcome Refugees Campaign Manager
Tom is responsible for Amnesty UK’s campaign calling for an improved international response to the global refugee crisis. He co-chairs the #FamiliesTogether initiative to reunite refugee families in the UK, and helped found Amnesty’s highly-acclaimed Football Welcomes project working with clubs and refugees. Tom is an experienced media commentator. He tweets @tomdavies77.
Peter Frankental
Economic Affairs Programme Director
Peter’s areas of expertise include business impacts on human rights, international standards applicable to companies, and the civil and criminal liability of corporations. Peter has been an adviser to the International Commission of Jurists panel on Corporate Complicity in International Crimes, was a founder of the UK Corporate Responsibility Coalition (CORE), and a key advocate for the Transparency in Supply Chains provision (S54) of the Modern Slavery Act 2015. He has served on the boards of several NGOs, including CORE, the Business and Human Rights Resource Centre, and the London Mining Network. He is the author of a number of business and human rights publications. Peter is a frequent media commentator, for example telling the BBC in 2018 that “all business figures need to be aware that their dealings with Saudi Arabia may taint them with human rights violations”.
Tim Gee
Campaign Manager for Human Rights in the UK
Tim’s work is focused on the rights of human rights defenders and on tackling the climate crisis. He was heavily involved in Amnesty’s work supporting the rights of the “Stansted 15” anti-deportations protest group, attending sessions of their trial at Chelmsford Crown Court in 2018. Tim has previously worked with Friends of the Earth, Christian Aid and Quaker Peace & Social Witness, and has published widely on the subject of activism and social change.
Allan Hogarth
Head of Policy and Government Affairs
Allan has more than 20 years’ experience of a wide range of human rights issues, including high-level advocacy. His work during 2018 in helping to expose the failings of the Met Police’s “gangs matrix” database led to him being invited to join the Mayor’s Office for Policing and Crime Reference group advising on human rights compliance. He is also a member of Amnesty’s Steering Group on Economic and Social rights. Allan makes regular appearances in the UK media, including writing for the Huffington Post and The Independent. Allan tweets @hogihogarth.
Felix Jakens
Head of Campaigns
As the Head of Campaigns, Felix is responsible for Amnesty’s priority campaigns – including on refugees and human rights defenders – as well as the organisation’s individuals at risk work. Felix tweets @felixjakens.
Ellie Kennedy
Individuals at Risk Campaigner
Ellie leads Amnesty UK’s “Urgent Action” campaigning for individuals and groups at risk around the world, including the organisation’s annual “Write for Rights" campaign. Ellie has extensive experience of leading high-profile UK and international human rights campaigns, with expertise in influencing government policy related to refugees and migration, women’s rights and international development. Ellie is responsible for Amnesty’s campaign to secure the freedom of Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe.
Rachel Logan
Legal Expert
Rachel, who leads Amnesty UK’s strategic litigation, is a practising barrister with more than 15 years’ experience in human rights, public and humanitarian law. Her areas of expertise include the application of international human rights law in the UK, counter-terrorism, access to justice, privacy law, and Brexit and human rights. She regularly gives evidence to parliamentary committees, speaks at conferences and provides specialist training to lawyers and policymakers. Rachel is the author of several Amnesty reports – including the 2019 submission to the UN Committee Against Torture. She helped lead the first ever successful case (over mass surveillance) against the UK security services in the Investigatory Powers Tribunal. She is a frequent media commentator, for example telling the Independent in 2018 that “the UK’s sale of arms to Saudi Arabia is in clear breach of both the UK’s own law and international law.” Rachel tweets @rachelrlogan.
Eilidh Macpherson
Individuals at Risk Campaign Manager
Eilidh leads Amnesty UK’s work on campaigning with and for individuals at risk of human rights violations around the world. She has wide experience as a campaigner in the fields of international development, disability, conflict and climate change, and has led campaigning work at international forums - including the United Nations and World Bank. Eilidh tweets @eilidhmac.
Kerry Moscogiuri
Campaigns Director
With nearly 20 years’ experience at a senior level at Amnesty UK across a broad range of human rights campaigns, Kerry leads all of Amnesty UK’s campaigns and communications work, including its grassroots campaigning. Kerry is a member of Amnesty’s Global Campaigns and Communications Management Groups and is also responsible for Amnesty UK’s human rights education programme. She is a frequent media commentator, for example telling the Daily Telegraph in 2018 that the UK Government needed to “significantly escalate” its response to the jailing of Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe.
Naomi McAuliffe
Scotland Campaigns Director
Naomi is the lead spokesperson for the media in Scotland. Covers most human rights issues domestically and internationally, with particular expertise in women’s rights, sexual and reproductive rights, devolution, Scottish Government’s international relations and Police Scotland. Naomi tweets @NaomiMc.
Lydia Parker
Human Rights in the UK Campaigner
Lydia campaigns on Amnesty UK’s domestic work - including trans rights, the Domestic Abuse Bill, and online violence against women. She has experience of working and campaigning with individuals and groups at risk, as well as human rights defenders.
Sara Rydkvist
Human Rights Defenders Campaign Manager
Sara manages Amnesty UK’s Brave campaign supporting human rights defenders around the world. She has led various areas of Amnesty’s campaigning work, including crisis work on the Central African Republic, Individuals at Risk campaigns and the My Body My Rights campaign focusing on sexual and reproductive rights. Sara tweets @SaraRydkvist
Oliver Feeley-Sprague
Military, Security and Police Programme Director
Oliver has 25 years’ experience working on the global arms trade and UK policing. He regularly speaks to specialist conferences, gives evidence to various parliamentary committees and is a member of the National Taser Stakeholder Advisory Group. In 2018, he was part of the Amnesty team that helped publicly expose serious flaws within the Met Police’s “gangs matrix” database. Oliver was a key advocate during the development of the international Arms Trade Treaty. Throughout the current Yemen conflict he has provided expert comment on the UK’s arms export to Saudi Arabia, in 2018, for example, telling the Press Association that “the UK should have halted arms sales to Saudi Arabia long ago”. Oliver tweets @ollysprague.
Polly Truscott
Foreign Affairs Adviser
Polly leads Amnesty UK’s work on foreign affairs. She has more than 20 years’ experience of international human rights law and humanitarian work, including with the UN and the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe. Areas of expertise include: UK foreign policy, UN human rights mechanisms, freedom of expression, abolition of the death penalty, conflict situations, peacekeeping and transitional justice. Polly tweets @pollyinthecity.
Steve Valdez-Symonds
Refugee and Migrant Rights Programme Director
Steve’s areas of expertise include forced migration and UK policy and practice on immigration, asylum and citizenship, areas in which he has over 20 years’ experience of legal practice and policy advocacy. He gives evidence to parliamentary committees, speaks at conferences, provides training on law and policy to lawyers and other practitioners; and has worked on successive immigration bills since 2006. He is the author of Amnesty’s response to the Home Office – Windrush lessons learned review – and regularly blogs for Amnesty. Steve tweets @stevesymondsAI.
Lucy Wake
Government and Political Relations Manager
Lucy has over 15 years’ experience of how the UK Government and Parliaments work on human rights issues, both at home and abroad. Lucy seeks to ensure Amnesty UK’s campaigning successfully secures commitments from the UK Government to promote and protect human rights, through both their foreign and domestic policy agendas. Lucy tweets @lucywake.