Amnesty International UK Activist-Led UN Network - Who we are!

Amnesty International Activist-Led UN Network

Human rights are universal. They are underpinned by the instruments and laws of the United Nations (UN). One of Amnesty International UK’s priority strategy objectives is to support and defend the international human rights framework.

In April 2024, we launched an activist-led UN Network that furthers this objective. The network aims to:

• Build activists' awareness of the human rights mechanisms and processes within the UN
• Campaign on human rights issues related to the work of the UN.

The Veto Campaign

Stop mass atrocities

Stop abuse of UN Security Council veto

Our current campaign concerns abuse of the UN Security Council veto. The UN SC was set up to maintain international peace and security. Wars today in Ukraine and the Middle East are just two examples of the SC’s repeated failure because of abuse of the veto held by the permanent five members of the SC (China, France, Russia, UK, US).

We believe that existing international law – such as the Geneva Conventions and Genocide Convention, the purposes and principles of the UN, and peremptory/jus cogens norms – already renders illegal vetoes cast against credible resolutions aimed at preventing or stopping mass atrocities.

Our veto campaign is based on a UN code of conduct (the ACT Code of Conduct) agreed by more than 120 member countries. Signatories to this code include the UK and France, who have not used their vetoes for 35 years.

You can follow us on:

BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/aiukalunnetwork.bsky.social

X: https://x.com/aiukalunnetwork

To join the Network or to receive more information, including about special events, contact: 

[email protected]