Meet the Amnesty International UK Section Board

Helen Horton (Chair)

Helen is a long-term grass roots member, having been chair for 7 years of her local group in Lancaster. She joined the board in 2019. She is currently a member of the Safeguarding Committee, the International Issues and Policy Group and chair of the Campaigns an Impact Sub Committee. She is also a school speaker. Helen spent many years as a teacher of teenagers with Special Needs and then as a Senior Lecturer and Programme Leader (MA Education) in the School of Education at the University of Sunderland. After holding this role for 14 years she retired to take up a placement with the Voluntary Service Overseas. She is particularly passionate about Human Rights Education and strengthening campaigning with local groups.   

Andy Townend (Treasurer)

Andy Townend is the Chief Administrative Officer of LightEn Education Network, a global philanthropic organisation, and serves as a Trustee on the boards of King’s College London Students Union, and Directory of Social Change. Andy previously served as the Chief Operating Officer of AfriKids, an NGO supporting education, child protection and health projects in the north of Ghana, after two years as a Trustee and the Treasurer on the Board. Andy also served as a Non-Executive Director on the board of Wilton Park, an executive agency of the UK’s Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office.

Andy has provided strategic, policy and programme management support to governments, regulators and businesses in many countries including Australia, Belgium, Ethiopia, Ghana, New Zealand, Nigeria, Serbia, Taiwan, the UK, and the USA. A Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales, after a successful career with both KPMG and EY held senior leadership positions in organisations as diverse as the BBC and the Australian Government.

Andy is passionate about the need for greater equality, justice, and the protection of human rights, especially those of children, and is delighted to have the opportunity to use his experience helping make this a reality with Amnesty International.

Duaa Abdulal

Duaa became a member of Amnesty UK in 2020 after starting an Amnesty student group at the University of Bradford. She then went on to be elected to the AIUK Student Action Network Committee. Her dedication to fight against injustice, particularly racism, led her to join the newly formed AIUK Anti-Racism Network Committee in 2022, eventually becoming the Chair of the network. Most recently she joined the AIUK Section Board in 2024. She is particularly interested in encouraging inclusivity within the activism space. Duaa’s longstanding interest in healthcare and health inequalities has led her to working within NHS England.

Abdul Abid

Abdul has a Masters degree in Economics and spent 5 years in Banking as a Deputy chairman of a Banking/ finance Union. He spent over 40 years in retail & property management and has been a member of the Rotary club since 1998. Abdul received the Paul Harris Fellowship Award in 2017. He served as Deputy Lieutenant in Lanarkshire between 2012 to 2021.

Sophia Adams Bhatti

Sophia is a public policy expert with a career that spans over 20 years across the public and private sectors. Having studying Law and then International Relations, Sophia specialised in public policy and regulation. She is currently the Global Head of Purpose and Impact at Simmons & Simmons LLP, a global law firm, prior to which she was the Director of Policy at the Law Society of England and Wales where she led an international programme on law reform and human rights, with a specific focus on technology and ethics.

She spearheaded the Commission on the use of AI in the Justice System and is a published author on issues related to technology , legal ethics, and AI. Sophia has held senior positions, including the FCA, CMA, OFT, and the GMC.  She has a passion for working to solve injustices and pursuing access to human rights for all.

Ramazan Jumazada

Ramazan Jumazada is a former Afghanistan Parliament member. He has held numerous executive and non-executive leadership roles in his career. He was  also Chairman of the Natural Resources, Environmental Protection & Land Authority Committee of Parliament, Vice Chairman of the Economic Committee, & Chairman of the Parliamentary Business Caucus in Afghanistan.

Ramazan also served as a board member with several national ana international organisations and as a Consultative Advisor at EastWest Institute’s Regional Security Initiatives. Moreover; he has been involved with various human rights activities to champion freedom, justice and equality.

Ramazan is now living with his family in the UK where he studied at the University of Cumbria and Middlesex University in London. He currently holds an MBA in Leadership & Sustainability, and an MA in Global Governance & Sustainable Development. Ramazan is also a governor of Hertswood Academy in Hertfordshire.

Richard Kotter

Richard Kotter is an Anglo-German interdisciplinary geographer and long-standing human rights activist. He is currently an Assistant Professor and Advanced Practice Lead at Northumbria University's Department of Geography and Environmental Sciences. Richard has a broad academic and professional background, having worked in life sciences before transitioning to geography, where his expertise spans transport, energy, disaster management, and Design Thinking. His work is global, with a focus on both urban and rural challenges in Europe, Southeast Asia, and beyond.

Richard's involvement with Amnesty International began in 1988 with AI Germany, where he served as the national lead activist on El Salvador. After moving to the UK in 1993, he became deeply engaged with AIUK, working as a Co- Country Coordinator for Syria and serving as Chair of the Newcastle upon Tyne local group. He has also been an AIUK Trainer and collaborated on rights-based education projects, including Holocaust and Genocide education at Northumbria University.

Richard's humanitarian experience includes work in the Former Yugoslavia, Myanmar, the Dominican Republic, and Pakistan. Since 2019, he has been a Trustee of the International Emergency Team UK (IETUK), continuing his commitment to global humanitarian efforts.

Stuart Penny

Stuart joined the Board in September 2024 taking a seat reserved for nomination by local groups. During three decades of grassroots Amnesty activism and leadership he has been Chair of the Luton & Dunstable group and the Monmouth group. He is currently Treasurer of the Cardigan and north Pembrokeshire Group in West Wales.

Stuart was the Wales Activism representative from 2018 to 2021 and his recent activism has been focused on campaigning with other NGOs in Wales on using public procurement to create change; with Stuart's focus being primarily on procurement from illegal settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territories.

Stuart is retired following a career in the National Blood Service, a part of the NHS. He is a Trustee of a local charity focusing on the community resettlement of refugee families, is the Treasurer of his local Oxfam shop and is a Run Director for the parkrun in Cardigan.

George Randall

George became a member of both Amnesty and AI UK’s Children’s Human Rights Network Committee in May 2023, aged 15, then in 2024 he was elected to the Board, aged 16. He is also a member of AI UK’s Kent Network. Since June 2020, George has authored the blog Teen Politics, intending to deconstruct complex political and legal topics so they are accessible to young people, ultimately seeking to promote young people’s political engagement. He has also been an elected member of Kent Youth County Council for Thanet since 2021, campaigning on the issues most pertinent to young people in addition to representing and advocating for the views of young people to decision makers. George is currently studying global politics, history, and French at higher level as a part of the International Baccalaureate. He also has keen interests in photography and language learning.

Diana Hysenji

Diana Hysenaj is an activist and campaigner, working with communities to drive change. As an activist with the ONE Campaign, Diana focuses on global health and poverty reduction, lobbying political leaders, and participating in advocacy efforts at local, national, and international levels. In addition to serving on the Amnesty International UK Section board, she is one of AIUK’s Human Rights Activists, working on individual at-risk cases in Egypt. She is also a Salzburg Global Seminar Fellow, collaborating with a diverse cohort of leaders across Europe to shape public policy.

Diana leads policy and advocacy efforts for various organisations, including the Muslim Legal Fund and the Fair Energy Campaign. She has been recognised on the Top 100 Inspiring Muslims in the UK list by the Aziz Foundation and Emerald Network. As an Emergency Responder for Islamic Relief, Diana supports crisis response efforts in the UK, and in her previous role as a global mentor for Iamthecode, she worked with marginalised communities to address the global STEM skills shortage.

Diana holds a degree in Politics and International Relations from Queen Mary University of London and recently completed her Master's in Human Rights at University College London, funded by a full scholarship from the Aziz Foundation.

Nabila Hanson

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Freshta Salam

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Caroline Moore

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