Kate Allen (Amnesty International)

Katherine Allen (born 25 January 1955) was the Director of Amnesty International UK (AIUK).[1][2]

Katherine Allen
Kate Allen in May 2013
Born (1955-01-25) 25 January 1955
Alma materBrasenose College
University of Oxford
EmployerAmnesty International UK

Career

After studying for a BA (Hons) in Philosophy, Politics and Economics at Brasenose College, University of Oxford, Allen was a policy officer at the Greater London Council, and then Haringey London Borough Council. She was a member of Camden Council[3] during the 1980s where she set up the Women’s Committee.[4]

Allen speaks at the International Human Rights Day event held in the Foreign & Commonwealth Office in London on 10 December 2018.

Allen then moved to the Refugee Council, where she headed the UK emergency evacuation programmes for Bosnia and Kosovo, and chaired the Asylum Rights Campaign during the passage of new asylum and immigration legislation.[5] In 1998/99 she was seconded to the Home Office, where she worked on the 1999 Immigration and Asylum Act.[1]

In 2000, Allen was appointed the UK Director of Amnesty International, the third-largest Amnesty section worldwide with more than a quarter of a million supporters;[1] Allen undertook a major restructure, and established the Human Rights Action Centre in Shoreditch.[6][7] Having appeared on BBC’s Question Time,[8] in October 2005 she wrote a two-page article in The Observer newspaper, which launched an international campaign on Internet censorship and repression.

"While the internet has brought freedom of information to millions, for some it has led to imprisonment by a government seeking to curtail that freedom. They have closed or censored websites and blogs; created firewalls to prevent access to information; and restricted and filtered search engines to keep information from their citizens."[9]

In March 2021 Allen announced she would be retiring from Amnesty International in September of the same year, after 21 years.[10]

Personal life

For 20 years she was the partner of Ken Livingstone, former leader of the Greater London Council, then Member of Parliament, and later the first Mayor of London. The couple's relationship ended in 2001.[3]

References
  1. "Kate Allen, Director Amnesty International UK" (PDF). Amnesty International UK. May 2011. Retrieved 25 March 2019.
  2. Delahunty, Stephen (19 May 2021). "Amnesty chief steps down early amid claims it has failed to adequately tackle institutional racism". Third Sector UK. Third Sector UK. Retrieved 8 February 2022.
  3. Womack, Sarah (6 November 2001). "Livingstone splits up with long-time lover". The Daily Telegraph. London. Archived from the original on 20 July 2006. Retrieved 4 April 2010.
  4. Kate Allen Camden Council
  5. "Kate Allen biography". www.amnesty.org.uk. Retrieved 7 August 2021.
  6. "UK: Amnesty director Kate Allen announces her retirement". www.amnesty.org.uk. Retrieved 7 August 2021.
  7. ""There is still a lot for us to do" – An interview with the director of Amnesty International UK, Kate Allen". Exeposé Online. 3 November 2017. Retrieved 7 August 2021.
  8. "This week's panel". 20 October 2005. Retrieved 7 August 2021.
  9. Allen, Kate (28 May 2006). "Today, our chance to fight a new hi-tech tyranny". The Observer. Retrieved 22 February 2022.
  10. "UK: Amnesty director Kate Allen announces her retirement". www.amnesty.org.uk. Retrieved 7 August 2021.
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