The Finnish branch of Amnesty International lost 400 donors after the international organization published a report with accusations against the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
This was reported by the head of the branch, Frank Johansson.
In Finland, the Amnesty branch has about 40 000 donors. Johansson says that they will finally know the number of donors who left in early September, when they will have information about all August donations. At the same time, he added that after the publication of the report, new donors appeared among them.
Overall, Johansson assessed the losses as low, but the outcry over the report caused the largest outflow of donors in his 32-year career, the branch chairman added.
According to Johansson, the outflow of donors was caused, among other things, by the organizationʼs position on prostitution and drug policy, as well as Amnestyʼs statement that Israel practices apartheid against the Palestinians. He says that this situation makes the branch think.
Regarding the report on the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Johansson believes that the international organization made a huge mistake in communication, which led to a loss of trust. The report lacked context and references to the crimes of Russian troops.
- On August 4, Amnesty International published a report in which it accused the Ukrainian army of violating humanitarian law and creating danger for civilians by placing military bases in residential areas, schools and hospitals.
- In response, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine called the report unfair, and the adviser to the head of the Office of the President, Mykhailo Podolyak, added that the only ones who put Ukrainian civilians at risk are the Russian troops.
- The Defense Minister, Oleksiy Reznikov, called Amnesty Internationalʼs report evidence of a "loss of adequacy" and an attempt to destroy his own authority.
- The head of the Ukrainian office of Amnesty International, Oksana Pokalchuk, resigned, and the head office of the organization was hit by a flurry of criticism.
- On August 7, Amnesty International apologized, but the General Secretary, Agnes Callamar, said that the organization had been attacked by Ukrainian and Russian "trolls" on social networks. After that, Ukrainians launched a flash mob calling for Callamarʼs resignation.
- Later, the Ministry of Culture of Ukraine announced that the report was based on the testimony of people who were under pressure in the occupied territories. Amnesty denies this.
- On August 10, amid the scandal , the co-founder of the Swedish branch of Amnesty resigned. He worked there for almost 60 years.