Kate Allen (Amnesty International)

Katherine Allen
Born (1955-01-25)January 25, 1955
Alma mater Brasenose College, University of Oxford
Employer Amnesty International UK

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

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 during the 1980s where she set up the Women’s Committee.

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. In 1998/99 she was seconded to the Home Office, where she worked on the 1999 Immigration and Asylum Act.[1]

In 1992 she tried to gain the Labour nomination to stand for the seat of Coventry North East at that year's General Election, however she came fourth in the selection process.

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. Having appeared on BBC’s Question Time, in May 2006 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." (Kate Allen writing in the above article)[2]

Personal life

For 18 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. 1 2 3 http://www.amnesty.org.uk/sites/default/files/kate_allen_34_0.pdf
  2. ↑ Today, our chance to fight a new hi-tech tyranny
  3. ↑ Womack, Sarah (6 November 2001). "Livingstone splits up with long-time lover". The Daily Telegraph. London. Retrieved 4 April 2010.
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