UK intelligence agency spied on Amnesty International
The UK's intelligence and security organisation GCHQ spied on charity Amnesty International, according to documents released by the Investigatory Powers Tribunal.
The tribunal on Wednesday informed Amnesty in an email that the government had intercepted, accessed and stored its communications for an unspecified period of time.
Previously, the tribunal had said that communications by the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights and the South African non-profit Legal Resources Centre had been illegally retained and examined, responding to a complaint sent by Amnesty and nine other human rights organizations in April.
"This mistaken attribution in our determination, which has now been drawn to our attention by the respondents, did not result from any failure by them to make disclosure," IPT Sir Michael Burton wrote.
“How can we be expected to carry out our crucial work around the world if … confidential correspondence with us is likely to end up in the hands of governments?,” Amnesty secretary general Salil Shetty said.
The charity called for an independent inquiry into how and why a UK intelligence agency was spying on human rights organisations.
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