AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL NEW ZEALAND

ANNUAL REPORT 2015

2 Vision, Mission & Values

3 Chair’s Report

4 Executive Director’s Report

6 2014 Global Developments

8 Our Supporters

10 Treasurer’s Report

11 Our Finances

CONTACT US Physical address: 111 Karangahape Road, Auckland 1010Postal address: PO Box 5300, Wellesley St, Auckland 1141Telephone: +64 9 303 4520Facsimile: +64 9 303 4528Web: www.amnesty.org.nzEmail: info@amnesty.org.nzGeneral enquiries: 0800 AMNESTY (266 378) Chair: Helen ShorthouseExecutive Director: Grant Bayldon Published by: Amnesty International New Zealand

IMAGE ABOVE: Protesters using umbrellas to shield themselves from the sun face police officers in riot gear outside Hong Kong’s government headquarters. September 2014. © AFP PHOTO / AARON TAM

COVER IMAGE: Amnesty International supporters joined a march up Queen Street in solidarity with the girls abducted by Boko Haram in Chibok, Nigeria. © Amnesty International FEEDBACK: We appreciate your feedback and ideas. Please email info@amnesty.org.nz

OUR VISION

A world in which every person enjoys all of the human rights enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and other international human rights standards.

We set new standards for human rights. We led the campaign for the adoption of the United Nations Convention Against Torture in 1984, and worked with partners to ensure the UN adopted the first ever Arms Trade Treaty in 2013.

Our decades-long campaign has led to the death penalty being abolished in law or practice in two-thirds of the world’s countries. In 2002 we generated the global support needed for the establishment of the International Criminal Court - so that those responsible for genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity will face justice.

Our Nobel Prize winning movement of over seven million individuals grows stronger with your activism and support.

OUR MISSION

To achieve our vision, our mission is to research and take action to prevent and put an end to grave abuses of human rights - whenever and wherever they occur. We use our evidence to save lives. We advocate for change and provide human rights education to make sure people know their rights and can access them.

OUR VALUES

We are a global movement of over seven million men, women and children across the world who protect human dignity and defend human rights. Our purpose is to protect people wherever justice, fairness, freedom and truth are denied.

With these values at our heart, we have stopped torture, freed prisoners, protected free speech, prevented executions, reunited families, and saved homes.

CONTENTS

HELEN SHORTHOUSECHAIR - AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL NZ

Amnesty International New Zealand has three prongs to its strategy – the first two, operational health and section growth, underpin the third, most vital strategy: human rights impact. We’ve seen further improvements in our financial and organisational health this year. We reached our strategic goal of doubling supporter numbers by 2015, a year early and have set another ambitious growth target for this year – to reach 20,000 supporters. It was with great satisfaction that we made our first loan repayment to the International Secretariat (IS) in December. The IS loan has allowed us to invest in fundraising and member growth, ensuring our long term health as a movement and ability to make the human rights impact we are here for. Grant and Iain talk more of this in their reports, so I won’t repeat it here, but I want to say thanks again to you all for your support as we go through this period of investment to make us a stronger and more impactful organisation.

The Governance Team (GT – the board) has been focused on looking forward and planning our 2016-19 strategy. Our strategic planning review is running concurrently with the global strategic review and I hope many of you have taken the opportunity to have your say about

what is important to you. I know we all desire Amnesty to have a meaningful impact and that the need for our work is still so great. The final conversation about what we do is related to where we think we can have the maximum impact with our limited resources. This will inevitably lead to re-prioritisation, which may disappoint some, but I am hoping that globally it means we can aim for some big, but achievable goals over the coming years. Within the Amnesty movement we have also played a participatory role; we continue to develop strong relationships with the IS and other sections and are well respected within the movement. We have taken part in a number of consultations with the Amnesty movement as we grapple with challenges and opportunities to enable global growth and impact. Work continues with moving the IS from one central location to a number of regional hubs which can research locally, take action speedily and support membership growth through increased local relevance (the Global Transition Plan). The movement is also discussing the governance structures it needs to act nimbly and effectively for the future. Ros, our Vice Chair has represented us and had leadership roles at both the Chairs and Directors Forum and

Asia Pacific meetings.

In August the bi-annual International Council Meeting (ICM) occurs. This is the major decision-making meeting of the movement and includes delegates from all sections. We will be talking with you more about this through our communications and at the Annual Meeting as we would like your input into proposed resolutions.

I continue to dream of the day when everyone recognises why Amnesty exists and want to play their part. Thank you for continuing to allow me to serve Amnesty International as the New Zealand Chair; I look forward to continuing in this role and truly seeing our dreams coming to fruition.

Helen ShorthouseChair

We reached our strategic goal of doubling supporter numbers by 2015, a year early and have set another ambitious growth target for this year - to reach 20,000 supporters.

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CHAIR’S REPORT

ANNUAL REPORT2015

From the barrel bombs of President Assad raining down on the streets of Syria to the atrocities of the so-called Islamic State, 2014 won’t go down as a great year for human rights.

So many things saddened and outraged us all last year.

But despite the bad news, there were many times when I saw our work really make a difference - just read the campaigns summary in this report to see examples of that.

If I’m honest though, there have also been times when I’ve wondered if these smaller victories in the face of larger outrages really matter. Then, I think about the many refugees, Prisoners of Conscience, and human rights defenders around the world who have maintained incredible hope despite the times.

Because what victims of human rights abuses tell us time and again is that even where we couldn’t directly help them, it was still important that someone was bearing witness. They stayed strong because someone was telling the world what was going on, and that it must stop. This was your attention that gave them hope, and it’s their resilience and bravery that gives me strength to keep campaigning.

And one thing I do know for sure is that if no one does anything, nothing will change. We might be the first group to light a candle, but it gets brighter with each person who bears witness.

The 2011-15 strategic plan

Back when this was adopted, the plan seemed optimistic almost to the point of dreaming. A stronger human rights impact was to be delivered by doubling our supporter base and increasing our focus, while returning the section to financial health – no easy task for a small organisation in financial trouble.

So as we enter the last year of the plan period, how are we doing and what’s left to be done?

In last year’s report we told you that we would keep a strong focus on supporter and activist growth, so I’m delighted with the further 25% increase in our supporter base – we are well ahead of our strategic plan goals on this. This means more voice, more credibility and more resources. It’s largely been achieved by our wonderful frontline teams who are out in all weathers talking to the public about what they can do for human rights by joining Amnesty International. They are some of the true heroes of our movement.

We also told you a major focus would be to bring more reach and impact to our communications – I hope you have noticed the impact of this work, both in the direct communications you receive from us and also from the big increase in media voice over the last year.

And we said that we’d continue to tighten the focus of our human rights work, as we seek to go deeper rather than wider to bring about the maximum change. This was never going to be easy in the face of so many demands for our attention (and being part of a movement working on so many things). But I’m pleased to say that we have made good progress on this, as well as on analysing and reporting on the impact we achieve.

It’s been a privilege to visit as many supporters and teams as I could over the last year. As a movement we stand on the shoulders of those who have had the vision over the years for what Amnesty International can be in New Zealand.

Thank you for continuing to be part of Amnesty International. Some of the change you are bringing you can see, but much of it will only be realised in years to come.

One thing I do know for sure is that if no one does anything, nothing will change. We might be the first group to light a candle, but it gets brighter with each person who bears witness.

GRANT BAYLDONEXECUTIVE DIRECTOR - AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL NZ

Grant BayldonExecutive Director04 ANNUAL REPORT

2015

EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR’S REPORT

2014 GLOBAL DEVELOPMENTS

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GLOBAL DEVELOPMENTSAs 2015 begins many challenges lie ahead. Human Rights continue to be violated on a large scale, from Syria to the Central African Republic. But we stand by the mandate that injustice anywhere is injustice everywhere and if we continue to document and map violations, campaign and lobby for change, truth and justice will happen.

In 2014 our work on Sri Lanka followed on from the global attention on the country’s appalling human rights record at the Commonwealth heads of Government meeting that was held in November 2013.

In March 2014 a step forward was made as the United Nations Human Rights Committee passed a resolution to investigate alleged serious violations and abuses of human rights during the conflict.

Sri Lanka, however, has rejected the US-led call for accountability and sternly rejected the UN Human Rights Commissioner’s report, calling it biased, inaccurate and amounting to “needless interference” in the country’s affairs.

Independent inquiry is a crucial step towards achieving justice for alleged violations of human rights that took place during the war.

In the PacificIn August last year, Amnesty International called out the Fijian government on several human rights abuses including suppression of freedom of expression, violations of workers’ rights and use of torture by security forces.

In September 2014, as Fiji headed towards its first elections since the 2006 military coup Amnesty International urged all political parties to use the elections as an opportunity to progress human rights change. Fiji’s former military leader Voreqe (Frank) Bainimarama was elected Prime Minister.

Since then, Fiji has taken some positive steps. In February they became the 99th country in the world to fully repeal the death penalty.

Eight police officers and one military officer were also arrested and charged with the death in custody of Vilikesa Soko in 2014, a positive step towards ending a culture of impunity within the security forces.

Fiji has also taken steps towards ratification of the UN Convention against Torture and Amnesty International will continue holding Fiji to account for abuses and push it to protect the rights of its people.

Police car on the road, Suva, Fiji. © Vlad Sokhin

As New Zealand’s campaign for a non-permanent seat on the UN Security Council Amnesty International must make public it’s campaign priorities to prove it will live up to its promise to be an independent and principled voice, and a country that ‘stands up for small states’.

We welcomed New Zealand election to the Council in October and called on the Government to use the role to ensure the body lives up to its role of safeguarding global peace and security.

New Zealand’s role on the Council will form the base of a significant amount of our work in 2015.

“New Zealand now has a remarkable opportunity on the global stage to take a leadership role in addressing human rights violations”

Grant Bayldon, Executive Director at Amnesty International New Zealand.

New Zealand on the UN Security Council

Sri Lanka

Iraq: In Iraq as the so called Islamic State (IS) took over areas of Northern Iraq Amnesty International’s Senior Crisis researcher Donatella Rovera was one of first outsiders on the ground, taking testimonies and documenting gross hu-man rights abuses that amounted to war crimes committed by both the IS and the Iraqi government. Evidence uncov-ered by Amnesty International indicated that members of the IS has launched a systematic campaign of ethnic cleansing, while Shi’a militia, often supported and armed by the government of Iraq, had abducted and killed scores of Sunni civilians and enjoyed total impunity for these war crimes.

Israel/Gaza: During Israel’s 50-day Operation “Protective Edge” in July-August this year, more than 2,000 Palestin-ians, mostly women and chil dren, as well as 70 Israelis were killed, hundreds of thousands were displaced, and infrastructure of an already battered territory was de-stroyed. Potential war crimes were committed by both sides of the conflict.

Amnesty International was continually denied access to Gaza to investigate these crimes. We met with the Israeli Ambassador to New Zealand and delivered over 1,000 letters of support for our access from local Amnesty International members.

Central African Republic: Crimes under international law such as war crimes and crimes against humanity were regularly committed in the Central African Republic (CAR) in 2014, including killings, mutilation of bodies, abductions, recruitment and use of child soldiers and forced displacement of populations.

Amnesty International researchers were on the ground taking first hand testimonies. In a rare move we called for the deployment of UN peacekeeping troops. In April the UN Security Council set 12 000 troops to CAR. However abuses in the region were not stopped. Many of those suspected of criminal responsibility, including commanders of the Séléka, anti-Balaka, and their allies, have not been investigated or arrested and no action has been taken to bring them to justice.

Individuals at risk

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2014 wasn’t a good year for crisis as we saw human rights emergencies in Iraq, to Israel and Gaza, the Central African Republic and ongoing in Syria. But in all cases Amnesty International researchers were on the ground documenting abuses and calling for justice.

Displaced Yazidi people flee from violence from the Islamic State in Sinjar town, near the Syrian border 2014. © REUTERS/Rodi Said

Our Individuals at risk are always key focus of our work at Amnesty. In 2014 we focused particularly on:

Meriam Ibrahim, a Christian Suda-nese woman sentenced to death by hanging for ‘apostasy’ and to flogging for ‘adultery’. Meriam was released from prison in June 2014 after an appeal court found her not guilty on both charges and more than a mil-lion Amnesty International support-ers to take action calling for her im-mediate and unconditional release.

Al-Jazeera journalists Mohamed Fahmy, Peter Greste and Baher Mo-hamed were sentenced to 10 years in an Egyptian prison for “falsifying news”. A court called for their retrial this January due to flaws in the origi-nal conviction. In early February Greste was released and deported

from Egypt, while his colleagues were released on bail pending the retrial.

Gao Zhisheng a prominent human rights lawyer, was sentenced to three years in prison in 2011 for ‘violating probation rule’ on earlier charges of ‘inciting subversion’. In August Gao was released from prison. Amnesty International’s Christchurch group were particularly thrilled with his release having adopted the case of Mr Gao in 2012 and campaigning consistently for his release.

Dr Tun Aung was first jailed in 2012 after trying to calm the crowd dur-ing a riot involving Buddhists and Rohingya in Rakhine State, Myan-mar, and was sentenced to up to 17 years’ imprisonment. He was released in January this year after a prolonged campaign for his freedom, including by Amnesty International’s Dunedin North group.

Eight N!DA activists were arrested early last year calling for democracy and human rights in Azerbaijan. The N!DA activists were the focus of 2014 Freedom Challenge and in October Shahin Novruzlu and Bakhtiyar Guliyev were pardoned and released, while in December two others, Uzeyir Mammadli and Zaur Gurbanli were also released. Unfortu-nately four N!DA activists remain in prison, we continue to campaign for their release.

Gao Zhisheng © Hu Jia

Countries in Crisis

“The rejection of key recommendations to address social inequality is deeply concerning.”

Stop TortureAmnesty International launched its global campaign to Stop Torture in May last year with a worldwide survey revealing that almost half the world’s population feared they would be at risk of torture if taken into custody in their country.

Torture is used by governments against a range of individuals across Asia-Pacific and in at least 141 countries around the world. It is used to force confessions or to silence activists in countries such as China, India, Fiji, Indonesia, Malaysia, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Viet Nam.

We have worked hard with your support to protect individuals at risk around the world such as:

Claudia Medina Tamariz from Mexico who was given electric shocks, beaten and sexually assaulted. Her charges have since been dropped. Moses Akatugba was 16 when he was arrested, torturand forced to confess to a petty crime he says he didn’t commit - and sentenced to death. His case is allegedly being reviewed.

In The Philippines in January we were delighted to hear that following the release of our report Above the Law: Police Torture in the Philippines, a Senate inquiry into torture had been initiated.

Amnesty International will continue fighting for countless others still being tortured in many countries throughout the world.

2014 GLOBAL DEVELOPMENTS

Death Penalty

2014 saw a drop in executions of almost 22 per cent compared to 2013. Unfortunately 607 people were still executed in 22 countries.

While seven countries that executed in 2013 did not do so in 2014 (Bangladesh, Botswana, Indonesia, India, Kuwait, Nigeria and South Sudan), seven others resumed executions after a hiatus: Belarus, Egypt, Equatorial Guinea, Jordan, Pakistan, Singapore and UAE.

In an encouraging move though commutations or pardons of death sentences were recorded in 28 countries in 2014. At least 112 people who had been sentenced to death were exonerated in nine countries in 2014.

And the year ended on a positive note as in December 117 countries – more than ever before – voted in favour of a UN General Assembly resolution on a moratorium on the use of the death penalty.

In January 2014 New Zealand’s human rights record was up for review at the United Nations. In its Universal Periodic Review – New Zealand received both praise and criticism from member countries. Amnesty International New Zealand called on the Government to take action on high rates of child poverty, violence against women and children, and rights to housing in the aftermath of the Christchurch earthquakes.

The Government accepted 121 of the recommendations made by States during New Zealand’s review process in January and rejected 34. Of the 34 that were rejected, a significant number offered specific advice on strengthening New Zealand’s legal protection of economic, social and cultural rights that would guide genuine solutions to addressing New Zealand’s poor performance on issues such as child poverty.

An Amnesty International delegation, including our own Executive Director Grant Bayldon, (second from left) at the Philippine Senate in December 2014. © Amnesty International

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Amanda Brydon, Advocacy Manager - Amnesty International New Zealand.

New Zealand’s Human Rights Record

In 2014 more than 21,000 New Zealanders were part of the movement that is Amnesty International. These supporters contributed their time and money to the advancement of human rights. Compared to 2013 the number of actions people took increased by 7% and financial contributions increased by 24%.

2014 has been a tough year for so many people around the world. The response to our calls for support to these people have been both humbling and inspirational. In particular we want to acknowledge the support of three individuals and their family members who left a lasting gift through in their Will. Leaving a bequest to Amnesty International is a very special way to ensure your values are heard and your beliefs are represented beyond your lifespan.

In addition to the 21 000 people who donate their time and money to the cause our professional frontline campaigners have had tens of thousands of conversations with people all around New Zealand bringing about awareness of human rights issues and changing hearts and minds along the way.

Thank you for supporting Amnesty International’s work. Your contributions help create a world where justice, freedom and dignity are not the birthright of a privileged few, but the deeply-held vision for all. Without your support nothing is possible.

YOUR DONATION, YOUR REBELLION AGAINST INJUSTICE

Top: Students at Aorere College in Auckland call for government to Stop Torture during Freedom Challenge 2014. © Amnesty InternationalMiddle: Amnesty International supporters take part in Auckland’s Pride Parade in February 2014. © Amnesty International / Rachel Banfield Bottom: Amnesty International’s Senior Crisis Researcher Donatella Rovera speaks with refugees during a mission to northern Iraq. © Amnesty International

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We are politically and financially independent of any government, political ideology, economic interest or religion.

Our governance, programmes and policies are non-partisan. They are independent of specific governments, political parties and the business sector.

To ensure our independence, we do not seek or accept money from governments or political parties. In no way do monies received from corporate donors influence or affect our ability to campaign.

The vast majority of our funding comes from the contributions of individuals through our membership and our fundraising activities.

OUR SUPPORTERS

WHY WE NEED YOUR FINANCIAL SUPPORT

• It enables New Zealanders to take action whenever and wherever there is a human rights crisis

• It ensures that our Government meets its international human rights obligations.

• It helps protect human rights in New Zealand and overseas through awareness raising and enabling the public to take action where needed

• You support local human rights defenders in their activities

• You help support human rights education programmes in schools through information, resources and speakers

WHAT YOUR DONATION DOES IN NEW ZEALAND

• It allows us to work with local human rights defenders around the world

• It supports extensive field research in areas experiencing human rights violations

• It allows us to respond to crises such as the recent civil unrest in Syria by sending observers to volatile regions

• It helps us publish and translate reports and other media to optimise awareness of our campaigns worldwide

• It allows us maintain a presence in key decision making bodies such as at the UN headquarters in New York and at the International Criminal Court in the Netherlands

• It helps increase Amnesty International’s impact in emerging economic powers such as Brazil, India, China and South Africa through human rights education training, collaboration with local organisations, monitoring policy, lobbying and campaigning

WHAT YOUR DONATION DOES INTERNATIONALLY

...In short, it brings about real and lasting changes in people’s lives.

09ANNUAL REPORT2015

The 2014 results were the perfect combination – delivering our highest surplus on record while beating our supporter growth target a year earlier than planned, and making our first loan repayment. I am delighted to report that for the third year in a row our income, at $3.2M, was our highest ever, and an increase of 22% over last year. This increase again came from the continued growth of our Human Rights Defender Programme for regular financial contributors – our financial bedrock - whose donations were up 53% or $0.7M. Of course, the year was not without its challenges. New Initiative Income fell by $0.1M as our growth ambitions for our Door To Door campaign were frustrated by lack of supplier capacity meaning we were unable to invest as much as we would have liked, and income halved. However, the bulk of this shortfall was made up with the development of our own in-house Face To Face programme. This is a credit to management’s agility and has proved to be so successful that it is now the core of our continued strategy for growth. Overall, our total expenditure increased by $0.5M - $0.3M less than budgeted - a combination of our Door To Door supplier’s inability to meet our demand and an underspend in campaigning, research, advocacy and communications (“CRAC”) which remained static. Operational expenditure increased by $0.1M – less than the planned $0.2M - with our investment in our in-house Face To Face programme and the cost of servicing our much higher supporter base. We paid our $0.2M International Campaigning Contribution in full. Our Financial Position is much improved. Net liabilities have reduced from $0.4M to $0.2M and our cash position at $0.9M is stronger than we would like due to the challenge of investing in growth to the level planned. Our Donor Acquisition Capitalised has fallen from $0.6M to $0.2M, much less than the budgeted $0.7M, a combination of the lower external Door To Door spend and the switch to in-house growth investment,

and our loans have reduced by $0.1M following the first of our loan repayments. Property, Plant and Equipment increased as a result of our move to outstanding, and at last fit-for-purpose, premises at the top of Queen Street in Auckland. The Budget for 2015 sees us continuing to invest in growth, building on the momentum we have created. As usual, we aim high - for a further quantum leap in income of $1.1M (34%), an increase in our CRAC expenditure of $0.2M (41%), raising our Operational spend by $0.2M (32%) to support our in-house growth capability, more than doubling our International Campaigning Contribution to $0.5M, while producing a very modest surplus. Further loan repayments of $0.4M will be made, and the Budget also assumes we will take up the offer of a further growth loan of $0.2M in December of this year if it eventuates and it is deemed prudent to do so. The overall aim: to continue to improve our financial position while we continue to grow both our reach and our impact. It is time for me to hand over the reins a new Treasurer and I do so confident that Amnesty International in New Zealand is not only on a certain path to full financial health but is also, thanks to all of you - whether members, supporters or staff - beginning to fulfil its enormous potential. We may be small, but we change the world.

I am delighted to report that for the third year in a row our income, at $3.2M, was our highest ever, and an increase of 22% over last year.

IAIN WORSLEYTREASURER - AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL NZ

Iain WorsleyTreasurer

10 ANNUAL REPORT2015

TREASURER’S REPORT

Budget 2015 Actual 2014 Actual 2013

Income Membership Income 9,210 6,461 11,217

Fundraising & Donations 4,221,248 3,136,952 2,571,412

Other Income incl Interest Received 27,460 24,314 16,400

Total Income 4,257,918 3,167,727 2,599,029

Expenditure Operations 795,236 603,572 524,320

Campaigns, Research, Advocacy & Communications 622,276 440,832 437,131

Fundraising 2,242,568 1,647,983 1,298,013

Audit, Accounting & Finance Fees 75,288 71,494 72,213

Depreciation & Gain/Loss of Fixed Assets 47,537 30,732 24,609

Total Expenditure Before International Campaigning Contribution

3, 782,905 2,794,613 2,356,286

International Campaigning Contribution 470,902 216,233 174,538

Total Expenditure 4,253,807 3,010,846 2,530,824

Surplus for the Year 4,111 156,881 68,205

Includes salaries & wages of: 1,277,278 1,074,387 877,908

Budget 2015 Actual 2014 Actual 2013

Non Current Assets Property Plant & Equipment 115,072 112,609 44,779

Intangible Asset Donor Acquisition Capitalised 822,338 150,073 573,793

Current Assets Cash At Bank & In Hand 143,539 876,007 557,821

Prepayments & Accrued Income 89,332 91,705 49,986

Total Current Assets 232,871 967,712 607,807

Current Liabilities Accounts Payable 120,731 36,008 95,900

Accruals & Holiday Pay 84,706 84,706 83,525

International Secretariat Current Account 8,369 8,369 5,043

International Secretariat Loan & Interest Payable 461,368 370,059 120,172

AI Switzerland Interest On Loan 6,484 6,576 3,764

Total Current Liabilities 681,658 505,719 308,404

Net Current Assets -448,787 461,993 299,403

Non Current Liabilities International Secretariat Loan - Non Current 400,000 640,162 990,344

AI Switzerland Loan - Non Current 300,000 300,000 300,000

Net Assets -211,377 -215,488 -372,369

Represented By:-

Current Year Surplus/(Deficit) 4,111 156,881 68,205

Accumulated Funds Brought Forward -215,488 -372,369 -440,574

Total Accumulated Funds -211,377 -215,488 -372,369

OUR FINANCES

STATEMENT OF FINANCIAL POSITION AS AT 31 DECEMBER

AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL NZ INCSTATEMENT OF FINANCIAL PERFORMANCEFor the year ended 31 December 2014

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