# Kristyan Benedict

Kristyan Benedict (born 1974 in Lancashire, United Kingdom) is crisis response manager for Amnesty International UK (AIUK). His main area of responsibility is Syria.

## Early life and education

Benedict was born in Lancashire and is of Indian and Trinidadian descent. He received a master's degree in communication, culture and society at Goldsmiths, University of London, in 1997.

## Career

Benedict joined Amnesty International UK in 2003. He has worked as the organization's Middle East Campaign Manager and as Campaign Manager for China.
He became campaigns manager in 2006. He is the campaign manager for Crisis work with a focus on Syria at AIUK, which means that his primary professional responsibility is for Syria. Nonetheless, he spends “a significant amount of his time as an advocate for the human rights of Palestinians and Israelis caught up in the long running conflict.”

### Syria

After UK Foreign Secretary William Hague announced in August 2012 that the UK would be aiding Syrian opposition groups, Benedict said: “Practical measures which aim to protect all of Syria's civilians are to be welcomed.” He encouraged the UK to help “develop the awareness and mechanisms to ensure the armed opposition leadership make clear to their forces that war crimes and human rights abuses will never be tolerated.”
He added that the UK “needs to be crystal clear with the commanders of Syria’s armed opposition that they have a duty to prevent war crimes by those under their command. The UK should also emphasise to them that they may be held criminally responsible if they fail to do so.” He summed up by saying that AI “wants to see a Syria which genuinely respects and protects everybody’s human rights” and that “instilling and expanding human rights values in the armed and civilian opposition is a key part of that process.”
"We are telling the Syria opposition that the Geneva Conventions covers them as organised armed groups and they will be held responsible for what they do and what they fail to prevent," Benedict told The Daily Telegraph in August 2012. "We have seen video of people being executed with machineguns - clearly that's a war crime."
After FSA fighters killed bound captives from the Berri clan in Aleppo in August 2012, Benedict said that to applaud that crime while claiming to support human rights in Syria “is a gross hypocrisy”.
In November 2012, after Hague met with Syrian opposition figures in London, Benedict commented that Hague “must insist on practical actions not just fine words to prevent opposition abuses. We need to see proper accountability with any fighters accused of abuses detained and proper investigations mounted.”

### 2008 China comment

“With dissenters silenced within China it's more important than ever that pressure comes from outside the country,” Benedict said in 2008. “We'd encourage anyone involved in the [Beijing Olympic] Games to find out what's really happening in China and to consider speaking out against human rights abuses.”

### 2011 comment to audience member

A 2011 article charging that AI has undergone a “moral decline,” and quoting Christopher Hitchens on its “degeneration and politicization,” maintained that “Amnesty's UK branch has a particular anti-Israel obsession,” and cited an AIUK event at which an audience member who writes a pro Israeli government blog who challenged a claim about a purported Israeli action was told by Benedict that he would “smack me in my little bald head.” The audience member posted an audio recording of the exchange online.

### 2012 B52 tweet

In November 2012 Benedict drew criticism for a tweet that was alleged to be anti-Semitic by pro Israeli government commentators. In the context of a British parliamentary discussion on violence in Syria and Gaza, he singled out three Jewish MPs for supporting Israel's campaign against Hamas. The tweet read “Louise Ellman, Robert Halfon and Luciana Berger walk into a bar… each orders a round of B52s… #Gaza.” A B52 is a type of long-range strategic bomber, but it is also the name of a popular cocktail. It was reported that after the tweet, AIUK “launched a disciplinary process,” saying that “the matter has been referred to our internal and confidential processes.” AI campaigns director Tim Hancock said, “We do not believe that humor is appropriate in the current circumstances, particularly from our own members of staff.”The organisation did not consider the tweet in question anti-Semitic though and Benedict continues to work at Amnesty International UK.
Benedict deleted the tweet from his account. This controversy came at a time when many critics, including the UK’s Zionist Federation, were criticizing what they called Benedict's “one-sided view of the conflict.” Jeremy Newmark, chief executive of the Jewish Leadership Council (JLC), accused Benedict of insensitivity and called on him to issue a public apology. In a letter to Amnesty International, MP John Mann, chairman of the “All-Party Parliamentary Group Against Antisemitism,” said the tweet had crossed the line between legitimate criticism and anti-Semitism. Responding to criticism of his tweeted “joke,” Benedict argued that it was merely coincidental that he had named three Jewish MPs and insisted that he focused on “views not religion.”

### 2012 ZF accusation

In 2012 the Zionist Federation of the United Kingdom (ZF) accused Benedict of a demonstrated anti-Israel bias, saying he had “regularly shown a partisan approach” when dealing with the country.

### 2012 Kurd criticism

In February 2012 Benedict was criticized by some Kurds when he refused to allow Kurdish activists to participate in a planned “Arab spring solidarity rally.” When a Kurdish protester asked Benedict to include a Kurd, Benedict walked away having explained all speakers were on a set list and nobody new could be added.