Amnesty launches external probes as second staff suicide

LONDON: Rights group Amnesty International said yesterday it will conduct “full and independent external inquiries” into the suicides of two of its staff in the last three months. Roz McGregor, 28, from London, took her own life earlier this summer, following the May 26 death of Gaetan Mootoo, a well-known researcher for West Africa. “We are treating these tragedies with the gravity and priority they deserve, and will be holding full and independent external inquiries,” Colm O Cuanachain, Amnesty’s acting-secretary general, said in a statement.

“We can never compare the impact the two tragedies have on the families to our reactions within Amnesty. “But we too are shocked and devastated at the loss of our beloved colleague Gaetan Mootoo, and a brilliant and inspiring young woman, Roz McGregor, who made a great impact in her short time with us,” he added. McGregor was a paid intern working for a team that lobbied at the United Nations in Geneva. She had developed insomnia and become troubled by anxiety in the final weeks of her life, according to Britain’s The Times newspaper.

Mootoo-a well-respected researcher who had been with Amnesty for more than 30 years and was known across Africa for his tireless dedication to his work-worked for its international secretariat. It is responsible for the majority of research and leading campaign work. He was found dead in the organization’s Paris offices, where he worked. Mootoo had left a suicide note allegedly “outlining his previous request for help because of the heavy and additional workload; help which was never forthcoming”. Following the death, friends and colleagues called on the NGO’s board in London to look into the circumstances around it “in order to prevent other tragedies”.