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Amnesty says sorry to India over false photograph (fwd)
This was obtained courtesy Mr. S Pavithran.
The Daily Telegraph
December 23, 1994, Friday
SECTION: Pg. 7
LENGTH: 180 words
HEADLINE: Amnesty says sorry to India over false photograph
BYLINE: By Hugh Muir
BODY:
AMNESTY International has been forced to apologise to the Indian Government
after its British section published a fabricated photograph as part of an
investigation into turmoil in Kashmir. An independent investigation has found
that the photograph, which appeared on the cover of Amnesty, the campaign's
journal, and purported to show a Kashmiri woman in mourning at a funeral, was
taken at the other end of the country. Amnesty has also confirmed that the woman
is not a Kashmiri at a funeral but a Tamil Muslim visiting a shrine. It has also
admitted its claim to have published "first pictures" from the region was
incorrect. Amnesty International launched the investigation after complaints
about the feature, which was headlined "Where India has turned Heaven into
Hell". The photographer's name was withheld at his request. But Amnesty now says
it was misled and has promised to print an apology in the next issue. Mr Richard
Bunting, a spokesman for the British section, said: "The photograph was printed
in good faith and we will not be using that source again."
