General secretary Kumi Naidoo ordered an independent review after two employees killed themselves

Almost the entirety of Amnesty International’s leadership team have left the organisation following an investigation into its “toxic” work culture.

The human rights NGO’s general secretary Kumi Naidoo ordered an independent review after two employees killed themselves.

It found that there was a having "a toxic culture of secrecy and mistrust".

Now it has been revealed that five of its seven senior leaders, based mainly in London and Geneva, have left or are in the process of leaving.

In May 2018, Gaëtan Mootoo, 65, killed himself in Amnesty's Paris offices. He left a note talking of stress and overwork.

Rosalind McGregor, 28, a British intern working at Amnesty's Geneva office, killed herself at her family home in Surrey.

While an inquiry into her death noted "personal reasons" as being involved, her family said they felt Amnesty could have done more to address her mental health.

Around 475 members of staff were surveyed for the independent review.

Many staff gave specific examples of experiencing or witnessing bullying by managers.

There were reports of managers belittling staff and making demeaning and menacing comments.

There were multiple accounts of discrimination on the basis of race and gender and the report also pointed to an "us versus them" dynamic between employees and management.

Trade union Unite, which represents Amnesty staff, revealed that one in three employees surveyed by the union felt "badly treated or bullied at work since 2017".

An Amnesty International spokeswoman was quoted by the BBC, saying: "The former Senior Leadership Team, which comprised of seven directors, has been dissolved and a new transitional team is in place until all of the positions in the new four-person Coalition Leadership Team are filled.

"This is expected to be completed by the end of 2019."