Amnesty International, Moazzam Begg and the Bravery of Gita Sahgal

Dominic Kavakeb

I consider Moazzam a very good personal friend, who has been through hell and back (quite literally) in the past few years. He was arrested in the middle of the night in front of his family and didn't see them again until years later after returning from Guantanamo Bay. In that time his wife gave birth to his daughter who subsequently started her life without her father.

I have had many political discussions with Moazzam and to call him a "right-wing Islamist" is completely inaccurate! He is actually quite progressive and the fact that he works with non-Muslim, western organisations is a sign of this.

To frame him as some sort of Taleban spokesman is utterly ridiculous. I've heard him time and time again, denounce The Taleban, Al Qaeda and other such groups in public meetings.

Moazzam is not an abuser of human rights. He is a victim of it. Guantanamo Bay is a hideous perversion of justice and is run by the west, not some right wing Islamist government. Just listen to him describe his time there, where he witnessed children as young as 12 years old being detained.

I think if anyone has the right to talk about human rights it is Moazzam and Amnesty and other groups do well to work with people like Moazzam.

Vulture

When is the penny going to drop, Martin?
Your 'friends' on the Left share quite a lot with Islamist loons: fanaticism; hatred; unreasoning prejudice and anti-Semitism just for starters.

That is presumably why you write for a civilised Conservative site, rather than a loony Left one.

Face it, Martin : Lefties aren't very nice people. That's why they're happy with a nasty little creep like Begg.

Ben

Dear Dominic:

"..He is actually quite progressive.."

I love that 'quite'.

Great piece Martin.

Noa Zrk

The fact that loonie leftie Student Respect activists like Kavaleb are leaping to the defence of Begg simply shows how much Amnesty, a formerly honourable organisation merely has fallen into the clutches of the Gramscite, ex-communist, Socialist Workers and proto-Islamists. The result is of course the sort of terrorist apologia published by Kavaleb and the total absence of Amnesty from genuinely libertarian platform addressing real UK issues of liberty of speech, thought and association and the threat presented to them by a corrupted Labour government and debased political system.

O'Harlan

It's misleading to speak of the Taliban and other Islamist groups as being "right-wing"; in many ways their agenda is very left-wing.

They are anti-capitalist, anti-western, global warming supporting, chomsky reading (if Bin Laden is any indiacation), collectivists who favour a redistributive form of government under the shariah.

No wonder the left loves them so much.

Radgie Gadgie

Martin,

Thanks for highlighting this. I was unaware of this. I will be cancelling my DD to AI tomorrow.

Fiona McLaren

I just wanted to let you all know that Amnesty has now issued an official response to this article, which you can find here: http://bit.ly/bW3ljy

RMH

Either you denounce the Taliban or you suport them, they are not like a Balti, depends on the ocassion.

Alan Ji

Kavaleb: Your protestations would have more (some?) credibility if you were able to quote dates and times.

Can you name three?

Robin Righter

Martin, if I was to allege that you were involved in war crimes, you would ask me to prove it. No proof has been proferred, and this key individual you speak of has not been prosecuted, nor charged.

Yvonne Ridley

Martin,

I am really disappointed with you - Moazzam has never supported the Taliban in the way you claim - and you know that very well having attended several of his meetings. He has helped you as much as he can whenever you've consulted him.
The standard of journalism from The Sunday Times was shocking as the journalist chose to be very selective at the questions and responses he used.
It was a skewed article and if you thought that was an excellent piece of journalism then your standards have dropped since we last worked together at The Observer.
I suggest you look at the latest response from Moazzam and then you might want to - dare I say it - chew on a slice of humble pie.

NJM

Moazzam Begg is a liar, a fraud & a supporter of jihadist terrorism. He's already been exposed as a fraud by Thomas Joscylen at the Weekly Standard & Aleaxander Meleagrou-Hitchens at Standpoint Magazine. (I know these people & publications will be denounced by the usual Leftist/Islamist alliance idiots as "neocons" or "warmongers" or "zionists" etc, but the facts speak for themselves.)

Al Qaeda's Civil Liberties Union:
http://tinyurl.com/ybtb7uj

The ACLU, Moazzam Begg, and the Fort Hood Shooter's Cleric:
http://tinyurl.com/yk67cz9

Al Qaeda's Trojan Horse:
http://tinyurl.com/y94rpqd

Colonel Mustard Is Not A Jihadist:
http://tinyurl.com/ylb8ge2

Standpoint(follow the CP links):
http://tinyurl.com/yc3mhf3

Amnesty International is a disgrace, & the naive liberals (or pro-jihad Leftists) who support them, or defend scum like Begg, should be ashamed of themselves.

NJM

@Yvonne Ridley
"Moazzam has never supported the Taliban in the way you claim"

This is complete & utter nonsense.
First, Begg admitted to the FBI to having attended three separate al-Qa’eda terrorist training camps in Afghanistan where he learnt to fire AK-47 rifles and rocket-propelled grenades and use primitive explosive devices. During the war in Afghanistan in October 2001, Begg says he "was armed and prepared to fight alongside the Taliban and al-Qa’eda against the US and others".

Second, in Begg’s own book about his CIA "interrogation": (p.214):

MB :"I wanted to live in an Islamic state – one that was free from the corruption and despotism of the rest of the Muslim world".
Q: "So you chose the Taliban?"
MB: "I chose Afghanistan. I admit I have made mistakes – but had it not been for 9/11, I think I would still be living happily in Afghanistan"
Q: "Probably as a member of Al Qaeda or the Taliban"
MB: "I knew you wouldn’t understand. The Taliban were better than anything Afghanistan has had in the past twenty-five years. You weren’t in Afghanistan – not before nor during the Taliban. Child sex, rape, looting, robbery, murder and opium production only ended when they took control."
Q: "And in came amputations, floggings and executions.."

@Yvonne Ridley
"The standard of journalism from The Sunday Times was shocking as the journalist chose to be very selective at the questions and responses he used.
It was a skewed article and if you thought that was an excellent piece of journalism then your standards have dropped since we last worked together at The Observer."

I think Martin Bright (or the Times rather) should take that as a compliment coming from someone who used to work for the "news" organization of Al-Jazeera, and is currently an employee of the "news" organization PRESS TV, which is a propaganda arm of the fascist Iranian government.

Chew on a slice of humble pie yourself, Ms Ridley.

Merlyn

Wow, NJM, nice shot!

Andy Gill

Amnesty used to campaign for prisoners of conscience, but they have long since abandoned that worthy aim. This latest scandal demonstrates how deeply they have become tarnished with Islamofascism.

darkhorse

Yes, silly old AI, fancy campaigning against Guantanamo Bay and the network of secret prisons, torture and murder conducted by the US and its allies.

Silly old AI, concerned for old-fashioned ideas like universal human rights, applying to everybody, including Moazzam Begg.

Sarah

@darkhorse - it's possible to fully support someone's human rights and think they have probably been unjustly treated and still think their views/actions are wrong and that AI shouldn't have too much to do with them - apart from defend their human rights vigorously of course.

Noa Ark

NJM -Respec'!

Silent witness

Meanwhile Amnesty is totally silent on the means being used in Turkey to crush secularism and the show trials being used to do so. Oh, no it isn't totally silent. It believes the alleged conspiracy and legal action, i.e. the arrests and imprisonments, being used. But then it is not alone. Shame on you western world, you are applauding the digging of your own grave.

mark2

Actually its a case of "silly old darkhorse" for totally missing the point - as Sarah eloquently explains.

Martin Bright

For anyone who wonders, the person posting as "Martin Bright" on The Times website is not me. This is a bit of a nightmare, which I am trying to resolve

HannahMcFaull

The controversy around the relationship AI has with Cageprisoners has thrown up some particularly interesting issues around alliances and coalitions within the campaigning sector.

Frances Crook, Director of the Howard League for Penal Reform, and former campaigner at AI, has blogged on the subject and I would recommend having a look: http://www.howardleague.org/francescrookblog/amnesty-and-platform-sharing

J.H

Funny Martin Bright never talks about the abuse of human rights in Guantanamo Bay. He talks about Amnesty International going against their values and yet Bright goes against his "supposedly" left-wing views all the time. Thanks for telling me about the fact that Amnesty are not hypocrites when it comes to extending human rights to other people, unlike Martin Bright, who thinks it only applies to white people. I'm gonna donate to them now

Jeffrey Asher

Ms. Gita Sahgal is correct in criticizing Amnesty International for its support of evident terror suspects.

However, as the director of AI's Gender Unit, why was she not concerned about the redirection of the AI mandate, away from, ÒHuman Rights for All,Ó to feminist politics?

That is when I quit, back in 1990.

Jeffrey Asher