[Reader-list] Gita Sahgal suspended by Amnesty Intnl

[Harsh Kapoor]

The Guardian: Double standards on human rights - Rahila Gupta

Where does Amnesty International stand on women's rights after
suspending Gita Sahgal for criticising links with Moazzam Begg?
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2010/feb/09/amnesty-sahgal-rights-row

For more material visit:
Also at: http://www.human-rights-for-all.org/

On Wed, Feb 10, 2010 at 3:00 AM, Jhuma Sen <sen.jhuma at gmail.com> wrote:

> Stumbled upon this, now.
>
> *Amnesty International denies charges levelled by NRI*
>
> London: Amnesty International today denied charges levelled against it by
> its NRI official of putting the human rights of Al-Qaeda terror suspects
> above those of their victims.
>
>   "This is not and has never been true. Implicit in the accusation is the
> view that we should choose those whose rights we promote. We reject this
> view utterly," the global human rights body said in a release today.
>
> Gita Sahgal, head of the gender unit at Amnesty's international
> secretariat, in an email to the organisation said that collaborating with
> Moazzam Begg, a former British inmate at Guantanamo Bay, "fundamentally
> damages" the organisation's reputation and the charity has mistakenly allied
> itself with Begg and his "jihadi" group, Cageprisoners, out of fear of being
> branded racist and Islamophobic.
>
>  "Tomorrow, Moazzam Begg, terror accused released from Guantanamo Bay, will
> speak alongside Amnesty International, speaking specifically on behalf of
> those detainees in need of protection in a third country," the statement
> said.
>
> "Today, Amnesty International is being criticised for speaking alongside
> him and for being 'soft' on the Taliban, when our record is one of
> unreserved opposition to their abuses over the years," it added.
>
> It noted that US and other governments that have violated human rights
> standards in the name of countering terrorism justify it saying that
> security can only be protected by violating the rights of others.
>
> "Begg is one of the people that the US government defined as 'other'. But
> there is no place for the 'other' in human rights because to argue that some
> people are more 'deserving' than others of having their rights protected is
> to argue that some beings are less than human," it said.
>
> PTI
>
>
> http://www.zeenews.com/news602646.html
>
>
>
> On Mon, Feb 8, 2010 at 2:16 PM, Kshmendra Kaul <kshmendra2005 at yahoo.com>wrote:
>
>> Dear Harsh
>>
>> There are reports that after the Sunday Times article, Gita Sahgal has
>> been suspended by AI.
>>
>> Given below is the statement reportedly issued by Gita Sahgal.
>>
>> Gita also happens to be an active member of "Women Against Fundamentalism"
>> http://www.womenagainstfundamentalism.org.uk/index.html
>>
>>
>> Kshmendra
>>
>>
>> "Amnesty International and Cageprisoners"
>>
>> Statement by Gita Sahgal
>> 7 February 2010
>>
>> This morning the Sunday Times published an article about Amnesty
>> International’s association with groups that support the Taliban and promote
>> Islamic Right ideas. In that article, I was quoted as raising concerns about
>> Amnesty’s very high profile associations with Guantanamo-detainee Moazzam
>> Begg. I felt that Amnesty International was risking its reputation by
>> associating itself with Begg, who heads an organization, Cageprisoners, that
>> actively promotes Islamic Right ideas and individuals.
>>
>>
>> Within a few hours of the article being published, Amnesty had suspended
>> me from my job.
>>
>>
>> A moment comes, which comes but rarely in history, when a great
>> organisation must ask: if it lies to itself, can it demand the truth of
>> others? For in defending the torture standard, one of the strongest and most
>> embedded in international human rights law, Amnesty International has
>> sanitized the history and politics of the ex-Guantanamo detainee, Moazzam
>> Begg and completely failed to recognize the nature of his organisation
>> Cageprisoners.
>>
>>
>> The tragedy here is that the necessary defence of the torture standard has
>> been inexcusably allied to the political legitimization of individuals and
>> organisations belonging to the Islamic Right.
>>
>>
>> I have always opposed the illegal detention and torture of Muslim men at
>> Guantanamo Bay and during the so-called War on Terror. I have been horrified
>> and appalled by the treatment of people like Moazzam Begg and I have
>> personally told him so. I have vocally opposed attempts by governments to
>> justify ‘torture lite’.
>>
>>
>> The issue is not about Moazzam Begg’s freedom of opinion, nor about his
>> right to propound his views: he already exercises these rights fully as he
>> should. The issue is a fundamental one about the importance of the human
>> rights movement maintaining an objective distance from groups and ideas that
>> are committed to systematic discrimination and fundamentally undermine the
>> universality of human rights. I have raised this issue because of my firm
>> belief in human rights for all.
>>
>>
>> I sent two memos to my management asking a series of questions about what
>> considerations were given to the nature of the relationship with Moazzam
>> Begg and his organisation, Cageprisoners. I have received no answer to my
>> questions. There has been a history of warnings within Amnesty that it is
>> inadvisable to partner with Begg. Amnesty has created the impression that
>> Begg is not only a victim of human rights violations but a defender of human
>> rights. Many of my highly respected colleagues, each well-regarded in their
>> area of expertise has said so. Each has been set aside.
>>
>>
>> As a result of my speaking to the Sunday Times, Amnesty International has
>> announced that it has launched an internal inquiry. This is the moment to
>> press for public answers, and to demonstrate that there is already a public
>> demand including from Amnesty International members, to restore the
>> integrity of the organisation and remind it of its fundamental principles.
>>
>>
>> I have been a human rights campaigner for over three decades, defending
>> the rights of women and ethnic minorities, defending religious freedom and
>> the rights of victims of torture, and campaigning against illegal detention
>> and state repression. I have raised the issue of the association of Amnesty
>> International with groups such as Begg’s consistently within the
>> organisation. I have now been suspended for trying to do my job and staying
>> faithful to Amnesty’s mission to protect and defend human rights universally
>> and impartially.
>>
>> -
>> http://www.spectator.co.uk/martinbright/5759197/gita-sahgal-a-statement.thtml
>>
>> -
>> http://stroppyblog.blogspot.com/2010/02/amnesty-reinstate-gita-sahgal.html
>>
>> - http://womensgrid.freecharity.org.uk/?p=4558
>>
>>
>> --- On Mon, 2/8/10, Harsh Kapoor <aiindex at gmail.com> wrote:
>>
>>
>> From: Harsh Kapoor <aiindex at gmail.com>
>> Subject: [Reader-list] Amnesty International in bed with Jihadi types
>> (just like many on the left)
>> To: "sarai list" <reader-list at sarai.net>
>> Date: Monday, February 8, 2010, 12:18 AM
>>
>>
>> http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/afghanistan/article7017810.ece
>>
>>
>> From The Sunday Times
>> February 7, 2010
>>
>> Amnesty International is ‘damaged’ by Taliban link
>> An official at the human rights charity deplores its work with a
>> ‘jihadist’
>> Amnesty International demonstrators wearing boiler suits
>>
>> by Richard Kerbaj
>>
>> A SENIOR official at Amnesty International has accused the charity of
>> putting the human rights of Al-Qaeda terror suspects above those of
>> their victims.
>>
>> Gita Sahgal, head of the gender unit at Amnesty’s international
>> secretariat, believes that collaborating with Moazzam Begg, a former
>> British inmate at Guantanamo Bay, “fundamentally damages” the
>> organisation’s reputation.
>>
>> In an email sent to Amnesty’s top bosses, she suggests the charity has
>> mistakenly allied itself with Begg and his “jihadi” group,
>> Cageprisoners, out of fear of being branded racist and Islamophobic.
>>
>> Sahgal describes Begg as “Britain’s most famous supporter of the
>> Taliban”. He has championed the rights of jailed Al-Qaeda members and
>> hate preachers, including Anwar al-Awlaki, the alleged spiritual
>> mentor of the Christmas Day Detroit plane bomber.
>>
>> Amnesty’s work with Cageprisoners took it to Downing Street last month
>> to demand the closure of Guantanamo Bay. Begg has also embarked on a
>> European tour, hosted by Amnesty, urging countries to offer safe haven
>> to Guantanamo detainees. This is despite concerns about former inmates
>> returning to terrorism.
>>
>> Sahgal, who has researched religious fundamentalism for 20 years, has
>> decided to go public because she feels Amnesty has ignored her
>> warnings for the past two years about the involvement of Begg in the
>> charity’s Counter Terror With Justice campaign.
>>
>> “I believe the campaign fundamentally damages Amnesty International’s
>> integrity and, more importantly, constitutes a threat to human
>> rights,” Sahgal wrote in an email to the organisation’s leaders on
>> January 30. “To be appearing on platforms with Britain’s most famous
>> supporter of the Taliban, whom we treat as a human rights defender, is
>> a gross error of judgment.”
>>
>> Amnesty is the world’s biggest human rights organisation with 2.2m
>> members and a galaxy of celebrity supporters, including Bono, John
>> Cleese, Yoko Ono, Al Pacino and Sinead O’Connor. Its decision to work
>> with Begg poses liberal backers with a moral dilemma and raises
>> questions about the direction in which Amnesty has travelled since it
>> was set up in 1961 to support “prisoners of conscience”.
>>
>> “As a former Guantanamo detainee it was legitimate to hear his
>> experiences, but as a supporter of the Taliban it was absolutely wrong
>> to legitimise him as a partner,” Sahgal told The Sunday Times.
>>
>> Begg, 42, from Birmingham, was held at Guantanamo for three years
>> until 2005 under suspicion of links to Al-Qaeda, which he denies.
>> Prior to his arrest, Begg lived with his family in Kabul and praised
>> the Taliban in his memoirs as “better than anything Afghanistan has
>> had in 20 years”. After his release Begg became the figurehead for
>> Cageprisoners, which describes itself as “a human rights organisation
>> that exists solely to raise awareness of the plight of prisoners ...
>> held as part of the War On Terror”.
>>
>> Among the Muslim inmates it highlights are Khalid Sheikh Mohammed,
>> alleged mastermind of the 9/11 attacks, Abu Hamza, the hook-handed
>> cleric facing extradition from Britain to America on terror charges,
>> and Abu Qatada, a preacher described as Osama Bin Laden’s “European
>> ambassador”.
>>
>> Sahgal, 53, is not the only critic of Begg at Amnesty. In 2008 a board
>> member of its US arm opposed Begg’s appearance, via videolink, at its
>> AGM, but was overruled.
>>
>> When Begg appeared at Downing Street last month as part of a group
>> delivering a letter to Gordon Brown calling for the release of the
>> last British resident held at Guantanamo, he was accompanied by Kate
>> Allen, head of Amnesty’s UK section since 2000. Allen is a leftwinger
>> who was the girlfriend of Ken Livingstone, the former mayor of London,
>> for almost 20 years.
>>
>> This weekend Amnesty said it had launched an internal inquiry after
>> Sahgal raised her concerns with bosses, including Allen and Claudio
>> Cordone, the interim secretary-general.
>>
>> Anne Fitzgerald, policy director of Amnesty’s international
>> secretariat, said the charity had formed a relationship with Begg
>> because he was a “compelling speaker” on detention. She said he had
>> been paid expenses for his attendance at its events.
>>
>> Asked if she thought Begg was a human rights advocate, Fitzgerald
>> said: “It’s something you’d have to speak to him about. I don’t have
>> the information to answer that.”
>>
>> Yesterday Begg dismissed Sahgal’s claims as “ridiculous”. He defended
>> his support for the Taliban and the decision by Cageprisoners to
>> highlight the plight of detainees linked to Al-Qaeda: “We need to be
>> engaging with those people who we find most unpalatable. I don’t
>> consider anybody a terrorist until they have been charged and
>> convicted of terrorism.”
>> _________________________________________
>> reader-list: an open discussion list on media and the city.
>> Critiques & Collaborations
>> To subscribe: send an email to reader-list-request at sarai.net with
>> subscribe in the subject header.
>> To unsubscribe: https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/reader-list
>> List archive: <https://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/reader-list/>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> _________________________________________
>> reader-list: an open discussion list on media and the city.
>> Critiques & Collaborations
>> To subscribe: send an email to reader-list-request at sarai.net with
>> subscribe in the subject header.
>> To unsubscribe: https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/reader-list
>> List archive: <https://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/reader-list/>
>
>
>