Is Amnesty International flirting with terrorists?

(Pictured: Moazzam Begg; source: Wikipedia)

Amnesty International faces one of the most serious challenges to its moral authority since the human rights organization was founded in 1961.

Author Salman Rushdie, himself once defended by the organization, accused AI recently of “moral bankruptcy,” telling the London Times…

“It looks as if Amnesty’s leadership is suffering from moral bankruptcy and has lost the ability to tell right from wrong.”

At issue is Amnesty’s ties to a former Guantanamo detainee named Moazzam Begg, a British national and Islamic fundamentalist.

The head of AI’s gender unit, a woman named Gita Saghal, was suspended recently after she accused her organization’s leadership of aligning itself with a “jihadist” leader.

“I believe the campaign fundamentally damages Amnesty International’s integrity and, more importantly, constitutes a threat to human rights,” she wrote.

Amnesty has partnered with Begg’s group, called Cageprisoners, to raise awareness about what the human rights group views as illegal behavior at Guantanamo Bay.

But Begg’s own views — and his support of Islamic groups that don’t embrace human rights — have been widely controversial, according to the Times.

He has championed the rights of jailed al-Qaeda members and hate preachers, including Anwar al-Awlaki, alleged spiritual mentor of the Christmas Day Detroit aircraft bomber.

Ms Sahgal said: “To be appearing on platforms with Britain’s most famous supporter of the Taleban, whom we treat as a human rights defender, is a gross error of judgment.”

After suspending Sahgal earlier this month, Amnesty issued the following statement defending its involvement with Begg:

“He speaks about his own views and experiences, not Amnesty International’s,” its statement noted. “And Moazzam Begg has never used a platform he shared with Amnesty to speak against the rights of others.”

Defenders of Begg point out that he was held by US authorities for three years and has never been charged with any crime.

To hear a fascinating discussion of he case and the controversy, visit CBC Canada’s program The Current here.