Amnesty sympathizing terrorists

by Anita Mathur
February 22, 2010

http://www.weeklyblitz.net/537/amnesty-sympathizing-terrorists

Internationally known award-winning Indian origin novelist Salman Rushdie terms Amnesty International [AI] as "morally bankrupt", because of AI's working with a suspected Islamist group, Cageprisoners, formed by a former Guantanamo Bay prisoner Moazzam Begg.

His remarks follow the row over the suspension of Gita Sahgal, head of Amnesty's gender unit, for raising her concerns on the issue in public. Mr. Rushdie, who was strongly backed by Amnesty when he faced death threats following the Iranian fatwa over his controversial book The Satanic Verses, was reported by The Sunday Times as saying Amnesty had failed to distinguish right from the wrong in supporting Cageprisoners. ageprisoners, which campaigns for the rights of Guantanamo Bay prisoners, has been accused of having links with pro-jihadi elements.

"It looks very much as if Amnesty's leadership is suffering from a kind of moral bankruptcy and has lost the capacity to distinguish right from the wrong," he said.

He said, the charity had done "incalculable damage" to its reputation by collaborating with Moazzam Begg, a former inmate of Guantanamo Bay, and his organization Cageprisoners.

Amnesty International is accused of ignoring cases of persecution of anti-Jihadist peace activists and writers around the world. It has been ignoring the important case of Weekly Blitz editor Salah Uddin Shoaib Choudhury, who was arrested, tortured and imprisoned for 17 months in Bangladesh. Mr. Choudhury faces sedition, treason and blasphemy charges. According to Bangladeshi law, sedition bears capital punishment.

But, AI has never spoken on this extremely important case of the very loud Muslim editor, who confronts militant Islam and breeding of Jihadists inside Madrassas. For his courage and undeterred commitment, Salah Uddin Shoaib Choudhury won Freedom to Write Award from PEN USA in 2005; Moral Courage Award from American Jewish Committee in 2006 and Monaco Media Award in 2007. He was also presented with 'Key to Englewood City' [NJ] by Mayor Michael Wildes.

By ignoring the case of Mr. Choudhury, Amnesty International proved that, it has no interest in defending anti-Jihadists around the world. It may be mentioned here that, the desk of AI, which deals in Bangladesh has been headed by an Iranian, who maintains close links with Islamists and leftists [anti-US and anti-Israel] in the country.

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