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Journalism of Courage
Gita Sahgal,a senior Indian-origin official at Amnesty International,under suspension for complaining that the human rights body was too closely linked to a pro-jihadi group,has quit her job,saying her 7-years campaigning for women’s rights had been a waste of time.
Sahgal claimed the Amnesty’s links with Moazzam Begg,a former inmate at Guantanamo Bay,and his organization Cageprisoners were undermining its campaigns.
She was suspended as the interim head of Amnesty’s gender unit in February after the e-mail she sent to her bosses criticising the links with Begg was made public.
53-year-old Sahgal said that she felt that her seven years’ campaigning for women’s rights had been a waste of time due to the charity’s continuing work with the former prison-camp detainee and his group.
“Their continued link to Moazzam Begg and Cageprisoners undermines Amnesty’s claims to stand against gender-based violence and religious discrimination,” she said.
“He supports Islamic states where women are second-class citizens,” she said.
Cageprisoners,a pressure group,has defended some jihadi Muslim prisoners,including Khalid Sheikh Mohammed,the alleged mastermind of the 9/11 attacks.
42-year-old Begg is part of an Amnesty-hosted tour that is urging countries to offer a haven to former Guantanamo detainees.
