Cage, the group formerly known as Cageprisoners, is in the hot seat once again – this time as a result of their intervention in the national debate around the unmasking of ‘Jihadi John’ as Mohammed Emwazi. The questions they raise about the radicalisation of Emwazi are important ones; their view that British foreign policy and the domestic harassment of Muslims in the 'war on terror' have been major contributory factors is one that many of us can support. However, when Asim Qureshi, Research Director of Cage, alleged that harassment from MI5 was responsible for Emwazi’s journey to IS (Islamic State) in a Channel 4 interview with Jon Snow, they overreached themselves and opened themselves up to general ridicule and incredulity.
The ensuing outrage at Cage’s arguments appears to have pushed Amnesty International (AI) to put more distance between itself and Cage than it has ever done before, even though it was widely called upon to do so at the time of Gita Sahgal’s suspension from her post as head of the Gender unit at AI in 2010.
In December 2014, Gita Sahgal again criticised AI for co-signing a letter with Cage, along with seven other signatories, to David Cameron calling for a judge-led inquiry into rendition and torture of Islamic states. Both Steve Crawshaw, the deputy director of Amnesty, and Gita were interviewed on the Radio 4 Today programme on the issue of AI’s relationship with Cage. Crawshaw began by saying that he was ‘enormously saddened’ by Gita Sahgal’s interview which was ‘inaccurate on so many levels’ although he did not elaborate on this. In relation to Cage, Crawshaw was also ‘saddened’ by ‘any statements that may give comfort to organisations like ISIS’. He added, ‘I can't condemn strongly enough, anybody, in any context who seeks to find some justification somehow for why they can kill civilians.’ When Crawshaw was asked whether AI would sign joint letters with Cage in the future, he hesitated, then said ‘I don’t know’, followed up with it was ‘highly unlikely’ and added hastily that this was a personal position. On the following day, Kate Allen, the UK director of Amnesty was quoted in the Guardian as saying ‘We are reviewing whether any future association with the group would now be appropriate.’
