Cage: human rights advocates or apologists for terror?

The group’s research director Asim Qureshi provoked a storm of criticism when he said Emwazi, who approached Cage from 2010 for advice over allegations of harassment by MI5, had been a “beautiful young man”.

Last month, Emwazi was revealed to be the masked killer, widely known by the nickname Jihadi John, who had been filmed behading captives of the Islamic State group.

Mr Qureshi has since clarified his comments, saying: “At the end of the day what this man has done is absolutely horrific. There is no way anyone can justify that.”

Mayor of London Boris Johnson has criticised Cage, saying the group should “stop crying Islamophobia” and back the security services.

It is incumbent upon all of us to support the jihad of our brothers and sisters in these countries when they are facing the oppression of the West
Assim Qureshi

This week, Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond said: “The responsibility for acts of terror rests with those who commit them. But a huge burden of responsibility also lies with those who act as apologists for them.”

The comment was widely interpreted as an attack on Cage, although Mr Hammond did not mention the group by name.

The Charity Commission has told Channel 4 News it currently has a case open on their sister organisation HHUGS.

What is Cage?

The group describes itself as “an independent advocacy organisation working to empower communities impacted by the War on Terror”.

Its previous incarnation Cageprisoners Ltd was founded in 2003, ostensibly to raise awareness of the plight of prisoners held in the US detention centre Guantanamo Bay.

It is a non-governmental organisation rather than a charity, though it received funding from at least two UK charities, the Roddick Foundation and the Joseph Rowntree Charitable Trust, until recently.

We would have campaigned for Osama bin Laden, had he been detained, and we would have fought for his rights
Moazzam Begg

Last week the Charity Commission said that statements by Cage officials “increased the threat to public trust and confidence”, and said it had received assurances from both charities that no more payments would be paid to the group.

Joseph Rowntree, which has its roots in the Quaker movement, had given Cage £271,250 between 2009 and 2012, while the Roddick Foundation – set up by the late Body Shop founder Anita Roddick, gave the group £120,000 in the same period.

Cage said it was not surprised by the move, noting that the regulator’s chairman William Shawcross is a former member of the US foreign policy think-tank, the Henry Jackson Society, and saying: “This is just another manifestation of their objective of pursuing a Cold War on British Islam.”

Survivors of abuse?

Cage says its “work has focussed on working with survivors of abuse and mistreatment across the globe”.

Many of the case studies on the group’s website relate to individuals who have been detained without charge, “harassed” by the security services or denied due legal process while protesting their innocence of any link to terrorism.

But some of the people on whose behalf Cage campaigns have been convicted of serious crimes. Pakistani al-Qaeda operative Aafia Siddiqui was convicted by an American jury and Briton Talha Ahsan pleaded guilty to terror offences in the US.

In the past the group has advocated for the legal rights of controversial Islamists including Jordanian cleric Abu Qatada, alleged 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, Abu Hamza and Anwar al-Awlaki, the American-Yemeni preacher killed by a US drone strike in 2011.

Cage’s outreach director Moazzam Begg was quoted as saying that the group had campaigned for al-Awlaki “as somebody who had been detained, somebody who had been a prominent figure, and somebody who had had the US War on Terror mechanism affect him”.

“We campaign for him even more now so, in the sense that he is somebody who has been targeted for assassination by the US president. We see that as something extrajudicial.

“We would have campaigned for Osama bin Laden, had he been detained, and we would have fought for his rights just as we have fought for the rights of Abu Qatada or Khalid Sheikh Mohammed. We make no apologies about that.”

Sister charity

The charity HHUGS – which stands for Helping Households Under Great Stress – has close links to Cage. On the HHUGS website it is described as the group’s “sister organisation” – although Cage denies the organisations “work in partnership.”

The charity’s mission statement says it provides “provides practical support and advice to households devastated by the arrest of a family member under UK anti-terror legislation”.

Some of the support is financial. HHUGS accounts show it paid out £172,259 to “those living in financial hardship” last year.

It is unclear from the charity’s web pages whether all the money goes to the families of detainees or to the detainees themselves. And it is unclear whether prisoners still get help from the charity if they are convicted of a crime.

HHUGS said in a statement: “Our beneficiaries primarily consist of wives, children and elderly parents who – irrespective of the guilt or innocence of their loved ones – are themselves innocent.

“The nature of this support varies from providing shopping vouchers, utility payments and food parcels to more practical support such as providing domestic help or transport, to professional counselling for innocent women and children traumatised by their experiences. HHUGS seeks to empower our largely female beneficiary base through the facilitation of English lessons, educational and vocational courses, money management advice, and driving lessons.

“HHUGS also supplements the work of the National Offender Management Service by assisting former detainees and prisoners rehabilitate and reintegrate into society. Our services, under development, include educational or vocational grants, family or anger management counselling, housing advice, and rental contributions developed for former prisoners to participate in upon release from custody.

“HHUGS is not involved with the details of any individual’s case and gives assistance solely on a humanitarian basis to their family members. Support for families should and does not imply that we support or condone terrorist activity or the offences for which some relatives of our beneficiaries may be accused.”

The statement went on: “The Trust and Cage are two separate entities with distinct remits; the two organisations do not work in partnership or collaborate generally.”

HHUGS has campaigned in the past on behalf of the families of people who have been convicted of terror offences, including Munir Farooqi, an ex-Taliban fighter from Longsight, Manchester, given four life sentences for trying to recruit young men to fight in Afghanistan.

Farooqi’s targets turned out to be undercover police officers, whose deployment in the local Muslim community, including mosques, was bitterly criticised by his family.

The charity’s list of supporters includes Sheikh Haitham al-Haddad, an imam who has described homosexuality as “a criminal act” and defended the practice of female genital mutilation.

He also supports the execution of apostates from Islam in Islamic states, and says he wants the Islamic faith to achieve global domination.

Last month the University of Westminster postponed a talk by al-Haddad after it was revealed that Mohammed Emwazi was a former student.

The Charity Commission told Channel 4 News it currently has a case open on HHUGS. A spokesman said: “The Commission’s case involving the charity remains open and ongoing.

“This includes examining events held by the charity and invited speakers to ascertain whether adequate controls are in place to manage any associated risks – this includes the charity’s relationship with Cage, which at this stage does not appear to be a financial one.”

The key players

Moazzam Begg

Cage’s outreach director is a British Pakistani from Sparkhill, Birmingham, who was arrested in Pakistan in 2002 and spent nearly three years as a prisoner in the US detention centres in Bagram, Afghanistan and Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, before being released in 2005.

Shortly after his release, Begg told Channel 4 News he was tortured in Bagram and saw guards beating two inmates to death.

Begg admits visiting two military training camps near the border between Afghanistan and Pakistan in the 1990s, but says the camps were not run by al-Qaeda and that he did not receive any military training.

He says a statement admitted he “knowingly provided comfort and assistance to al-Qaeda members” was only signed under duress. No charges were ever bought against Begg by the US authorities.

Begg also visited the Balkans in the early 1990s and witnessed the plight of Bosnian Muslims, but says he did not take up arms on their behalf.

In 2014 Begg was arrested and charged with seven terror-related offences over a trip he made to Syria, but the charges were later dropped.

He said he had travelled to Syria to investigate allegations of MI5 involvement in the rendition of a Libyan man from Syria, and to help run a training camp for civilians being attacked by the Assad regime. He said the security services had given him the “green light” to make the trips.

Begg has appealed for the release of Western hostages including Alan Henning, the British aid worker beheaded by IS.

Asim Qureshi

Cage’s research director has been in the headlines ever since he described Mohammed Emwazi as “extremely kind” and “the most humble young person that I ever knew”.

Qureshi was filmed in 2006 making a speech in which he appeared to support violent jihad around the world.

We see Hezbollah defeating the armies of Israel, we know what the solution is and where the victory lies

Qureshi addressed protesters at a rally against US foreign policy outside the American embassy in London, standing in front of a banner of Hizb ut-Tahrir – an organisation that wants a global Islamic caliphate ruled by Sharia law.

He said: “When we see the example of our brothers and sisters fighting in Chechnya, Iraq, Palestine, Kashmir, Afghanistan, then we know where the example lies. When we see Hezbollah defeating the armies of Israel, we know what the solution is and where the victory lies.

“We know that it is incumbent upon all of us to support the jihad of our brothers and sisters in these countries when they are facing the oppression of the West.”

In a long interview with academics at the University of Columbia, Qureshi revealed that he knew people who went to fight in Bosnia and were “given permission by the UK government.” He adds: “I was too young to do anything.”

He also talks about visiting Taliban-run refugee camps in Pakistan and interviewing armed members of the Pakistani Taliban while a guest of the former Guantanamo detainee and Taliban commander Badr-uz-Zaman.

Qureshi said he challenged Zaman and others on their tactics and ideology, adding: “I am not saying that I agree with their opinion. I do not. I think it is incorrect. It is wrong what they are doing. But it just shows how American foreign policy is having such a negative impact in that region.”

He repeatedly states that attacks by Muslims on western targets are a consequence of the policies of western governments, referring at one point to the knife attack on the Labour MP Stephen Timms by Islamist student Roshonara Choudhry in 2010.

“If you look at cases like that of Roshonara Choudhry, the young girl who stabbed the minister here in the UK, where does that come from?

“It comes from – if obviously everything that they reported about it is correct – a place where somebody feels that they do not have any avenue left, other than to do that thing. It comes from intense marginalization.”

Muhammad Rabbani

The managing director of CAGE is a former manager at the Osmani Trust, a youth project in east London.

The Telegraph has reported that Rabbani addressed a training camp for Young Muslims with these words: “Our goal is to create the true believer, to then mobilise these believers into an organised force for change who will carry out Dawah (proselytising or preaching Islam), hisbah (enforcing Islamic law) and jihad.”

He allegedly added: “Whoever seeks a religion other than Islam, it will never be accepted of him, and in the hereafter he will be one of the losers.”

Channel 4 News has attempted to contact Muhammad Rabbani and Asim Qureshi.

Watch our recent interview with Asim Qureshi below