2010-04-02 The Hindu: Amnesty tukee terrorismia

[M.]

Amnesty ei millään haluaisi luopua yhteistyöstään "puolustavaa jihadia" harjoittavien ryhmien kanssa.

Leading South Asian rights campaigners have accused Amnesty International of "undermining'' the rights movement, especially the campaign against sex and gender discrimination, by working with extremist — often misogynist — groups engaged in what they claim is "defensive jihad''.

The row follows remarks by Claudio Cordone, its secretary-general, that "defensive jihad'' was not "antithetical'' to human rights. He made the comments in response to a Global Petition from rights activists questioning Amnesty's alliance with Cageprisoners, founded by Moazzam Begg, an ex- Guantanamo Bay prisoner and dubbed "Britain's most famous supporter of the Taliban'' by a former Amnesty official.

The initiators of the petition — Amrita Chhachhi, Sara Hossain and Sunila Abeysekera, all prominent women's rights activists — have called Mr. Cordone's remarks "shocking and incredible''.

"It is precisely 'defensive jihad' that the Taleban use to legitimise its anti human rights actions such as the beheading of dissidents, attacks on minorities, attacks on schools and religious shrines and the public lashing of women. A similar logic based on 'defence of religion' is used by the Christian right to justify the killing of doctors providing abortion services as well as by Hindutva fundamentalists to justify their violent attacks against Muslims and Christians in India,'' they said. Recently, Amnesty suspended the head of its gender unit Gita Sahgal after she went public with her concerns about its links with Mr Begg.

http://www.hindu.com/2010/04/02/stories/2010040253481500.htm

[kohmelo]

http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/Flash.aspx/183953

Amnesty International Head Supports "Defensive Jihad"

(IsraelNN.com) The head of the human rights group Amnesty International, Claudio Cordon, issued a letter supporting "defensive jihad" – a term which is used to support ideological terrorism around the world.

Three weeks ago senior Amnesty worker, Gita Chagall, expressed opposition to the fact that the organization was holding contacts with Muazam Bag, who is identified ideologically with the Taliban. The same day Chagall was suspended from her job, after 30 years of work for Amnesty.

While other human rights activists protested Chagall's dismissal, Amnesty's Secretary-General himself, defended the relationship between Amnesty and the Taliban follower, claiming that "defensive jihad isn't against human rights."

Amnesty International has frequently accused Israel of human rights abuses.