Amnesty International’s Islamist Problem Continues, Senior Figure Accused of Muslim Brotherhood Links

From Breitbart London

One of Amnesty International’s most senior figures has been accused of multiple links to the Muslim Brotherhood, both through her husband, who was named in court papers as a British Islamist, and in her own right. The allegations bring into question Amnesty’s claim to be an impartial observer, and reignite accusations of Islamist sympathies

Amnesty claims to have been unaware that the husband of Yasmin Hussein, its director of faith and human rights, featured in documents pertaining to a criminal trial conducted in the UAE. The documents revealed connections between British supporters of the Muslim Brotherhood and Arab Islamists accused of plotting to overthrow the Gulf state.

Wael Musabbeh, Ms Hussein’s husband of 20 years, was named in case documents as a British Islamist along with a number of other figures, none of whom were defendants. 

In the same documents, Hussein and Musabbeh were said to have been directors of a Bradford community trust which presented itself as an aid agency but was banned by Israel for its alleged funding of Hamas terrorism. The authorities have said that the trust was part of a complex financial and ideological network, using the UK and Ireland as a hub through which the Brotherhood and its branches in the UEA were linked.

Amnesty has openly admitted to knowing about the trial and associated documents – it called for fair proceedings for the accused at the time – but claims that it had no idea that Ms Hussein and Mr Musabbeh were married.

The charity said it did not believe that any of her alleged connections with Islamists represented a conflict of interest, adding: “Amnesty International does, however, take very seriously any allegations that would call into question our impartiality and is therefore investigating the issues raised.”

Unfortunately for Amnesty, its own work has already sowed seeds of doubt about its impartiality in abundance. In 2014 the charity lobbied against the proscription of the Muslim Brotherhood as a terrorist organisation by Saudi Arabia. Al-Nusra, al-Qaeda’s outfit in Syria, and ISIS were also banned by the same ruling, which carried a 20 year jail term for those found to belong to the groups.

(In 2010) Gita Sahgal, head of the charity’s gender unit was suspended, and then left after a very acrimonious and public dispute with her bosses over whether Amnesty should be working with Islamists and pro-jihadist groups, considering their track record on women’s rights.

The charity ploughed on nonetheless, working with former Guantanamo detainee Moazzam Begg and his organisation Cage, which has been repeatedly linked to Islamists and jihadists. It was a senior member of Cage who described Mohammed Emwazi – better known as ISIS’s executioner Jihadi John – as “extremely kind, extremely gentle, extremely soft spoken, [and] the most humble young person that I knew.”

It wasn’t until March of this year, when those comments were made, that Amnesty finally distanced itself from Cage, saying “Amnesty no longer considers it appropriate to share a public platform with Cage and will not engage in coalitions of which Cage is a member.”

Amnesty International UK’s Director Kate Allen continued: “At the time that Gita Sahgal left Amnesty International, we commissioned an independent external review into our work with Cage and Moazzam Begg which concluded that it was reasonable for Amnesty to campaign with Cage and Moazzam Begg in his capacity as a former detainee at Guantanamo Bay.