ADVOCACY group Cage has begun actively fundraising for a landmark legal challenge against the Charity Commission over claims it acted outwith its remit by urging funders not to back the organisation.
Directed by former Guantanamo Bay detainee Moazzam Begg, Cage challenges UK policy on the “war on terror” and campaigns for justice for those impacted by the action, including British resident Shaker Aamer, who has spent almost 13 years in the facility without trial.
Last week, the High Court of Justice in London granted Cage leave to pursue a judicial review against the Charity Commission, claiming it overstepped its powers by asking two charities not to fund the organisation again.
The Joseph Rowntree Charitable Trust (JRCT) and the Roddick Foundation both agreed to withdraw support earlier this year, with the JRCT citing regulatory pressure.
Yesterday Cage confirmed it is actively fundraising for the legal challenge, which is expected to be held in October.
If successful, Cage will make legal history by becoming the first organisation to take such action against the Charity Commission.
The costs of the case have yet to be calculated but Cage believes it has “strong grounds” for appeal and says the case has implications “for any NGO advocating on behalf of unpopular or challenging causes”.
Cage drew criticism earlier this year after claiming IS executioner “Jihadi John”, believed to be Briton Mohammed Emwazi, had been radicalised by the British state.
It was recently condemned in a speech by David Cameron in which the prime minister claimed it had “told people to ‘support the jihad’ in Iraq and Afghanistan”.
Yesterday Begg, one of 15 people to receive an out-of-court settlement from the British Government over claims of torture and abuse whilst in US custody, denounced the claim.
He told The National: “We have never supported, endorsed or encouraged any terrorist organisation.
“There is no doubt that the preparation of the judicial review is going to be expensive, but we do have some people backing us. We have lots of supporters in the community, we have lots of academics on our side.”
Cage is also taking legal advice on a potential civil suit against Cameron on defamation grounds.
The speech was made at the school attended by one of Begg’s four children and yesterday he said: “The Prime Minister didn’t need to mention Cage. He didn’t need to pick on this minuscule organisation that was born out of the injustices of Great Britain after I myself and many others were tortured with the complicity of the British Government.
“To attack us and to defame us in such a way, we wouldn’t expect that of a prime minister of one of the world’s most important countries. He should be, like anyone else, subject to the law.”
He added: “My son was born while I was in Guantanamo, when I was being tortured and abused, watching people being beaten to death in front of my eyes while British intelligence agencies were interrogating me.
“The way I feel when I hear the Prime Minister talking about extremism and the rule of law is one word – hypocrite.”
Begg was held in custody last year over fresh terror charges but released without charge after providing a generator to Free Syrian Army rebels.
He claims Cage’s work is an “embarrassment” to the British Government and criticised
Cameron’s recent comments about potential British intervention against Daesh in Syria.
The Prime Minister told US television the UK should “step up and do more” against Daesh and, during a visit to Indonesia this week, signalled willingness to take immediate action against the group if “British citizens are in danger of being targeted” .
Begg said: “The direction this is going in is getting ourselves into another war. Isis are a greater threat to the Muslim world than anyone else. They have killed more Muslims than western hostages.
“In Britain, we feel by the rhetoric that they are such an imminent threat that we should be afraid they will come to our doorstep.
“British involvement would only turn people who are sitting on the sidelines towards them. It will just take strikes into pro-Isis areas to become more sympathetic to them, as it did during the Iraq war.
“I can’t stress enough the importance of what we as an organisation can offer because we have been on the ground for months.
“We understand its draws but we also understand better than all of those advising the government the ways to tackle it. They won’t like the answers, but they are answers that have been tried and tested in Northern Ireland and elsewhere.”
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