Rushdie accuses Amnesty International of “moral bankruptcy”
By ANISunday, February 21, 2010
LONDON - Salman Rushdie has slammed Amnesty International’s association with former Guantanamo Bay detainee Moazzam Begg, by saying that the charity is suffering from “moral bankruptcy” as it “has lost the ability to distinguish right from wrong.”
The Booker prize-winning author, whose plight was championed by Amnesty when he was placed under a fatwa by the Iranian regime for his novel The Satanic Verses, said the charity had done “incalculable damage” to its reputation by collaborating with Begg and his organisation Cageprisoners.
“It looks very much as if Amnesty’s leadership is suffering from a kind of moral bankruptcy and has lost the ability to distinguish right from wrong,” The Times quoted Rushdie, as saying.
Kate Allen, Amnesty UK, said it took criticism “seriously” but would continue to press for “universal respect” for human rights.
His accusation follows the suspension this month of Gita Sahgal, a senior Amnesty official, who raised concerns about the organisation’s links to Begg and Islamic insurgents. (ANI)
