Excerpt:
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.
"Moazzam Begg and others in his group Cageprisoners hold…views which they have clearly stated, for example on whether one should talk to the Taleban or on the role of jihad in self-defence. Are such views antithetical to human rights? Our answer is no, even if we may disagree with them …," Mr Cordone wrote.