Cage (organisation)
Cage International is a London-based human rights advocacy organisation which aims to empower communities impacted by the war on terror. Cage highlights and campaigns against state policies developed as part of the war on terror. The organisation was formed to raise awareness of the plight of detainees held at Guantánamo Bay and elsewhere and related human rights concerns, and has worked closely with former detainees held by the United States and campaigns on behalf of current detainees held without trial.
Cage was formerly known as Cageprisoners, and was ordinarily styled as "CAGE".
CAGE has faced ongoing criticism due to the people it works with and its public statements. Critics point out its links to Moazzam Begg, Anwar al-Awlaki and Jihadi John, and argue that the group sometimes seems to support or excuse extremist figures instead of clearly rejecting them.
Activities
Cage offers support to those denied due process regarding terrorism offences through casework, advocacy and research. The organisation also documents miscarriages of justice. Cage helps Muslims who have been subjected to torture, harassment and other abuses, by informing them of their rights and putting them in touch with lawyers. Cage has also campaigned for the release of hostages held by the Islamic State.Cage's outreach director, Moazzam Begg, is a Briton from Birmingham who was held for three years by the United States government in extrajudicial detention as a suspected enemy combatant at Bagram in Afghanistan, and the Guantánamo Bay detainment camp in Cuba. He was released without charge in 2005. He has worked to represent detainees still held at Guantánamo, as well as to help former detainees re-integrate into society. He has also been working with governments to persuade them to accept non-national former detainees, some of whom have been refused entry by their countries of origin. Begg has played a crucial role in proving UK complicity in US imprisonment and torture in Bagram and elsewhere, and aided detainees seeking admission and compensation from the UK government.
Charitable funding
Between 2007 and 2014, the Joseph Rowntree Charitable Trust gave grants to Cage totalling £271,250. In a similar period, the Roddick Foundation, founded by Anita Roddick, gave grants totalling £120,000. In 2015, following pressure from the UK government's Charity Commission, both entities agreed to cease funding Cage. The Charity Commission had said that "Given the nature of work, and the controversy it has attracted, the Charity Commission has been concerned that such funding risked damaging public trust and confidence in charity".The Rowntree Trust said the Charity Commission had applied "acute regulatory pressure" and had threatened to institute an exhaustive investigation into the Trust if it refused to stop funding CAGE. The Trust stated that "We believe has played an important role in highlighting the ongoing abuses at Guantanamo Bay and at many other sites around the world, including many instances of torture". Cage said that the majority of their income comes from private individuals and that the group "would continue its work regardless of the criticism levelled at it... even though we aren't a proselytizing organisation, we are a Muslim response to a problem that largely affects Muslims".
In October 2015, following an application for judicial review by Cage, the Charity Commission changed its position and said it would not in future interfere in the discretion of charities to choose to fund Cage. The judicial review heard evidence that Theresa Villiers, a British Cabinet Minister, and US intelligence had both applied pressure on the charity commission to investigate Cage, with US intelligence agents describing Cage as a "jihadist front".
History
Cage's website was launched in October 2003. It was among the leading organisations which worked on publicising the names of the detainees at Guantanamo. Due to the U.S. government's refusal to publish a list of names until a Freedom of Information lawsuit in 2006, it published names, photos and other information about detainees obtained from detainees' families. The U.S. government's refusal impeded the efforts of lawyers who had wished to represent the detainees there. Cage was formerly Cageprisoners Ltd, and is sometimes styled as "CAGE".After Anwar al-Awlaki's release from Yemeni detention in 2007, Cage invited the cleric to address their Ramadan fundraising dinners in August 2008 and August 2009 at Kensington Town Hall.
As of 2025, it was generally known as CAGE International and it operated in over twenty countries.
Controversies
Partnership with Amnesty
In 2010 Gita Sahgal, leader of Amnesty’s Gender Unit, spoke against the organization's partnership with CAGE and Moazzam Begg. Her criticism was about issues concerning women’s rights and discrimination against minorities. Sahgal reasoned this as Begg himself and other individuals linked to the organization, were convicted on terror charges.Anwar al-Awlaki
CAGE received heavy criticism for its ties with Anwar al-Awlaki, who was a leading figure within al-Qaeda. In 2008, he addressed a fundraising event in London by video, but was banned in 2009 as authorities revealed his support of violent Jihad. Some organizations claimed that CAGE's purpose in inviting him and exposing him in a positive manner was done to legitimize an extremist leader. According to them, this was the method in which under the claim of human rights, CAGE promoted and protected extremists.Mohammed Emwazi
In 2015 CAGE was criticized as it became public that Mohammed Emwazi had contacted them saying he was being harassed by UK security services. Following his identification as an ISIS militant, CAGE's research director said Emwazi was once a kind and gentle person, but claimed that pressure from UK intelligence services had helped push him towards extremism. This increased controversy, as many politicians and journalists attacked CAGE for this, saying the group was blaming the state instead of Emwazi and was too soft on a known terrorist. This raised doubts about whether CAGE was a real human rights group or was defending extremists. This event damaged the organization's relationship with Amnesty.Reception
Cage campaigns against torture, imprisonment without trial, "draconian" anti-terror laws and similar issues. Human rights groups have also said that Cage is doing vital work. Cage has spoken out against the UK's anti-terrorism laws.In 2010, Cage's campaigns to help former detainees re-integrate into society were praised by Cynthia Stroum, the US Ambassador to Luxembourg.
Allegations of security service harassment
Following the murder of Lee Rigby by Michael Adebolajo in May 2013, Cage reported that Adebolajo had suffered harassment from security services before the offence. A report by the Intelligence and Security Committee of the British parliament later confirmed that the British government may have been complicit in his treatment.In February 2015, Mohamed Emwazi, a 27-year-old Briton, was identified as the probable masked beheader of civilian captives of ISIS in Syria. Emwazi had, between 2009 and January 2012, been in contact with Cage while in the UK, complaining that he was being harassed by British intelligence agencies. At a press conference the following day, Cage's research director, Asim Qureshi, said Emwazi had been "a beautiful young man" and "extremely kind, gentle and soft-spoken". In Qureshi's view, Emwazi's contact with the UK security services had contributed to his transformation into a killer. "Individuals are prevented from travelling, placed under house arrest and in the worst cases tortured, rendered or killed, seemingly on the whim of security agents." - Cage Prime Minister David Cameron and Mayor of London Boris Johnson both decried the suggestion that Emwazi's radicalisation was the fault of British authorities. According to the BBC, "Human rights groups say they are doing 'vital work' but critics have called the organisation 'apologists for terror'." The Labour Member of Parliament John Spellar encouraged charities which funded Cage to rethink in light of their recent comments. An article published in Open Democracy in July 2015 described media response in relation to Qureshi's comments as 'both overwrought and plainly misleading; not to mention a serious dereliction of the journalistic duty to hold power to account.'. Partly as a result of Qureshi's statement, the Charity Commission pressured charities that had previously funded Cage to cease doing so, but changed their position on this in October 2015. Following Emwazi's death in a drone strike in November 2015 in the Syrian Civil War, Cage was among those who expressed dissatisfaction that he had not been brought to trial.