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We Research

Producing cutting edge authentic and accurate reports, briefings and papers documenting the abuses of the ‘war on terror’.

Unique insights

Researching the War on Terror

We produce cutting edge reports, briefings and papers documenting the abuse of due process and the erosion of the rule of law in the context of the ‘war on terror’.

Thanks to our unique access to impacted individuals and communities and the trust established with them, we are able to build our reports on unmatched authentic and accurate primary source information.

In addition, our empirical analysis and investigations into subjects related to far-reaching impacts of the ‘war on terror’ on law, people and communities, mean that our research reports are widely referenced and acknowledged by leading academics and organisations.

Our research and analysis aims to cut through the noise and provide an invaluable critical perspective for our advocacy work.

Reports & Publications

Unnecessary and disproportional: the killings of Anwar and Abdul Rahman al-Awlaki

December 28, 2013

<div class="field_article_img"><div><b>Image:</b></div><img src="https://cage.ngo/wp-content/uploads/image001_48.jpg"></div><div class="field_article_author"><div><b>Written By:</b></div>CAGE Editor</div><p><a href="http://www.cageprisoners.com/media/k2/items/cache/2eacf501e73efaa39f002f3a4aeb5ee0_XL.jpg" title=""Click to preview image" "><img alt="Unnecessary and disproportional: the killings of Anwar and Abdul Rahman al-Awlaki" src="https://cage.ngo/wp-content/uploads/image001_46.jpg" style="border-width: 0px; border-style: solid; width: 200px; height: 283px;" /></a></p><p><strong>One year since the assassination of Anwar al-Awlaki CagePrisoners publishes a report which reveals what role he really played in the Al-Qaeda leadership</strong></p><p><a href="http://cageprisoners.com/pdf/AwlakiReport_4.pdf">Download full report here</a></p><p><em>“How excellent would it be if you ask brother Basir to send us the resume, in detail and lengthy, of brother Anwar al-‘Awlaqi, as well as the facts he relied on when recommending him…and how excellent would it be if he gives us a chance to be introduced to him more…”</em></p><p>- Usamah Bin Laden (more than a year after US Justice Department’s memo ‘legalising’ the targeted killing of Awlaki)</p><p><em>“As for my husband who was assassinated by a US drone exactly one year from today, I believe strongly that his killing has nothing to do with the allegations by the US that he has links to terrorist attacks, but rather to silence him because of his influence on Muslims in the Western world as a Muslim scholar and preacher…the drone programme is wrong and illegal because it kills a lot more civilians than so called [high] valuable targets.”</em></p><p>– Gihan Mohsen Baker, wife of Anwar al-Awlaki</p><p> </p><p>Exactly a year ago, American citizen Anwar al-Awlaki was killed in a drone strike carried out by the US in Northern Yemen – only one of scores that are dying as part of a programme of extrajudicial killings. </p><p>On the anniversary of his killing, CagePrisoners releases its report <strong>“Unnecessary and Disproportional: The Killing of Anwar and Abdul-Rahman al-Awlaki”.</strong></p><p>This report analyses and challenges the narrative developed by various governments and media outlets to justify the assassination of the Muslim cleric, presenting him as a leader of al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) and the mastermind behind several attacks against the USA.  The report also highlights how dangerous such a narrative can be as it extends to include the targeting and killing of Awlaki’s 16 year old son, also an American citizen, a few days later.</p><p>With only a few weeks left until Election Day, most people will be focused on the election campaigns of President Obama – few will remember that it is under Obama’s leadership that the policy of targeted killings has intensified and expanded.  This report will throw light on the legal and moral inconsistencies that appear as a Nobel Peace Prize winning President continues developing his drone programme enabling him to carry out extra-judicial killings across the globe, picking off targets on a ‘kill list’ once a week. </p><p>Through the case study of Anwar and Abdur Rahman al-Awlaki, questions are also raised about the UK’s involvement in targeted killings as more evidence emerges of British citizens that have been killed in drone attacks including evidence to suggest that British authorities actively assist the CIA in its drone programme. </p><p>CagePrisoners demands complete transparency in relation to the process by which individuals are placed on President Obama’s ‘kill list’, independent investigations into civilian deaths and injuries during drone strikes and the end to British complicity and the complicity of any other States, with US drone strikes.</p><p>MoazzamBegg, Director of CagePrisoners and former detainee at Bagram and Guantanamo Bay says:<em> “In 2001, the Bush administration initiated its rendition program, </em><em>organising</em><em> the kidnapping, torture and illegal detention of Muslims all across the world, a program in which I was a victim before being released without any explanation. Many hoped that President Obama would end this War of Terror.  However, not only did he not stop, he went further by assassinating anyone that he deemed a terror suspect. We now know that the United Kingdom was fully aware and fully involved in Bush’s rendition program and abuses including the torture and unlawful imprisonment of some of its own nationals. Likewise and sadly, there is little doubt that British authorities are complicit in Obama’s programme of extra-judicial killing. Several years ago, CagePrisoners supported Anwar Al-Awlaki since he was detained without charge or trial. Today, we feel compelled to release this report since he was executed without charge or trial”</em></p>

Reports & Publications

Tackling Extremism in the UK: An ideological attack on Muslim communities

December 1, 2013

Reports & Publications

CagePrisoners Annual Report 2010-11

December 1, 2011

<div class="itemIntroText" style="color: #444444; font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 20px; padding: 4px 0px 12px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> Cageprisoners releases its Annual Report for 2010 - 2011 [fusion_button link="http://www.cage.ngo/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/Cageprisoners_Annual_Report_2011.pdf" title="" target="_self" link_attributes="" alignment="center" modal="" hide_on_mobile="small-visibility,medium-visibility,large-visibility" class="" id="" color="default" button_gradient_top_color="" button_gradient_bottom_color="" button_gradient_top_color_hover="" button_gradient_bottom_color_hover="" accent_color="" accent_hover_color="" type="" bevel_color="" border_width="" size="large" stretch="no" shape="" icon="" icon_position="left" icon_divider="no" animation_type="" animation_direction="left" animation_speed="0.3" animation_offset=""]Download the report[/fusion_button]   </div> <div class="itemFullText" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 12px;"><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">The assassination of Osama bin Laden by the US in Pakistan can, in all likelihood, be identified as one of the most significant incidents of 2011. A War on Terror that was begun, specifically to seek out and destroy him, has proven to reach far beyond the individual. Rather, what we have seen over the last decade, is that the War on Terror has been indiscriminate in its killing and detention of human beings.</span></span></p> <div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 12px;"><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Last year, Cageprisoners took on the task of looking into extrajudicial killings, particularly in relation to drone strikes. Initially we were concerned with the issue because we saw it as the ultimate form of removing due process from an individual. However, we are more dedicated than ever, because we have come to see the impact of these drone strikes on the affected communities. People from Pakistan, Somalia and Yemen are more angry than they have ever been due to the complete disregard the American establishment has for human life.</span></span></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 12px;"><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span></span></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 12px;"><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">While the impact of these drone strikes is felt deeply in the affected countries, the sentiment of anger and alienation is finding itself also in the UK. As the attacks increase, the British security agencies have stepped up their harassment of Muslims from those countries, on the assumption that somehow the sense of anger will find itself in the UK. Such assumptions have already resulted in gross abuses of human rights, as more criminalised communities are being created.</span></span></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 12px;"><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span></span></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 12px;"><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">While we have decided to take on work relating to extrajudicial killings, we have not allowed it to distract us from the very important work we have been doing on Guantanamo, secret detention and counter-</span></span></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 12px;"><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">terrorism policies around the world. Currently our staff and interns are working on major projects including:</span></span></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"></div> <ul> <li><span style="font-size: 12px;"><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Analysis of counter-terrorism policies in France and French complicity in renditions and torture abroad.</span></span></li> <li><span style="font-size: 12px;"><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">How non-Muslims in the UK have been impacted by counter-terrorism legislation.</span></span></li> <li><span style="font-size: 12px;"><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">US domestic counter-terrorism policies focussing on procedural impropriety and disproportionate sentencing within the federal justice system.</span></span></li> <li><span style="font-size: 12px;"><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">A major revision to our previous Detention Immorality report, looking into the extent of detention without charge in the UK.</span></span></li> </ul> <div style="text-align: justify;"></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 12px;"><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">With the tenth anniversary of Guantanamo fast approaching, Cageprisoners has also initiated a major project called <span style="font-style: italic;">Laa Tansa—Never Forget</span>, which we will be releasing in January 2012. Our hope, is that we will be able to leave a lasting legacy about the abuses that took place in Guantanamo Bay. <span style="font-style: italic;"> </span></span></span></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 12px;"><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span></span></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 12px;"><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">It is only through the Grace of Allah SWT that Cageprisoners still continues to function today and that we are able to continue helping those who are in great need.</span></span></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"></div> </div>

Reports & Publications

[fusion_builder_container hundred_percent="no" hundred_percent_height="no" hundred_percent_height_scroll="no" hundred_percent_height_center_content="yes" equal_height_columns="no" menu_anchor="" hide_on_mobile="small-visibility,medium-visibility,large-visibility" class="" id="" background_color="" background_image="" background_position="center center" background_repeat="no-repeat" fade="no" background_parallax="none" enable_mobile="no" parallax_speed="0.3" video_mp4="" video_webm="" video_ogv="" video_url="" video_aspect_ratio="16:9" video_loop="yes" video_mute="yes" video_preview_image="" border_size="" border_color="" border_style="solid" margin_top="" margin_bottom="" padding_top="" padding_right="" padding_bottom="" padding_left=""][fusion_builder_row][fusion_builder_column type="1_2" layout="1_2" spacing="" center_content="no" link="" target="_self" min_height="" hide_on_mobile="small-visibility,medium-visibility,large-visibility" class="" id="" background_color="" background_image="" background_position="left top" background_repeat="no-repeat" hover_type="none" border_size="0" border_color="" border_style="solid" border_position="all" padding_top="" padding_right="" padding_bottom="" padding_left="" dimension_margin="" animation_type="" animation_direction="left" animation_speed="0.3" animation_offset="" last="no"][fusion_text] <div class="itemIntroText"> Cageprisoners releases the latest update on the report <em>Fabricating Terrorism</em>. This study will be presented to the UK inquiry into British complicity in rendition and torture. </div> <div class="itemFullText"> Over the past eight years, human rights watchdogs, researchers and lawyers recorded a disturbing number of cases involving individuals whose common experiences of detention without charge, illegal transportations to other states without recourse to due process, abuse and torture has pointed to a systematic violation of international laws. The evidence directly implicates the US administration which while denying involvement in torture, partly by redefining its meaning, has admitted that it is overseeing an ‘outsourcing’ process of intelligence gathering in which terrorism suspects are being rendered or transferred for interrogation to countries experienced and cognisant of the cultural needs of the detainees. However, the role of British authorities in this programme has still to be fully revealed. On numerous occasions Government representatives have denied any involvement in the transfer of individuals (rendition) and torture. As the evidence continues to mount it has become apparent that an international chain of abuse, links both the US and UK administrations to breaches of international human rights conventions. After 9/11, under the slogan ‘War on Terror’, there were moves to prioritise national ‘security measures’ over human rights and civil liberties with the ratification of legislation such as the Patriot Act in the USA. Additionally, international alliances were forged involving countries which ranged from the expected, to the startling. A picture of systematic cooperation between the West, Eastern Europe, Asian sub-continent and the Middle East emerged which would allow terrorism suspects to be ‘fast-tracked’ and undergo a variety of illegal interrogation techniques, in order to crush the threat of global terrorism. Evidence is emerging that in waging this war, fabricated accounts of terrorist acts produced through forced or coerced confessions have been used to justify a whole raft of anti-terror legislation, and the illegal actions which are described in this report. This Cageprisoners’ report entitled ‘<em>Fabricating Terrorism III: British Complicity in Renditions and Torture</em>’ is an update of the previous reports <em>Fabricating Terrorism</em> and <em>Fabricating Terrorism II</em>. The original report was compiled using evidence ranging from the testimonies of detainees, existing interviews with officials in the security services, and research. The updated reports focus on the British Government which sees itself as a leader in the field of human rights, in recent years ratifying the Optional Protocol to the UN Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (OPCAT) in 2003, questioning whether its commitment to human rights is as strong as its commitment to the USA, and in the process challenging official government denials in regard to rendition and torture. One of the key features of Fabricating Terrorism III, is the case of Farid Hilali. The case demonstrates that the UK security/intelligence officials were complicit in the rendition and torture of individuals as early as two years prior to 9/11. This fact suggests that the unlawful activities of the UK authorities are systematic, rather than rare abuses. Below there are 31 case studies mostly detailing the experiences of British citizens and British residents granted asylum which illustrate the manner in which they have passed through a subterranean system of kidnappings, being ghosted to ‘black sites’ and suffering false imprisonment, abuse and torture during the process. Due to the constraints of space and time these examples represent a much larger number of cases, often undocumented. They illustrate issues of illegality that stem from current British policy on detentions in the ‘War on Terror’ a term itself abandoned but which remains a de facto reality. The aim of this report is to illuminate a path along which all the other detentions are discovered so that the true extent of British involvement in such practices can be highlighted. </div> [/fusion_text][/fusion_builder_column][fusion_builder_column type="1_2" layout="1_2" spacing="" center_content="no" link="" target="_self" min_height="" hide_on_mobile="small-visibility,medium-visibility,large-visibility" class="" id="" background_color="" background_image="" background_position="left top" background_repeat="no-repeat" hover_type="none" border_size="0" border_color="" border_style="solid" border_position="all" padding_top="" padding_right="" padding_bottom="" padding_left="" dimension_margin="" animation_type="" animation_direction="left" animation_speed="0.3" animation_offset="" last="no"][fusion_text] Fabricating Terrorism III free download [/fusion_text][fusion_code]W2FkZF90b19jYXJ0IGlkPSZxdW90OzIzNTMyJnF1b3Q7XQ==[/fusion_code][/fusion_builder_column][/fusion_builder_row][/fusion_builder_container]

We Research

WE RESEARCH

Researching the War on Terror

Reports

Unnecessary and disproportional: the killings of Anwar and Abdul Rahman al-Awlaki

Tackling Extremism in the UK: An ideological attack on Muslim communities

CagePrisoners Annual Report 2010-11

Djamel Beghal - British and French complicity in torture report

Good Muslim Bad Muslim: A response to the revised PREVENT strategy

Fabricating Terrorism III: British complicity in rendition and torture

The Conscious Muslim Guide

THE GAMES OF SHAME: CAN THE 2024 PARIS OLYMPICS WHITEWASH GENOCIDE AND WIDESPREAD EXCLUSION?

Unnecessary and Disproportional: The Killings of Anwar and Abdul-Rahman al-Awlaki

Johannesburg Declaration on Israel's Settler-Colonialism, Apartheid and Genocide: Towards a Global Anti-Apartheid Movement for Palestine

Over 400 UK Imams and scholars reject Gove's new extremism definition and call on Muslims to support MEND, CAGE and The Muslim Association of Britain

European Policy Briefing: Special Edition on Palestine

Censoring Palestine, From Schools to Workplaces

Expert Opinions on Israel’s “right to exist” by Professor John Dugard SC and Professor Avi Shlaim

We are Beginning to Spread Terror - French

Muslim Scholars demand an end to War on Terror

Aafia Siddiqui: A case of lies and inconsistencies report

Letter to the EC president

Human Rights Council Complaint Procedure Form

20 Years of TACT: Justice Under Threat report

Exploiting the Pandemic

Coronavirus Bill: Extra powers must be subject to strict oversight and must end with the pandemic

Letter to Home Secretary

Over 100 leading academics and campaigners call for end to PREVENT and back CAGE’s alternative 8-point plan

Beyond PREVENT: A Real Alternative To Securitised Policies report

Schedule 7: Harassment at Borders

Response to Narratives of Division by the Tony Blair Institute for Global Change

CCE Exposed Report

Response to National PREVENT coordinator

Letter from National Prevent Coordinator Nik Adams

Separating Families – How PREVENT Seeks the Removal of Children report

Response to call for Working Definition of 'Islamophobia'

Torture in America: FBI & DOD torture of Ali al-Marri on the Charleston Naval Brig - Report

Africa Review: Ethiopia report

The 'Science' of Pre-Crime

Consent Denied report

External Review into CAGE’s handling of the Mohammed Emwazi Affair report

Submission to Home Affairs Select Committee

CAGE’s response to Henry Jackson Society

CAGE Brochure

Failing Our Communities: A case study approach to understanding PREVENT

Challenging the Counter-Terrorism and Security Bill

ISC inquiry NGO joint letter

Criminalising Non-Violent Organisations

Serious Crime Bill Submission

Repression of Palestine solidarity in Schools 2021

Blowback report

Submission to the Home Office on Schedule 7

The PREVENT strategy: A cradle to grave police-state report

Tackling Extremism in the UK: Part II

Tackling Extremism in the UK: Part I

We are Beginning to Spread Terror - English

Guantanamo Begins at Home report

CagePrisoners Annual Report 2010-11

Djamel Beghal - British and French complicity in torture report

Good Muslim Bad Muslim: A response to the revised PREVENT strategy report

Too blunt for just outcomes report

Fabricating Terrorism III: British Complicity In Renditions And Torture report

The Horn Of Africa Inquistion The Latest Profile In The War On Terror report

Operation Luxor: Unravelling the Myths behind Austria's Largest Ever Peacetime Raids

Detention Immorality report

Blacklisted report

Guantanamo’s Hidden History: Shocking statistics of starvation

Fabricating Terrorism II: British Complicity in Renditions and Torture report

Devoid of the Rule of Law: Pakistan’s ‘War on Terror’

Citizens No More: ‘War on Terror’ Abuses in Bosnia and Herzegovina

Off the Record report

Inside Africa’s War on Terror: War on Terror Detentions in the Horn of Africa report

Foreign Nationals Rendered To Guantánamo Bay-Style Detention And Abuse In Ethiopia report

Enforced Disappearances in Pakistan report

Detention in the name of the War on Terror report

Fabricating Terrorism I report

Report on Ghost Detention

The status of British residents held in Guantanamo Bay report

Report into the Systematic and Institutionalised US Desecration of the Qur’an and Other Islamic Rituals

The Guantanamo Detainees report