Criticism: Home Secretary Theresa May (pictured at the House of Commons yesterday) launched a blistering attack on the human rights group Cage . Theresa May last night launched a blistering attack on the human rights group Cage, saying no excuses could be made for the appalling crimes of Islamic State. In a statement to the Commons, the Home Secretary said: ‘I condemn anyone who attempts to excuse that barbarism in the way that has been done by Cage.’ Politicians have queued up to denounce the group’s research director Asim Qureshi, who has described IS killer Mohammed Emwazi as a ‘beautiful young man’ and accused the security services of radicalising him. Jacqui Smith, a Labour former Home Secretary, said yesterday: ‘We can – and should – dismiss the outrageous apologists of Cage who claimed that Emwazi was just a good lad radicalised by the actions of western authorities.’ The backlash continued with Amnesty International coming under pressure to cut its ties with Cage. A former employee urged the charity to stop treating the group as human rights defenders and heroes. Gita Sahgal, a former head of Amnesty International’s gender unit, was forced out of the organisation in 2010 after describing Cage as jihadis and questioning the championing of former Guantanamo inmates. Controversial group: Cage research director Asim Qureshi (left) speaks next to political activist John Rees (centre) and Cage spokesman Cerie Bullivant (right) during a press conference in London last Thursday . ‘Immense damage has been done to Amnesty, not least because they won’t come clean about their association with Cage,’ she told the BBC. ‘They say various things like, they don’t work with them, they have never worked with them, or they are in a loose coalition with them. ‘But the point is, whether they are in a tight embrace or a loose coalition, they have taken their research from them, they have shared logos with them, they have produced briefing papers together, they have signed letters to the Government together, that is working with the organisation.’ She described Cage’s current director, former Guantanamo Bay prisoner Moazzam Begg, as ‘Britain’s most famous supporter of the Taliban’. Jihadi John: Politicians have queued up to denounce Mr Qureshi, who has described Islamic State killer Mohammed Emwazi (above) as a ‘beautiful young man’ and accused the security services of radicalising him . Miss Sahgal said she had never argued Guantanamo prisoners ‘shouldn’t be defended’, but that they ‘shouldn’t be treated as heroes and human rights defenders’. Unimpressed: Jacqui Smith, a Labour former Home Secretary, called Cage 'outrageous apologists' She added: ‘The prisoners they were defending in this case were not prisoners of conscience ... what they did was create a narrative of innocence around them.’ Steve Crawshaw, of the office of the secretary general at Amnesty, admitted yesterday it was ‘highly unlikely’ they would work with Cage again. Asked if Amnesty had played to a ‘myth’ of victimisation, Mr Crawshaw added: ‘I don’t think we have played to anybody’s myth. I can’t condemn strongly enough anybody, in any context who seeks to find some justification somehow for how they can justify killing civilians. ‘Our colleagues there (in Iraq) are risking lives in order to document the terrible crimes of IS and therefore to hear somehow that we are turning away from those things, I do think is quite extraordinary.’ Amnesty International was forced yesterday to admit that it worked alongside Cage as recently as October. With Liberty, Justice and five other mainstream human rights groups, it joined with Cage in a ‘collective’ to make representations to an inquiry into the treatment of British Army detainees. Cage’s current director: Former Guantanamo Bay prisoner Moazzam Begg (pictured) has been described as ‘Britain’s most famous supporter of the Taliban’ by the former head of Amnesty International’s gender unit . Amnesty International UK Director Kate Allen said yesterday: ‘Amnesty has no formal or financial relationship with Cage. ‘Amnesty has, along with a number of others human rights organisations, worked on issues relating to Guantanamo and torture. ‘This has included being co-signatories on letters calling for an independent, judge-led inquiry into UK complicity in torture. We support the call for a torture inquiry. We do not support all of Cage’s views or agree with how it expresses them.’ Charities have been urged to stop funding Cage with politicians saying the organisation has acted reprehensibly in blaming British security services for the radicalisation of Emwazi.
Home Secretary 'condemns anyone who attempts to excuse barbarism'
Human right group Cage’s research director Asim Qureshi is denounced . He described 'Jihadi John' Mohammed Emwazi as 'beautiful young man’
Jacqui Smith says UK should 'dismiss outrageous apologists of Cage'
Amnesty International under pressure to cut its ties with organisation .