Pressure group Cage files complaint over closure of bank accounts

http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2014/oct/06/cage-complaint-bank-accounts-closed

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Cage, the London-based pressure group that has the former Guantánamo inmate Moazzam Begg as a spokesperson, has lodged a formal complaint to the financial ombudsman after it was forced to the brink of closure when its bank accounts were shut down.

The group’s problems started when Begg, its director of outreach, was arrested in February on suspicion of terrorism offences linked to Syria. In the weeks after Begg’s arrest, Cage’s bank accounts – at Barclays and the Co-op – were closed. Cage, which campaigns on behalf of terrorism suspects who are denied legal rights, said its attempts to continue its work had been hindered by a series of apparently unconnected moves.

Last year the charity commission launched inquiries into its backers, the Anita Roddick Foundation and the Joseph Rowntree Charitable Trust. Then came the closure of bank accounts, coupled with the Treasury’s apparent reluctance to meet to discuss its problems.

Cage said the Treasury this year had advised it to remove Begg as a signatory to its accounts so as to ensure it was “not inconvenienced unduly as a result of your connection with him”. Although the group complied, its direct debits and standing orders were halted and the accounts shut.

In its letter of complaint, the pressure group said it “has only been able to pay its employees and its landlord with great difficulty … has not been able to carry out many of its day-to-day activities [and] faced and considered the prospect of closing down.”

Treasury officials were supposed to meet Cage last week but pulled out suddenly. A few days later Begg, who was released without charge from Guantánamo in 2005, walked free from Belmarsh prison after the case against him collapsed. He plans to bring civil proceedings against the government and the security services.

Both charitable backers remain committed to Cage, and the charity commission say it is still monitoring the cases. Despite the pressure, Cage’s reputation has been bolstered in the Muslim community. At the end of Ramadan this summer, in one evening the group received £250,000 in pledged donations.

Amandla Thomas-Johnson, a spokesman for Cage, said the “inescapable conclusion [was] that there was an attempt to muzzle us. If there was a need to investigate us, then let it be. Instead it appears a campaign using the criminal justice system, the charity commission, the Treasury. These different elements have come together. But what were we doing apart from asking questions and asking for a dialogue about a conflict, the war on terror, that has lasted 13 years.”

Rosa Curling, a lawyer in the human rights team at Leigh Day, representing Cage, said: “Our client has had no option but to seek the ombudsman’s involvement in their banking affairs. Both Barclays Bank and the Co-operative Bank have closed our clients’ account without good reason. HM Treasury has confirmed our client has never been subject to any financial restrictions under UK law and we can see no reasonable basis for the banks’ decision to close their accounts.

“We are concerned our client’s experience is yet another example of a worrying trend by several banking institutions to close down accounts held by Muslim individuals, organisations and companies in the UK. Such discriminatory practices must be stopped and we hope the ombudsman will now intervene and ensure the banks start to act reasonably and lawfully again.”

The charity commission said: “At the moment, the cases are still live. When we are in a position to update we will do so.” Barclays has yet to respond. Treasury officials did not respond to calls.