COUNTRY SITUATION:
Pakistan
by Atty. Farooq Niazi
Thrown in a Far
-Away Land
Mr. Ijaz Khan,
Village: Kafal Garh, Tehsil & District: Bagh (PAK), belongs to a very
poor family comprising his old and poor parents, two brothers and three
sisters. He could not afford to get formal education in school and was
put into a religious madrassa1 in
Islamabad,
Pakistan; where he found shelter for some period at the outset of his
career.
B
ut soon his
madrassa was divided into two due to the machinations of the
administration and he had to shift to a different madrassa. But
since their religious teachers (theo-fascists) use their students for
multiple purposes, he could not stay there for long and had to give up
his studies to enter into a labor market to work as a manual laborer so
that he could feed his family. Here, due to inter-action with labor
leaders, he joined some sort of trade union but also remained connected
with his previous classmates from madrassa. That is why, through
them, after ‘Talibanization’ of
Afghanistan, he went
to Kabul to get a good employment.
The Talibans had
already established their government., but Ijaz was unable to get a job
and had to return to
Pakistan after five
to six months. Again, he started manual labor as a construction worker
to earn his livelihood. Then one day, he came to know that one of his
ex-colleagues had been caught in Afghanistan after the overthrow of
the Taliban “government.”
He was going to
visit his home, Kafal Garh (Bagh-PAK) on
15 January 2002
with some money for his family, and when he reached near his home, he
was abducted by a few men who did not show their identity. They were in
plain clothes and belonged to the elite intelligence agency of Pakistan
Armed Forces, ISI, as it occurred to everybody later on. His family was
extremely disturbed and broken-hearted to hear this because he was not a
member of any political group or party, nor did he belong to any
militant faction.
Then his case was
reported to the local police and was also registered with the Truth and
Justice Commission (T&JC) by one, Raja Munir, the President of
Jammu Kashmir Human Rights Movement (JKHRM), PAK, at
4 pm on 15-01-2002.
The following information was received about his person:
He is a modest,
humble and simple person, wears a beard and prays regularly and had had
no contact with any political or religious party nor with any militant
group either. He was just a laborer on daily wages to feed his family
and has had only casual relations with labor unions etc.
The Truth and
Justice Commission addressed a press conference and disclosed that some
people from Pakistan had been abducted jointly by FBI and ISI to send
them to Guantanamo Bay (Cuba), but the Pakistani Government quickly
denied it as only an allegation. However, later on, the Pakistani
Government admitted that some 500 men had been handed over to the
United States of America to be sent on to
Guantanamo
Bay
(Cuba). But the legal position of the case is that the Pakistani
Government cannot hand over any of the accused to any other country
without first producing the person in a court of law.
As far as the
Guantanamo Bay
(Cuba) is concerned, it is a holding camp for the purpose of prolonged
interrogation of detainees. Its purpose is not only to detain but also
to extract information from the detainees. A US soldier at Guantanamo
Bay revealed that the purpose of this Bay was to detain and to extract
information from detainees. What little is known of the conditions of
detention and interrogation techniques used here has been gleaned from
accounts of the released detainees. 134 detainees have been released
unconditionally and 12 have been released into continued detention (7
Russians, 4 Saudis and 1 Spaniard). The intelligence value of those held
there must be open to question given that charges have only been laid
against three of the detainees and the stated views of certain US
officials is that those detained there are mid to low level security
risks.
MG Miller, then
Commander of the Joint Task Force at Guantanamo Bay, apparently made
certain recommendations for operational procedures at Abu Gharib
detention center in Iraq that are said to be based on experience in
Guantanamo Bay. Recent revelations of torture and cruel, inhuman or
degrading treatment and punishment at Abu Gharib provide an indication
of the likely conditions of detention at
Guantanamo Bay. MG
Miller recommended that the detention guard force be dedicated and
trained for the setting of conditions for the successful interrogation
and exploitation of detainees. According to his assessment, the function
of detention operations is to “provide a safe, secure and humane
environment that supports the expeditious collection of intelligence.”
Conditions of
Transfer to
Guantanamo Bay
Prior to their
transfer to this Bay, detainees’ beards were reportedly shaved off, an
act which is considered humiliating for Muslim men. Hands and feet were
apparently bound, cuffed and taped. Detainees were said to be
blindfolded, gagged and ears taped. On board the airplane to
Guantanamo Bay,
detainees were chained to hand rests and restrained to their seats by
straps across their bodies, and were sedated and rendered unconscious
during the flight. Once at their destination, they reportedly were
thrown off the plane while bound, gagged and blindfolded.
There was a no
talking rule in the first one and a half months of detention. During
that time, there was reportedly little tolerance for religious practice.
Attempts to pray resulted in beatings and gagging. However, the
trials, tribulations and torture did not end there.22
( Note: For detailed
account of the conditions, kindly refer to page-47 of ‘Terrorism,
Counter-Terrorism and Torture – July, 2004).
Although the
detention of Mr. Ijaz Khan is secret as the perpetrators did not
disclose their identity and the place of detention is also not known,
the case was, however, reported to the local police as well as to the T
&JC. After addressing the press conference, the T &JC wrote a letter to
all the concerned including President, Prime Minister, Home Minister,
Pakistan Human Rights Commission (HRCP), and other organizations such as
USA and
European Union Embassies; and such letters are being sent on a monthly
basis. The case has also been highlighted through the media .
Despite this fact,
everybody including T&JC remained completely clueless for eight long
months. Then after some eight months, a letter by Mr. Ijaz Khan himself
was received through the Red Cross and it was revealed that he was under
detention; although the place of detention still remains unknown. T&JC
again addressed a press conference to highlight this as well as some
other similar cases, and also remained in constant contact with the Red
Cross.
In April 2004, the
Red Cross was informed that Mr. Ijaz Khan had been sent back to
Pakistan after
having been declared white, but his release was not being confirmed by
anybody. The Truth and Justice Commission, however, continued its
struggle and soon discovered that Ijaz was kept in Adiala Jail,
Rawalpindi (Pakistan), but the jail authorities flatly refused to admit
of his existence there. Then, according to some sources, he was known to
have been moved to Gujranwala Jail (Pakistan) and that his parents were
allowed to meet him, if they liked, with the permission of Punjab Home
Department. T&JC approached Home Department of Punjab through HRCP, but
the said Department also refused to confirm the whereabouts of Mr. Ijaz
Khan. The struggle to trace him continued and ultimately, it has been
revealed recently that he has been shifted to Muzaffarabad Jail (PAK),
which has been confirmed by now. Now, the plan of action for the future
being adopted by T &JC is as follows:
A writ petition
shall be filed for his release. A suit shall be filed against the
Government of
USA and Pakistan.
The legal action shall be taken and the other measures shall also be
adopted to get the detainee and his family rehabilitated.
Some legal questions
are also involved in this case which are as follows:
Abduction of an
innocent and peaceful citizen;
Outright
refusal by the state regarding his whereabouts;
Shifting him to
Guantanamo Bay (Cuba) without due process of law;.
Torture at
Guantanamo Bay (Cuba) during detention.
Since the Supreme
Court of USA has held that ‘Guantanamo
Bay (Cuba)
is not USA’s territory and, therefore, anybody wanted by
USA
could not be detained there; the entire process becomes illegal and
unconstitutional, although the US Government is responsible for its
management.
There is no
extradition treaty between PAK/Pakistan and
USA. Even if there
is one, Guntanamo Bay (Cuba) is not USA’s territory. In view of the
foregoing facts, Mr. Ijaz Khan (now in Muzaffarabad Jail – PAK) has been
grossly wronged for no fault, crime or sin of his own and, therefore,
should be properly and adequately compensated.
Footnote:
Atty. Farooq Niazi
is a founding member of the Human Rights Movement in Pakistan. He is
also a founding member of Civil Liberties Council and has
remained its president for 8 years . Atty. Niazi is currently the
Coordinator of Truth and Justice Commission in Muzaffarabad,
Pakistan.
