Time for Musharraf to regret

When US President Barack Obama made the commitment to close down Guantanamo Bay, which along with Abu Ghraib, had become a symbol of physical torture, injustice and gross violation of human rights, it was welcomed the world over. Had he succeeded in his efforts, it would not have only helped in building a positive image of the US but also he would have made history by the time he hand over the Presidency to Donald Trump.

He wanted to close the prison because he knew it had brought a bad name to the US, as 80 per cent of those who spent years in those prisons after 9/11 turned out to be ‘innocent’.Now it’s Trump’s turn, who himself is critical of war in Iraq, like many other players of 2003 attack. Abu Ghraib prison was even the worst, where there had not only been physical abuse, torture but also sexual abuse. There were also similar allegations about other such prisons linked to 9/11, Iraq and Afghanistan.

When former British prime minister Tony Blair and one of the US generals, who had worked in Iraq, also regretted and termed it a ‘mistake’, it is important to raise similar question by the then Pakistani establishment and former President General (retd) Pervez Musharraf, when his government handed over 600 suspects, most of them spent years in Guantanamo without trial.

Is it not time for ‘regrets’ over the policy of handing over suspects, who had not returned back after spending years in prison without being ever been produced before any court.Some of the stories are horrifying and those returned are not living a normal life as the ‘trauma’ of Guantanamo Bay, still haunts them.

There had been more than one regrets over the Iraq war, and its now almost clear after the confession of former British prime minister Tony Blair and one of the leading US commanders, that Iraq war was a mistake and there was indeed no “Weapons of Mass Destruction there. The war and its fallout itself turned out to be the real “Weapon of Mass Destruction” as it resulted in the most destructive consequence and till this day, the world is paying the price.

The irony is that Musharraf still proudly defends his decision and the money they got in return in dollars, but justice demands that even if one innocent person returned without trial and went through some of the worst kinds of torture, the responsibility lies with those who demanded their extradition and the one who handed them over.

While there had been hundreds of cases of ‘missing persons’, some finally landed at Guantanamo Bay, while others are still missing including the husband of Ms Masood Janjua.The fallout of 9/11 was too destructive and despite spending trillions of dollars in the fight against terrorism, the world is more unsafe today. At least four countries, Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya and Syria have been destroyed and over one million people had died, millions became homeless and instead of one al-Qaeda, more destructive groups had emerged.

Dr Aafia Siddiqui’s case is one of many such cases, which remains controversial and falls in the category of the violation of human rights, injustice and unfair trial, for more than one reason. She had never been tried for the charge she was wanted, arrested from Karachi and handed over to the US, shifted to Afghanistan in 2003.

Unfortunately, we have even divided ‘victims’, into right and left category, as happened in the case of Dr Aafia and Malala Yusufzai, both victims of the fallout of 9/11, one suffered at the hands of the state, the other attacked by the alleged militants.

Who knows better than Musharraf the real story behind Dr Aafia’s arrest and on what charge she had actually been wanted.Whatever Aafia might have done in the US, for she was required by the FBI, the court which convicted her never raised this very question nor she had been charged for the offences she was wanted. The alleged offence of attacking a US soldier occurred in another country i.e. Afghanistan.

The sentence for 86 years, itself looked too harsh a conviction, even if the charge of causing injury to one American soldier was based on facts, particularly if we compared it to mere ‘regret’ from the US and the UK over Iraq war.At a time when those responsible for Iraq war, confessed it was a mistake and ‘regretted it, it is time to highlight some of the gross violation of human rights.

I was bureau chief of AFP in Karachi when Dr Aafia disappeared or kidnapped near her Gulshan-e-Iqbal, residence. I, along with two other colleagues, went to the house of Dr Aafia in Gulshan-e-Iqbal Karachi, and met her mother, who narrated the story. She also complained that few days before her disappearance some people came to her house, inquiring about her whereabouts.

She later contacted the then chairman of Senate, Mohammad Mian Soomro, as she knew him and informed him about Aafia’s disappearance. Others who know about it includes the then ministers of PML-Q government, Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain and Mushahid Hussain Sayed.

So, they too could come out to confirm whether she was handed over to the US by Pakistani authorities or support the US version that she was arrested after she attacked a US soldier in Bagram base.

Some sources said she was picked up from an auto-rickshaw and drove in another car straight to Karachi airport’s old terminal and there she was handed over to the US authorities and shifted to Bagram.

Aafia’s mother told this writer in 2003 that she had even lodged a complaint with the police soon after her disappearance and also about the people who came to esquire about her, but she was asked both by the police and PML-Q leaders to remain silent.

In the wake of these developments, neither the government nor the then opposition, led by Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA) took any position on the issue till 2005, when for the first time a foreign journalist, who later embraced Islam, revealed about the presence of Dr Aafia in the US custody.

Thus, the offence on which she was convicted alleged occurred while she was in US custody, which itself made the case more controversial but the US trial court ignored this aspect as well.

Supporters of Dr Aafia Siddiqui observed her 5,000 days in prison today (Tuesday). But, all blame may not be put on the US alone as, after all she was handed over to the US by Pakistan.

Dr Aafia’s ex-husband has his own story to tell, but the main question which needs to be answered is: why our government including those who came to power after 2007, remained silent and failed in bringing the ‘real story’ of Dr Afiaq Siddiqui’s mysterious disappearance from Pakistan to surface.

Why PPP Interior Minister Rehman Malik and the sitting Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan had assured her family of government cooperation and in the end could do nothing, at least, we are not aware of any development.

Whether Pakistan has ever been in a position to get her release or not, we did hand over the US alleged undercover agent, Raymond Davis, accused of killing two Pakistanis in a broad daylight in Lahore.

Dr Aafia may not be released or returned to Pakistan, but everyone has a right to know whether she was arrested and handed over to the US by Pakistani authorities, on what charge and under what law?

Pakistan so far has resisted the US pressure on handing over Dr Shakil Afridi, a key witness in Osama bin Laden’s Abbottabad episode, but can government at least ask the US to look into Dr Aafia’s case on humanitarian ground and approach the International Human Rights groups.

Few years back when the former US secretary of state, and this year’s Democrats candidate in US Presidential election visited Pakistan, I got a chance to meet her along with some other journalists. I did ask her about the possibility of Dr Aafia’s release and she said: the US Justice system is very independent and they can’t intervene in judicial matters.

It was fair enough from her and quite understandable too. Why, we could not take such position in Raymond Davis case.

Dr Aafia’s case should not be seen in the context of right or left, but, whether justice been done with her or not. If nothing else, at least the former president and PML-Q government should ‘regret’, what they had done in her case and by handing over those who landed in prisons like Guantanamo Bay.

There is no justification for something like 9/11 or attack on Iraq, but there is also no defence of places like Guantanamo Bay or Abu Ghraib.

One has to wait and see how US President-elect, Donald Trump would do in his four years, but even if look to cases of post-9/11 and Iraq war, in a more sympathetic way except those directly involved, it may cost less and pay more.

The writer is a senior columnists and analyst of Geo, The News and Jang