Five Americans, all from the N. Virginia suburbs of Washington, DC, were arrested last December in Pakistan. The Pakistani government alleges that they were in the country plotting terrorist attacks and disbursing funds to terrorist organizations. The five say there were headed to Afghanistan for humanitarian efforts. They have now been charged under Pakistani law and will face trial there.
I know nothing about this case other than what has been published by the media—very sketchy stories—and interest groups. In other words, not much at all. I suspect that this case will take some time to play out in the Pakistani courts and, perhaps, in US courts at a future date.
Pakistan charges 5 Northern Virginia men
in alleged terrorism plot
Jerry Markon, Karin Brulliard and Mohammed RizwanAuthorities in Pakistan filed terrorism charges Wednesday against five Northern Virginia men and, for the first time, outlined an extensive plot that included plans to fight U.S. soldiers in Afghanistan and possibly an attack in the United States.
The men, who lived and grew up in the Alexandria area, were arrested in Pakistan in December. They were each charged with five counts in a special anti-terror court, three of which carry a possible life prison term. Prosecutors say they were in the planning stages of attacks against a Pakistani nuclear plant and an air base and other targets in Afghanistan and “territories of the United States.” Defense lawyers said that referred to attacks inside the United States, though the government presented no evidence of such a plot.
Ever since the men were arrested at a time of growing concern about homegrown terrorists, there have been questions about whether they are hardened jihadists, as described by Pakistani police, or humanitarians who left the United States to help other Muslims, as they say.
…
Arab News carries an Associated Press article on the matter:
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March:18:2010 - 11:39
This news was reported in other channels earlier. Arab News has reported it quite late. I wonder why that was the case.
This is another case of the terrorist organisations using recruits who can merge with the population in which they have to operate. Their citizenship is not important here. Of course there is always a chance that they are right that they were only going to work for a humanitarian project. But if they are associated with terrorist activities, it shows a new method the terrorist organsations are using now – they are choosing their recruits to merge with the target population. This is more a cause of concern for the countries afflicted by terrorism.
March:18:2010 - 11:48
The arrests have been reported, but now, the Pakistani government has actually filed charges. That makes the issue now a criminal matter that will be addressed by the courts. That’s about the only ‘new’ thing.
It could well be that their defense is absolutely true. It could be that they were dumb and didn’t realize what group/s they were associating with. It could be true that they’re bad people who knew exactly what they planned to do. It’s to be hoped that their trial/s will sort that out.
March:18:2010 - 11:58
The 5 men could be innocent, but the government shouldn’t be framing charges against them without evidence – or at least that’s what I expect. But one doesn’t know if the Pak government is trying to implicate them in false charges. If they were working for humanitarian charges, they should have some kind of documents with them. Besides, nowadays everyone knows that before going to Afghanistan one needs to take special care, like taking special permission etc. You can’t just go to Afghanistan and begin working with the people. One shouldn’t be too trusting towards them. But there is a possibility that they could be innocent.
March:18:2010 - 12:01
When a prosecutor files charges–usually that means filing an indictment–it’s a sign that he believes he has sufficient evidence to procure a guilty verdict. So, there’s enough evidence at this point to convince the prosecutor (and perhaps a Grand Jury if that system pertains) that the accused will be found guilty by the court–whether a judge, a panel of judges, or a jury depends on the legal system.
March:18:2010 - 21:01
Which means that there is some evidence that they were involved in terroristic activities. This leads to the emerging pattern I am talking about – use of such recruits who can merge with the target population. Their pictures show that they can easily merge with the South Asian population – except the Egyptian perhaps. The presence of a Yemeni in this group gives some food for thought. Another aspect is that while Jihad Jane and others are converts, these five are born Muslims. Which means that in order to recruit “blending” activists in the West, they are using converts, while in Asian countries they can use born Muslims – the aspect of their following Islam has to be there, so that they can be convinced of this new form of Jihad.
Eritrea is just across the Red Sea from the Saudi Arabia and Yemen and half of its population is Muslim.
March:18:2010 - 23:17
hah. maybe americans should get have to get visas now.
March:18:2010 - 23:48
hah. maybe americans should get have to get visas now.
As far as I know, both Pakistan and India requires Americans to get visas. I don’t know about the precise rules in Pakistan, but in India, you have to register with the nearest police station if you spend more than 2 weeks at a place.
humanitarians who left the United States to help other Muslims
Unfortunately, one man’s humanitarian may well be another man’s terrorist. It is a sad world when the terms are no longer mutually exclusive.
March:19:2010 - 01:49
I’ve been to India with both a tourist and diplomatic passport. Both required visas. And yes, both required registering with the gov’t. Police for the tourist; Ministry of Foreign Affairs for the diplo., though that one also provided an ID card and expedited driver’s license.
March:19:2010 - 03:24
John,
Were you driving on the Delhi roads – despite being provided with a chauffeur-driven car by the Embassy? You must be quite courageous!
Americans need a visa to a lot of Asian and African countries – including Saudi Arabia and other Arab countries, so it’s not an unusual thing. It’s usually a two-way process – if a citizen of a country needs a visa to go to the US, Americans would need a visa to go to that country.
That’s right, Pakistan needs a visa for the Americans and terrorists’ activities have been described differently by different people, some taking a soft approach towards them.
But even a humanitarian social work activists can be a Muslim and may genuinely want to work in a war-torn islamic country. Only they are usually associated with an organisation and come with proper documents and permissions.
March:19:2010 - 08:43
US embassies don’t provide their officers with cars and drivers! There are two exceptions: The Ambassador always gets one. If the post is considered exceptionally dangerous, there may be a motor pool available, with armored vehicle, to move employees about. For official duties, there might be a vehicle available–depending on the size of the car pool and the rank of the officer. One obvious exception is Saudi Arabia, where the embassy’s car pool is almost always available to female employees.
If an officer is going somewhere for personal business or amusement, s/he drives him/herself. Only in India did I hire a driver, but still I ended up driving myself often. I really wanted my driver to take me to/from work when my office was in downtown Delhi, at the American Center, and that was because of the problems with parking.
March:19:2010 - 10:09
I have always seen diplomats travelling in sleek chauffeur-driven cars with special diplomatic number-plates, so I presumed all diplomats travel that way. Perhaps the rules vary from one Embassy to another. Yes, the route from the American Centre to the Diplomatic area is quite a busy one – and in Delhi that means the height of chaos!
I just read that news again – it says the Pak government hasn’t provided any evidence for its charges. I fail to understand how they can frame charges against these men without evidence – unless they are concealing evidence from the public.
March:19:2010 - 10:24
US diplomats who own cars do get diplomatic license plates. If they have a driver, other than in the instances noted above, they pay for the driver out of their own pockets. Other embassies do have differing rules, but usually diplomats own their own cars and either do their own driving or hire a driver. Citizens back in the home country (whatever that is) get extremely jealous of benefits diplomats may receive which they themselves do not.
I suspect that the Pakistani gov’t is holding the evidence for trial. Prosecutors are generally not required to publicize evidence prior to a trial, though they may be forced by law to share it with the defense teams. Courts may also place a ‘gag order’ on all concerned to avoid unwarranted public reaction—like storming the jails to hang miscreants!
March:20:2010 - 20:37
It is my understanding that criminal law in Pakistan, as elsewhere, puts far more emphasis on a confession as proof of guilt than on “material evidence”, and of course more so than legal systems which explicitly minimize the role of confessions in favour of material evidence, particularly where the crime is a capital offense as here.
That, of course, makes obtaining a confession in such a legal system paramount.
The HRW has an interesting report about how routinely confessions to criminal offenses are obtained by torture in Pakistan, and how if ISI deems that “national security is at stake “no one is spared” no matter how wealthy or highly positioned the family is (or what country the suspects come from).
These 5 may be guilty, but were also most likely tortured to confess, and as a form of punishment.
Of the 5 I would imagine only the 2 of South Asian descent could pass for South Asian, and that depending on how Americanized they were in clothing, behaviour, and linguistic skills. Also, as they were supposedly in transit towards Afghanistan, appearing South Asian would be of no particular advantage to their mission. Given the way I have heard some Afghanis talk about Pakistan’s perfidy in supporting the Taliban, this could also be a distinct disadvantage.
Hopefully, as you said, John, their trial will accurately determine innocence or guilt.
March:20:2010 - 23:33
You know, S. Asians are pretty remarkably diverse in appearance. Granted, there are few blue-eyed, red or blond haired S. Asians, but their numbers are >0. I’ve definitely met S. Asians with blue eyes and others who could have been African or Latin, as well as some who could easily be taken for Chinese or Mongolian. Here, too, ‘racial profiling’ has a high failure rate.
March:21:2010 - 02:58
I agree with the diversity of appearance, and realize that it is true for most cultures. However, more that just physical attributes, dress, bearing, behaviour, language and social skills are usually “tells” for anything but a cursory glance of identification. And in the specific Pakistan-Afghanistan region where they were supposed to be passing there would probably be even more narrow expectations of physical appearance and social presentation. I wouldn’t expect any of them would
“pass” either for Pakistani or Afghani unless particularly well trained to. And even then…
However, I consider that to be an issue of lesser importance in this situation, than the use of confession as the legal marker of guilt, and the ways in which the confession was most likely obtained. It is legally naive to think that other systems put as much weight on material evidence obtained by the latest CSI tricks as most Western systems do, and hard to overlook the reports of HWR, AI, etc about how most confessions are obtained or enhanced in Pakistan cases of national security. To me, whether they are guilty or not, that has a greater impact on the way in which I read their “judicial” course in Pakistan.
March:21:2010 - 09:33
Well, even the US justice system doesn’t have all the ‘CSI tricks’, though juries seem to expect them. It’s true, legal systems differ as cultures differ. It’s also true that confessions resulting from prisoner abuse are of questionable value (never mind ethics). The best answer to that, while waiting for reform, is to try to make sure one doesn’t fall under the remit of legal systems that don’t pay a lot of attention to human rights. Never having been in the hands of the Pakistani legal system (the immigration system was quite enough), I can’t speak to its qualities or lack of qualities. I do know I’d be happy to forever avoid having to learn first-hand.
Actually, Afghans are far more likely to visually differ than are Indians or Pakistanis. It was, after all, part of the Seleucid empire, as well as the Greco-Bactrian kingdom! That brought a lot of genes for ‘European’ looks to the northern part of S. Asia! Of course, later empires (as the British) left their traces in the southern parts, too, but in a vastly smaller proportion. And then, there were all those invaders from lands afar, both before and after Islam came to the region.
March:21:2010 - 14:43
Yes I appreciate that CSI (which I have never seen) far surpasses anyone’s forensics capabilities.
Pakistanis themselves tell me the justice system is dubious, so I am willing to believe HRW on this one. The ethics of the way the confession was obtained and its value over lap. Confessions obtained by coercion are most often scrapped in certain legal systems because they are so unreliable.
My sense was that these fine American lads would be heading into territory where every villager knew every villager for miles around, and any foreigner even from within the country or a neighbouring one would stick out. None of them looks like any Afghani I have ever seen, live, or in photos, and none looks particularly North Mediterranean. I still think that physical features aside they would be obvious even by the way they walk, sit, stand, greet people, etc. Indigenous recruitment is probably better if one wants people to “pass”.
Let’s just say, the young men are in an unenviable position.
March:23:2010 - 02:17
If this is true, let them rot in some Pakistani jail. As a Pakistani friend asked me: Why are these Americans going over there to wreak havoc? They have enough nut-jobs of their own to deal with. It’s one thing to be some tribal hick in the sticks getting bombed with unmanned drones who goes off to fight jihad against the occupation. It’s an entire other thing for a privileged American (or British) citizen reaping the reward of a secular Western society to run off and do the same. If they’re guilty I hope they rot in some Pakistani basement-cell for the rest of their lives.