Carol Anne Grayson (Radical Sister) blog

 Funeral of Commander Mohammad Hassan attended by Taliban leader Mullah Fazlullah and other Taliban members

On Friday (Sept, 19th, 2014) militants from the Pakistan Tehreek- e- Taliban (TTP) attended a funeral service to honour one of their deceased, Commander Mohammad Hassan of Kabul, Afghanistan. In a statement released by TTP, he was said to have “embraced martydom” two days earlier during a fierce battle with Pakistani forces in the Boya area of North Waziristan during the ongoing military operation known as Zarb-e-Asb. (The name refers to a sharp sword used by Prophet Muhammad PBUH in battle). Journalists were informed that Hassan had previously been released from an Afghanistan prison and was reunited with his Taliban comrades to continue fighting.

 Funeral Prayers for Commander Hassan

Also in the press release, Taliban spokesperson Shahidullah Shahid denied claims by the military that they had dismantled the communication and command system of TTP stating that “every commander of TTP is holding its position and operational as usual.” He also rejected Inter Service Public Relations (ISPR) statements that the military has destroyed the central command of TTP and cleared the majority of areas in North Waziristan of insurgents. In addition, Shahid disputed allegations that more then 900 fighters of TTP had been killed during the Operation and drew attention to alleged bombardment of the civilian population targeting women and children in FATA (Federally Administered Tribal Areas).

The ISPR have so appear reluctant to name over 900 insurgents they claim have been killed during Zarb -e-Asb and are equally reticent regarding civilian casualties.

Alleged downing of F16 “jet”

Back on August 21st, members of Pakistan Tehreek – Taliban (TTP) posted a message on a social media site which read, “Assalam o Alaikum, how are you all? We are back here, soon we will give you glad tidings from Waziristan. Mujahideen shot down an F-16, soon we will upload a short video of wreckage…. make dua (prayer).”

On Friday they posted a series of photos alleging to be an “F16 fighter targeted by Taliban” shot down by a surface to air missile. Taliban called this “the mirror of truth and false claims”…biting back at official statements claiming a high level of impact from military operations on insurgent numbers and fighting capabilities.

 (images Umar Media)

Alleged Counter-claim …..

A group under the name of “Pakistan Defence” sent me the following counter-claim and a photograph explaining their points.

“We are debunking the propaganda pictures issued by the terrorist TTP, in response to their claims to have shot down a PAF F-16 aircraft. Following pictures were released by their propaganda cell, which we asked our aviation experts to assess and establish, which parts are shown in these pictures. As per our experts, these pictures are jettisoned drop tanks (fuel tanks), fuel rack and an unexploded gravity bomb. These items do belong to the F-16s, however they can be ejected if the Pilot desires to do so as dictated by the flight conditions. Thank you.”

Questions

Pakistan Defence have been requested to show “what evidence do they have that these parts were definately ejected, can they provide?”

The Taliban have also been asked to show any footage they may have of jet being brought down.

Jaamat-ul-Ahrar “call to Jihad” 

 Amir Omer Khalid Khorasani (JA Media)

Breakaway group TTP group, Jamaat -ul-Ahrar (JA) delivered a “call to Jihad” on the recent occasion of the formation ceremony of TTP JA as follows,

A message to the Mujahideen by Respected Amir Omer Khalid Khorasani (May Allah SWT Protect him) HA, head of intelligence wing JUA TTP

“We are following the way of Islamic Emirate Emirate Amir ul Mumineen Omar Mujahid HA and in this we are going to do jihad in Pakistan. We want to tell the Mujahideen of Pakistan who are present in TTP or who are not, we want to give them Da’wah to come be a part of this system and support us.”

JA claimed they had parted ways with TTP Central, led by Mullah Fazlullah because it had been “hijacked” by some individuals who were after “personal interests” and deviated. They also said TTP Central has restricted itself to limited local agenda and they would follow internationalist Khilafah agenda.

See link,

Pakistan: Talking to the Taliban on new splinter group “Jamaat-ul-Ahrar and how it came into being,

https://activist1.wordpress.com/2014/08/28/pakistan-talking-to-taliban-on-new-splinter-group-jamaat-ul-ahrar-and-how-it-came-into-being/

Carol Anne Grayson is an independent writer/researcher on global health/human rights and is Executive Producer of the Oscar nominated, Incident in New Baghdad . She is a Registered Mental Nurse with a Masters in Gender Culture and Development. Carol was awarded the ESRC, Michael Young Prize for Research 2009, and the COTT ‘Action = Life’ Human Rights Award’ for “upholding truth and justice”. She is also a survivor of US “collateral damage”.

Diego Garcia, US military base, Indian Ocean, (image via JD Rogers)

A British minister has today admitted that a number of records relating to flights passing through the island of Diego Garcia – which is known to have been used by CIA rendition jets – have been “damaged [by water] to the point of no longer being useful.”

The Government first informed Parliament that flight records for Diego Garcia were “incomplete due to water damage”  on 8 July this year.  The revelation led to further questions from MPs, as ministers have previously admitted that the island – part of the British Indian Ocean Territory (BIOT) and home to a US military base – was used by CIA rendition flights.

However, just a week later, on 15 July,  Foreign Office Minister Mark Simmonds told the Commons that “previously wet paper records have been dried out…no flight records have been lost as a result of the water damage.”

Today, the Government’s position appears to have changed again, with the confirmation in a statement given to the Commons Foreign Affairs Committee that immigration records relating to civilians landing on the island have been destroyed beyond use.   Although there is no indication of the identities of the civilians concerned, such records are potentially significant as they could relate to the civilian CIA agents who operated the ‘rendition’ flights which saw detainees flown to countries where they could be tortured.

The Foreign Office is also yet to respond to the revelation that June 2014 – the month in which they say saw “extremely heavy weather” which led to the destruction of the records – was in fact a relatively dry one, according to FCO records.  Questioned over the discrepancy by Vice News recently, a FCO spokesperson said: “I don’t think it’s very helpful for us to have a discussion about how much rain is a lot of rain.”

Ministers have also refused to answer questions in Parliament over whether the US sought permission to use Diego Garcia for the 2004 rendition to Libya of Gaddafi opponent Abdel-Hakim Belhadj and his pregnant wife Fatima Boudchar .

Commenting, Cori Crider, legal director at Reprieve, a charity which is representing victims of rendition said: “This is the second time the Government has changed its story on the destruction of what is potentially evidence of CIA renditions via Diego Garcia.  On top of that, ministers continue to stonewall questions over when what is left of these documents will be made public, and whether the US sought permission to use the island for the rendition of Abdel-Hakim Belhadj and Fatima Boudchar to Gaddafi’s Libya.  People will rightly draw the conclusion that the Government still has something to hide when it comes to the UK’s role in supporting CIA torture fights.”

ENDS

Link… Reprieve Website

http://www.reprieve.org.uk/

Carol Anne Grayson is an independent writer/researcher on global health/human rights and is Executive Producer of the Oscar nominated, Incident in New Baghdad . She is a Registered Mental Nurse with a Masters in Gender Culture and Development. Carol was awarded the ESRC, Michael Young Prize for Research 2009, and the COTT ‘Action = Life’ Human Rights Award’ for “upholding truth and justice”. She is also a survivor of US “collateral damage”.

Atif Khan alleged hired assassin, Pakistan

Iraq

In recent days the name of the firm “Blackwater” has reared its ugly head once again with the trial of four men, part of an assignment contracted by the US State Department to provide “security” in Baghdad during 2007. This case has received widespread media attention but a much lesser know unofficial “trial by Taliban” of Atif Khan, an alleged arrester and target killer claimed to be linked to Pakistan Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) and Blackwater has also emerged highlighting serious concerns regarding how state agencies may operate. First the background to the Iraq case as follows…

Paul Slough, Evan Liberty and Dustin Heard are facing manslaughter charges for an incident when they were in the employment of Blackwater with a fourth man Nicholas Slatten accused of murder. The former guards stand before a Washington DC federal court alleged to have participated in the killing of 14 Iraqi civilians “without cause” in Baghdad’s Nisoor Square. The men are accused of running amok, opening fire and slaughtering unarmed locals going about their business as they responded to fear of a security threat on a Blackwater convoy. Defense lawyers allege that there was unprovoked firing at the vehicles by insurgents.

Hassan Jabir lies in a hospital bed Sept. 20, 2007, after he was wounded when guards employed by security company Blackwater opened fire at Nisoor Square in 2007, in Baghdad, Iraq. (Khalid Mohammed/AP)

The following account from Paul Yost, Associated Press details some of the victims of this incident which caused international outrage, including one witness, a weeping father, describing the killing of his 9 year old son.

After the gunfire stopped, the father said, he opened a back door on his car. His son’s brains fell out at his feet, he said.

“The world went dark for me,” he testified through an interpreter.

Among the victims was a down-on-his-luck potato farmer who had gone to Baghdad looking for work. He was wounded; two cousins with him were killed.

Other victims included a devoutly religious mother and her daughter, who were in the Nisoor Square area applying for travel documents so they could visit holy sites. The mother’s last act before dying was to grab her daughter’s head and shelter it in her lap, likely saving her life.

Investigative journalist, Jeremy Scahill detailed the background and actions of the sometimes deadly global security business in his book, Blackwater: The Rise of the World’s Most Powerful Mercenary Army. The company has changed its name but does not appear to have changed its controversial practice. Extraordinary allegations appeared this week in Azan, an online “jihadi” publication, detailing the “trial” and confessions of a young Pakistani claimed to be working for the Pakistan Inter- Services Intelligence (ISI) and Blackwater as a hired contract killer.

Some would immediately rush to dismiss this as propaganda however there is a considerable history within Pakistan of “enforced disappearances” torture in state custody and extra-judicial killings that warrant further investigation. On 30th August, international human rights groups issued a press release condemning the state saying,

“on the eve of the annual International Day of the Victims of Enforced Disappearances, the International Commission of Jurists (ICJ), Amnesty International, and Human Rights Watch urge Pakistan’s government to stop the deplorable practice of state agencies abducting hundreds of people throughout the country without providing information about their fate or whereabouts”

See link for full statement,

http://www.amnesty.org/en/library/asset/ASA33/013/2014/en/bc28de56-fdfb-41f0-8d17-0aa9ec77f4cb/asa330132014en.html

The following abstract from Azan highlights this alleged practice in Pakistan and reads as follows:

 Azan Report: Blackwater and ISI Working Together in Pakistan

“All Praise is due to Allah…Alone. And may His Peace and Blessings be upon Prophet Muhammad…Atif Khan, a teenager hailing from Mohallah Qazi Abad, Peshawar, was arrested by the Mujahideen in Miran Shah on the grounds of serving as an arrester and a target killer for the Pakistan Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) and the private US Security Agency, famously known as “Blackwater” (also known as Xe Services LLC, “Academi” or TIS [Total Intelligence Solutions]) . This 9th Grade teenager was trained jointly by ISI and Blackwater at CID center, Peshawar in January, 2014 and was subsequently tasked with killing or arresting several prominent Afghan Taliban Mujahideen and one Pakistani Mujahid. The teenager successfully completed 9 out of the 10 missions assigned to him, before being captured during his 10th mission. A week after being captured, Atif Khan confessed to his crime and revealed the entire story of his brief career as a target killer and kidnapper for ISI and Blackwater. This report details his story as well as some insight on Blackwater secret activity in Pakistan, and the role of ISI in secret detainments, co-operation with foreign mercenaries and killings of the people of the country it vows to protect…”

The report which also draws on books and journalistic research for a history, highlights that Blackwater was allegedly implicated in undercover operations in Pakistan and collecting intelligence for US drone strikes working under the CIA. Of particular concern is what appears to be this new information which is worthy of serious investigation, the role of Blackwater in allegedly recruiting and training young men to arrest and even assassinate individuals whose names are provided. Azan continues,

“Recently (May 2014), the Taliban Mujahideen captured a young teenager, Atif Khan, in Miranshah who had arrived to partake in the assassination of a TTP Commander for Ghazi Force Red Mosque (Lal Masjid). The teenager was arrested on the 37th day of his arrival after trying to escape twice towards the end of April and start of May. His arrest led to a whole lot of revelations about ISI’s and Blackwater’s activities in Pakistan in endangering the lives of the Pakistanis, terrorism within a foreign country’s boundaries (for US and Blackwater) as well as the treacherous face of the Pakistani military and establishment. His revelations are also important in analyzing the role of the ISI in removing people that the US wants out of the way. Possibly, the recent shooting of journalist Hamid Mir which he attributed to the intelligence agencies, might well be done via similar methods as well”

Atif Khan …AS -9 (Arrester/shooter no 9)

The report details the role of young Atif, his training, trainer/employers, names of alleged victims, details such as phone numbers, locations as well as more personal family details. For example we learn he was educated to 9th grade, engaged to his paternal cousin, that his father is a wine seller, owned a grey Suzuki Alto and that Atif had two brothers named Jasim (age 11) Hamza (age 10) and also two sisters.

The report, neatly laid out as a research paper with reference grids, claims to provide information obtained from Atif of his “missions” to arrest and/or assassinate insurgent targets, there are 10 documented… example as follows:-

Alleged “Second Mission” (one of 10 documented)

Goal…. To Kill or Capture Mr Wajid Zabuli, a Mujahid From Islamic Emirate Afghanistan

Details……Mr. Wajid Zabuli was a resident of Chalmaro area, Peshawar, he was tracked by his mobile phone, attested in Board Area, Peshawar, then shifted to CID Centre Gora Qabristan 

Reason for arrest….. supporting Pakistan Taliban

Assignment date…..2nd week of January 2014

Assignment given by…… Mr Saeed

Place of assignment….. CID Centre Peshawar

Result…. mission successfully accomplished

Further details… Mr Wajid was (allegedly) shot dead by ISI in CID Centre in his cell, his dead body was then thrown in Chalmaro area of Peshawar; Mr Atif was member of the team that transferred the dead body.

The complete Azan report goes on to include a section on “observations” discussing 6 main points as follows:-

1) Blackwater/ISI Training Program in Peshawar

2) ISI is Targeting the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan

3) Blackwater is Present and Actively Working Within Pakistan

4) “AS-9” Shows Other Similar Target Killers are Operating in the Country

5) Hamid Mir’s Shooting and Discarded Dead Bodies Could be Connected

6) Target Killings are Rampant in Pakistan

Further research from investigative journalist sources cover more activities of US “security” firms in Pakistan.

The full report can be read here and is shared due to the serious nature of the allegations which should be taken up by lawyers and those investigating “state terrorism” and criminal activity within Pakistan…

http://www.scribd.com/doc/238614339/AZAN-Report-Blackwater-and-ISI-Working-Together-in-Pakistan

There is a saying… “you can’t see the wood for the trees”… which can sometimes be applied when a person is undertaking an important piece of research and embroiled in detail, the obvious can be missed. What is hugely significant with this report is that if the allegations could be proven it shows that arrests and assassinations of those claimed to be connected to insurgency were going on DURING so called “peace talks” with the Taliban. Dates of !missions” are clearly stated. There are also likely to have been other target killers involved given that Atif Khan was known as AS-9 suggesting there were 8 before and who knows how many afterwards? This would show the state agencies were not sincere in supporting the Pakistan government, thereby well and truly sabotaging efforts at dialogue with insurgents… talks set up to fail!

It is important to remember also that a key point raised by the Taliban during peace talks was their allegations of torture in custody and extra-judicial killings. I tried to raise these issues myself as an independent human rights activist but my letter was ignored. Failure to listen and address these issues led to the well-documented retaliation attack by the Pakistan Taliban, the killing of 23 FC men as detailed in my earlier article,

Pakistan: Warning letter on human rights abuses in custody was ignored, Taliban kill 23 FC men in retaliation

https://activist1.wordpress.com/2014/02/18/pakistan-warning-letter-on-human-rights-abuses-in-custody-was-ignored-taliban-kill-23-fc-men-in-retaliation/

When William J Burns, Deputy Secretary of State visited Pakistan earlier this year, his mission was clear, to put pressure on Pakistan to take more active measures on insurgency. His press statement of May 9th 2014 read,

“militancy continues to threaten Pakistan’s revival. Few countries have paid a heavier price than Pakistan in the fight against extremism. We support the Prime Minister’s efforts to reestablish authority over all Pakistani territory in whatever way Pakistan deems appropriate, and especially urge him to sustain pressure on militant groups, deny them a safe-haven, and prevent cross-border attacks!

The pressure again increased with the announcement that continuing US aid would depend on success in eliminating terrorists “hide-outs” in North Waziristan. Consequently the military launched operation Zarb-e-Asb which entailed clearing out the tribal areas of civilians prior to air strikes and ground assaults and is estimated to have created around 1 million Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs).

Important questions that must now be asked are… who are the “terrorists” in Pakistan (aside from the militants)? What action will be taken against those who allow “state terrorism” to flourish?

The killing of Atif Khan

I contacted Azan to ask what happened to Atif Khan? I was told he was interrogated regarding his actions, was afraid but when asked “if they sent you again then what would you do?….He used to reply “I have no choice”.

His captors informed me that he was later “killed”… “slaughtered like a lamb”….”he was slaughtered in Mir Ali, on the road, at night time.” I inquired as to whether his family knew of his fate? The answer was “no, you can expose his bitter end”. I was then told his body was “left by the road during the last week in May, 2014.”

This report and allegations raise a series of concerns. What is the legal position with regard to private and foreign firms that are alleged to have carried out contract killings? Who will investigate the allegations? What actions will be taken to stop such killings from happening again?

This report has focused on “arresting”and target killing of alleged insurgents however a number of previous articles have highlighted that individuals from many walks of life end up as “enforced disappearances” in Pakistan. Media persons like Hamid Mir have come under physical attack and some like investigative journalist Saleem Shahzad have been kidnapped, tortured and murdered with no-one ever held to account.

See Pakistan: “Enforced disappearances” condemned, practice threatens security of the state,

https://activist1.wordpress.com/2014/08/30/pakistan-2014-enforced-disappearances-condemned-practice-threatens-security-of-the-state/

It is a great pity that Atif Khan was not tried in court for alleged assassinations and put through the process of undergoing a fair judicial trial if sufficient evidence was found. However the brutal reality of Pakistan is, that if he had been handed over and ended up in state custody it is likely he would have been killed in detention to keep him quiet and stop him from revealing names. It appears laws no longer appear to apply in Pakistan, (unless it suits those with power or in power). The state stands accused from various bodies of gross human rights abuses both in detention and on the streets, so it it any wonder that insurgency continues to flourish. If the state cannot lead by example and follow its own rules, what incentive is there for anyone else to keep within the law!

Carol Anne Grayson is an independent writer/researcher on global health/human rights and is Executive Producer of the Oscar nominated, Incident in New Baghdad . She is a Registered Mental Nurse with a Masters in Gender Culture and Development. Carol was awarded the ESRC, Michael Young Prize for Research 2009, and the COTT ‘Action = Life’ Human Rights Award’ for “upholding truth and justice”. She is also a survivor of US “collateral damage”.

 “Nobody understands a mother’s pain. I’m a victim, there are many like us. APDP was founded from my pain, from all of these mother’s pain.”

Parveena Ahangar (Association of Parents of Disappeared Persons)

Human rights campaigners were in for a memorable time earlier this year when Parveena Ahangar, Iron Lady of the Valley was invited to speak at the University of Westminster, London about “enforced disappearances” in Kashmir. Around 8,000- 10,000 men have gone missing in Indian administered Kashmir since insurgency began in 1989 though Indian authorities dispute the figures. Parveena’s life changed forever when on the night of 18 August, 1990 her son Javed Ahmad Ahangar, then a 16-year-old student, was picked up allegedly by the Army during a midnight raid on his uncle’s house at Bodhipora in the Batmaloo area of Srinagar City.

Parveena tried all ways to find her son and realizing she was not alone but one of many whose sons had disappeared decided to set up the Association of Parents of Disappeared People (APDP) to mobilize others and fight for the return of their loved ones. Two of Parveena’s young sons Mohammed and Javed fell victim to the Indian authorities. Mohammed was released after one year in detention but Javed who was taken away by the security forces in what Parveena believes was a case of mistaken identity remains missing. In an interview with Pamela Bhagat, Parveena, who was nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize in 2005, states,

“his name is Javed Ahmed Ahangar and our neighbour’s son, a militant activist of the same age is Javed Ahmed Bhat. They most probably came for him but nabbed my Javed instead. Bhat has since become a reformed militant with a flourishing agricultural business, a comfortable home, a wife and has recently been blessed with a son. Everytime I see him, I don’t grudge him his happiness but I can’t help thinking of my Javed”

In readiness for International Day of Enforced Disappearances (August 30th) the Hurriyat Conference called for the global community to exert pressure on India to investigate what happened to those who went missing. Senior Hurriyat leaders including Zaffar Akbar Bhat, Javaid Ahmad Mir, Syed Salim Geelani, Yasmeen Raja along with activists joined forces with families of the disappeared at a Press enclave in Srinagar to highlight the need for government action and to ascertain exactly who was buried in unmarked graves. They released a press statement demanding the return of the victims and alleged that more than 9 thousand people were picked up by the state whose fate was still not known.

Hussaina Bano died without knowing what happened to her son

(image Kashmir Lit)

Sadly it was already too late for some mothers reported Kashmir Lit. Hussaina Bano, one of the activists working with APDP passed away on 4th October 2013 never knowing what happened to her son Syed Ayub who left for work one morning in 2002 and never returned. Witnesses allege he was picked up by Indian troops and removed to an unknown location but it is not known whether he is dead or alive.

Half-widows

In limbo waiting for husband to return (image APDP, Reuters)

Alongside mothers searching for sons are the half-widows waiting in limbo neither married nor widows to discover what has happened to their husbands. It is thought that around 90% have not remarried. Begum Rafiqua whose husband Mushtaq Ahmad Khan was allegedly picked up by security in 1997, spoke to Reuters in 2007 saying,

“I went to every security camp and police station in the hope of finding any clue, but all in vain” 

“Is he alive or dead? … It is a constant pain. But most of the time my heart tells me he is still alive. How can I remarry?”

“I wish no women suffers like we suffer” 

More than 23 years after the first enforced disappearances in the Indian held Kashmir, an edict was announced in 2014 from a group of Islamic scholars enabling women whose husbands had gone missing to re-marry after four years of waiting for their spouses.

Parveena Ahangar told the Andalou Agency,

“we welcome this edict and are happy that at least finally the Ulemas came together to take a decision on it and remove any social stigma from the re-marriages of half-widows. But they should have done it many years ago; now those women are worried about their children’s marriage and have forgotten themselves,”  

Widows can claim compensation under civil law but must produce a death certificate, the amount varies depending on whether or not she has children. A half-widow would not get anything though that may now have changed with the 4 year ruling.

See Abid Bhat’s poignant series of black and white portraits of half-widows,

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-india-24530201

London Protest in solidarity with families of disappeared Kashmir

Carol Anne Grayson is an independent writer/researcher on global health/human rights and is Executive Producer of the Oscar nominated, Incident in New Baghdad . She is a Registered Mental Nurse with a Masters in Gender Culture and Development. Carol was awarded the ESRC, Michael Young Prize for Research 2009, and the COTT ‘Action = Life’ Human Rights Award’ for “upholding truth and justice”. She is also a survivor of US “collateral damage”.

British resident Shaker Aamer has reportedly been beaten at Guantánamo Bay, in evidence of a new crackdown on prisoners protesting their detention without charge.

In new letters received by legal charity Reprieve, detainees reveal what one calls a new “standard procedure” of abuses at the prison. Emad Hassan a Yemeni detained without charge since 2002, wrote that “an FCE [Forcible Cell Extraction] team has been brought in to beat the detainees […] On Sunday, Shaker ISN 239 was beaten when the medical people wanted to draw blood.” Mr Hassan adds that guards had beaten another detainee for nearly 2 hours.

‘Forcible Cell Extraction’ or ‘FCEing’ is the process by which a detainee is forced out of his cell by a group of armed guards, often before being taken to the force-feeding chair. Mr Aamer has previously described being beaten by the FCE team up to eight times a day.

Mr Aamer, who has been cleared for release by both the Bush and Obama administrations, has been held for long periods of solitary confinement since 2005 and is in extremely poor health. An independent medical examination conducted earlier this year diagnosed him with severe post-traumatic stress, and recommended urgent psychiatric treatment and “reintegration into his family.”

In June, former Foreign Secretary William Hague told Reprieve that UK officials were confident Mr Aamer had access to a “detainee welfare package” and that his health “remain[ed] stable.” In a letter sent this week, Reprieve director Clive Stafford Smith urged Foreign Secretary Phillip Hammond to raise urgent questions with the US Government about these latest reports of mistreatment.

Cori Crider, Strategic Director at Reprieve and a lawyer for Mr Aamer, said: “Just weeks ago, the UK Government dismissed our concerns about Shaker Aamer’s wellbeing, relying on US assurances about a so-called Guantanamo ‘welfare package.’ Now we hear that Shaker, already a seriously ill man, has been beaten. Phillip Hammond should seek answers from the US without delay about why, instead of simply releasing Shaker, it prefers to detain and abuse him.”

Ends

Links

Reprieve website…

http://www.reprieve.org.uk/

Carol Anne Grayson is an independent writer/researcher on global health/human rights and is Executive Producer of the Oscar nominated, Incident in New Baghdad . She is a Registered Mental Nurse with a Masters in Gender Culture and Development. Carol was awarded the ESRC, Michael Young Prize for Research 2009, and the COTT ‘Action = Life’ Human Rights Award’ for “upholding truth and justice”. She is also a survivor of US “collateral damage”.

Announcing formation of Jamaat-ul-Ahrar

Since the launch of military operation Zarb-e-Asb in North Waziristan, Pakistan (June 2014) against local and foreign insurgent groups dominant in the region, the media have been able to access regular official updates from ISPR (Inter Service Public Relations) however less was heard from the Taliban. Insurgents with advance intelligence of forthcoming “ops” relocated to safer areas, some into Afghanistan with communications temporarily down to avoid detection, inaccessibility or a period of quiet readjustment. Around 1 million civilians were displaced fleeing to Bannu (Pakistan) and Khost (Afghanistan) becoming Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) as their homes and businesses came under fierce aerial bombardment and shelling. Now however a number of commanders from the Tehreek -e- Taliban, Pakistan (TTP) have re-emerged with a very public announcement, a series of allegations and video in Urdu (1hr 25mins long) detailing a new splinter group, Jammat -ul-Ahrar.

For some time there has been rumblings of internal disputes, distancing from Maulana Fazlullah’s leadership (appointed after targeted killing of Hakimullah Mehsud in a US drone strike) lack of trust and ideological struggles. Periodically statements were released by Taliban suggesting these difficulties had been largely resolved but this is not the case according to breakaway militants. The first I became aware of a new group was yesterday (August, 25th) through a series of posts from Pakistani journalist Hasan Abdullah which appeared in my Facebook feed as follows:

BREAKING NEWS:

Pakistani Taliban to announce biggest split since formation. Major factions unite to emerge as new group.

The new rebel group Jamaat-ul-Ahrar includes TTP Mohmand, Bajaur, Orakzai, Khyber, Ahrar-ul-Hind & urban freelancers.

Jamaat-ul-Ahrar (JA) says TTP has been “hijacked” by some individuals who are after “personal interests” & deviated.

JA says TTP central has restricted itself to limited local agenda, they would follow internationalist Khilafah agenda

(Hasan Abdullah)

Membership and continued pledge of allegiance to Mullah Omar

Maulana Qasim Khorasani (Malakand area) has been named as the new Amir for Jamaat-ul-Ahrar with former TTP central spokesperson Ehsanullah Ehsan appointed as spokesperson for JA. The group are working towards the goal of an Islamic state following the law of Sharia.

Ehsanullah Ehsan, spokesperson for JA…..a familiar face

Ehsanullah Ehsan was keen to point out the following in a statement released earlier,

 “After the formation of Tehreek-e-Taliban Jamat-ul-Ahrar, many people on social media and some news anchors are giving this impression and spreading news that Jamaat-ul-Ahrar was inspired by ISIS or is going to pledge allegiance to it. We announce that we have no connection to any such news. We consider ISIS and every other Mujahid group as our brothers, but we also consider it important to mention that we are in a pledge of allegiance to Ameer ul Mu’mineen Mullah Muhammad Umar Mujahid Hafizahullah”

Omar Khalid Khorasani makes full use of social media

One of the key figures behind the split is Omar Khalid Khorasani, Mohmand Agency who had links to al Qaeda and during “peace talks” with government was viewed as a commander likely to challenge the TTP status quo. During this time I interviewed Mohmand Agency Taliban on “state terrorism” alleged “enforced disappearances” torture in custody and extra judicial killings of those detained by the state. Although deemed hardliners, Mohmand Taliban withheld from retaliation attacks for around 3 weeks giving me time to write a letter to politicians as an independent human rights activists requesting government address these issues. This was ignored and Mohmand TTP later responded by taking the lives of 23 Frontier Corps, FC men for the lives of their men. During an interview on polio they also invited me to Tribal Areas of Pakistan to look at general health situation for those residing there but its extremely difficult for a foreigner to visit due to strict government restrictions.

DAWN media reports that the following persons are also now part of Jamaat-ul-Ahrar, “Qari Shakil Haqqani from Charsadda, Maulana Yasin from Swat, Qari Ismail from Khyber Agency, Maulana Adbullah from Bajaur Agency, Mufti Misbah from Peshawar, Maulana Haider and Mansoor Nazim Shura from Orakzai Agency”.

Former Taliban Emir Hakimullah Mehsud (left, deceased) with Saleh Qassam (right, now Chief of Media Commission for JA)

I was able to speak with Saleh Qassam, Chief of Media Commission, Jammat-ul-Ahrar and asked whether the split mean that JA would sever all ties with their former group or would they still keep some communication going? He stated, “no there will be no relation with regard to group issues but they are our brother. We have our own set up and we will drive it.” Qassam then provided me with the following very frank statement on how JA came into existence detailing a series of allegations directed at TTP central :-

 The background and story of how Jamaat-ul-Ahrar came into being

In 2007 after Lal Masjid operation some sincere brothers wanted to unite the Pakistani Mujahideen to face with unity and force the security forces of Pakistan. This proposal first came from the respected Ameer Umar Khalid Khorasani and then he sent invitations to the Mujahideen of Bajaur and Swat. They came and in a meeting they agreed they we will go to Waziristan and invite the Mujahideen in Waziristan to organize a movement and they should lead it.

Then Qare Shakeel Ahmad and some other friends went there and talked to Ameer Baitullah Mehsud about that .They accepted their request and TTP came in to being. But after the martyrdom of Baitullah Mehsud the situation started becoming bad day by day We (TTP Mohmand chapter) worked hard to reform the movement, Qare Shakeel Ahmad was appointed the chief of TTP high counsel. He used his full force for TTP but some people were unhappy just because it was against their personal benefits. Then he resigned and left Waziristan and came back to Mohmand agency.

In the last four years there was too many shortcomings in TTP but none were ready to reform the movement. The decisions of counsel were not implemented. There was no set up for any thing. Every chapter of TTP was working for its own goals, 90 % of their efforts were to damage other chapters.

So in these condition none were happy in TTP, our leadership once again tried to reform the movement. For this cause our Ameer UKK took risk and went to Waziristan himself. He suggested to the central leadership some principle and some beneficial suggestions, all members of high counsel liked it even the deputy chief of TTP Sheikh Khalid Haqqani said that these suggestion must be accepted…. if you don’t accept it then I will not be in TTP anymore. But just one man was against it and then they rejected these suggestions.

There were some other factions they had left TTP before that. We contacted them and organized a new moment Jamaat-ul-Ahrar.

I still say that there is no one in TTP who is satisfied in TTP. Everyone has so many objections upon it.

To protect the blood of our brothers to be shed by the hands of other Mujahideen we become isolated from Mullah Fazlullah sab group. In last few months more than 60 member of TTP were killed by each other so how can we remain in TTP!

Saleh Qassam (Chief of Media Commission, Jamaat-ul-Ahrar)

At the time of writing there does not appear to have been any official response to the new group from Maulana Fazlullah or TTP central shura. They are invited to reply to the allegations levelled at them. It remains to be seen how these changes will affect the security of the country at a time of ongoing protests. The government of Nawaz Sharif is coming under threat from Imran Khan’s opposition party Pakistan Tehreek- i-Insaf (PTI) with allegations of rigged elections. There are also pro democracy protests from Pakistan Awami Tehreef (PAT) leader Tahirul Qadri angry at the killing of demonstrators in Model Town earlier this year. Taking eyes off the ball now as Taliban commanders split and regroup could have serious consequences for Pakistan.

Links

Video of Jamaat-ul- Ahrar

Obama and US foreign policy like an episode from “Soap”

Following the recent twists and turns of US government foreign policy, counter-terrorism strategy and human rights advocacy in relation to Iraq and Syria has become akin to watching an episode of an old American tragi-comedy called “Soap”. Among the storylines to be featured in this parody of daytime soap operas, were plot elements such as alien abduction, demonic possession, murder and kidnapping. Each week the viewer was left bewildered and amazed as to what could possibly happen next. Well the White House spokesperson may not have too much to reveal  in the way of alien abduction and demonic possession (there is always murders and kidnappings aplenty) however the emerging scripts complete with u turns and double standards from the Obama administration promise to be equally farcical.

Making a mockery of US designated terrorist list

Firstly lets look at the well established US designated Foreign Terrorists Organizations list (FTOs). The US strikes the fear of God into anyone that might be remotely associated with those featured on this list, there are prices on the heads of persons classed as deviant and deadly with the public expected to co-operate and help bring the terrorists to justice. Except, wait a moment, how can this be happening… the US is now allegedly funding and arming a designated terrorist group, the PKK (Kurdistan Workers Party) that they themselves placed on the list?

Legal Criteria for Designation under Section 219 of the INA as amended 

1. It must be a foreign organization.
2. The organization must engage in terrorist activity, as defined in section 212 (a)(3)(B) of the INA (8 U.S.C. § 1182(a)(3)(B)), or terrorism, as defined in section 140(d)(2) of the Foreign Relations Authorization Act, Fiscal Years 1988 and 1989 (22 U.S.C. § 2656f(d)(2)), or retain the capability and intent to engage in terrorist activity or terrorism.
3. The organization’s terrorist activity or terrorism must threaten the security of U.S. nationals or the national security (national defense, foreign relations, or the economic interests) of the United States.

PKK now trying to get off FTO list

The majority of US politicians and American allies have conveniently looked the other way as PKK assisted in the rescue of the Yazidis in Iraq, stranded on a mountainside, “fleeing from Islamic State (IS)”. (They also seem to have blanked out the fact that the war in Iraq initiated by the US and Britain on false information greatly increased sectarian violence, helped the rise of IS and claimed over 1 million lives.) So who holds the US government to account for “unlawfully” providing material support to a terrorist organization? The answer will probably be….  nobody, though if it were an individual supporting a terrorist organization that would be another matter. Confused?… So am I!

If the US government can openly assist a designated terrorist group when it suits, surely this negates the entire list as meaningless and pretty much cancels all American counter-terrorism policy?

The media was also filled with tales of alleged horror in Iraq as we listened to President Obama detail his grave concerns regarding IS committing human rights abuses. On Monday according to Reuters, human rights chief Navi Pillay condemned “appalling, widespread” crimes being committed by Islamic State forces in Iraq including mass executions of prisoners and “ethnic and religious cleansing”. However on closer inspection some of the ghastly images which have appeared in the media in recent days were in fact not of Yazidi being abused but of atrocities committed by the Assad regime in Syria. Which brings me on to the next anticipated storyline from the White House.

Proposal that the US help Bashar al -Assad to fight IS

There are now growing indications of a forthcoming alliance between Washington and the Bashar al- Assad regime to fight IS in Syria. We have just heard President Obama condemning IS and singing the praises of “Jim” (journalist James Foley to most of us) who was beheaded by the organization in response to US foreign policy in Iraq and recent airstrikes. (There is another double standard here too… its “barbaric” to behead people if you are IS, but acceptable practice to decapitate a baby through a US drone strike). However if Obama truly respected the work of James Foley who helped expose the horrors of the Assad regime among other issues, there would be no question of teaming up with the very dictator accused of the most hideous of human rights violations.

The tales of systematic torture in Syrian prisons are some of the worst crimes imaginable. Who could forget seeing the photos of not only adults but children allegedly bound, beaten, burnt, dismembered. Lets us not forget the gassing of the civilian population at East Ghouta in 2013. I was one of those who received the first videos and reports from activists on the ground in Syria claiming the use of chemical weapons and alerted mainstream media. It was hard to comprehend at first what I was seeing just over a year ago as I wrote up my blog to awaken the world to this terrible attack on locals.

Children gassed in East Ghouta 2013

I began,

“awoke this morning to messages and videos from Syrian opposition supporters depicting disturbing scenes of an alleged chemical attack on East Ghouta, Damascus with claims it was launched by Bashar al-Assad regime. Initially there was little on mainstream media and a friend who might have been able to check out further on the ground was not immediately contactable. Message with first video read:-

“East Ghouta, Damascas province, 21-08-2013: regime’s chemical weapons attacks on Ein Tarma and Zamalka in the East Ghouta region of Damascus province tonight. According to an eyewitness in East Ghouta, regime forces are now launching missiles at the areas of the attacks in order to prevent rescuers and medical personnel from reaching them” 

Max Abrahms states,

“who would have thought Washington would team up with Assad and the PKK as part of the war on terrorism?”

Dr Max Abrahms, assistant head of public policy (political science) at North-Eastern university recently tweeted, “if Assad perceives ISIS as an existential threat, he will tolerate- even secretly welcome- U.S. military assistance.” There is no doubt where US priorities lie, as can be seen in the following statement where crimes against the Syrian people are pushed aside as Abrahms writes,

“from a national security perspective, Washington has a greater obligation to defend American civilians, even if that means working alongside the Alawite dictator. The nature of this cooperation could vary from uncoordinated airstrikes to joint operations. But it’s time for the Obama administration to pick its poison by prioritizing the safety of American civilians over the moral objection of helping out a leader who massacres his own”

Yes indeed politics does make strange bedfellows, but shouldn’t the international community be asking questions where that leaves the US on the issue of morality. Has human rights advocacy becoming so selective that a two tier system is now in operation, one rule for Americans, another for the rest of the world. If morality is to be abandoned, legislation ignored by the state, is this the time when man- made rules no longer count. Will the world forever have to suffer under the US expansionist policy of spreading global “democracy” by any means necessary as the foundations of democracy itself, freedom of speech, truth and justice, human rights and accountability crumble to the point where they barely seem to exist? Is it so surprising then that many around the world are now seeking an alternative system and to the horror of the US and allies gearing up to fight for a long awaited Caliphate.

News from FATA (Federally Administered Tribal Areas) Lawyers Forum (Statement 12th August 2014) 

ISLAMABAD: The Senate on Monday allowed two private members’ bills to be moved, including a bill to extend the jurisdiction of the Peshawar High Court and the Supreme Court to the tribal areas for the enforcement of fundamental rights.

So far, under Clause 7 of Article 247 of the Constitution, the Supreme Court and High Courts are barred from exercising jurisdiction in the tribal areas. The Bill moved by PPP Senator Farhatullah Babar seeking to amend the Constitution, after admitted by the Senate was referred to the Committee of Law for examination and report.

According to the preamble of the Bill, the tribal areas under Article 1 (2) of the Constitution were part of the territory of Pakistan. Its people are therefore entitled to equal protection of rights but by ousting the jurisdiction of the superior courts, Article 247 (7) was a ‘grave impediment’ in the way of the tribal people in securing their fundamental rights.

The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) provincial assembly had also passed a unanimous resolution in May 2012 urging the federal government to adopt human rights protection measures for the tribal people by deleting Clause (7) of Article 247. Talking to media, Senator Farhatullah Babar said that the Peshawar High Court had in April this year also advised suitable amendments in Article 247 (7). He said that although it is not for the courts to dictate to the Parliament the PHC’s advice is significant to be heeded to ensure that tribal people secured their fundamental rights like citizens in other parts of the country.

He deplored that the federal government had recently filed an appeal in the SC against the PHC verdict thereby betraying its intention to deny the people of tribal areas their rights despite tall claims of mainstreaming them. “However, the government’s appeal in SC did not extinguish the right of the Parliament to go ahead with the legislation,” he said.

Bill to prevent torture, custodial deaths and custodial rape

Another Bill to prevent torture, custodial deaths and custodial rape, also moved by Senator Farhatullah Babar and admitted by the Senate prescribes stringent punishments for torture.

It defines ‘torture’ as an act intended to inflict physical or mental pain on a person in custody for securing a confessional statement or as a punishment for committing a suspected crime.

Those found guilty of torture would face up to ten years in prison and a fine up to Rs 1 million, or both with the amount of the fine going to the victim. Custodial deaths and custodial rape was punishable with life imprisonment and a fine of Rs 3 million. If the fine was not recovered, the guilty would have to undergo an additional 5 year imprisonment. The fine amount is to be paid to the victims or heirs of the victim.

No female shall be detained for extracting information on the whereabouts of an accused and only female public servants can take into custody a female accused. Any statement obtained through torture shall not be admitted as evidence and offences under this Act are non-compoundable and non-bailable.

Under Clause 9, any malafide complaint shall be punishable with imprisonment up to one year in prison or a fine up to Rs 100,000. The complainants can also seek remedy under any other civil law.

The statement of objects of the Bill states that Pakistan signed the Convention against Torture and other Cruel, Inhuman and Degrading Treatment or Punishment in 2008 and ratified it in 2010. He said that both the signing and ratification of the Convention took place under the watch of former president Asif Ali Zardari, himself a victim of torture and inhuman punishment.

He said that ratification of the Convention obligated Pakistan to adopt legislation. He said that although the PPC contained some provisions but they neither defined ‘torture’ as clearly as in Article 1 of the UN Convention nor deem it a criminal offence as required by Article 4 of the Convention. After ratification it had become necessary to bring domestic laws in conformity with the UN Convention.

He said that the federal government was obligated to implement international conventions and treaties by virtue of items 3 and 32 of the Federal Legislative List.

End

Farah (left) tweets from Israeli controlled Gaza, Anne (right) wrote a diary in German occupied Holland

When I came across the tweets of Farah “Gazan”, a 16 year old Palestinian teenager from a bombed out and shattered Gaza Strip, I could not help but think of a young Jewish teenager hiding away in an Amsterdam attic during the Second World War. Annelies Marie Frank, known as “Anne” committed her thoughts during that time to a diary given to her on her 13th birthday, 12th June 1942. Farah, like Anne writes with poignancy, fear and frustration as she share her feelings with the world,

“I want to speak about what is happening these days in Gaza. We cannot leave our houses because it’s dangerous outside”

“this is in my area. I can’t stop crying. I might die tonight.”

Unable to attend school when the Germans occupied Holland and no doubt missing the company of old friends, Anne wrote her diary to a make-believe friend she named “Kitty” and reveals that putting thoughts to paper was a form of emotional release,

“I can shake off everything as I write; my sorrows disappear, my courage is reborn.”

Farah, who began blogging when she was just 12 sends her messages to be read by global audience, most of whom she will never meet. The internet has now taken over from the pen and pencil of Anne’s days opening up a far wider virtual world to teenagers today but the human spirit remains the same. Both young women record their apprehensions and dreams in a very challenging and hostile environment.

Anne Frank was born in Frankfurt in 1929, the daughter of a German- Jewish family who relocated to Holland to escape the growing anti-Semitism of Adolf Hitler and the Nazi party. Farah lives under Israeli occupation near to Gaza city’s Shifa hospital where many of the wounded and dying are transported after being caught up in a maelstrom of horror from Israeli attacks.

Anne was largely imprisoned in the annex of a building observing the world from an upstairs window whereas Farah is residing within the world’s largest open-air prison controlled by military checkpoints and daily oppression. She too is treated as an inferior person by the Israeli regime, trapped on a small strip of land with no safe place to hide.

Just as Anne was reliant on others to bring food to her place of shelter so Farah and the people of the Gaza Strip have become dependent on the tunnels dug all over the city to bring in edibles, medicines and other necessities of daily life. They are deprived of water rights and energy supplies and now the lifeline of the tunnels has also been bombed in the latest Israeli military operation “Protective Edge”.

Anne’s writing gives an indication of a claustrophobic environment shared by her family and others, terrified of that moment when they might be betrayed and their hiding place revealed. Farah and her family are being buried alive by Benjamin Netanyahu’s government, clamping down on their freedom and human rights and in some cases literally burying young people under tons of rubble as homes, hospitals, schools and mosques are repeatedly bombarded by aerial strikes. Farah tweets,

 “I care about human rights and I see that we ‘Palestinians’ have no rights and nobody asks… we cannot travel or visit our relatives and friends who live in Jerusalem and the West bank and the other cities in Palestine. And this is unfair. But this isn’t my aim right now”

Forms of communication are also a reflection of social history. The tweets of today are succinct confined to 140 characters, in Anne’s time during the 1940s a diary provided an opportunity for a free flowing style with greater elaboration of thought but both are as powerful put into context.

Anne at work on her diary

Anne who could only rarely venture beyond her attic for fear of being spotted by German soldiers wrote,

“the best remedy for those who are afraid, lonely or unhappy is to go outside, somewhere where they can be quite alone with the heavens, nature and God. Because only then does one feel that all is as it should be and that God wishes to see people happy, amidst the simple beauty of nature. As longs as this exists, and it certainly always will, I know that then there will always be comfort for every sorrow, whatever the circumstances may be. And I firmly believe that nature brings solace in all troubles”

American poet John Berrymen described Anne’s writing of her daily life as “the conversion of a child into a person”. The Diary of Anne Frank has been translated into 67 languages and sold over 30 million copies, it remains the most often read primary account of the holocaust. Farah now has 167,000 followers on Twitter growing by the day. Somewhat surprised by her popularity she states, “I did not expect it. I was writing for a small circle of people, and the number has become too many.”

Seventy years ago as the Independent recalls Anne, the cheerful and spirited teenager was arrested,

“on the morning of 4 August, an anonymous tip was given to the security police, known as Sicherheitsdienst, and SS-Oberscharfuhrer Karl Silbernba, who arrived at the house on Prinsengracht aided by Dutch police in order to seize the Jews in hiding”

The young teenager was detained along with her family and put on the last transport from Westerbork to Auschwitz concentration camp where she died (possibly from a typhus epidemic that swept the camp in 1945) along with her sister Margot. She was 15 years old.

Farah’s tweets in recent days have been filled with the sound of explosions, gunshots and ambulances, she tweets,

“smoke seen from my window because of bombing a factory”

It was therefore a relief to see the following tweet come through and hopefully a time will come when she can get on with her life, free from the fear of death and instead see the world in a new light, she writes,

“I woke up today without drones, f16s, ambulances, blasts sounds, so I smiled from the deep of my heart”