World Cup for Human Rights Violations

Congratulations to the Indian cricket team for winning the World Cup. It was a marvelous Saturday night when the Indian cricket team captain, M. S. Dhoni, played a captain’s knock to steer India to glory by lobbing the cricket ball out of the ground for a six to win the tournament and become the champions of the world of cricket.

India is the world champion in cricket whereas Spain is the world champion in football – both are the most popular sports of the world with a large fan following. Sportsmen of these two sports are given the status of demigods ruling the hearts & minds of the masses. They have immense power to annihilate opponents on the battle ground of the game. But, they have to follow the strict rules of the battle to engage in it. If any dishonest means are employed in this battle then the players are considered as incompetent & bad sportsmen.

The champions of these two sports were competent and good. They showed the world that without abusing the power they have and playing strictly by the rules they can still win the game. One wishes that those vested with real powers of the world could emulate these sportsmen and play by the rules instead of abusing their powers and using devious means to achieve their goals. Though, India and Spain are Champions of the World in cricket & football respectively, it is very unfortunate that they are not Champions of Human Rights. In fact, they should be awarded the World Cup for Human Rights Violations.

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Surprises Galore!

The minimum sentence of a terror accused in Spain is 8 ½ years. Hence, it is surprising that the Supreme Court of Spain has reduced the sentence of 8 ½ years, handed down to Roshan Jamal Khan by the High Court, to 6 years. This proves that the terror charge against him is false.

Roshan Jamal Khan has been sentenced for associating with a terror group on the basis of an allegation of a faceless voice that does not even utters Roshan Jamal Khan’s name during his testimony.

The hearing of the appeal against the High Court verdict took place on 15-12-2010. The hearing went on for hardly 2 hours. The verdict was given on 29-12-2010 which is also surprising as it was Christmas vacation. It seems that the hearing was just a charade. Everything seems to have been premeditated. In fact, our advocate had also given this hint to Roshan Jamal Khan as well as us at this sort of judgment in his e-mail to us and was afraid that political pressure might influence the Supreme Court decision.

More surprising is the callous attitude of the Government of India. Despite the clear injustice and blatant violation of human rights, the Indian Embassy in Spain and the Ministry of External Affairs remained a mute spectator. Far from helping us in our legal battle, the Government of India did not even bother to monitor our case. This is in sharp contrast to our government’s swift move to allow the European Union’s delegation of 8 members to monitor Dr. Binayak Sen’s case.

It is also strange that the European Union has taken it upon itself to monitor a case in Asia – an Indian being prosecuted by the Indian authorities in India – while it has turned a blind eye to the injustice done in Europe by a European country to an Asian (Indian). It seems the European Union is suffering from presbyopia. We wish that the European Union would focus on Roshan Jamal Khan’s case and help him to get justice.

Except for the kind cooperation and continued support of the fourth estate that gave us the moral courage to continue our fight against injustice, not a single human rights organization provided any help to us despite seeking it. The Amnesty International meekly expressed its helplessness while the UNHRC never cared to reply.

Although the decision of the Supreme Court of Spain revolts against justice and fair play, we have not given up hope and resolve to fight against the tyranny of the false fight against terrorism that actually terrorizes common people. Insha Allah, truth & justice shall prevail.

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Brilliant Legal Directors

Though this post has been delayed, it should not mean that it was not thought of before. Since quite a few months, we had wanted to acknowledge the help provided by the legal fraternity in our fight for justice. Through this post, we wish to express our gratitude to all those men & women of law who provided their assistance and are still lending us their legal expertise in getting Roshan Jamal Khan acquitted with dignity.

The advice provided by Mumbai High Court advocates – Adv. N. U. Khan, Adv. Sharad Jani, Adv. Usman Chishti & Adv. Chandra Naik – was very important. We wish to thank all of them.

Special thanks go to famous criminal advocate Majeed Memon and advocate Mihir Desai for their legal analysis of the case that was published in The Times of India. The legal dissection of the case by these two stalwarts of law redeemed our dignity in the society. Many thanks to both the advocates once again.

We would also like to express our gratitude to well-known advocate Parvez Ubhare of Mumbai High Court who was instrumental in arranging two press conferences and providing all the legal aspects of the case to the media which were very important to clear all doubts about the case. We thank advocate Ubhare and look forward to his continued support as we believe that a much bigger role is to be played by him in this case.

A note of regret would seem to be out of place in this post. But, things would have been quite different if we had taken the advice of prominent advocate Ms. Nandita Rao of Delhi High Court. The verdict would have been favourable to us if we had acted upon her advice. But, our fear due to some compelling reasons stopped her midway in her noble intentions of helping us. We apologize to Ms. Nandita Rao for our impropriety and thank her and all her Mumbai colleagues including advocate Mr. Sethi of Delhi High Court. Insha Allah, Ms. Nandita Rao’s brave efforts will be detailed if ever we publish a book on this case after the acquittal of Roshan Jamal Khan.

Finally, the men on the front who put up a brave defence – our Spanish advocates. We appreciate the hard work that Mr. Benet Salellas Vilar, Mr. Jacobo Teijolo Casanova & their team put in to demolish the case of the prosecution. We also appreciate their quick appeal in the Spanish Supreme Court after the decision of the High Court. We would like to express our gratitude to all of them and expect the august Supreme Court of Spain will undo the injustice that has been perpetuated on us.

Before concluding, we would like to pay our respects to the soul of advocate late Mr. Sabatillan Salellas Vilar who not only took up our case but also offered his services for much lower fees than he usually charges as he believed that all the accused are innocent. May his soul rest in peace.

Although, we were dejected after the High Court decision but we never lost hope. We will continue our fight for justice under the brilliant direction and guidance of all the above mentioned experts of law. Insha Allah, truth shall prevail.

P. S. : We welcome the President of United States of America, Hon’ble Barack Obama, to India. It would have been better if Mr. Barack Obama had released one of our innocent Indian students, Mr. Vikram Buddhi, as a Diwali gift to 1 billion Indians. Never mind the lapse, we request the kind President to release him now as a Christmas gift. Hope Uncle Sam will not disappoint us.

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Freedom To Celebrate

Time flies by. Days pass. Age increases and the remaining period of life decreases. But, still people say “many happy returns of the day” to wish a person on a birthday. This may be as people want birthdays to be celebrated every year forever & ever without any end to it. Though, the stark reality is that with each return of this celebrated day, the end also comes nearer. People should become aware that the deadline is fast approaching and they have less time to fulfill their wishes, ambitions etc. It should be a day for contemplation. People should worry about completing tasks rather than celebrating the depletion of their lifetime.

Roshan Jamal Khan completes 52 years of his life today out of which 2 ½ have been wasted in a Spanish jail. Celebrating a birthday in jail is not what any person would like to do – not even a jailor, who would rather celebrate with family & friends than with inmates in his charge. With six young children still studying, Roshan Jamal Khan has an enormous task at hand to complete. And, with two birthdays being spent in jail, we would not like to wish him "many happy returns of the day" today. Instead, we pray to Allah that he provides us an opportunity to celebrate his freedom very soon. Amen!

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Testimony Tamasha

Will the testimony of a person be admitted in the court of law if he forgets the name of the person whom he claims to be his leader in masterminding a terror plot?

Will a person be sentenced if the only witness does not even take his name or implicate him?

Will any person be implicated if some faceless voice gives contradictory statements?

One may reply with a resounding NO to all the 3 questions, but a Spanish court thinks otherwise. Accepting the evidence of a voice that never utters Roshan Jamal Khan’s name or deposes against him, the Spanish court has disgraced law & justice by convicting him.

Throughout his testimony the sole witness, F-1, makes a statement first and alters it later. In the beginning, when asked for the name of the organisation that he was working for, he replies that it is the same organisation that sent him to Waziristan & Afghanistan for training. He doesn't name the organisation (Testimony Video-1, 13:55). Around 10 minutes later, he is once again asked the name of the organisation. He replies that it is Al-Qaida (TV-1, 24:05).

During the later parts of the testimony (TV-3, 19:15), F-1 says that he informed his French police friend by calling from his mobile phone. Later (TV-3, 1:07:45), he clarifies that he made the call using a calling card that was provided to him earlier and which can be used with his SIM card.

This changing of statements gives rise to the suspicion of F-1 being tutored by the Spanish police before the testimony and being prompted or deliberately being asked the same questions to correct the wrong replies given earlier. The correction of the name of Baitullah Mehsud from Abdullah Mehsud, the remembering of the name of Maulana Maroof and clarifying that Maulana Ashraf is the same person as Maulana Maroof, are some instances of such lapses or rather the truth being blurted out instead of the lie being recited.

When asked of the relationship of Baitullah Mehsud with the organisation that he was working for, F-1 says that the organisation was working under the instructions of Baitullah Mehsud (TV-1, 18:40). A little later, when he is asked the name of the organisation, F-1 says that it is Al-Qaida. This claim flies in the face of NEFA’s video interview of the spokesperson of Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan, in which Maulvi Omar says that Baitullah Mehsud leads Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan and that Al-Qaida has its own administrators & decision makers. The conviction order of the court also mentions this (pg. 10).

The testimony of F-1 is a blatant lie riddled with contradictions and is wholly unbelievable. Never once does Hashim Iqbal alias Ahmad (the protected witness, F-1) mentions Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan nor does he utters the name of Roshan Jamal Khan. So, which terror group has Roshan Jamal Khan been convicted for associating with?

Points to Ponder

1. At the very beginning of the testimony, F-1 says that he arrived in Barcelona from France on 15th January and has the train ticket with him. At another point, he narrates the day-to-day activity from 15th January till the last day (18th January) when the arrests were made. But, narrates incidents of only 15th January, the next day i.e. 16th and the last day, i.e. 18th. What happened on 17th? As usual, he is given a chance to correct his date of arrival later.

2. F-1 claims throughout his testimony that Maulana Maroof knows all the details of the terror plan even as he himself reveals the plan gradually. Whenever asked how he knows about it, he replies that Maulana Maroof told him.

3. At one point, F-1 says that he was aware that his bar acquaintance in France was a policeman whose job involved gleaning information. So, could a member of the biggest terror group of the world be so naïve as to give his mobile phone number to a policeman?

4. F-1 reveals that in the group he was called by his false name while his real name was used in public by his associates. Scratch, scratch! Scratch your head till you become bald.

5. F-1 feared that his family in Pakistan would be killed if he did anything to prevent the terror attack. So, finally, what made him to spill the beans by calling the police? Was the threat to his family over?

6. The threat perception seems to have been felt by F-1 after calling his wife in the evening and the phone call to the French policeman was made a few hours later at night. What factors were responsible during these few hours to lessen the fear of threat felt by F-1?

7. F-1 claims that he worked for his organisation for 3 years – first 1 ½ years delivering money to associates, the next 1 ½ years training in the use of arms and bomb making. At another points, he says that 3 years does not mean 36 months, but could also mean 30 months. How can such type of loose statements be admitted by any court as evidence?

Many, many more anomalies are there in the testimony. All cannot be listed over here. Suffice to say that the trial was a farce.

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NEFA's Nefarious Nexus

NEFA Foundation is an American non-profit organisation founded in the aftermath of 9/11 to assist governmental authorities with information in its war against terror.

NEFA did an analysis of the detention order on February 22, 2008 and concluded that there was little or no evidence to convict the detained group doubting even the authenticity of the little evidence. This analysis was done by Mr. Douglas Farah who had earlier worked as a correspondent of Washington Post.

NEFA being a reputed organization doing a highly responsible work, it, therefore, comes as a big surprise that they would upload a video interview conducted by a tribal hack as its exclusive interview. This dubious, exclusive video interview is that of Maulvi Omar that was considered as major evidence to convict Roshan Jamal Khan.

As mentioned in the conviction order of the Spanish court, this video interview was conducted on behalf of NEFA’s senior investigator, Claudio Franco, ( nationality not mentioned) by his unnamed friend (nationality not mentioned again ) on August 1, 2008. The video quality, as can be seen, is bad. A mobile phone camera seems to have been used for the recording. Audio-video synchronization is not clear. The format of the video is .flv . The language in which the interview is conducted is Pashto. English sub-titles are provided.

As this was a criminal trial, every minute detail had to be taken into consideration. We have known of criminal cases where, to implicate people for murder, blood of A group is mixed with blood of group B to get blood of group AB ( TOI ). So, let’s examine the authenticity of the video which the judgment order has conveniently relied upon to convict Roshan Jamal Khan.

Claudio Franco is a writer as well as a documentary producer. That means he has enough knowledge to easily manipulate videos or even create them on computers (desktop production).

The video format is .flv. This means that the video is in Flash format. I wonder if any camera in the world records in Flash format. Now, we have to know what camera was used to shoot the video. The model number of the camera. Whether the camera allows shooting in the .flv format? If not, then, in what format the recording was done? What software was used to convert from the recorded format to .flv format? Whether the camera was digital or analog? If analog, then, .flv format is simply not possible. If digital, then what was the recording storage media – whether memory card or CD or digital tape?

The conviction order says that the video is not doctored. So, does the camera has a feature by which the audio is translated into another language and display sub-titles? All these questions are from a layman like me. They may sound silly, but are very crucial in cases of such magnitude and should be thoroughly investigated before holding anyone guilty beyond reasonable doubt.

Now, assuming the video was not doctored, what are the other factors that should be investigated to prove its authenticity?

The interview was conducted on 1st August, 2008 in Bajaur that is located on the north side border of Afpak. On 6th August, US & Pakistani forces launched an attack on Bajaur. Besides, not mentioning the name of the tribal journalist who, supposedly, did the interview, the judgment order is also silent on the exact time of the interview and the process by which it reached NEFA considering that Bajaur was depopulated by heavy shelling from 6th August onwards. The video was uploaded on August 29, 2008 on NEFA’s website.

The tribal journalist who did the interview was not summoned and questioned by the court. How can a trial prove conclusively that the interview is authentic without examining the person who did the interview? How can this video become admissible evidence without questioning the actual interviewer? In a civilized and advanced system of jurisprudence, convictions should not be based on media reports or faceless voices. All evidence should be examined and proved in the court of law.

One question that agitates the mind is whether Spain funded NEFA’s video in question? This question arises because NEFA seeks funds from one & all and there is no way of knowing about an American organisation’s income & expenses. It claims to work with many US agencies and ‘ “Connect the Dots” by delivering timely and highly sensitive information to government agencies to aid in their anti-terrorism efforts’. It isn’t just an independent agency working for the elimination of terror from the world. It seems to be a front for US intelligence concerned only with protecting America from terror.

The reputation of not just NEFA but, the credibility of all the three players – Claudio Franco, the tribal hack & the tribal chief - connected with the video is also questionable. There’s reason to suspect the credibility of these three persons as there is no mention of the Barcelona terror plot in a video of May, 2008. Was the tribal chief paid to make the statement about the Barcelona terror plot? Or, was he returning the favour for getting free publicity through a western agency that would make him notorious and increase his clout?

We all know how heads of states invent lies and raise spectre of WMD to attack oil-rich countries. One of them admitted recently about the false excuse and said that they would have invented some other lie to launch an attack. So, what stops Spain from inventing a terror plot to win elections? Or, from producing a video to convict a few persons?

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Reality Show

With the explosion of the electronic media, the attention span of viewers has reduced a lot. In part, the remote control is also to be blamed. 15 minutes of fame has been reduced to 15 seconds. But, who would like even 15 seconds of fame in times of tragedy? No one would like it and certainly not the victim or his family.

No person would like any misfortune to visit him just to seek his 15 seconds of fame. But, the electronic media is not just a channel to fame through reality shows. It is also a channel for reality shows of a different kind. It helps victims of tragedies to air their grievances and highlights the injustices done to them. It is a watchdog of the society.

In our time of distress, the electronic media did not provide us with 15 seconds of fame but, gave us more than 15 minutes of respect & dignity that the Spanish authorities tried deprive. I respectfully acknowledge my gratitude to the following TV channels for upholding our honour :

CNN-IBN

• Prachi Jatania


• Toral Varia

NDTV

• Prerna Thakur Desai


• Rashmi Rajput

Times Now

• Puja Jurmania

Rediff.com

• Prasanna D. Zore


• Firdos S. Ashraf

News X INX News

• Rana S. Shaikh

India TV

• Prakash Tiwari

Sahara News

• Rahul Asthana

BBC (Urdu)

• Rehana Bastiwala

ETV-Urdu

• Aasim Khan

ETV-Marathi

• Urmila Dethe

Live India

• Sanjay Prasad

News 9

• Suresh Shintre


• Vinod Kamble

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