Hizb ut-Tahrir Britain

Top Menu

  • About US
  • Join US
  • Videos
  • Infographics
  • Comment
  • Question and Answer
  • Watch us Live

Main Menu

  • Home
  • Viewpoint
  • Islamic Culture
  • Da’wah
  • Media
  • People
    • Sheikh Taqiuddin an-Nabahani (Founder)
    • Sheikh Abdul Qadeem Zallum (Successor)
    • Sheikh Ata Abu Rashta (Ameer)
    • Abdul Wahid
    • Abu Yusuf
    • Jamal Harwood
    • Taji Mustafa
  • Books
  • Youth
  • Covid-19
  • About US
  • Join US
  • Videos
  • Infographics
  • Comment
  • Question and Answer
  • Watch us Live

logo

Header Banner

Hizb ut-Tahrir Britain

  • Home
  • Viewpoint
    • Making Sense of Pakistan

      April 16, 2022
      0
    • How Should We View the War in Ukraine?

      March 30, 2022
      0
    • The India Hijab Issue from an Islamic Perspective

      March 24, 2022
      0
    • DEEP DIVE: The Weaponisation and Politicisation of British Citizenship Laws

      March 12, 2022
      0
    • Our Role in the Ukraine war is to Expose the Propaganda

      March 2, 2022
      0
    • Muslims Should Rejoice Over the Islamic Ruling System

      January 21, 2022
      0
    • Another Warmonger Honoured for Serving the British Elite

      January 2, 2022
      0
    • The Golden Jubilee of Bangladesh Victory Day (Bijoy Dibos): a cause for ...

      December 13, 2021
      0
    • Playing Politics with the Uygher Muslims

      December 2, 2021
      0
  • Islamic Culture
    • Reading Quran

      The story of the man who was told to “Enter Paradise” and ...

      January 24, 2022
      0
    • Significance of Rabi’ul-Awwal

      October 10, 2021
      0
    • Virtues of the Month of Muharram

      August 10, 2021
      0
    • The significance of first 10 days of Dhul Hijjah

      July 10, 2021
      0
    • The Honour of the Prophets

      April 30, 2021
      0
    • A to Z of Ramadan

      April 19, 2021
      0
    • The Dawah to Allah (swt)

      December 29, 2020
      0
    • Miracle of the Quran

      Q & A - Compilation of The Holy Quran During the Reign ...

      December 27, 2020
      0
    • Imam Bukhari: A Role Model for the ‘Ulema and Da’wah Carriers to ...

      November 17, 2020
      0
  • Da’wah
    • Public Demonstration - Independence Not Intervention

      April 22, 2022
      0
    • VIDEO : [LIVESTREAMED] Pakistan in Crisis: The Players, Politics, and People

      April 20, 2022
      0
    • Ramadan Message: The World Needs Islam - We Must Work for the ...

      April 1, 2022
      0
    • The India Hijab Issue from an Islamic Perspective

      March 24, 2022
      0
    • Ramadhan event: Kyiv to Kabul: The World Needs Islam

      March 20, 2022
      0
    • Obituary of a Dawah Carrier Dr. Youssef Haj Youssef

      December 30, 2021
      0
    • Open Letter to Imams and Muslim Leaders

      September 28, 2021
      0
    • Hizb ut-Tahrir Britain Sends Delegation to Chinese Embassy Condemning the Inhumane Treatment ...

      June 30, 2021
      0
    • Jahangir Raja: Obituary of a Da’wah Carrier

      June 28, 2021
      0
  • Media
  • People
    • Sheikh Taqiuddin an-Nabahani (Founder)
    • Sheikh Abdul Qadeem Zallum (Successor)
    • Sheikh Ata Abu Rashta (Ameer)
    • Abdul Wahid
    • Abu Yusuf
    • Jamal Harwood
    • Taji Mustafa
  • Books
  • Youth
  • Covid-19
News Watch
Home›News Watch›Pakistan prisoners in Afghan jails despair

Pakistan prisoners in Afghan jails despair

By Press Editor
January 26, 2011
781
0
Share:

For Wakeel Khan, the worst aspect of the disappearance of his son Hameedullah was initially not knowing his fate.

Hameedullah disappeared from the tribal region of Waziristan bordering Afghanistan in a 2008 military operation. For a while, it seemed that he had fallen off the face of the earth.

“It was five, six months after my son went missing that I found out he was at Bagram [the main US base in Afghanistan],” a visibly upset Mr Khan – who served in the Pakistan Army for 15 years – told the BBC.

“The Red Cross helped us get in touch with him in jail, but for two years, he couldn’t even tell us why he’d been arrested.

“Even now, whenever I ask him about his living conditions, the line just gets disconnected.”

All this is a far cry from Mr Khan’s earlier wish for his son to become a doctor. But Mr Khan is not the only one whose dreams have been shattered.

Haroon Khan’s nephew has also ended up in Bagram prison.

Years in jail

“My nephew took his father to the doctor in Karachi and stepped out for a moment. A year later, the Red Cross told us he was in Bagram. We’ve never gone to see my nephew. He’s specifically asked us not to risk getting into trouble ourselves.”

“My crime has not been proven and they have no evidence against me” Saeed Akbar, Pakistani inmate of Pul-e-Charki

Wakeel’s son and Haroon’s nephew are among hundreds of people allegedly arrested from all over Pakistan and Afghanistan after the US launched its invasion of Afghanistan in 2001.

Some were subsequently found not guilty and set free – but only after they had spent years in jail.

The two men are among seven families who have lodged a case in a Lahore court seeking their early release.

The Pakistani government says that in addition to these cases, these there are 13 other confirmed cases of Pakistanis being held at Bagram.

Pakistan’s foreign ministry has confirmed their presence at Bagram but refuses to speculate on the date of their release.

“We hope they will be set free soon, but that decision has to be taken in Washington,” foreign ministry spokesman Abdul Basit said.

The precise number of Pakistanis in US detention in Afghanistan has until now remained a mystery.

“Our sources and officials say there are 25 Pakistanis at Bagram,” said Amana Masood Janjua, who leads a campaign in Pakistan for the release of missing people, including her husband.

‘Treated humanely’

A US spokesman at Bagram told the BBC that “a very small number – under 50 – of our detainee population are third-country nationals [neither US nor Afghan citizens] and that out of this group, slightly more than half are Pakistani”.

“The US captures and detains individuals – including, in some cases, individuals who are not Afghan nationals – consistent with the law of armed conflict,” the spokesman said.

It is estimated that there are at least 265 Pakistanis held in jails in Afghanistan “We ensure all detainees are treated humanely, in accordance with all applicable US law and policy, including (Common Article III of) the Geneva Conventions.”

Access to the Bagram detention centre is restricted, but the BBC Urdu Service’s correspondent Riffatullah Orakzai visited Pul-e-Charki jail on the outskirts of Kabul to see whether it holds Pakistani prisoners accused of having links to the Taliban or al-Qaeda.

He discovered that the jail held more than 100 Pakistanis and that a total of 265 are being held throughout the country.

“I was arrested four years ago from Chitral (a mountainous district in Khyber Pakhtoonkhwa province of Pakistan) for treating the Taliban,” said Saeed Akbar.

“My crime has not been proven and they have no evidence against me. Initially they said I was working for the intelligence agencies, then they said I’m a doctor.”

Mr Akbar was arrested while travelling from Chitral to Peshawar via Afghanistan’s Kunar province. Chitral’s road links are often severed from the rest of Pakistan during winter and this is the only overland route that it is possible to take.

Limited contact

Hafiz Muhammad Shoaib is another detainee, hailing from Pakistan’s Punjab province.

“The Pakistani government is involved in both their abduction and rendering, which is unconstitutional” Reprieve spokeswoman Sara Bilal

“I was arrested at the Torkham border four years ago, allegedly for spying for the Taliban. I’ve been taken to court twice but the courts here don’t listen to what the accused has to say – they just go by what’s in the records. So I’ve been convicted of spying, even though I’m innocent.”

Since Pul-e-Charki is a high-security prison, contact with the outside world is limited.

Human rights lawyers in Pakistan are increasingly resorting to the courts as a means of addressing these cases. But it is a battle with no clear sides.

For the most part, the exact charges against the prisoners and the supporting evidence supporting the allegations are vague and indistinct.

Equally unclear is how they were arrested and how they ended up in Afghanistan. Furthermore, there are questions as to whether these prisoners will be tried in courts at all.

All these concerns have resulted in lawyers questioning the conduct of the Pakistani state.

Sara Bilal represents the UK-based pressure group, Reprieve, and is pursuing the case on behalf of the seven Pakistani families at the Lahore court.

Her petition states that they were definitely picked up from Pakistan and that the intelligence agencies were involved.

Unaccounted for

“They couldn’t have been arrested or rendered without the agencies’ involvement and by that reasoning, the Pakistani government is involved in both their abduction and rendering, which is unconstitutional,” she says.

Wakeel Khan has suffered years of anguish over the fate of his son Pakistan has in the past admitted handing over several suspects to the US but despite several attempts by the BBC to contact him, the interior minister was not available to comment on Ms Bilal’s allegations.

The prisoners at Pul-e-Charki and Bagram are at least visible. Scores of other Pakistanis are still unaccounted for.

For example, little is known of the fate of hundreds of Pakistanis who followed religious leader Maulana Sufi Mohammad from Swat district to fight the Americans in Afghanistan in 2001.

Some of the lucky ones returned, but others did not. Even today, their whereabouts are still not clear.

Foreign Office spokesman Abdul Basit says that on this case – and no doubt on many others as well – they do not have any relevant figures.

The trauma of the prisoners and the affected families looks set to continue.

BBC

Previous Article

The Spectre of Double dip Recession

Next Article

US boy, 13, facing life sentence without ...

0
Shares
  • 0
  • +
  • 0

Related articles More from author

  • News Watch

    Nasrallah says Hezbollah will bring victory to Syrian ally Assad

    May 29, 2013
    By Editor
  • News Watch

    Anti-US protesters in London condemn controversial film

    September 17, 2012
    By Editor
  • News Watch

    Bosnia marks 20 years of the beginning of its war

    April 6, 2012
    By Press Editor
  • News Watch

    US Embassy promotes Pakistan’s first gay pride celebration

    July 3, 2011
    By Press Editor
  • News Watch

    How US firms profited from torture flights

    September 1, 2011
    By Press Editor
  • News Watch

    Man who told Mubarak to ‘fear God’ speaks out after serving 15 years in jail

    May 23, 2012
    By Editor

Leave a reply Cancel reply

Liberate Al Aqsa

Join US on Telegram

Podcast

Latest Posts

Press Releases

Protest in London Says No To More Democracy, Yes to the Khilafah

Members of Hizb ut Tahrir in Britain, alongside supporters from the Muslim community, gathered on Saturday 7th May 2022 at the Pakistan High Commission in London to protest against US ...
  • Hizb ut-Tahrir Britain to Protest American Interference in Pakistan’s Politics

    By Yahya Nisbet
    May 1, 2022
  • Public Demonstration – Independence Not Intervention

    By Editor
    April 22, 2022
  • VIDEO : [LIVESTREAMED] Pakistan in Crisis: The Players, Politics, and People

    By Editor
    April 20, 2022
  • The Geopolitics of Badr

    By Editor
    April 17, 2022
  • Making Sense of Pakistan

    By Editor
    April 16, 2022
  • Muslims in Britain Should Speak Out Against the Pakistani Leadership’s Surrender of Kashmir

    By Yahya Nisbet
    April 15, 2022
  • Muslims in Britain should support the call for the Khilafah in Pakistan

    By Yahya Nisbet
    April 12, 2022
  • Press Centre