US patronage of a Pakistani traitor
Bassam Javed
Pakistan’s problematic relationship with US has sailed into a fresh controversy after a tribal court gave 33 years long prison term to Pakistani doctor, Shakeel Afridi. He was convicted for his terrorism based linkages with Mangal Bagh led Lashkar e Islam besides his treasonous act of covertly facilitating CIA fake vaccination campaign designed to collect DNA sample of Osama Bin Laden and his family hiding in Abbottabad compound.
Imprisonment of Afridi confronted rigorous disparagement by US senior administration, including Hillary Clinton, Senator John Kerry and Leon Panetta, who termed it as “unjust”, “unwarranted” and “a real mistake by Pakistan”. US top senators Carl Levin and John McCain called Afridi’s sentence “shocking and outrageous”, and asked Pakistan to set him free immediately. US Senate panel also deducted 33 million dollars from a proposed assistance to Pakistan to mount pressure on the state authorities for Afridi’s release. Notwithstanding the gravity of Afridi’s anti-Pakistan activities, CIA also intensified its drone attacks in Pakistan. According to monthly report of Islamabad based Conflict Monitoring Centre, CIA carried out six drone attacks during May 2012, while five of them were launched after Afridi’s conviction. Several media reports also reveal that CIA has distributed thousands of dollars amongst US electronic and print media personnel to manage public perception in favour of Afridi and criticise Pakistan for its unjust verdict against him.
US administration is however, not justified in seeking Afridi’s release or protesting against his conviction because US itself will never like any of its citizens to work for a foreign intelligence agency without involving the consent of state authorities, since a deep insight of history reveals that US never tolerated such incidents of espionage on its soil. A short glimpse of legal actions undertaken by US courts against alleged spies brush aside all the ambiguities created in the minds of people regarding sentence granted to Afridi.
A comparable case is that of Jonathan Jay Pollard who was convicted of spying for Israel and received life sentence in 1987 for his culpability of espionage. In 1995, Israel granted him Israeli citizenship to secure his release but the individual was not pardoned. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu also voiced strong support for Pollard, yet no US president ever found it appropriate to even consider the case of releasing him to Israeli custody. In addition, there has been a long running public campaign in Israel to claim that Pollard’s sentence was out of proportion as he spied for an ally instead of an enemy. But all the efforts by Israeli government and public went in vain as Pollard is still in US security forces’ custody.
Kashmiri-American Dr Ghulam Nabi Fai is another example of US maltreatment with the alleged spies. He was put behind the bars for two years on the charges of receiving funds from Pakistan. He was only campaigning, openly, for the legitimate right of self-determination of the Kashmiris and was not indulging in any hostile activity against the US; yet he was charged for allegedly being on ISI’s payroll.
Likewise, Aldrich Hazen Ames, a former CIA counter-Intelligence officer was convicted of spying for the Soviet Union and Russia in 1994 by United States Department of Justice. Despite several pleas, he is still serving his sentence in the high-security Allenwood US Penitentiary in Pennsylvania.
Similarly, David Sheldon Boone, a former US Army analyst was convicted of espionage-related charges in 1999 for selling secret documents to the Soviet Union, including a 600-page manual describing US reconnaissance programmes and a listing of nuclear targets in Russia.
He is currently in US jail where he is serving his sentence of 24 years for contravening the state laws. Another US citizen, Ben-ami Kadish was a mechanical engineer at US Army Armament Research, Development and Engineering Centre.
He conspired to disclose national defence related documents to Israel for which he was awarded life time imprisonment. Kadish case remained the focal point of media for a long time and several human rights organisations in Israel raised voice for his release but US authorities remained impassive on the decision.
Conviction of spies by US gives rise to the agitating question that if America can award life sentence to its traitors, why Pakistan cannot take stern action against its defectors like Shakeel Afridi? Taking into account the immoral and illegal activities of Afridi, court’s decision against him can be termed as completely justified and vindicated.
Therefore, US needs not raise unnecessary concerns over a traitor’s conviction rather should respect Pakistan’s legislative process against espionage. US should also comprehend that if Pakistani state authorities manage to compromise the release of Pakistani traitor, then it is likely to have devastating consequences for Pakistan.
Since the dispensation of judicial rules for a spy may encourage other Pakistanis to make easy money through helping the foreign intelligence network covertly operating in the country.
In addition, it would also convey a message to the world that Pakistan judicial rules against espionage are conciliatory which may encourage India to yet again raise its voice for the release of Sarbajeet Singh, an Indian spy who facilitated the terrorist activities in Lahore.
Espionage is a capital crime in any country of the world, therefore, Pakistan should withstand its decision against Afridi as an independent state which has the right to formulate its national security policies as per its requirements and constraints. Spies like Afridi should be awarded with exemplary punishment for committing heinous crimes against state’s solidarity as it would prevent other citizens from engaging in such illegal acts that tend to discredit the image of Pakistan at international level.
More so, Afridi’s imprisonment should not become another contentious issue between US and Pakistan that can possibly hamper the healing process of the already fractured bilateral relationship.
US and Pakistan should respect each others’ concerns and find out amicable solution of the issue to prevent its consequential fallouts on their commitment in war against terrorism.
Pakistan’s problematic relationship with US has sailed into a fresh controversy after a tribal court gave 33 years long prison term to Pakistani doctor, Shakeel Afridi. He was convicted for his terrorism based linkages with Mangal Bagh led Lashkar e Islam besides his treasonous act of covertly facilitating CIA fake vaccination campaign designed to collect DNA sample of Osama Bin Laden and his family hiding in Abbottabad compound. Imprisonment of Afridi confronted rigorous disparagement by US senior administration, including Hillary Clinton, Senator John Kerry and Leon Panetta, who termed it as “unjust”, “unwarranted” and “a real mistake by Pakistan”. US top senators Carl Levin and John McCain called Afridi’s sentence “shocking and outrageous”, and asked Pakistan to set him free immediately. US Senate panel also deducted 33 million dollars from a proposed assistance to Pakistan to mount pressure on the state authorities for Afridi’s release. Notwithstanding the gravity of Afridi’s anti-Pakistan activities, CIA also intensified its drone attacks in Pakistan. According to monthly report of Islamabad based Conflict Monitoring Centre, CIA carried out six drone attacks during May 2012, while five of them were launched after Afridi’s conviction. Several media reports also reveal that CIA has distributed thousands of dollars amongst US electronic and print media personnel to manage public perception in favour of Afridi and criticise Pakistan for its unjust verdict against him. US administration is however, not justified in seeking Afridi’s release or protesting against his conviction because US itself will never like any of its citizens to work for a foreign intelligence agency without involving the consent of state authorities, since a deep insight of history reveals that US never tolerated such incidents of espionage on its soil. A short glimpse of legal actions undertaken by US courts against alleged spies brush aside all the ambiguities created in the minds of people regarding sentence granted to Afridi. A comparable case is that of Jonathan Jay Pollard who was convicted of spying for Israel and received life sentence in 1987 for his culpability of espionage. In 1995, Israel granted him Israeli citizenship to secure his release but the individual was not pardoned. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu also voiced strong support for Pollard, yet no US president ever found it appropriate to even consider the case of releasing him to Israeli custody. In addition, there has been a long running public campaign in Israel to claim that Pollard’s sentence was out of proportion as he spied for an ally instead of an enemy. But all the efforts by Israeli government and public went in vain as Pollard is still in US security forces’ custody.Kashmiri-American Dr Ghulam Nabi Fai is another example of US maltreatment with the alleged spies. He was put behind the bars for two years on the charges of receiving funds from Pakistan. He was only campaigning, openly, for the legitimate right of self-determination of the Kashmiris and was not indulging in any hostile activity against the US; yet he was charged for allegedly being on ISI’s payroll. Likewise, Aldrich Hazen Ames, a former CIA counter-Intelligence officer was convicted of spying for the Soviet Union and Russia in 1994 by United States Department of Justice. Despite several pleas, he is still serving his sentence in the high-security Allenwood US Penitentiary in Pennsylvania. Similarly, David Sheldon Boone, a former US Army analyst was convicted of espionage-related charges in 1999 for selling secret documents to the Soviet Union, including a 600-page manual describing US reconnaissance programmes and a listing of nuclear targets in Russia. He is currently in US jail where he is serving his sentence of 24 years for contravening the state laws. Another US citizen, Ben-ami Kadish was a mechanical engineer at US Army Armament Research, Development and Engineering Centre. He conspired to disclose national defence related documents to Israel for which he was awarded life time imprisonment. Kadish case remained the focal point of media for a long time and several human rights organisations in Israel raised voice for his release but US authorities remained impassive on the decision. Conviction of spies by US gives rise to the agitating question that if America can award life sentence to its traitors, why Pakistan cannot take stern action against its defectors like Shakeel Afridi? Taking into account the immoral and illegal activities of Afridi, court’s decision against him can be termed as completely justified and vindicated. Therefore, US needs not raise unnecessary concerns over a traitor’s conviction rather should respect Pakistan’s legislative process against espionage. US should also comprehend that if Pakistani state authorities manage to compromise the release of Pakistani traitor, then it is likely to have devastating consequences for Pakistan. Since the dispensation of judicial rules for a spy may encourage other Pakistanis to make easy money through helping the foreign intelligence network covertly operating in the country. In addition, it would also convey a message to the world that Pakistan judicial rules against espionage are conciliatory which may encourage India to yet again raise its voice for the release of Sarbajeet Singh, an Indian spy who facilitated the terrorist activities in Lahore. Espionage is a capital crime in any country of the world, therefore, Pakistan should withstand its decision against Afridi as an independent state which has the right to formulate its national security policies as per its requirements and constraints. Spies like Afridi should be awarded with exemplary punishment for committing heinous crimes against state’s solidarity as it would prevent other citizens from engaging in such illegal acts that tend to discredit the image of Pakistan at international level. More so, Afridi’s imprisonment should not become another contentious issue between US and Pakistan that can possibly hamper the healing process of the already fractured bilateral relationship. US and Pakistan should respect each others’ concerns and find out amicable solution of the issue to prevent its consequential fallouts on their commitment in war against terrorism.
