PAKISTAN: The former Ambassador to the United States faces death threats from the military and intelligence agencies — the civilian government has shown its inability to rein in the powerful institutions 

Dear friends,

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information regarding various threats, including death threats, to the former ambassador of Pakistan to the United States of America. He is under virtual house arrest as his movements are restricted not only by the military intelligence agencies but also by the Supreme Court of Pakistan through an order in a case where the court, without granting him an audience, gave instructions that he cannot go abroad without the permission of the court. His passport and other official documents were confiscated by the security agencies upon his arrival from the US. A smear campaign against him has been generated by the military-friendly media maligning him as an enemy of the country and anti-security establishment. The Ambassador in an interview to a London based newspaper revealed information of the threats to his life from the security agencies.

His wife has requested the US administration to take action to protect his life. She is apprehensive that during the judicial inquiry he would be assassinated by those who are familiar with the state intelligence agencies.

The former Ambassador has been provided temporary shelter in the Prime Minister’s house but his life is always at risk as, within the last year, two government personalities, a governor and a Christian federal minister were assassinated by Muslim fundamentalist groups who enjoy support and training from the military. The Prime Minister himself feels insecure due to the action of the military establishment and has expressed this on many occasions.

CASE NARRATIVE:

Mr. Hussain Haqqani, the former Ambassador of Pakistan to the United States of America from April 2008 to November 2011, a professor at Boston University, USA, and Co- Chair of the Hudson Institute’s Project on the Future of the Muslim World as well as editor of the journal Current Trends in Islamist Thought published from Washington DC, is facing death threats. Former Ambassador Haqqani is living under virtual house arrest in Pakistan. The security agencies confiscated his passport and the judiciary, under pressure from the military, has restricted him from travelling outside the country.

Haqqani’s travails began after it was alleged that he had initiated a letter to the Chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, Admiral Mike Mullen, following the US military action inside Pakistan in which Osama Bin Laden was killed. The letter reportedly asked for American intervention in Pakistan in order to forestall a military coup. The resignation of Hussain Haqqani highlighted tensions between the country’s nominal civilian government and the army, which has ruled Pakistan for most of its 64 year history. The memo was made public in October, 2011 by a Pakistani American businessman who claimed to have received it from Haqqani and, following his instructions, passed it to Mullen through an intermediary. He claimed that Haqqani assured him that Zardari had approved the memo.

The memo accuses army chief, General Ashfaq Pervez Kayani of plotting to bring down the government in the aftermath of the Bin Laden raid, which most Pakistanis considered a humiliating violation of their sovereignty by U.S. Navy SEALs. It asks Mullen for his “direct intervention” with Kayani to prevent a coup.

Former Ambassador Haqqani vehemently denies these allegations, yet honorably offered to resign his position and return to Pakistan to clear his name and answer any questions. He acted in good faith, but Pakistan’s military-judicial establishment and the country’s anti-American media have ”convicted him” in the court of public opinion, without the benefit of a hearing.

The Supreme Court of Pakistan, which claims to be an independent judiciary, played a dubious role in tackling the issue of the so-called ‘Memo Case’ issue by showing its tilt towards the military establishment and without listening to the affected party and put the name of Haqqani in the exit control list to stop his right of freedom of expression and movement. But later, when civil society criticized the decision of the Supreme Court and it was challenged by his lawyer the chief justice took back his previous decision and made the change that the Ambassador cannot leave the country without prior permission from the court.

Pakistan’s Supreme Court, rather than asserting the law of the land and its responsibility as the court of last resort, has instead trampled over former Ambassador Haqqani’s fundamental, legal and human rights. It has forced his counsel, former UN Special Rapporteur for Human Rights, Ms. Asma Jahangir to withdraw her representation of Haqqani, citing her lack of confidence in the judicial commission.

“The case against Haqqani follows an ominous trend in Pakistan. The assassinations of Punjab Governor Salmaan Taseer, Minister for Minority Affairs Shahbaz Bhatti, and journalist Syed Saleem Shahzad this past year have created a culture of intimidation and fear that is stifling efforts to promote a more tolerant and democratic society. Significant segments of the Pakistani media have already judged Haqqani to be guilty of treason, which could inspire religious extremists to take the law into their own hands as they did with Taseer and Bhatti.”

Haqqani told the London Telegraph that his life is threatened by Jihadi terrorists as well as those elements within Pakistan’s military establishment which have been instrumental in effectuating the assassinations of many leading politicians and journalists which, in the words of Journalists without Borders, makes Pakistan the most dangerous place on earth.

The US secretary of state, Hillary Clinton, has also appealed to authorities in Pakistan to provide security to Ambassador Haqqani but because of the hype created against the US in Pakistan by the military and its establishment, any statements from US officials in favour of Haqqani would also put his life in danger.

On November 22, 2011, an official meeting took place at the Prime Minister’s House in Islamabad between President Asif Ali Zardari, Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gillani, Chief of Army Staff Ashfaq Parvez Kayani, Director General of the ISI Ahmad Shuja Pasha, and Ambassador Haqqani over the affairs of the alleged memorandum. Soon after, Haqqani tendered his resignation, which was duly accepted by the prime minister. To the media outlets and the general public in Pakistan, this came as no surprise, but was rather the expected outcome of the planned meeting.

President Asif Ali Zardari termed the allegations as “a conspiracy against the Zardari government”, further stating that he did not need intermediaries to convey messages since he had “direct access” to the president of the United States.

Haqqani’s wife, Farahnaz Ispahani who is a member of the National Assembly of Pakistan denied the ambassador was the author of the Mullen memo or that he had sent the memo over to Mansoor.

Hussain Haqqani refuted the BlackBerry Messenger email chain that was made public by Mansoor Ijaz stating that the message were likely a forgery. In the aftermath of the scandal however, Haqqani offered to resign from his position as Pakistani ambassador to the US. After returning home to Pakistan, and meeting with the president, prime minister, chief of army staff, and the DG ISI, he tendered his resignation which was immediately accepted by the PM.

The ISI’s involvement is visible in the trap laid for the ambassador in order to eliminate him from the scene in that its head, Lieutenant General Shuja Pasha, visited London and investigated the case himself by intimidating Mansoor Ijaz, the writer of the Memo, to place the blame on the Ambassador. The ISI chief went to London on his own self without taking permission from his boss, the Prime Minister of Pakistan. The man’s arrogance is such that that he filed the affidavit to the Supreme Court without consulting the government in an effort to show his own superiority over the civilian law.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:

The military in Pakistan ruled the country most of the periods of its 64 year history and has never allowed the civilians to rule for their constitutional period. The military establishment was never happy after severe criticism on its performance for not caring the security of the country in the events of US Marines attack on the hide out of Osama Bin Laden, the terrorists attack on Mehran Naval base and even on the attack of General Head Quarters of Pakistan army. To divert the severe criticism from the Pakistani masses the army and ISI raised the issue of Memo case which was written by an anti-Pakistani sitting in the US. In an effort to declare the ”enemy’s enemy is our policy” the military establishment framed a case against Ambassador Haqqani to destabilise the civilian setup.

The US-Pakistan relationship was at an all-time low before the assault on Osama bin Laden’s compound in Abbottabad on May 2, 2011. Civilians and the media blamed the Pakistani armed forces for being unable to locate Bin Laden’s whereabouts and further criticized them for letting the United States to conduct a unilateral operation on Pakistani soil, thereby prompting a furor over violations of Pakistani sovereignty by the United States.

SUGGESTED ACTION:
Please write the letters to the authorities given below to provide official protection to the former Ambassador to USA, Mr. Hussain Haqqani and instruct the state intelligence agencies to involve in civilian matters without permission from their boss, the Prime Minister. Please urge the authorities to ensure the safety of Ambassador Haqqani’s wife, currently in the US. She is constantly followed by ISI agents working inside America. She should have the ability to live in USA free from intimidation and threats. The civilian government should prosecute the Director General of ISI who is operating on his own without the permission from Prime Minister.

The AHRC is writing a separate letter to the UN Special Rapporteur on the Promotion and Protection of the Right to Freedom of Opinion and Expression calling for his intervention into this matter.

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