Losing Battle of Hearts & Minds

Imagine the following account: A Pakistani man shoots dead two Americans on a busy strip using an unlicensed weapon, and then another Pakistani colleague radioed by the shooter runs over a third American. Then all three try to feel the scene but are overpowered by the police and turned in. The Pakistani man is found to have entered America on a business visa, claims to police that he was a “consultant” to the Pakistani Consulate, but the Pakistani government swiftly changes documentation at the Embassy to include him as an employee, to provide him legal immunity.

The Pakistani government then brings great pressure on America to “follow the Vienna Conventions” and to release the man, including statements from the Prime Minister & President.

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Scene from la-la land? Precisely. It’s hard to imagine that any citizen from any part of the world, let alone from Pakistan, could wreak havoc on a shopping strip in America and get away without consequence.

Such is the hypocrisy of American pressure on Pakistan (threats about  aid, by Obama & to Ambassador) to release the now notorious, Raymond Allen Davis, the businessman-turned-consultant-turned-consular staffer-turned-embassy staffer. The American government wants Pakistan to comply with its own convenient interpretations of the Vienna Conventions for diplomatic immunity.

What Happened? For those unaware of the situation, it is exactly as described at the top, except with roles reversed. On Jan 27, 2011, Raymond Davis shot dead two Pakistanis on a motorcycle in broad daylight on a busy shopping strip. The egregious incident led to three direct deaths and one indirect one when the widow of one of the shooting victims committed suicide due to her sense of hopelessness in a just trial.

Instead of letting Pakistani courts evaluate the legal ramifications of the situation and the extension of Vienna Conventions to Raymond, the entire US government apparatus including President Obama is bearing great pressure on their feeble stooges in the Pakistani government to release Davis without any consequence for his killing spree. By prejudicing a legal case with political expediency, Mr. Obama is further damaging his reputation in the Muslim world, and pretty much hammering the final nail in the coffin of the great optimism in his Egypt address to the Muslim world.

Window into the Vienna Conventions As for the Vienna Conventions, the emphasis on the distinction between consular and embassy staff is not trivial. There is also little doubt that Davis was only placed in the Embassy rolls AFTER the incident.

Davis was not one of the embassy employees listed on January 25, 2010, two days before the incident However, a revised list submitted a day after the incident on Jan 28 carried his name.

So, there are two Conventions in play here. One is the Vienna Conventions on Diplomatic Relations (1961, adopted 1964) and the other being Vienna Conventions on Consular Relations (1963, adopted 1967).

Article 29 of the Vienna Conventions on Diplomatic Relations states that

the person of a diplomatic agent shall be inviolable. He shall not be liable to any form of arrest or detention.

The USA would like to see him being treated as a diplomat (linked to the Embassy), with extremely expansive and broad immunity, and not liable to any form of arrest.

On the other hand, consular staffers have much more limited immunity, as under Article 41 (1) of the Vienna Conventions on Consular Relations which states:

Consular officers shall not be liable to arrest or detention pending trial, except in the case of a grave crime and pursuant to a decision by the competent judicial authority

There is little doubt that the case is extremely grave and Davis would face a competent judicial authority as applied under this scenario, which is why it is understandable why records are being modified (sloppily) to apply Article 29 rather than Article 41.

Which Convention is appropriate? Let’s see what a couple of experts have been saying. In order to be treated as a diplomat, it is more than just being a staffer at the Embassy. Najmuddin Shaikh, a former Pakistan diplomat and Ambassador, concludes that David would have immunity under Article 29 “only if it was established that his presence in Mozang Chowrangi on that day was in ‘execution of his duties’ and that was something that had to be determined by a court of law.”

Similarly, former British Ambassador and Human Rights Activist Craig Murray concludes that the circumstances surrounding Davis do not allow for diplomatic immunity.

Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) Agent Twist Which Vienna Conventions might apply is likely to be only an academic exercise. More than two weeks ago, the Guardian reported that Raymond is in fact a CIA agent. Once that fact is realized, all the pieces of the puzzle fall nicely into place. There was a reason for the sudden rush to classify Raymond as a Consulate staffer, and then realizing the Vienna issue, there was another mad rush to classify Raymond as an Embassy staffer. All done to protect Raymond’s real identity as a CIA Agent, which of course makes the entire issue of diplomatic protection a moot point, as the Guardian hints:

Based on interviews in the US and Pakistan, the Guardian can confirm that the 36-year-old former special forces soldier is employed by the CIA. “It’s beyond a shadow of a doubt,” said a senior Pakistani intelligence official.

Also, from the same article, we find that unsurprisingly, the US stooges in the Pakistani government were fully aware of Raymond’s CIA status but were complying with “immense pressure” of USA directives to circumvent the entire justice system of Pakistan via the Vienna Conventions.

“Immense pressure” is probably being kind to Pakistani government. What is even more unfortunate is the acquiescence of the US media (such as NY Times) to yield to government requests and hide the information from the US public. By continuing to flout it as a case of Pakistan not complying with international conventions, Pakistan again became the whipping boy in the US media, with continuing negative implications for its public image.

A number of US media outlets learned about Davis’s CIA role but have kept it under wraps at the request of the Obama administration. A Colorado television station, 9NEWS, made a connection… [but] removed the CIA reference from its website at the request of the US government. [Guardian]

Aftermath

Writing for CounterPunch, the journalist Dave Lindorff has written

“in other words, the prosecutorial, police and judicial authorities in Lahore and the state of Punjab are doing exactly what they are supposed to do in holding Davis on murder charges, pending a judicial determination concerning whether or not he can properly claim diplomatic immunity. The US claim that Pakistan is violating the convention is simply nonsense.”

In a strange twist, the US government has also been actively seeking an Islamic shariah-based approach of offering blood-money (diya) to seek Davis’s release! This is especially ironic in light of the laughable and Islamophobic attempts by several states to ban “shariah law”.   Under the principles of Qisas, blood money would be an option, only if the relatives of those murdered accept to forgive the murderer, not FORCED to forgive. The ruling emanates from the Qur’anic verse [2.178] that is a clear evidence of Islam’s emphasis of mercy and life over punishment and death.

In conclusion, Davis needs to be tried by the Pakistani courts. If he escapes prosecution, then there would be no bigger travesty of justice, comparable only to the travesty of Dr. Aafia Siddiqui’s prosecution (persecution) and conviction.  I daresay Davis has a better chance of getting a fair trial in Pakistan than did Aafia in a New York court. While Aafia was sentenced to 86 years in prison for the ATTEMPTED murder of US interrogators in Afghanistan (in the complete absence of any forensic evidence), we have here an unarguable killer who America wants freed under the pretext of conventions it itself routinely flouts as Glenn Greenwald cites. From the same linked article, I’ll leave you with more food for thought from Greenwald, one of the few defenders of truth in the American media:

Those crazy, primitive Pakistanis and their inscrutable Muslim customs.  Scandals over diplomatic immunity are usually one-time, aberrational occurrences…  But what happened in Lahore is part of an ongoing, continuous assault by American forces in that region.  They [Pakistanis] (but not we) hear routinely about the killing of their innocent civilians by Americans in their country.  Why don’t we hear much about such things?  The Guardian article provides some insight: A number of US media outlets learned about Davis’s CIA role but have kept it under wraps at the request of the Obama administration.

That’s our intrepid, independent Watchdog press.  The cost of this conduct is so predictable — intense anti-American sentiment and the threats of Terrorism it produces — that a rational person would have to inquire whether that outcome is not a bug but a feature of our policy in that region.

In other words, American hypocrisy in its foreign affairs only leads to anti-Americanism, which ultimately feeds radicalism that will continue to haunt our nation.

Pakistan arrests another US CIA security contractor

ISI tells American agency to unmask all its covert operatives after arrest of Aaron DeHaven in Peshawar, over visa expiry

Declan Walsh in Islamabad
guardian.co.uk, Friday 25 February 2011

Supporters of the religious party Jamaat-e-Islami rally against CIA employee Raymond Davis, accused of murdering two Pakistanis. Photograph: K.M.Chaudary/AP Pakistani authorities have arrested a US government security contractor amid a worsening spy agency row between the countries, with Pakistani intelligence calling on the Americans to "come clean" about its network of covert operatives in the country.

The arrest came at the start of the murder trial of another American held in Pakistan, the CIA agent Raymond Davis.

Peshawar police arrested Aaron DeHaven, a contractor who recently worked for the US embassy in Islamabad, saying that his visa had expired.

Little was known about DeHaven except that his firm, which also has offices in Afghanistan and Dubai, is staffed by retired US military and defence personnel who boast of direct experience in the "global war on terror".

It was unclear whether his arrest was linked to escalating tensions between the Inter-Services Intelligence and the CIA, triggered by the trial of Davis, who appeared in handcuffs at a brief court hearing in a Lahore jail.

The 36-year-old former special forces soldier, whose status as a spy was revealed by the Guardian, refused to sign a chargesheet presented to him by the prosecution, which says he murdered two men at a traffic junction on January 27.

Davis instead repeated his claim of diplomatic immunity – a claim supported by President Barack Obama, who called him "our diplomat".

The press and public were excluded from the hearing in Kot Lakhpat jail, where Pakistani officials have taken unusual measures to ensure Davis's security amid a public clamour for his execution.

The furore has also triggered the most serious crisis between the ISI and the CIA since the 9/11 attacks. A senior ISI official told the Guardian that the CIA must "ensure there are no more Raymond Davises or his ilk" if it is to repair the tattered relationship of trust.

"They need to come clean, tell us who they are and what they are doing. They need to stop doing things behind our back," he said. There are "two or three score" covert US operatives roaming Pakistan, "if not more", he said.

CIA spokesman George Little said that agency ties to the ISI "have been strong over the years, and when there are issues to sort out, we work through them. That's the sign of a healthy partnership".

Pakistani civilian officials warned that the ISI was amplifying fallout from the Davis crisis through selective media leaks to win concessions from the US.

"They're playing the media; in private they're much more deferential to the Americans," said a senior government official, who added that the two agencies had weathered previous disagreements in private.

The crisis has sucked in the military top brass from both countries. On Tuesday, a Pakistani delegation led by General Ashfaq Kayani met US generals, led by Admiral Mike Mullen, at a luxury resort in Oman to hammer out the issues.

The US stressed that it "did not want the US-Pakistan relationship to go into a freefall under media and domestic pressures", according to an account of the meeting obtained by Foreign Policy magazine.

The ISI official agreed that future co-operation was vital. "They need us; we need them," he said. "But we need to move forward in the right direction, based on equality and respect."

The media furore over Davis has fuelled scrutiny of other American security officials in Pakistan and their visa arrangements, and may have led police to Aaron DeHaven in Peshawar on Friday.

DeHaven runs a company named Catalyst Services which, according to its website, is staffed by retired military and defence department personnel who have "played some role in major world events" including the collapse of the Soviet Union, the military mission to Somalia and the "global war on terror". Services offered include "full-service secure residences", protective surveillance and armed security.

One prospective customer who met DeHaven last year described him as a small, slightly-built man, who wore glasses and had broad knowledge of Pakistani politics. DeHaven said he had lived in Kandahar, Afghanistan, for one year, had married a Pakistani woman along the border with Afghanistan, and spoke Pashto fluently.

He said he moved his base from Peshawar to Islamabad last year over suspicions that he worked for Blackwater, the controversial US military contracting firm.

His business partner is listed on company documents as Hunter Obrikat with an address in Charlotte, North Carolina. The Guardian was unable to contact either men at listed numbers in Pakistan, Afghanistan, the US and Dubai.

US embassy spokeswoman Courtney Beale said DeHaven was "not a direct employee of the US government" but added that details could not be confirmed until a consular officer had met him. The arrest is another sign of brittle relations between the two countries.

US officials in Washington argue that Davis is a registered diplomat who should be immediately released under the provisions of the Vienna convention. But that plea has fallen on deaf ears in Pakistan, where the papers have been filled with lurid accounts of the spy's alleged activities, including unlikely accounts of him working with the Taliban and al-Qaida.

The US has also struck some blows in the covert public relations war. After a lull of three weeks, the CIA restarted its drone campaign in the tribal belt last Monday, with near-daily attacks on militant targets since then. "It's their way of showing who's in charge," said a senior Pakistani official.

And at the Oman meeting, Mullen warned Kayani he would apply "other levers" to the Pakistanis if a solution to the case was not found, the official added.

Since Davis's CIA status was revealed, US officials have told Pakistani officials that their best hope is in offering compensation to the families of the two men Davis shot in Lahore. Religious parties, however, have pressured relatives not to accept money.

Meanwhile, the Zardari government says it will settle the issue of Davis's diplomatic status at a court hearing scheduled for 14 March.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/feb/25/pakistan-arrests-security-contractor-cia

US ‘ready to mend Pakistan ties’

WASHINGTON, Feb 25: The United States has revived high-level diplomatic and military contacts with Pakistan, indicating a desire to put behind the bitterness created by the arrest of a CIA contractor in Lahore, diplomatic sources told.

On Wednesday, when the US and Pakistani military chiefs had a day-long meeting in Oman, Pakistan`s Ambassador Husain Haqqani was invited to the State Department for a formal meeting with Marc Grossman, the new US Envoy for Afghanistan and Pakistan.

During the meeting, the State Department informed the ambassador that Mr Grossman planned to visit Islamabad early next month for exploratory talks with Pakistani leaders.

Although Mr Grossman served in Islamabad from 1976 to 1983, this would be his first visit to the country since his appointment earlier this month as US special representative for the region, replacing the late Richard Holbrooke.

“There`s no severance of relations,” said a diplomatic source while describing the impact of Raymond Davis`s arrest on US-Pakistan ties. “The Americans were still talking to the Pakistanis but almost always focused on the Davis affair.”

In Wednesday`s meeting, the source said, the Americans did not raise this issue. “Instead, they expressed the desire to move ahead with the efforts to build a strategic relationship with Pakistan.”

The source said that while the trilateral — Afghanistan, Pakistan, the US — talks scheduled in Washington this week had been postponed, the strategic dialogue would go ahead as planned.

The US-Pakistan strategic talks were scheduled next month and may still be delayed but would be held “more or less as planned”, the source said. The source confirmed a news report that the Davis dispute had strained relations between the CIA and the ISI but both sides had agreed to mend those ties as well.

“Misunderstandings and suspicions,” said the source while explaining what caused the tensions between the two spy agencies.

“The Pakistanis complained that the Americans were working behind their back, against the spirit of the partnership,” the source added, while “the Americans felt that the ISI was protecting some insurgents”.

In November, WikiLeaks confirmed that large numbers of US special operations forces had been operating inside Pakistan with or without Islamabad`s consent.

The source also confirmed that the Pakistan Embassy had issued thousands of visas to Americans, more than 400 on a single day. “But all those visas were issued with Islamabad`s consent,” said the source.

Fauzia gives short-lived relief to Americans over Davis

ISLAMABAD: It was music to the ears of the US diplomats in Pakistan on Monday afternoon when central secretary information of the ruling Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) who is also spokesperson of the party declared in Karachi that US assassin Raymond Davis, who killed three innocent Pakistani youngsters in Lahore last month, was a diplomat having the blanket of immunity against any criminal proceedings.

The US diplomats who had prior knowledge of the announcement made by the PPP spokesperson took detailed notes of the proceedings of the press conference of the old lady fervently and transmitted it to Washington without wasting a moment.

The press conference was organised hurriedly in Karachi soon after the US ambassador in Pakistan Cameron Munter held a meeting with Foreign Secretary Salman Bashir in Islamabad. The meeting was requested by the US ambassador. The foreign secretary immediately reported the Presidential Palace regarding the briefing given to him by the US envoy since the prime minister was away from the federal capital on a foreign trip.

It is believed that Fauzia Wahab addressed the press conference when President Zardari had received the briefing from the foreign secretary. She pleaded what all being argued by the Americans about Raymond Davis and she also added strength to the case of Washington in the matter just to please them.

The US diplomat took the assertions by the lady as official version of the host government, but their pleasant surprise proved to be short-lived when public opinion turned violent about views expressed by the elderly member of the National Assembly and fear was felt that demonstrations could erupt across the country within no time.

The patriotic circles turned alarmed on the development and the government had to make arrangements on emergency basis for announcing disassociation from the remarks made by Fauzia, who also talked of disciplinary action against former Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi.

The observations made by former federal foreign minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi has pushed the presidency to an extremely awkward position because the tall house has turned up to be the hub of American sympathisers in Pakistan and for the reasons security of the former foreign minister is being enhanced.

Sources told The News that the government was extremely frightened from the acceptance by the masses of the version of the story given by Shah Mahmood Qureshi in the case of Raymond Davis. The government had to withdraw whatever was earlier said by the lady. She was asked to disown the position that was attributed to her on the basis of her statement that she gave while giving reference to a voluminous, but closed book.

“It was my personal opinion,” she explained later. She could not differentiate her official position and her personal opinion. It is believed that her personal opinion is confined to her house kitchen otherwise whatever she will be saying or doing it would be attributed to her party for which she is acknowledged spokesperson. She never said in her press conference called in haste that the observations she was giving were her personal opinion.

The statement of the lady was first disowned on behalf of the government by another lady who is official spokesperson of the government and federal information minister. The denial was further fortified by the press secretary of the president when a strong message from somewhere reached the presidency, the sources added.

By Muhammad Saleh Zaafir
Tuesday, February 15, 2011

Q.) What would happen if Raymond Davis got killed in Pakistani custody?

Lets say Raymond Allen Davis died while he was in the custody of Pakistan's law enforcement agencies.

1. What would happen? What questions would be raised?
2. What would be America's reaction?
3. Will America use this as an excuse to send ground troops in Pakistan?

These are some of the questions that may need to be answered. What do you think can happen if such a thing happens?

Is USA pushing people of Pakistan towards revolt and revolution?

To unjustly protect and save one American Spy / Agent, USA is threatening to sever all ties with Pakistan and cutoff all aid. This is an extremely difficult situation for Pakistan. People saw an American shoot two youths multiple times in broad day light in front of hundreds of people. Pakistanis who are already suspicious of USA's role in terrorists incidents in Pakistan are furious at how a foreigner could so blatantly kill youths and then another vehicle belonging to US Consulate crushed another (third) person and then managed to escape.

US embassy has refused to hand over their employees involved in hit and kill and is refusing to cooperate with the law enforcement agencies.

If the Government of Pakistan sets Raymond Davis free on US insistence then all hell will break lose. People are aware of how spineless their leaders are. With daily CIA managed US drone attacks in the northern parts of the country, bomb blasts and now threats... there is only so much a nation can take.

US must realize that their immature behavior regarding arrest and trial of Raymond Davis can have really dangerous consequences.  Pakistan  is not like Egypt or Tunisia, Pakistan is a nuclear armed country with a highly trained army. Islamic groups and extremism is prevalent here and 60% of the population (total of 180 million) is between 16 to 24 years of age.

If revolt starts here the entire region will be devastated. Is it really worth helping one America killer in exchange of compromising safety and security of thousands?

 

Update: No special privilidges will be given to Raymond Davis in prison. This means he will eatt and drink whatever is given to rest of the prisoners and same prison kind of prison cell  and toilet.