Global Issues
PAKISTAN: Killer Sets Off National Introspection
The United States is putting pressure on Pakistan to release jailed American Raymond Davis, who has confessed to killing two men. But some Pakistanis want their government to demand concessions from the U.S. in exchange for Davis's freedom.
'For a change, stand up for the people, there is so much to get from this tragic episode,' said Fauzia Siddiqi, sister of Aafia Siddiqi, who is serving an 86-year prison sentence in the U.S for shooting a U.S. soldier in Afghanistan.
A prisoner swap - Davis in exchange for Siddiqi - is just one of the demands that have been made in the face of U.S. pressure. 'If I were the president or the prime minister, I’d tell the United States that we were willing to let go of Raymond Davis on the condition that they compensate the families of the deceased amply, stop drone attacks in our tribal region and return Aafia to us,' said an emotional Siddiqi.
Davis, 36, was arrested Jan. 27 after he confessed to the killings in daylight in a busy market square in the eastern city Lahore.
Davis invoked self-defence, saying the two men were trying to rob him. A third man was hit and killed by a U.S. consulate car rushing to Davis's rescue and driving on the wrong side of a one-way road. The consulate has not handed over either the vehicle or the killers of the third Pakistani, a young motorcyclist.
Pakistanis have taken to the streets demanding that Davis be hanged over the killings. But the U.S government says Davis is a diplomat entitled to 'full immunity from criminal prosecution' and therefore must be released according to the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations 1961, of which Pakistan is a signatory.
There has been immense diplomatic pressure on the government to free Davis, with talk of a probable cut in U.S. financial aid and the danger of a head-on diplomatic row. On Feb 15, Senator John Kerry visited Pakistan promising the government Davis would be subjected to a criminal trial in the U.S. if released.
President Barrack Obama himself weighed in, saying, 'We expect Pakistan…to abide by the same convention.' He also stressed that the U.S. was not 'callous' to the loss of lives, but that it would be untenable if diplomats were prosecuted.
But the Lahore High Court (LHC) is not about to let Davis walk free just yet. Chief Justice Ijaz Ahmed Chaudhry had ruled, 'Whether (Davis) has or does not have (diplomatic) immunity will be decided by the court.' While the court has adjourned hearings till March 14, it has directed the government to keep Davis in the country.
Pakistan foreign minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi, before stepping down from his post last week, said Davis did not qualify for blanket immunity.
Rejecting the ministry’s claim, U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Philip J. Crowley said, 'He does have diplomatic immunity.'
But why is Davis so important that even the U.S. President wants him released and is willing to risk angering Pakistan, its ally in the war on terror?
The domestic media is rife with allegations Davis is a spy. Najam Sethi, a senior journalist, said in a television show that there are at least 60 to 70 other Davises lurking in Pakistan with the full knowledge of Pakistani intelligence and the government.
According to Sethi, it is important for the U.S. to handle this case with care as it will prove to be a yardstick of how other Davises, if caught in a similar jam, are to be handled.
Many like Naeem Sadiq, a Karachi-based businessman and a peace advocate, believe Davis was 'responsible for coordinating some critical operations relating to espionage and militancy,' and thus the U.S. government must be worried about information leaking out.
Sadiq also believes the 'leadership' had a 'deep role' to play in this 'mischief'.
These possibilities are consistent with what the U.S. has been doing in countries like Iraq prior to 'direct militancy', reflects Sadiq. He hopes 'all such people are identified and sent back.'
The Davis case has become a flashpoint for anti-U.S. sentiment. The tactics the U.S. employed to secure his release have made the struggling democracy and the ruling Pakistan People’s Party more unsure where to run to for succor.
'Pakistanis feel used, and this may prove to be the proverbial straw that broke the camel's back,' said Yasmeen Ali, who teaches law at Beaconhouse University in Lahore and runs a blog called Pakpotpourri.
'The popular uproar on this issue is good for many reasons,' says lawyer Syed Shahzad Akbar. Last December, Akbar helped serve notice to the CIA on behalf of some tribal people whose families were killed by the drone attacks.
'We need to handle our problems ourselves; we cannot have another country’s spies roaming free here and especially no private contractors. The popular sentiments are good as the government can tell the U.S. that they cannot do what it wishes because the people would not allow it,' said Akbar.
© Inter Press Service (2011) — All Rights Reserved. Original source: Inter Press Service