KARACHI, 25 February 2006 — Farhat Paracha is the wife of a man who is thousands of kilometers away on an island in the Caribbean. He’s not on vacation, or on the lam; he is one of the estimated 500 detainees being held in an offshore prison in Cuba controlled by the US military. They are being held there in order to skirt legal protections these prisoners would have if they were held in the United States.
Saifullah Paracha, a business executive involved in the textile industry, went missing after boarding a Bangkok-bound flight from Karachi, Pakistan, on July 5, 2003. Saifullah was on his way to a meeting with his American business partner Charles Anteby and executives representing the US retail chain K-Mart. Anteby had arranged for a car to pick up Saifullah at the airport. But Saifullah never arrived.
It took days for his family to discover that Saifullah had indeed been on that Bangkok-bound flight. It took longer to get the full story, but Farhat immediately suspected the worst. In March, only four months earlier, the FBI picked up Uzair Paracha, her son, in New York. Uzair is still in US custody in New York facing charges of assisting Al-Qaeda operatives in entering the US and providing other material support. The charges allegedly stem from interrogations of Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, the suspected mastermind of the Sept. 11 attacks also in US custody.
Uzair had only been in the US for less than three month before being arrested. He was escorted from his small corner desk in Anteby’s New York office. Uzair was trying to start a real estate business, selling property in Pakistan to nationals living and working in the US.
Saifullah’s fate eventually came to light: The FBI picked him up at the Bangkok airport as he stepped off the plane. He was whisked away to Kabul, Afghanistan for 15 months of interrogation. He was then transferred to Guantanamo.
In an exclusive interview with Arab News, Farhat describes the ordeal her family (and her husband, whom she calls Saif) has undergone in the global war on terrorism:
Q. What has Saifullah been charged with?
A. He has been linked to Al-Qaeda and is accused of agreeing to assist Al-Qaeda associates to enter the US. There have been many other charges against him, some of which seem so ridiculous in a very tragic way.
Q. Your son was arrested in NYC in March 2003, before your husband. On what grounds was he arrested? Did the family protest at that time and to whom?
A. My son, Uzair, was arrested in NYC on March 28, 2003, before my husband. Two FBI agents, in the presence of Charles Anteby, in whose office Uzair sat since he did not have his own office, took Uzair. A corner table, a telephone and a computer were all he had. The FBI agents took Uzair not in handcuffs, but walked him out saying he was needed as a material witness. At that time, we had no idea what a material witness was. We looked it up on the Internet and found that this could mean he has been arrested or that he’s simply being questioned — a double-edged sword. After three days of questioning over the weekend, Uzair, who had barely turned 23 in January, must have been overwhelmed by three grown people constantly on his back, questioning him about things he hardly knew about, strip-searching him and God knows what else. According to his statement in court under oath, he told the judge that he had lied to the FBI (which was not under oath) because he was scared of what they would do to him and that he wanted to go home.
It has been three years since I last saw him and more than eight months when I talked to him for 15 minutes in English in a very formal tone. He does not seem to be the same person I left. I demand to get what was taken from me forcefully.
Q. After four months your husband was arrested. After his partner arranged for a meeting in Bangkok, how much did you rely on Charles Anteby?
A. On the night of July 5, 2003, Charles coerced Saif into traveling to Bangkok for a business meeting with K-mart. Saif arranged for a ticket but was refused because he now needed a visa, which he could not get in the required time. Charles insisted on him being there and said he would wait for him if need be. I remember overhearing on the phone that Saif was quite perturbed at Charles insistence and that he had managed many such meetings on his own. Charles hand wrote a letter on Shangri-la Hotel letterhead and sent it to the Karachi Thai Consulate; Saif was issued a visa so that he could be able to make the Saturday night flight for the Monday morning meeting. I had met his wife many times when she visited Pakistan. There was no animosity between us at all. But Charles did owe Saif a lot of money, which came to hundreds of thousands of dollars. He also owes money to other companies in Pakistan. Charles and Saif had been partners for a long time and though this partnership was bumpy at times, it was never too bad.
Q. What is the recent development in the case?
A. Through the good offices of the Center of Constitutional Rights, which I believe consists of people, who are aware of what nonsense is going on in this world, Mr. G. T. Hunt, a gem of a man was put through to us through Priti Patel of the CCR. Mr. Hunt has been trying hard to help my husband get justice.
Q. Has Charles ever offered help in clearing the names of your husband and son? Who is managing your business in their absence in NYC?
A. I have filed a case against him in the district court of Sindh, against the overdue amounts. Charles had sent me hate mails when I did not even know where my husband was and this added to my mistrust about him.
Q. It was reported in the media that your husband was a well-known activist; could you tell more about his work?
A. I do not agree with the media’s meaning of activist. He was not a militant. The only motive I believe he had was to bring improvement in society. He did social work, the kind that helps people in need and to make them self-sufficient. This was done privately as well as with other social organizations.
Q. What was your husband’s character like? What qualities did he have?
A. My husband is a very generous, tolerant, easy-going, God-fearing and honest person.
Our business has suffered immensely due to my husband’s sudden disappearance. One of our main businesses, International Merchandise Pvt. Ltd., has been shut down as a consequence. Please take up this matter however possible and help bring back my husband and my son to me.