Free Uzair Paracha

To: President Pervez Musharraf,
President George W. Bush,
US Attorney General John Ashcroft
US Secretary Colin Powell
US Secretary of Defense, Donald Rumsfeld


We, the undersigned, are deeply concerned and opposed to the wrongful detention of Uzair Paracha, a Pakistani national, with permanent residency in the U.S. He has been held at the Metropolitan Detention Centre, Manhattan, since March 2003.

Uzair Paracha is one of approximately fifty material witnesses who have been detained indefinitely in the United States in the past 2 years. He has since been charged on five counts, for providing material support to al-Qaeda, for which he has put in a plea of not guilty. His detention is a violation of amendments VI and VIII of the Bill of Rights, and Articles V-XI of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights most notably Article IX which states, no one shall be subjected to arbitrary arrest, detention or exile.

Civil liberties groups have expressed their concerns about the highly coercive conditions such material witnesses have been subjected to, to the extent that, as a result of such interrogations, they end up confessing to activities they never really took part in (Michael Greenberger, director of the Centre for Health and Homeland Security at the University of Maryland School of Law). We remind you of the number of cases recently where such detainees have confessed to crimes they did not commit, only for their innocence to later be proven, most notably the case of Egyptian student, Abdallah Higazy.

We are also deeply concerned that Mr. Paracha has not been allowed the rights guaranteed to him by the VI Amendment of the Bill of Rights which states that the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial to have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his favour in that he has been denied access to key witnesses in his trial, who his attorneys describe as pivotal for his defence, and whose testimony could establish his innocence. His lawyers fear that his case - where hearings hitherto have been continually postponed, without apparent cause - could be sent on a path to the same legal standoff that has derailed the Moussaoui trial. This is increasingly distressing, given additional delays to an already prolonged, unfair internment could have an adverse effect on his mental health, over which concerns have already been expressed, and cause unnecessary suffering. Such concerns would only be exasperated if he were to be found guilty, given he faces a prison sentence of up to fifteen years.

We urge you to also consider how this compounds the stress and anxiety on his parents, one of whom is himself detained without charge at Bagram Airbase, and both of whom are elderly and suffer from a number of serious medical conditions. Mr. Uzair Paracha was only allowed to see his extended family for the first time after being confined without charge for five months. Since then, although he is permitted to write, he has not seen his immediate family and has been entitled to only two fifteen-minute phone calls to them in the past year.

This is all the more disappointing considering Mr. Paracha had always been an upright, law-abiding citizen, and was a legal resident of the United States for over a decade; a green card holder, and was, at the time of his arrest, legally in the U.S. pursuing a legitimate business venture. His attorneys vouch for Mr. Parachas good character and claim that their client has been manipulated, asserting that there was never any criminal intent behind any association with al-Qaeda members, if the latter can be established.

We urge you to act immediately to ensure that Mr. Paracha is given a fair, just trial, without further delay. We implore you to secure Mr. Parachas constitutional right to call available witnesses of his own choosing and to prevent his trial being unnecessarily prolonged by being denied this right.

We appeal to you to review the current status of Mr. Uzair Paracha. Please ensure that his human rights are respected and that he be granted direct access to his family. We are concerned that in these present circumstances, a grave miscarriage of justice could easily occur. Please ensure that the U.S. and Pakistani Government strengthens, rather than undermines the rule of international law and the standards of justice and decency.