Kenders' Musings

There have been some interesting new developments in the case of the Americans at Pulacharke. The first and the most important one is–that Ed Caraballo was released and walked out of Pulacharke on Sunday afternoon at about 3:00 pm. He went directly to the airport and was sent home. Today, he is here in the United States and is home. So there is one small victory here; one of the Americans was set free.

Another interesting development in this weird saga is the fact that Tolo TV (Afghan News) and many other reports out of Southeast Asia reported that Jack and Brent were also released, which is not the case. They had to back pedal a little bit, because they fully expected Jack and Brent to walk out of Pulacharke at the same time that Ed did. That didn’t happen.

Now I’m not sure of the specifics of the agreement under which Ed left Pulacharke, because I don’t trust the media to tell the truth. Already I’ve noticed some of the obvious spin in the media with regard to their reporting of Ed’s release.

Here are just a few examples.

He said he was freed two months early under a decree issued by the Afghan government for prisoners with less than 12 months left on their sentences.

That’s quite an interesting sentence, because the fact is…the decree issued by the Afghan government for ‘amnesty’ involves terrible crimes, none of which were the crimes that Ed was charged with. In addition, Ed had a longer time to serve even with his reduced sentence than a mere 12 months. So something is quite wrong with this reporting.

Let’s take a look at another one.

He has consistently denied being an active member of Idema’s group and said he believed he was chronicling a legitimate counterterrorism operation when he was arrested.

This is cleverly written, insinuating that Jack’s operation was not legitimate. Apparently people are depending upon what. The denials coming out of Washington, or the lies of known terrorists or Taliban-lovers like Karzai who is releasing and “forgiving” about 200 of them per month? And people wonder why we’re having trouble with the Taliban again. Puhleez.

Parliament signed a release order for all of the members of Task Force Saber, but Karzai required that Jack sign a similar Amnesty agreement as they had offered him three times previously. Jack refused. Then Parliament decided to just release them on Mujahadeen Day (April 28th), the day of Afghan Holy Warriors. The US Embassy promptly stepped in and started lodging “informal” objections to a declaration of innocence, claiming they are all ‘guilty’. Then the Ministry of Justice ordered them all released Sunday morning.

So far it is only confirmed that Caraballo left, and it is confirmed he is home now in the United States.

For those that say they were “convicted” in a “court of law,” just respond with this:

• No sworn witnesses,
• no evidence presented,
• only newspapers articles used as evidence against them,
• no cross-examination,
• a trial which was barely translated with always incorrect translation,
• the defense statement was stopped after ten minutes,
• both defense attorneys were threatened with arrest if they tried to present evidence of actual innocence or complain about the lack of legal rights,
• Afghan lawyers for Bennett and Banderas were threatened with arrest and death if they attempted to defend their clients,
• and only one person in the trial gave a statement under oath (on the Koran), and that was Jack Idema.

And lawyers against Idema in US civil cases are saying they were “convicted by a fair trial”. HA!

Anybody read the applicable Afghan law lately? Well here it is!

Afghan Laws:

RIGHT TO HAVE AN ATTORNEY PRESENT WHEN BEING QUESTIONED.

Att. 38 Interim Criminal Code for Courts (Defence Counsel Presence)

1. The defence counsel has the right to be present at all times during the interrogation of the suspect.

2. The suspect and the defence counsel have the right to be present during searches, confrontations, line-up procedures and expert examinations as well as during the trial.

3. In the investigation phase the Saranwal and the judicial police shall notify the suspect and his defence counsel of searches, confrontations, line-up procedures and expert examinations in order to allow them to be present. This duty can be waived only when there is an urgent need to conduct the said operations, which is defined as when it is a flrgrante delicto crime or there is a fear of the loss of evidential facts.

This most certainly was denied them, because their attorneys didn’t show up until mid-August and they were detained on July 6.

RIGHT TO ABSTAIN FROM MAKING INCRIMINATING STATEMENTS.

Art. 30 Afghan Constitution (Chatper 2, Art. 9) para. 21: Confession to a crime is: a voluntary confession before an authorised court by an accused in a sound state of mind; Art. 5 Interim Criminal Code for Courts (Suspect and Accused):

Art. 30 Afghan Constitution (Chatper 2, Art. 9) para 6. The suspect and the accused have the right to abstain from making any statement even when they are questioned by the relevant police or judicial authorities;

They were tortured in order to extract self-incriminating statements, so this was denied them, also.

RIGHT TO REMAIN SILENT.

7. The police, the Saranwal and the Court are duty bound to clearly inform the suspect and the accused before interrogation and at the time of arrest about his or her right to remain silent, right to representation at all times by defense counsel, and right to be present during searches, line-ups, expert examinations and trial;

Art. 53 Interim Criminal Code for Courts, Item 3g: g. The accused can testify if he does not avail himself of the right to remain silent and the accused or his defense counsel can ask questions to the witnesses and the experts;

This was denied them, ask anyone who listened to Ezmerai’s screams on the streets of Kabul as he was being electrocuted.

RIGHT TO COUNSEL.

Art. 31 Afghan Constitution (Chapter 2, Art. 10) para. 1: Every person upon arrest can seek an advocate to defend his rights or to defend his case for which he is accused under the law. para. 2: the accusation and to be summoned to the court within the limits determined by law. para. 3: In criminal cases, the state shall appoint an advocate for a destitute.

Art. 11 Law on the Structure and Competencies of Courts: Every person upon arrest has the right to appoint a defence counsel to defend himself in regard of the accusation and evidence against him. In criminal cases a defense counsel shall be appoint3ed for destitute persons according to the provision on law;

Bennett’s attorney was threatened to be killed if she went ahead and represented him; etc.

RIGHT TO DEFENDANT/ATTORNEY CONFIDENTIALITY.

Art. 31 Afghan Constitution (Chatper 2, Art. 10) para. 4: The confidentiality of oral, written or telephonic communications between an advocate and his accused client are immune from invasion.

This one is a laugh, since the mail embargo, etc..

RIGHT TO HAVE COUNSEL APPOINTED IF UNABLE TO PAY.

Art 19 Interim Criminal for Courts (Legal Aid) 1. The suspect or the accused financiallly unable to appoint a defense attorney is entitled to have a free defence attorney appointed for him or her in the following manner: a. The investigatin Saranwal or the Court adjudicating the case, on the petition of the person, appoints a defence attorney for the destitute person from amongst the lawyers officially permitted to wok as defence attorney. b. The person for whom an attorney has been appointed reserves the right not to accept the appointed defence attorney and to defend himself in person. c. The fees of the aforesaid attorney shall be paid from the State budget and its extenet shall be fixed by regulation.

RIGHT TO HAVE IMPROPERLY COLLECTED TESTIMONY OR EVIDENCE INVALIDATED.

Article 29 of Afghan Constitution, Para. 1: Any statement, testimony, or confession obtained form an accused or of another person by means of compulsion, is invalid; para 2: Confession to a crime is: a voluntary confession before an authorized court by an accused in a sound state of mind; Interim Criminal Code for Courts, article 5: Their (Suspect and Accused) statements shall be made in condition of absolute moral freedom;

This didn’t happen…

RIGHT TO LAWFUL HANDLING AND COLLECTION OF EVIDENCE.

Art. 7 Interim Criminal Code for Courts; The evidence which has been collected without respect of the legal requirements indicated in the law is considered invalid, and the Court cannot base its judgment on it; Art. 30 Afghan Constitution (Chapter 2, Art. 9) para. 1: Any statement, testimony, or confession obtained from an accused or of another person by means of compulsion, is invalid;

The evidence was stolen from the evidence room and at one point, part of it was returned -destroyed and edited–in front of the MSM and the court, yet nobody reported a word of this.

RIGHT TO TIMELY NOTIFICATION OF CHARGES.

Art 42. Interim Criminal Code for Courts (Preparation of the Trial) 2. The deed concerning the commencement of trial shall fcontain the name of the accused and the indication of the alleged crime with its factual circumstances in reference to the related law provisions and shall be served in the accused and his defence counsel; the victim and the Saranwal at least five days in advance;

Perhaps the charges were told to them when they were playing ‘dance with the scorpion’.

RIGHT TO ACCESS EVIDENCE.

Art 43. Interim Criminal Code for Courts (Access of the Accused to the Findings of the Investigation) 1. The accused and his defence counsel are eneitled to examine the documents contained int he file mentioned in the last paragraph of article 39 (act of indictment, file containing all the deeds formed during the investigations) and the objects under seizure.

Again, this one is a joke considering the house in Kabul was completely cleared out of computers, tapes, and film that could have been used as evidence to support their defense.

RIGHT TO BE PRESENT AT ALL CASE HEARINGS.

Art. 53 Interim Criminal Code for Courts (Conduct of the Hearing) Item 2. The accused and his defence counsel have the right to be present.

3. The Court proceedings are conducted according to following order; a. At the opening of the hearing the Court reads out the act of indictment; (…) g. The accused can testify if he does not avail himself to the right to remain silent and the accused or his defence counsel can ask questions to the witnesses and experts; i. The primary Saranwal and the defence lawyer can ask questions of the accused.

Didn’t happen.

RIGHT TO ADEQUATE TIME TO PREPARE DEFENCE.

Art. 56 Interim Criminal Code for Courts (Concurrent Crimes and Circumstances) 1. If from the deeds of the investigations or during the trial it results that there are alleged additional crimes and/or facts contributing as aggravating circumstances which have not been incluced in the act of indictment, the Court, at the request of the Primary Saranwal, makes the related accusation to the accused and/or to his defence counsel, when present, giving them adequate time to prepare the defence.

Didn’t happen…they were scrambling to put their case together when their evidence was stolen, and the lawyers showed up over a month after their arrest.

RIGHT TO CALL WITNESSES.

Art 51 Interim Code for Courts (Admission of Witnesses and Experts) 1. The Primary Saranwal submits to the Court the list of the witnesses and experts he wants to be heard together with the act of indictment, indicating the reasons of the relevance of their testimony and exams. 2. The accused and/or his defence counsel have the right to present their own lists of witnesses and experts indicating the reasons of the relevance of their testimony and exams. 3. The Court can exclude those witnesses or experts that in its view do not appear material for the adjudication of the case.

Weren’t allowed to call witnesses.

RIGHT TO BE PRESENT DURING DEPOSITIONS.

Art. 55 Interim Criminal Coce for Courts (Evidentiary Value of Investigative Activities)

1. The reocrs of the testimonies of the witnesses as well as of the expert exam, collected during the investigative phase, can have the value of evidence as basis for the decision only if it results that the accused and/or his defence counsel were present during the operations and were in a position to raise questions and make objections.

2. Otherwise the related deeds have the sole value of clues.

RIGHT TO CONFRONT AND QUESTION ACCUSORS.

Art 14 International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights: 3. In the determination of any criminal charge against him, everyone shall be entitled to the following minimum guarantees, in full equality: (e) To examine, or have examined, the witnesses against him and to obtain the attendance and examination of witnesses on his behalf under the same conditions as witnesses against him;

Art 31 Afghan Constitution (Chapter 2, Art 10) para. 2: The accused upon arrest has the right to be informed of the attributed accusation and to be summoned to the court within the limits determined by law.

RIGHT TO HAVE ADEQUATE TRANSLATIONS.

Art 135 Afghan Constitution (Chapter 7, Art. 20): If parties involved in a case do not know the language in which the trial is conducted, they have the right to understand the material and documents related to the case through an interpreter and the right to speak in their mother language in the court.

Art 20 Interim Criminal Code for Courts (Interpreter) 1. The suspect or the accused who does not know the language used during the investigations and the trials or who is deaf, dumb or deaf and dumb shall be given an interpreter for, at least, explaining to him the charge and the indictment and for assisting him during the interrogations and confrontations. Art 14 International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights

3. In the determination of any criminal charge against him, everyone shall be entitled to the following minimum guarantees, in full equality: a. To be informed promptly and in detail in a language which he understands of the nature and cause of the cahrge against him; f. To have the free assistance of an interpreter if he cannot understand or speak the language used in court;

And that is AFGHAN LAW. Should I continue with the Department of State’s Foreign Affairs Manual and the Policy Defining FAM as the documentary and evidentiary basis for all State Department operations? Perhaps I will, in another post, for simpletons like Kathryn Cramer, who in my opinion, doesn’t take a ‘deep dive’ on anything and would prefer instead the Dr. Suess version.

Clearly if you have any of this documentation sitting in front of you and have knowledge of what happened in this case (like a lot of the journalists who had front row seats and paid to see the court documents when that privilege was denied the defense), you would know that policy, procedure and law (Afghan and American and International) were completely thrown out the window in the case of Jack Idema and the other two Americans, Brent Bennett and Ed Caraballo. So if that is the case, then under what Afghan law were they declared guilty when the evidence was stolen, they didn’t have representation until mid-August, and were immediately tortured upon their ‘arrest’–and they had a soviet interpreter and didn’t understand what was going on half the time, the interpreter was intentionally mis-interpreting what was being said and interjecting his own bias into the proceedings, and the sitting judges were members of the Taliban–ideological brothers to the terrorists the Americans supposedly tortured– that were set free and who later participated in a bombing at Bagram AFB?

None of the terrorists who claimed they were ‘hung from the ceiling’ in the ‘basement’ - ever swore on the Koran, and any muslim knows that means they were lying.

And here’s more proof of that:

Actually, Cao, you might be the first person to be able to wade through the bullshit and publish the facts. They were terrorists, they got caught, Idema caught them, and then they lied. Like, here’s a good one: the terrorists were supposed to be hanging upside down in a basement. Problem was there was no basement in the house, I know, I sent a team there to photograph it. Nor has ONE piece of evidence ever been shown against them- Just anonymous sources who have all either dissapeared or been identified, and now fired.

Good job, keep it up, and never let them see you sweat.

Comment by Command Sergeant Major Donald

So for the people who are stupid enough to say something like “The Superpatriots were convicted under Afghan law…” Puhleez. Stick a sock in it.

We will continue to blog about this until their release, and I have some definite questions to ask the American government and the people involved, how this could have ever have happened to Americans in a foreign country to begin with.

The most important thing we should push for is a CONGRESSIONAL INVESTIGATION.

So what can we do? Well, anyone reading this with their own blog can sign up for the weekly Free Jack Idema Blogburst by emailing Cao or Rottweiler Puppy for details. I’d urge everyone to do this, as we’re still terribly short on takers. If you want to know more about the story, Cao’s Blog has a large section devoted to Jack Idema. There’s also a timeline here, and, of course, a huge amount of information is available over at SuperPatriots, without whose work none of us would have learned about Jack’s story.

You can also contact the following people and make your feelings known:

Secret US EMBASSY Fax: – 301-560-5729 (Local US Fax: Goes RIGHT TO Ambassador)
c/o US Ambassador Ronald Neuman
6180 Kabul Place
Dulles, VA 20189-6180

US Consul Russell Brown – 011-93-70201908 (Fired)

US Consul Addie Harchik- 011-93-70201908 (denied them water and mail at Thanksgiving)

US Embassy Translator Wahid – new – 011-93-70201902

US Embassy Translator Bashir Momman– 011-93-70201923

US Consul (friend of Jack’s Now fired) Dawn Schrepel– 011-93-70201908

Embassy of Afghanistan (Good guys, Northern Alliance)
2341 Wyoming Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20008
Ph: 202-483-6410, Fax: no. 202-483-6488

Ambassador Massoud Khalili (wounded with Massoud)
Islamic State of Afghanistan
Embassy of Afghanistan
New Delhi, India

H.E. Said Tayeb JAWAD (Afghan Ambassador- powerful in US)
Embassy of Afghanistan in Washington
2341 Wyoming Avenue, N.W.
Washington, D.C. 20008
Tel: (+1-202) 483 6414
Fax: (+1-202) 483 9523

Mr. Jahed Hamrah, Consul General (pro-Taliban)
CONSULATE GENERAL OF
AFGHANISTAN IN NEW YORK
360 Lexington Avenue,
11th Floor New York,
New, York, NY 10017
Tel.: (+1-212) 972 2276 or 972 2277
Fax: (+1-212) 972 9046

Honorable Donald H. Rumsfeld
Secretary of Defense
1000 Defense Pentagon – Room # 3E880
Washington, DC 20301-1000
Ph: (703) 692-7100
Fax: (703) 697-9080

Lt General William Boykin
Deputy Undersecretary
of Defense for Intelligence
1800 Defense Pentagon – Room # 3E836
Washington, DC 20301
Ph: (703) 697-0170
Private Fax: (703) 697-9080

Stephen Cambone
Principle Deputy Secretary for Intelligence
1800 Defense Pentagon – Room # 3E
Washington, DC 20310-0100

General Peter J. Shoomaker
Chief of Staff, Department of the Army
200 Army Pentagon – Room # 3E528
Washington, DC 20310-0200
Ph: (703) 695-2077 / Fax: (703) 614-5268

The Honorable John D. Negroponte
Director National Intelligence
New Executive Office Building
725 17th Street, N.W., Room 4203
Washington, DC 20503

The Committee
On Homeland Security
U.S. House of Representatives
Washington, DC 20515

Chairman Peter Hoekstra
Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence
H-405, U.S. Capitol
Washington, DC 20515-6415;
Office: (202) 225-4121 / Fax: (202) 225-1991
Toll Free: (877) 858-9040

M. Cherif BASSIOUNI
Independent Expert of the Commission on Human Rights
On the Situation of Human Rights in Afghanistan
Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights
UNOG-OHCHR
CH-1211 Geneva 10
Ph: +41(0)22 917 97 27 Fax: +41(0)22 917 90 18
Email

Senator Steven Saland (Jack’s Rep and Neighbor)
9 Jonathan Lane
Poughkeepsie, NY 12603

Senator Elizabeth Dole (Jack’s Rep)
United States Senate
310 New Bern Avenue, Suite 122
Raleigh, NC 27601
Ph: 919.856.4630
Fax: 919.856.4053

Senator Elizabeth Dole (Jack’s Rep)
United States Senate
555 Dirksen Office Building
Washington, DC 20510
Ph: 202.224.6342
Fax: 202.224.1100

Senator Richard Burr (of Interest)
United States Senate
217 Russell Senate Office Building
Washington, DC 20510
Phone: (202) 224-3154 / Fax: (202) 228-2981

Senator Bill Nelson (in the fight on Jack’s Side)
United States Senate
Hart Senate Office Building
Room 716
Washington, DC 20510
Phone: 202-224-5274 / Fax: 202-228-2183
FL Fax 407-872-7165

Senator Dianne Feinstein (Bennett’s Representative)
United States Senate
Hart Office Building, Room 331
Washington, D.C. 20510
(202) 224-3841

Representative Mike McIntyre (Jack’s Representative)
United States Congress
2437 Rayburn House Office Building
Washington, DC 20515
Phone: (202) 225-2731 / Fax (202) 225-5773

Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger (reference Captain Bennett- CA citizen)
State Capitol Building
Sacramento, CA 95814
Phone: 916-445-2841 / Fax: 916-445-4633

Finally, PLEASE NOTE: The SuperPatriots and Jack images on this site are used with WRITTEN COPYRIGHT PERMISSION and any use by any third party is subject to legal action by SuperPatriots.US

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