By Saher Baloch
The family of 63-year old Saifullah Paracha were beside themselves with happiness when they got a chance to interact with him for an hour on Thursday night through video teleconferencing at the office of International Committee of Red Cross (ICRC). The reason for their happiness was that this was the first time in the past six-and-a-half years that they have been able to ‘meet’ Paracha, who has been detained at the infamous Guantanamo Bay prison.
Before speaking to the media, Farhat Paracha, wife of the detainee, along with her son Mustafa and daughter Muneeza, could not control her tears. She said she had been waiting to speak to him for so long. “No one can imagine the pain and stress of not knowing how your loved one is coping in odd circumstances.”
When asked that how her husband feeling over there, Farhat said that he’s totally disconnected from the world and yet when his kids ask him about his health he diverts the topic towards them asking about their activities. In a voice choking with pain and anguish, she said that, her husband has suffered two heart attacks last year at Guantanamo, and “I know he’ll never complain but he’s not well. When I said that his living condition is affecting his health, he said that Guantanamo is better then Batagram (Afghanistan) where he spent 15 months before he was shifted to Cuba’s infamous prison.”
While explaining her husband’s ordeal at the Guantanamo, Paracha said that he used to faint during interrogation, “as it was a grueling five to six hour session and I can imagine how tormenting it was for him.” She added that they are cautious when they speak to him and do not discuss any unhappy incident or deaths which have occurred in the family as it will add to his misery rather than give him some relief.
Saifullah Paracha, a textile exporter was arrested from Bangkok in June 2003 on the charges of having terrorist connections and of generously funding extremist organisations, which the family denies vehemently. Following his arrest, his eldest son Uzair,23, was also arrested from New York in a few month’s time.
Crying profusely, Farhat said that it is difficult for her to live without her husband and her eldest son who, she said, will turn 30 in January next year.” We were not in touch with him for two years which almost killed me internally but after a while a monthly call was allowed. Talking about his son Uzair, she said that, earlier they were allowed to speak to him on phone but after a while the authorities refused to allow any calls citing “contradictory numbers” as a reason.
Farhat Paracha said that she does not believe in the present government “as it is caught up in its own issues to worry about any one else.” However she said that she has a lot of faith Obama administration in the United States as “he looks and sounds like a person who is here to serve people.”
The ICRC made a deal with the Guantanamo authorities and other such prison cells to facilitate the families with a chance to speak with their loved ones imprisoned in far off lands. The video teleconferencing has been done twice in Pakistan so far with the help of ICRC. Felix Kugele, Supervisor of the program in Karachi said that ICRC has a background of working in conflict areas and for which the organisation was established in 1863.
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