Or How I Learned to Stop Worrying

Convicted murderer Mohiuddin AKM Ahmed was deported from the United States and arrived in Bangladesh today. Mohiuddin’s arrival in Bangladesh was front page news in every Bangladeshi paper:

After leading a fugitive life of nine years in the United States Lt Col (retd) Mohiuddin Ahmed, a killer of the founding father of Bangladesh, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, was brought back to Dhaka yesterday from Los Angeles, as a US court rejected his appeal to stay.

Col Mohiuddin, one of 12 former army officers given death sentence for assassinating Sheikh Mujib and his family on August 15, 1975 through a bloody coup, was deported by the U.S. Homeland Security after a district court in California turned down his last appeal on June 14.

All the killers left Bangladesh after the coup and were absorbed in Bangladesh missions abroad following an understanding with the post ‘75 regimes.

Mohiuddin, 60, was a major at the time of the coup when most members of Sheikh Mujib’s family were killed and his three and half year old elected government was toppled.

Mohiuddin was tried in absentia and sentenced to death in 1998 during the second Awami League (AL) government led by Mujib’s daughter Sheikh Hasina, who was its Prime Minister.

While serving as a Bangladeshi diplomat in a Middle-Eastern country, Mohiuddin entered the United States on a visitor’s visa in 1996. Since then, he has fought a long legal battle to stay in the U.S.A.

Of the convicts, only four Lt Col (Retd) Syed Farooq Rahman, Lt Col (Retd) Sultan Shahriar Rashid Khan, Lt Col (retd) Mohiuddin and Maj (retd) Bazlul Huda are behind the bar. Aziz Pasha died in Zimbabwe, two are living in Canada, the remaining persons, including Lt Col Rashid are reportedly living in unknown places outside Bangladesh.

The death sentence against the convicts has not yet been executed as their appeals are still pending before the Supreme Court.

Mohiuddin was flown in to Zia International Airport at about 12:18 noon by a Thai airplane (TG-321) from Los Angeles. Two officials of the US Homeland Security escorted him to the airport. The US officials handed him to the airport immigration. They left Dhaka for Bangkok by the return flight at 1:20pm.

Airport Thana police arrested the repatriated convict under Section 54 of the CrPc on his return. Clad in bulletproof jacket and helmet in his head, he was whisked in a convoy to the Chief Metropolitan Magistrate (CMM) court amidst foolproof security at about 1:35pm.

Police produced him in the court of Magistrate Shafique Anwar along with a report. The report reads: Mohiuddin is a condemned fugitive in the case of assassination of Sheikh Mujib on August 15, 1975. The case was filed with Dhanmondi police station in 1996.

The court was also informed that he was also an absconding accused in the Jail Killing Case filed with Lalbagh thana in 1975 as well as in Abdur Rab Serniabat Killing Case filed with Ramna thana in 1996.

After hearing the case statements, the court ordered that Mohiuddin be sent to Dhaka Central Jail with “custody warrant”. He was put behind bar at Dhaka central jail at about 2:00pm.

Mohiuddin was deported after a District Court judge in California denied his last minute petition for a stay of deportation [Click here to view the judge’s decision.]. Mohiuddin was scheduled to be deported on June 2nd after losing his final appeal with the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals but filed a Habeas Corpus petition with the District Court in Central California on June 1st citing Congressman Jim McDermott’s private bill that aimed to give Mohiuddin a green card. The judge temporarily stayed his deportation until he had a chance to rule. Mohiuddin’s lawyers had contended "not only that the government’s execution of his removal order was improper, but also that on June 1, 2007, which was during Congress’ Memorial Day recess, staff members of the Department of Homeland Security ( "DHS" ) had misled congressional staff as to when Petitioner would be deported, thereby depriving him of the possibility that Members could intervene on his behalf." 

The judge (1) denied Mohiuddin’s claim that DHS misled Congress and as a consequence he was deprived possibility of relief, and (2) dismissed Mohiuddin’s claim that the government’s execution of the deportation order was improper.

On the second claim, that the deportation was improper, the judge ruled he had no jurisdiction to hear a challenge to a deportation order.

On the first claim, that DHS lied to or misled Congress, the judge ruled that Mohiuddin’s argument does not prevail on the merits. The judge wrote in his decision:

 As the government notes, Petitioner presents only extraordinarily thin evidence that DHS misled congressional staffers concerning the timing of his removal. His evidence is a declaration from an associate of his lawyer…

…even Petitioner himself acknowledges that some congressional staffers were told he could be deported at any time, and others were told his departure was imminent. Because both statements were true, Petitioner’s own evidence demonstrates it is virtually impossible that DHS misled congressional staffers at all, except on the remote possibility that some were intentionally kept out of the loop.

Moreover, contrary to Petitioner’s representation at the first oral argument, the Court has received no declarations from staffers or Members of Congress indicating they were misled.

…

Finally, even if a misrepresentation occurred, and even if it prevented congressional action that otherwise could have occurred, any injury that might have occurred has been mooted by this Court’s stays for further briefing. Because the House Judiciary Committee enacted its rules on June 6, 2007, it has now had a full week in which to act - with full knowledge of Petitioner’s predicament - but has declined to do so. Thus, Petitioner can hardly argue that any harm created by a misrepresentation remains ongoing.

The Court remains firm in this conclusion even after Petitioner’s contention at the second oral argument that "Congress is like the Titanic" and takes so much time to act that any misrepresentation could continue to prejudice Petitioner even now by delaying relief. Petitioner cannot have it both ways. He cannot claim that Congress could have been nimble enough to have helped him at the eleventh hour but for a DHS lie, but at the same time too sluggish to help him with a week’s notice.

Thus, for each reason set forth above, the Court concludes that Petitioner has no claim based on a misrepresentation from DHS to congressional staff.

The District Court judge did not accept Mohiuddin’s claim that DHS had tried to mislead Congress. Last week a Canadian reporter had written that it was the judge himself who "charged the Department of Homeland Security with misleading Congress, particularly those members fighting the deportation order."  This report that the judge had "charged" DHS with misleading Congress was repeated by other news organizations. It turns out, from the judge’s ruling, that the "charge" came from Mohiuddin, and not from the judge. In fact, the judge found that Mohiuddin’s claim was "extraordinarily thin".

 Thus ended Mohiuddin’s efforts to fight deportation. His 9 years in the United States as a fugitive from justice has now come to an end.

Mohiuddin’s return to Bangladesh is not a moment for celebration, but one of reflection. There is no joy in seeing murderers taken into custody - only sadness that the murders occurred. Justice has been delayed in this case, but nonetheless, it has now arrived. It is a solemn reminder of the frailty of human life and the capacity of some to take it with such ease.

Now Mohiuddin faces justice for murders he committed nearly 32 years ago. Mohiuddin’s return to Bangladesh is an important event in Bangladesh’s history. It is one important step in bringing to closure the national upheaval that began on August 15, 1975. One by one the killers of 1975 who had enjoyed impunity for so many years are being brought to justice.

With their return to Bangladesh comes tremendous responsibility on the shoulders of the current Bangladeshi government. It is the responsibility of being just in the execution of justice. Mohiuddin was successfully returned to Bangladesh because the US courts were confronted with overwhelming evidence from Mohiuddin’s trial. The US courts were able to satisfy themselves that the trial in Bangladesh was free and fair and that Mohiuddin had received due process. If his trial had been a show trial, his return to Bangladesh would not have occurred. Mohiuddin’s deportation demonstrates very clearly the importance of fair trials and due process. Now that Mohiuddin is in Bangladeshi custody, the current government needs to ensure that Mohiuddin’s remaining appeals to the Supreme Court of Bangladesh are handled as transparently as his trial in 1997. Mohiuddin received due process and a deliberate consideration of his petitions in the United States - that deliberate process must continue in Bangladesh.

In May of this year Congressman Jim McDermott made a speech in the House of Representatives. It was entitled "The Terrorist We Caught But Won’t Prosecute". In it he demanded that the Bush Administration hand over a terrorist caught on immigration charges to face his conviction in Cuba and Venezuela. He said:

Mr. Speaker, next week Luis Carriles is scheduled to stand trial for allegedly lying to immigration authorities when he entered the United States 2 years ago.

Most Americans have probably never heard of Carriles, but everyone should know the real case against him because it shows the double standard of the Bush administration and its so-called commitment to fight terrorism.

Carriles is being prosecuted for an immigration violation in America, but he has been convicted in other nations for acts of terrorism, including the downing of a commercial Cuban airliner over 30 years ago that killed 33 innocent people. He is a wanted international fugitive. The Bush administration knows this, but instead of turning Carriles over to the sovereign Governments of Cuba or Venezuela, as they have asked, we are going to get him on an immigration violation. [Emphasis added by me.]

You will note that this is the same Congressman who, again in May of this year, introduced a private bill in Congress, HR 2181, to give a green card to Mohiuddin AKM Ahmed, an international fugitive who has been convicted of murder in Bangladesh, with overwhelming evidence, and who has lost all his appeals in front of US courts and has been found to be involved in terrorist activity by the US 9th Circuit Court of Appeals. The Department of Homeland Security was all set to deport, or as the congressman puts it - was about to turn over Mohiuddin to the sovereign government of Bangladesh - until McDermott introduced his private bill in Congress.

In the case of Mohiuddin, the Congressman was ready to substitute his judgment over the judgment of multiple US courts, the US State Department, the Department of Justice, the Department of Homeland Security, the Bangladesh justice system, and the historical documentation. Congressman McDermott succeeded in postponing Mohiuddin’s deportation by one week. However, this week a District Judge once again ruled against Mohiuddin in his bid to try to use the private bill to stay the deportation. Once again Mohiuddin’s deportation appears imminent.

It is ironic that Jim McDermott should be talking about double standards.

Last week I wrote a brief post about Congressman Jim McDermott’s introduction of a private bill, H.R. 2181, that aims to give a green card to convicted terrorist Mohiuddin AKM Ahmed. Today the leading Bangladeshi English language newspaper, The Daily Star, published an op-ed written by me about Congressman McDermott’s private bill.

The op-ed is reprinted below:

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Congressman McDermott’s support for Mohiuddin
Mashuqur Rahman

On May 31, the US 9th Circuit Court of Appeals issued the mandate that ended convicted killer AKM Mohiuddin Ahmed’s asylum appeals and made him deportable from the United States. However, the long saga has moved from the courts to the political arena after a congressman introduced a private bill to issue Mohiuddin a green card.

The rationale presented in the bill needs discussion both in the United States and Bangladesh; and it is time to explore whether the United States government should be actively sheltering a convicted murderer.

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) was set to deport Mohiuddin to Bangladesh on or around June 2. However, Mohiuddin’s lawyers managed to get a temporary stay of deportation from a lower court judge until Tuesday, June 5. A US District Court judge has scheduled a hearing for Tuesday June 5 to consider a stay of deportation.

The hearing will not reconsider the asylum case since the lower court does not have jurisdiction and cannot overrule the Court of Appeals decision. Mohiuddin’s lawyers have, instead, asked the District Court to consider whether Mohiuddin could be deported while there was a private bill on his behalf pending in the US Congress.

On May 3, while the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals was still considering Mohiuddin’s last petition, a Democratic congressman from Washington State, Jim McDermott, introduced a private bill in the US House Judiciary Committee on his behalf. A private bill is a rare legislative procedure in the United States used to pass a law that benefits only one person rather than a class of individuals.

Private bills are sometimes used in immigration cases by members of Congress to grant relief to individuals who, because of an unusual set of circumstances, may be facing deportation from the country. For example, they are sometimes used to give relief to family members who would otherwise be separated if one member were to be deported, causing severe hardship to the rest.

Private bills rarely become laws. To become a law, the bill must first be passed by the US House Judiciary Committee, then by the US House of Representatives, then by the US Senate, and finally must be signed into law by the president of the United States.

The private bill introduced by congressman McDermott, known as H.R. 2181, aims to help Mohiuddin in a number of ways. First, it aims to stay the deportation order against him indefinitely. Second, it aims to release him from custody and bars the DHS from deporting him to Bangladesh, or to any country that has an extradition treaty with Bangladesh.

Third, it aims to grant a green card to Mohiuddin, which would allow him to get preferential treatment before all other green card applicants from Bangladesh. It also aims to grant him the card by reducing the number of green cards available to other Bangladeshis by one. Finally, it states that Mohiuddin will be allowed to seek asylum in any foreign country of his choosing.

Congressman McDermott’s bill also makes some extraordinary "findings." The bill claims that Mohiuddin is an "innocent Bangladeshi citizen." It also claims that the Bangladesh court "erroneously convicted Mr. Ahmed of murder and sentenced him to death." It further claims that the trial and conviction are "sufficiently suspect as to warrant the immediate intervention" by the US government to prevent his deportation.

However, the claims in the bill directly contradict the ruling of the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals. In its decision denying Mohiuddin’s petition the court wrote: "Ahmed failed to prove by a preponderance of the evidence that his in absentia murder trial and conviction in Bangladesh was fundamentally unfair and, thus, deprived him of due process of law. Therefore, the IJ properly relied on the conviction." Mohiuddin failed to convince the US court that his trial was unfair.

The court did not find that Mohiuddin was "erroneously convicted," or that the trial was "sufficiently suspect." It felt that it was proper to rely on the conviction in the Bangladeshi court.

Therefore, the congressman’s claim that Mohiuddin is an "innocent Bangladeshi citizen" is not supported by the facts, and is also not something that Mohiuddin was able to convince any court of.

Furthermore, the US State Department has stated that Mohiuddin"s trial — a high profile trial observed by the world community and human rights organizations — followed due process.

The bill also claims that Mohiuddin was merely manning a roadblock on August 15, 1975, and that he "had no knowledge of, nor did he support, the violent coup that erupted that night."

Again, this claim in the bill directly contradicts the 9th Circuit’s ruling. In the ruling the court wrote: "Ahmed is ineligible for asylum and withholding of removal for two reasons:

• Because he engaged in terrorist activity,
• Because he assisted or otherwise participated in the persecution of others on account of their political opinion. Even his own account of his actions established that he assisted or otherwise participated in the persecution of persons on account of their political opinion."
  Perhaps the most inexplicable part of the bill is its reference to the Indemnity Act. The bill states "…when Sheikh Hasina Wajed, daughter of the assassinated prime minister, came to power, and then broke her promise to respect the Bangladeshi constitutional amendment which provided immunity to officers involved in the 1975 coup. Rather, Sheikh Hasina Wajed orchestrated the repeal of the constitutional amendment."

The congressman, in the bill, seems to be advocating immunity for the murderers of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and his family. It is difficult to understand why a US congressman would suggest that repealing of a grant of immunity to murderers of children and pregnant women should be called into question.

Congressman McDermott’s bill is based on false or misleading information. It claims as facts the many arguments Mohiuddin and his supporters have been publicly making, but failed to prove them in US courts of law where facts and evidence count.

By introducing the private bill, congressman McDermott has staked his reputation on the word of a convicted murderer who has been found to engage in terrorist activity by US courts of law.

At a time when the United States is engaged in a global war on terror, a Congressional intervention on behalf of an individual deemed to have engaged in terrorist activity is an extraordinary step.

Given the political sensitivity of the bill, and its awkward position within the war on terror, it is highly unlikely that the bill will ever become law. However, for Mohiuddin to get a stay of deportation the bill does not have to become law.

If the House Immigration Subcommittee takes up the bill and requests a report from the US immigration authorities, it would result in a stay of deportation. All indications are that the Subcommittee has not taken up Mohiuddin’s private bill — if it had, a stay of deportation would have already occurred.

Without such action it will be an uphill battle for Mohiuddin’s lawyers to convince the judge at Tuesday’s hearing to order a stay of deportation. It is almost a certainty that the subcommittee chairwoman will be lobbied hard on behalf of Mohiuddin in the coming days.

Having lost his asylum bid in the US courts, Mohiuddin is now appealing to American politicians to continue to evade justice. American politicians, such as congressman Jim McDermott, are now confronted with a choice between the rule of law and the word of a convicted killer.

By introducing the private bill on behalf of Mohiuddin congressman McDermott may have bought Mohiuddin a few more days of evading justice. But at what cost?

Mashuqur Rahman is a Virginia-based blogger and a member of the Drishtipat Writers’ Collective.

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[UPDATE:

• Read my op-ed about Congressman Jim McDermott’s private bill.
• Read the brief submitted by the Department of Justice to the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals responding to Mohiuddin’s petition for asylum. It is a damning document that lays out Mohiuddin’s crimes.

]

Nearly 32 years after he committed his crimes, convicted terrorist Mohiuddin AKM Ahmed’s days of evading justice are coming to an end. His petition for rehearing and petition for enbanc hearing have been denied by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. The Court denied the petition on May 23, 2007. The docket reads [PACER login required]:

Filed order ( Thomas G. NELSON, Eugene E. Siler, Michael D. HAWKINS, ): The petition for rehearing and the petition for rehearing en banc are denied. [6133233-1]  [03-74603] (wp)

He faces deportation to Bangladesh as early as May 31, 2007.

Representative Jim McDermott, Democrat of Washington State, has introduced a private bill in the House to try to prevent Mohiuddin’s deportation. The bill is currently referred to the House Judiciary Committee. The bill has no cosponsors. The bill, HR 2181, claims, after the 9th Circuit found him guilty, that Mohiuddin "is an innocent Bangladeshi citizen." The bill aims to do the following:

• stay Mohiuddin’s deportation indefinitely
• release Mohiuddin from custody
• makes Mohiddin eligable for permanent residence
• gives Mohiuddin and his family preferential treatment in the granting of permanent residence over all other applicants for permanent residence from Bangladesh
• if Mohiuddin is deported, he shall be permitted to seek asylum in a foreign nation

This appears to be Congressman McDermott’s Terry Schiavo moment. The Congressman should explain why he believes a convicted terrorist deserves permanent residence over all other immigrants who have been patiently waiting in line. The Congressman should also explain why he thinks Mohiuddin is innocent when all courts that have looked at Mohiuddin’s case, including the US 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, have found him to be duly convicted of murder and terrorism.

Mohiuddin, an former Bangladeshi army officer, of course is now returning to Bangladesh at a time when the political situation there might work in his favor. Nonetheless, the United States Congress should not intervene by passing a private bill on behalf of a convicted terrorist after the courts of the land have ruled. His guilt is not in doubt. 

Certainly, a convicted terrorist should not be given permanent residence in the United States or allowed to escape justice by going into exile.