Witness to Abuse - Human Rights Watch

interrogating him, without counsel, about his personal activities, travels, political beliefs,
views on Israel, and attendance at a mosque. “The impression I got was that they
thought I was part of a sleeper cell,” Bhatti told HRW/ACLU. 63
Bhatti explained to the FBI that he had lived in the United States since the 1960s and
had worked as a doctor in a veterans’ hospital for twenty years. He told the agents he
had not practiced Islam for years and that his interest in planes dated back to his fouryear
service in the U.S. Air Force National Guard. Bhatti also told the FBI that he was
college buddies with the Pakistan nuclear scientist in the late 1950s and had not been in
touch with him since the 1980s. 64
Bhatti was jailed as a witness for six days. He slept on the concrete floor because the jail
had no free beds. 65 Following a local media and advocacy campaign waged by his son,
the court finally released Bhatti on strict, supervised release conditions. Munir Bhatti
described to HRW/ACLU the effort to free his father:
I was on the phone twenty-four hours a day. I wanted to make sure he
was being represented. I realized that if they want to make a case, they
probably can. It doesn’t take much to be a witness. So I wanted to make
sure my dad was fully protected. My fear was that he would be
designated an enemy combatant and shipped off to Cuba at anytime.
Part of me felt helpless; there was nothing I could do to stop it
though—because everything was under seal. It was stressful … And I
did not know what was going on. My dad was not allowed to call me. 66
Almost a month after his release, the government called Bhatti to testify in front of a
grand jury. He invoked the Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination after it
became clear to him that the grand jury was investigating his conduct. The government
never charged Bhatti with a crime nor called him to testify again. 67
63
Interview with Tajammul Bhatti. Agents also inquired about the non-working number they found for the
Pakistani commissioner and on Bhatti’s views on Israel. According to Bhatti: “They saw on my computer that I
had read some articles critical of the United States policy in Israel and asked about my attitudes about politics in
the Middle East. I told them it’s my views and they have nothing to do with them … One agent got very
animated and told me it’s right in the Bible that Palestine belongs to the Jews.”
64
Interview with Tajammul Bhatti.
65
HRW/ACLU telephone interview with Munir Bhatti, son of material witness Tajammul Bhatti, Los Angeles,
California, August 16, 2004 (Interview with Munir Bhatti). According to his son, “He didn’t have a bed. He had to
sleep on a concrete floor … It was very stressful. He had many sleepless nights and accelerated aging.” Ibid.
66
Ibid.
67
Interview with Tajammul Bhatti.
23 HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH VOL. 17, NO. 2(G)