Share to help stimulate good governance, ensure future of people & M’sia
No News Is Bad News
For image info, go to https://www.nma.gov.au/defining-moments/resources/bali-bombings
Nazir Lep (left) and Farik Amin, who had been held at the Guantanamo Bay detention centre since 2006, are back in Malaysia under an agreement with the US.
What’s so special about the Bali bombers that they deserve a second life?
KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 25, 2024: Two hundred and two people were killed in the Oct 12, 2002 bombings of the Sari Club and Paddy’s Irish Bar in Bali, Indonesia.
Another attack linked to the two Malaysian terrorists took place at the JW Marriott Hotel in Jakarta on Aug 5, 2003, killing 12.
So, you ask, do our infamous Bali bombers deserve a second chance?
Damn it, go ask the families of the 214 dead whether Farik Amin and Nazir Lep deserve a second chance.
Farik and Nazir were in their early 20s when they got entangled with Indonesian radical and terror mastermind, Encep Nurjaman, better known as Hambali, who planned two deadly bomb blasts in Bali and Jakarta more than 20 years ago.
And Home Minister Saifuddin Nasution Ismail said a comprehensive reintegration programme, including periodic police visits, had been drawn up by Putrajaya for the duo.
Now, what is so special about the two terrorists or killers that they deserve a second chance in life?
Can the Saifuddin and the police guarantee the safety of the public and that the duo would remain disciplined and not return to their world of terrorism?
And, talking about comprehensive reintegration programme, then why not extend it to all prisoners who are in death row? Don’t they also deserve a second chance in life?
Food for thought: Discrimination for terrorists? - Facebook image
No News Is Bad News reproduces below news reports on the issues:
Do our infamous Bali bombers deserve a second chance at life?
-25 Dec 2024, 08:30 AM
Their repatriation to serve the remainder of their sentences here is being questioned by some quarters.
Farik Amin and Nazir Lep were in their early twenties when they got entangled with Indonesian radical and terror mastermind, Encep Nurjaman, better known as Hambali, who planned two deadly bomb blasts in Bali and Jakarta more than twenty years ago.
The bombings of the Sari Club and Paddy’s Irish Bar on Oct 12, 2002, killed 202 people, including 88 Australians. Another attack linked to them took place at the JW Marriott Hotel in Jakarta on Aug 5, 2003, killing 12.
In their testimonies before a military court in Guantanamo, Cuba, the duo said much of the planning of these devastating attacks was carried out in Malaysia, where Hambali even had a wife.
Both Farik, then 25, and Nazir, 24, an engineering graduate from a local university, were arrested by the CIA in Thailand in 2003.
Following a pre-trial agreement struck with the US government in January this year, the duo pleaded guilty in a US military court to the commission of war crimes.
They expressed remorse for helping the extremist group Jemaah Islamiyah to carry out the attacks and also admitted to helping Hambali elude capture.
Both have also provided deposition testimony for use against Hambali, who will go on trial in March next year.
The court officially sentenced them to 23 years in prison, but on June 13, approved confinement sentences of five years to each of them, after a pre-trial agreement was struck.
It also recommended that both men be repatriated or transferred to a third-party sovereign nation to serve the remainder of their respective sentences. The deals were struck as part of the US government’s move to shut down the Guantanamo Bay detention centre permanently.
The duo were brought back home under a shroud of secrecy, having been flown to a secret destination last week.
News of Farik and Nazir’s return was greeted with mixed reactions on social media. Some feared recidivism–the tendency to commit further offences—which, they claimed, would pose a danger to the country.
Others were more welcoming, saying they should be given a second chance following long detention in solitary confinement and the inhumane CIA torture.
Meanwhile, the US and Australian governments had asked Malaysia to draw up concrete rehabilitation plans for the duo. According to Australian news reports, family members of the victims expressed their unhappiness with the repatriation.
“Terrorists should never be getting special deals. The fact that one terrorist is giving evidence against another doesn’t lessen the pain for any of us,” one family member reportedly said.
The trial court saw the duo express their deepest regret and repentance over their actions, saying they only knew the extent of the carnage after the bombings.
They apologised unreservedly to the victims’ family members in open court and begged for forgiveness. Cynics say this was their only way of coming home alive but does not mean they have given up their ideology.
But Farik and Nazir also suffered serious injustices when detained at the notorious military prison.
The US has on many occasions called out detentions without trial all over the world, and, in the past, strongly condemned Malaysia’s now-repealed Internal Security Act 1960.
But that didn’t stop it from detaining Fikri, Nazir and numerous other persons at its detention centre in Guantanamo Bay and subjected them to prolonged torture at the hands of CIA agents.
Torture sketches
Farik sketched some of the types of torture he underwent. These were declassified and submitted at his trial. They suggest that the torture he underwent was dehumanising and traumatising.
They included being made to stand while deprived of sleep; being put in stress positions; being stripped, restrained and photographed nude; mock waterboarding; being hooded while in solitary confinement; and being placed in a darkened dungeon.
Meanwhile, the governments of the inmates’ home countries, paralysed by the threat of terrorism, were too weak to question the US as to what became of them.
According to a source, one of the Malaysian inmates now suffers from serious psychological issues attributed to the prolonged solitary confinement and torture he underwent.
The psychological damage suffered by Farik and Nazir, both single, is likely to be permanent. They would possibly require lifelong medication and support from their families. As one family member said, even if jailed for life, they would have been free by now.
Anti-terror expert Ahmad El-Muhammady from the International Islamic University says the cases of Farik and Nazir are unique. He understands that the government has a special programme to rehabilitate them.
Ahmad, who helps the home ministry with the deradicalisation of terror suspects and convicts, said Malaysia has been fairly successful in this area.
“Most of them realise they have been misled into terror activities and come back to lead a normal life. There are very few cases of recidivism, and they are easily tracked by the authorities.
“After the mental and physical torture they went through for two decades and surviving it, the psychological wounds must be really deep. They need help more than anything to start leading a new life,” he told FMT.
Home minister Saifuddin Nasution Ismail recently mapped out a rehabilitation plan the government has drawn up for Farik and Nazir. It is aimed at supporting the duo as they transition into a new “controlled environment” before being reintegrated into family life.
The end goal is to ensure that they are able to live independently and productively within the community.
At the end of the day, even Farik and Nazir deserve a second chance at life.
The views expressed are those of the writer and do not necessarily reflect those of FMT.
Gitmo Bay duo will be ‘closely monitored’, home minister gives assurance
-19 Dec 2024, 09:49 PM
Saifuddin Nasution Ismail says a comprehensive reintegration programme, including periodic police visits, has been drawn up by Putrajaya.
Nazir Lep (left) and Farik Amin, who had been held at the Guantanamo Bay detention centre since 2006, are back in Malaysia under an agreement with the US.
PETALING JAYA: Police will “closely monitor” the two Malaysians who were repatriated after nearly 20 years at the US Guantanamo Bay detention centre, home minister Saifuddin Nasution Ismail said.
Nazir Lep and Farik Amin, who pleaded guilty in January this year to conspiracy in the 2002 Bali bombings, will undergo a comprehensive reintegration programme that was formulated by Putrajaya.
In a Facebook post today, Saifuddin said a monitoring mechanism had been drawn up to complement the reintegration programme.
“Police will be continuously monitoring (the duo), including periodic visits to gauge the progress of their rehabilitation and ensure their welfare is looked after,” he said.
In a separate statement yesterday, Saifuddin said Putrajaya received Nazir and Farik, who had been held at Guantanamo Bay since 2006, from the US “on the principles of human rights and support for universal justice”.
He also said the government had formulated a comprehensive reintegration programme specifically for the pair, which will cover support in terms of social services, welfare, and health screenings.
Nazir, 47, and Farik, 48, had been held in solitary confinement since their arrest in Thailand in 2003 by US authorities in connection with the Bali bombings the previous year.
In January, they were sentenced to 23 years in prison by a jury after pleading guilty to their role in the bombings under a pre-trial agreement. Under the agreement, they could be released after five years and repatriated to a third country.
Both men pleaded guilty to conspiring with the “mastermind”, Indonesian Encep Nurjaman, also known as Hambali, to commit the Bali bombings, which killed 202 people.
Separately, Australia’s ABC News reported that Canberra had asked Malaysia for assurances that the two men were being closely monitored.
Quoting a spokesman for Australian foreign minister Penny Wong, the report said the Australian government had “conveyed to the US and Malaysia our close interest in this matter on numerous occasions”.
“While the arrangements for the transfer are a matter for the Malaysian and US governments, we have sought assurances from the Malaysian government that the individuals will be subject to ongoing supervision and monitoring,” the spokesman was quoted as saying.
Eighty-eight Australians were among the 202 people killed in the Bali bombings.
No comments:
Post a Comment