Round The World

New Delhi, 29 January 2013

Headley’s Extradition

TEST OF INDO-US TERROR TEAMWORK

By Obja Borah Hazarika,

Research Scholar, School of International Studies, JNU

The David Headley verdict by a US Court sentencing him to 35 years in prison for his involvement in the 26/11 2008 Mumbai attacks ten days ago has disappointed India.

But this is not the first time that New Delhi feels let down with the trial process as it suspected Headley of being a double agent of not only Pakistan-based militant outfit Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) and the US Drug Enforcement Administration but also of the CIA.

Importantly, New Delhi feared US duplicity in handling Headley’s case as it felt that Washington failed to take cognizance of information about the LeT links with the American. And worse, failed to alert India about Headley’s suspicious moves which included frequent travels to Mumbai.

Add to this, although the FBI shared information about Headley after his capture, New Delhi perceived Washington as being soft on Islamabad for its lacklustre nature of Mumbai’s terror accused in the country.

Specially, after the plea bargain which Headley entered into after his arrest which insured that he would not to be extradited to India, Denmark or Pakistan and would not to be handed the death sentence in lieu of his cooperation with the US authorities.

Post this deal Headley immediately began sharing information and pleaded guilty to 12 conspiracy charges framed against him. He accepted receiving training from LeT camps in Pakistan and scouting for targets for the 26/11 attacks. He also testified against Chicago businessman Tahawwur Rana, who was sentenced to 14 years in prison for his involvement in the LeT network.

Besides, he confessed to subsequent plans of an attack on a Danish newspaper, which had released caricatures of Prophet Mohamed, a plan codenamed ‘Mickey Mouse Project’.  Along-with providing useful information on terrorist outfits.

Further, the decision to downgrade Headley’s sentence from death penalty to a 35-years prison term without parole came after US Government lawyers and his defence urged the Chicago Federal District Court Judge Harry Leinenweber to commute the American’s punishment due to the useful information he provided about the LeT and other major intelligence.

Undeniably, Headley’s role as an informant is highly valued by Washington which resulted in the commutation of his sentence. Asserted Illinois’ Northern District’s  acting US attorney Gary Shapiro, “No matter how good our intelligence is, no matter how technologically advanced our investigative techniques are, we need witnesses….And the only way you get witnesses in this world is by threatening to prosecute them and then offering them some real incentive to provide you with that information.”

Underscoring that this was the deal struck between Washington and Headley with both sides keeping their end of the bargain thus far. More. The US anticipates future cooperation from Headley, which would include de-briefings for the purpose of gathering intelligence, along-with testifying in any foreign judicial proceedings held in the US by way of deposition or video-conferencing.

Questionably, if Headley fails to provide honest information, Washington could void the terms of the plea bargain which could lead to his extradition or death. Indeed, a powerful incentive for the American to continue cooperating with the US authorities.

Thus, pouring water on New Delhi’s demand for extraditing Headley to stand trial in the Mumbai attacks. Alas, today, there is only a narrow possibility of his extradition, that too if Headley violates his plea bargain by refusing to cooperate or by being untruthful.

Any wonder India’s dissatisfaction with the American’s verdict. Expressing his dissatisfaction over Headley’s judgement, Foreign Minister Salman Khurshid enunciated, “the US legal system had no provision to extradite him, but we will still try and get him tried in India”. Added, Union Home Secretary RK Singh “…all those involved in 26/11, should be given death”.

The main Opposition Party BJP also was vociferous in its disappointment of the verdict and demanded Headley’s immediate extradition. But the US embassy in New Delhi defended Washington’s decision not to seek the death penalty and instead waxed eloquent about the positive nature of India-US counter-terrorism cooperation.

True, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) was granted access to Headley and significant information was extracted, especially vis-à-vis the links between Pakistan’s ISI and the 26/11 attacks. But the light sentence handed to Headley by the US Court adds fresh insults to injury suffered by India.

As it stands, New Delhi is concerned about the slow pace and nature of Mumbai accused trials taking place in US and Pakistan. LeT founder and 26/11 mastermind Hafiz Saeed remains free in Pakistan. In India, Ajmal Kasab, the only survivor among the 10 gunmen who carried out the attacks, was hanged in December last after a long and extensive trial.

Importantly, this has raised a big question mark on the Indo-US extradition treaty signed in 1997 and ratified in 1999. Given that Headley’s plea bargain has overwritten the terms of the extradition treaty, rendering both the death penalty and extradition redundant.

True, there have been several successes in US-India bilateral counter-terrorism cooperation which includes the counter-terrorism Joint Working Group established in 2000, and the 2010 US-India Counter-terrorism Cooperation Initiative (CCI) which outlined a range of areas for cooperation to include forensics training, investigative assistance, money laundering, exchanging best practices on mass transit and rail security, and maritime security.

Notably, the US Department of Homeland Security held its inaugural Homeland Security Dialogue in New Delhi May 2011. Additionally, US and Indian armies trained together on counter-terrorism in 2007 during their annual army-to-army exercise called Yudh Abhyas.

There is no gainsaying, that US-India counter-terrorism partnership could provide fruitful results if it continues in a mutually supportive and beneficial manner. But as Headley’s judicial handling has not been to New Delhi’s satisfaction this bodes ill for the future of India-US cooperation in counter-terrorism.

What next? Undoubtedly, India and the US should strive to complement each other on tackling terrorism; they ought to pool resources and expand intelligence-sharing to thwart terrorism. As cooperating is the only way in which a veritable monster like terrorism can be successfully vanquished.

Clearly, India and the US must evolve a more conducive environment for counter-terrorism cooperation to flourish between them. Though New Delhi is unhappy with Headley’s sentence, wrangling over ‘death’ instead of ‘35 years’ will not defeat terrorism. Instead, the need of the hour is developing cooperative mechanisms to combat terrorism across nations. ----- INFA

(Copyright, India News and Feature Alliance)