 Welcome back to the People's Tribunal on Crimes of Aggression, Afghanistan sessions. In past sessions, we looked into the legislative context behind this case, Britain's historic engagement with Afghanistan, and witnessed testimony on life under the Taliban. We also heard anonymous testimony from a British ambassador to Afghanistan, regarding the political reasonings behind the invasion. Arzun Al-Bahar and Sahar spoke of women's rights. Asim Qureshi spoke of domestic counter-terrorist legislation, put in place in the United Kingdom, and the detrimental effects it has had on Muslim communities. We also heard testimony from Mozambique, an anonymous witness, nor of lived experiences of torture with British complicity. We explored how the arms trade has fueled the war, with testimony from Habib Ahmadi, retired US Colonel Lawrence Wilkerson, and Andrew Feinstein. In the last session, the prosecution presented the court with a timeline of British operations in Afghanistan and statistics regarding civilian deaths. We also heard the testimony of two lives lost, an unnamed British veteran and Aisha Wazil, a seven-year-old girl shot dead by British soldiers. Trial session eight is now open. Miss Said, you have the floor. History of Afghanistan cannot be separated from the consistent aggravation by the UK. We have shown how the UK and the US's geopolitical interests in Afghanistan is linked to Britain's colonial interests. We have seen how British foreign policy is dictated by interests of those in governance. And easily swayed by the arms trade. We have heard expert and eyewitness testimony that confirms the constant vilification of Islam and how Islamophobia is used to reach survivors of the Britain. In trial session two, Monira Hashemi described the generational trauma of British colonialism and the displaced lives of Afghans, which they have lived for over 100 years. We now want to look at the situation of Afghans refugees who have come to the UK to seek asylum. During operations, British forces would take over towns which caused displacement. More than four million internally displaced people were reported in Afghanistan from 2012 to 2020. In 2003, the UK government forcibly removed Afghan people seeking asylum for the first time since 1995, returning many of them to Afghanistan, claiming it's safe. An example of the impact the UK returns policy can have was reported by the Independent when an Afghan person seeking asylum, Abdullah Toghi, was executed by militants shortly after he was deported to Afghanistan. In June 2010, an Afghan who was on the Taliban's death list was refused asylum, even though it was widely accepted the authorities would not be able to protect him if he returned to his home village. In 2015, more than a million people arrived in Europe by sea, of whom 20% were estimated to be Afghan. They are the second biggest population of displaced people in the world after Syrians. The Select Committee on International Relations and Defence found that the UK had resettled only a very small number of Afghan refugees. In April 2021, the government announced the Afghan relocation and assistance policy, ARAP, a scheme designed to resettle people who worked for the UK in Afghanistan. The target is 5,000 by the end of this year under this scheme. There is also the Afghan Citizens Resettlement Scheme, which aims to allow 5,000 Afghans to settle in the UK by the end of 2021 with the long-term goal of a total of 20,000. It will focus on women and children as well as religious and other minorities in particular risk from the Taliban. The government shares responsibility for this crisis in Afghanistan. There are still more than 3.5 million displaced people in Afghanistan in need of asylum. There are still 3,000 Afghans in the UK without settled status that are in danger of being deported to give us a better understanding of how refugees are treated in the UK and the needs of the Afghan community. We would like to call Gowali Pasalai to the stand, please. Let it be noted that on the first day of this tribunal, the prosecution called Gowali Pasalai to the stand as a 14-year-old. He was played by an actor and his testimony was taken from his childhood memoirs. Now Gowali appears as himself, as an adult, to reflect on his past experiences. Thank you. I solemnly, sincerely and truly declare in affirm that the evidence I shall give shall be the truth and the whole truth in nothing but the truth. Thank you. Please take a seat. Could you please tell the court your name, your full name and your profession? I'm Gowali Pasalai, author, humanitarian, refugee rights campaigner. Thank you. On the first day of the tribunal, as the chair mentioned, we heard from your 14-year-old self who told us about life in Afghanistan. Now I would like to ask you about your experience as a child refugee travelling to the UK. Yeah, my experience was terrible. It took me over a year before I was able to make it to the UK as a 13-year-old. I went through imprisonment, hunger, inhumanity across half of the world. It was about 12,000 kilometres, 12,000 miles, 12 months. I was kept deported, arrested and imprisoned across all of the ten countries that I went through, except Italy, which treated me quite well. And the reason I came to the UK was because my brother was supposedly here. And I spent a really inhumane month in Calais in the jungle in northern France, which felt like three months. I had some many occasions on this journey, particularly crossing the Mediterranean. And I was hoping my story would be history, but actually there are thousands of others making similar journeys and experiencing a lot of hardships and difficulties across Europe. Thank you. And how was your experience with the UK border police at that time when you were trying to cross in Calais? So after spending a year on this journey alone at the hands of smugglers, mostly, when I go to the UK, I thought this was the end of my journey. But actually, it was another struggle, another battle. Social services. I mean, I was physically safe and protected by the UK government. But mentally, I was very disturbed because the Home Office did not believe that I was an Afghan national. Social services in Kent disputed my age that I was not 13 by the time. So there was a lot of this system of disbelief. And I was seen as a criminal, as a suspect. And sadly, not much has improved since the last 13 years. I was able to overcome so much adversity with the help and support of people. The system definitely did not worry me. And again, unfortunately, it does not worry you asylum seekers, particularly now with the new anti-refugee bill and the way the UK government has been very hostile towards asylum seekers and refugees. And we see in the news from the English crossing at the English Channel where a few hundred people get across and desperate circumstances are, you know, the government wants to turn them away. And if they have their way, they will, they don't care about people's safety and people's international law for that matter. So yeah, my experience was not unique. Do you think that the UK's resettlement schemes for Afghans are enough? Are they appropriate? The UK never really had a resettlement scheme for Afghanistan until now, since the crisis began in Afghanistan with the Taliban takeover. I think the 20,000 is definitely not enough, especially considering British responsibility in Britain's role in allowing what has happened, what has unfolded. If America and Britain has acted differently, I'm not in favour of foreign troops in Afghanistan, but there was a need for them to stay to support the Afghan security forces, particularly with air support and with technical support and to maintain, you know, the Afghan state. But sadly, they have full to rug under the Afghans, lift us to the world. So therefore, not only does Britain have a moral responsibility, but owe it to the Afghans. And I think 100,000 Afghans for resettlement should be considered by the UK. We are the fifth, sixth richest country in the world. And I think the European Union should at least take a million Afghans because there are right now around six million displaced Afghans, a million displaced in the last three weeks alone. And people are in desperate need of international protection, particularly those people who are academics, activists, journalists, people who are supporters of the government, people who supported the republic. So their lives are under threat. And our borders with neighbouring countries have been closed. The UK in the US mainly took out its own citizens. I mean, the 15,000 evacuation to Britain were 5,000 British nationals. 8,000 were people who worked with British forces in the UK government. Only 2,000 also were wonderful Afghans. So I definitely think it's not enough. And I feel like 10,000 a year will be a reasonable ask because I think I travel across the UK. People are generous. People will welcome refugees and support them in their communities. But it's the government who lacks humanity and wants to turn away boats in the English Channel and wants to criminalise and penalise refugees with this new immigration bill. So if Afghan comes through irregular routes right now, they will be criminalised for coming here. And the settlement announcement, we don't know much details of how these 5,000 people will be brought to the UK. What will be the mechanism? Because neighbouring countries are closed its border. The UK, you know, we've been advocating for a safe and legal routes that was not in existence. So I hope the UK could do more than the 5,000. 10,000 will be reasonable until the situation gets better. So do you think that the UK government is not fast enough to respond to the ongoing crisis? Completely. The UK government has failed in its responsibility, particularly the situation we saw in Kabul Airport. I think there needs to be an investigation because when suicide bombing happened in Kabul, the British officials were advising Afghans to come to Abigate, which was the place where they were taken into the military side of the airport. And, you know, the British government were aware of an imminent attack of the US and the Taliban. Everybody knew, but they did not advise people not to go to the airport. And so I definitely think, especially, that people were treated with so much indignity and there was a lot of disorder. 30 people lost their lives because of the overcrowdedness of the place. You know, 200 were killed because of, as a result of the suicide bombing. So certainly the UK has been, I mean, our foreign secretary was on holiday and so was a lot of senior civil servants and the prime minister in the UK government did very little to help the Afghans. And just to finally, these Afghans who has arrived to the UK are still stuck in hotels. They don't know their future. They don't know what's going to happen to them because the government is still trying to figure out how to house them, where to house them. And so, yeah, there's a lot of concerns that need to be addressed and the government needs to be transparent and honest with the people. Thank you. And so what are your thoughts on the UK's retreat after 20 years of occupation? As an Afghan, I don't want foreign troops in my country. I was, you know, I was not happy in the first place that British American troops were there with 48 other countries. I lost loved ones because of the war. But at the same time, I accept that we live in a world where, you know, the Afghan army and the government was built in a way to be dependent on Western support. Particularly, we had 5,000, 6,000 international technicians, people working, contractors working and referring Afghan Air Force and other providing technical support. They were all pulled out and Afghans were just left to themselves to defend for themselves. In the last about five years, we lost 45,000 Afghan security forces and in the last 20 years, over 65,000 Afghan security forces have lost their lives. For what? And over 100,000 civilians have lost their lives. If the US was going to make a peace deal with the Taliban, why didn't they do it in 2003? Why didn't they do it earlier on when there was a possibility of ending this bloodshed? So the Taliban are stronger than ever and, you know, they have the so-called Cabinet and the University of Nine Lebs. So I'm glad the UK has left Afghanistan but it has left it in a way which was unacceptable and which was, you know, wrong and so many levels, leaving Afghans who dreamt, had hopes and tested freedom for the last 20 years, you know, in such a situation where they're in limbo, they lost everything. The country has gone from, you know, 20 years of progress and went back to even worse than what it was in 2001, especially with the power the Taliban has come now with all the US military weapons that were left by the Afghan Army in security forces. So on one hand, I'm glad the UK has left. They should not have been there in the first place but when they went, they should have done things more responsibly and acted, especially when it comes to, you know, Afghan asylum seekers, as I mentioned earlier, 15,000 people were deported in the last 10 years because they were arguing Afghanistan and Kabul or a certain area was safe. And so I also want the government to actually bring these people back who were deported unfairly and unjustly. Some of them may not even have survived but those who has, the government has, again, a duty, a protection to these people. Thank you. In your book, The Lightless Sky, in the new edition, you added a new chapter which is about your visit to the side of the Twin Tower attack. Do you mind talking us through your thoughts at the time? So yeah, The Lightless Sky had three new chapters recently published. It was a strange feeling when I went to the US in 2016 because I always saw the US as an enemy because it has killed, you know, my loved ones. But I went to the US, it was a really surreal experience because it was a wonderful place and the people were generally nice. So, you know, I've learned in the last, you know, 10 years or so since, or 13 years since being in the UK that, you know, governments is not the same as people. It was a strange experience going to the 9-11 museum and going to the World Trade Center seeing the devastation that was caused supposedly in the name of my religion and also perhaps someone did it from my country which I don't think it was the case but, you know, that was physically making me really sick and upset that this had happened. But then I was also thinking how tragically 3,000 people lost their lives and as a result of that, 3 million has been killed across the world. So, 9-11 kind of justified a lot of other human rights violations and wars against humanity and war crimes in Iraq and Afghanistan and also in the world in Somalia and Yemen, you know, so many other places where the US have been indiscriminately bombing people with drones. And so, yeah, in Al Qaeda, I mean, the Osama bin Laden who the US was looking for, found him 10 years later next to a military base supposedly an ally country of the US in the UK. So, yeah, I think, yeah, the experience I had in New York was one of sadness and a mix of emotions but at the same time I wish the US administration had acted differently. You know, they went into Afghanistan and had a lot of promised people a lot of things but deliver them with, you know, a peace still which empowered the Taliban and give them legitimacy after 20 years. And so, yeah, I feel really sad for the people who lost their lives in the US but also the 3 million also who have suffered as a result of the war and terror, which kind of continues. If the US had responded differently, we would not have, you know, Daesh now, we would not have other extremist groups and there are 20 recognized terrorist organizations operating in Afghanistan and actually the Taliban are not even one. The Taliban are not officially a terrorist organization. Their members are some members but there are other who are as a result of these wars which has created so much more suffering for people. Do you think you will ever be able to return to Afghanistan? It was my hope and aspiration that I will go back to Afghanistan after studying and getting a degree and doing a masters. I wanted to use my education and experiences for the country and rebuilding it, playing a positive role. I've not seen my mother and my siblings for the last 15 years. I think being a refugee is a huge sacrifice and I think if 9-11 had not happened or the response to it was different, I would not be here. I would not have lost my loved ones. I would not have lost loved ones. I would not have had to sacrifice so much. So I had high hopes until very recently. Now it seems like that dream I had was in the past but I hope things will change. I hope the Taliban can't continue oppressing people and beating journalists and going after people who are anti-Taliban forever. I mean there will be change and I think Afghan people will hopefully rise but the fear I have is the great powers China, Russia and the US again, meddling in the Afghan pairs and not to mention Pakistan and its role with support to the Taliban. So I still have hopes. I hope to be able to return but I don't know, I don't think there will be any time soon. I recently became British citizen and I was hoping to be able to travel back to Afghanistan because until recently as a refugee I wasn't able to go back legally even though the country was insecure but at least I was hopeful that I could go and see my mom and my siblings and my loved ones and my family. Now it's heartbreaking to think that I'll not be able to go anytime soon. I missed Afghanistan, I missed my friends, I missed the weather, the food, literally everything and now that's all gone. Thank you very much. Nothing further if my team doesn't have anything and we can open it to the panel. Are you happy to open it? Yeah, sure, yeah. Do you have any questions? No, thank you so much for your testing. Thanks for having me. Thank you very much, you're free to go back to your seat. Prosecution, how would you like to proceed? We would like to call Dr Manish Bhattia to the stand. I do solemnly, sincerely and truly declare and affirm that the evidence I shall give shall be the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth. Thank you, take your seat. Dr Bhattia, what is your profession? I'm a lecturer in criminology and criminal justice and I largely research around immigration, asylum and treatment of non-nationals by immigration and criminal justice both. Sorry, may I just interact? Mr Bhattia, would you move the microphone just a little closer to your mouth? Okay, perfect. Continue. So would you say that you're well informed on the treatment of refugees in the UK? Yes, I believe so. I have been working with this group for over 12 years and I have conducted three ethnographic studies with first study lasting 18 months, followed by four months and eight months. Alongside field observation, I have also analyzed 150 case documents participated at six refugee and migrant charities organizations and interviewed 35 individuals on numerous occasions and followed some of them to courts and other appointments. Besides this, I act as a board of director for one of the refugee organizations and a trustee for another migrant rights organization. And I work with numerous charities in various capacities over the period of 12 years. I have several research link publications in this area and my recent article, The Permission to be Cruel, street-level bureaucrats and harms against people seeking asylum, was won an award from the British Criminology Society's Hate Crime Network. So yes, I'd say I'm well informed. Thank you. Thank you. Could you summarize some of your findings regarding the process of seeking asylum in the UK and the treatment people receive? Sure. So I'm going to divide my response in part A and part B. Part A will address the asylum system and treatment that individuals receive. In part B, I will discuss the convergence of immigration and asylum system and criminal justice system and how people who are fleeing persecution and threats to life are prosecuted and punished by the British state and consequently re-traumatized. So I will start with part A. And before I proceed, I would like to present an interview quote which was translated from Urdu to English. This quote was from a participant called Wasim, which is a pseudonym. So Wasim mentions, living as an asylum seeker is like living in a multi-chambered cage. On certain days, I'm shown an open door and I try to escape, try to fly. Only to find that door has led me to another chamber of the cage. I try again and end up in a different chamber. Flying and escaping is always an illusion. The cage is real. I'm living in it. It is everywhere. Seeking asylum is seeking a life in cage. The British government is killing me. I just want to fly. People seeking asylum are subjected to whole host of exclusionary and restrictive measures, so I'll explain to you what that actually means. So the first point, they are dispersed to remote parts of the country following the initial interview with the immigration officials. This is called the policy of dispersal. So in my research, I found a very strong link between the policy and racial violence and hate directed against this group. So dispersal was initially implemented in 1999 to place individuals according to their language clusters. And as asylum housing became privatized, the profit motives took over and the individuals were later placed in vacant and substandard properties in economically deprived areas. So the tabloid and right-wing press campaigns against asylum seekers have generated hostility and discontent in these areas. In part, it has created a narrative that this group is taking away what rightfully belongs to the people of this country and these people are to blame for poverty and lack of resources and misery. A large number of dispersal areas are also predominantly white and have very little history of accommodating people from other ethnic and racial groups. And problems of racial harassment and abuse are more extreme in these areas. So I encountered four cases in the field where individuals were verbally and physically abused and threatened by locals and feared imminent physical attacks. So I verbally abused and threatened by locals and feared imminent physical attacks. The charity support workers made several requests to the home office and housing providers to relocate these individuals to a different area. They however asked for these requests, to be accompanied with evidence such as crime reference numbers and details of the attack. So the claim of being fearful or anticipating a racial attack was not sufficient. So to be considered for relocation, individuals had to prove they were genuine victims. So this proving of genuineness is an underlying theme and home office by default treats people as not genuine until they prove themselves to be otherwise. So not only does this indicate a lack of prevention strategy, a lack of care and prevention strategy within the home office to protect the vulnerable groups from becoming targets of hate-related incidents, but it reflects abandonment of a duty to care and to protect life as mandated by the Equality and Human Rights Commission Article 2. So I'm going to read out another quote by a female asylum seeker. She mentioned, Whenever I went out, these boys used to look at me in a bad way. At first I thought it was just me being paranoid and going crazy. I was going to see the doctor again. Then they started calling me with dirty names. That kept happening for some time. Then they started throwing things at me and following me. Then I started opening my window a little bit to see if they are around. If they were standing outside, then I stayed inside. Sometimes they were there all day. I'd just sit inside and wait for them to leave. My GP write to them the housing provider and home office both, many times. And after three months, they moved me to a different address. And I also noted a few other cases where individuals suffering from post-traumatic disorder had been threatened repeatedly with knives, physically assaulted, had burning objects forced through their leather boxes, and experienced dogs being set on them while they were walking outside their properties. In one case, stones were thrown at a pregnant woman whenever she opened her door or window. In most cases, individuals informed the third party reporting centers and did not approach the police or home office because they did not trust these institutions. In one very well publicized case, a vulnerable refugee with complex needs approached the police and filed a complaint about racial abuse. And his concerns were not taken seriously and rather dismissed, which eventually led to his murder. His name was Bijan Ibrahimi. The police arrested him for breach of peace under the Public Order Act and for causing harassment and distress. The police also called him serial complainer. A tension seeker and considered him to be an annoyance. He was stabbed and then burnt alive in Bristol, UK. So the second point is that of substandard housing. So the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999 removed asylum seekers from mainstream benefits and housing provisions. So a majority of asylum seekers, asylum accommodation, sorry, was privatized and corporations such as Circle, G4S, and so on were asked to provide human services. To this day, there have been numerous scandals. I've lost account and inquiries exposing the substandard housing provisions in various locations across the country as well as grave failures in health and safety and consequent harms. Nevertheless, the private contractors have never been subjected to any criminal or civil sanctions for failing to meet contractual obligations and to provide safe housing to vulnerable people. The very condition of the property triggered an unsettling feeling in a lot of my research participants. For instance, people with mental health issues and those suffering from suicide ideation were placed together. Those with vulnerabilities, pre-existing and serious health issues were placed in damp properties, lacking sufficient heating, hot water, and cooking provisions. Elderly asylum claimants, people with severe mobility issues, women in latter stages of pregnancies, and women with children were also placed in unhygienic filthy properties that lacked proper access and safety provisions. So the harmful consequences ranged from accidents and injuries to recurring stomach infections, skin ailments, and deterioration of physical and mental health. In one case, and this is the example I give to my students quite frequently, a woman in latter stages of pregnancy was moved in a property infested with rats and water leakage. The home office and accommodation provider were requested by the GP and charity organization, social workers, to take immediate action. Nevertheless, their repeated requests were ignored by the home office. So one evening, this woman in latter stages of pregnancy, while cooking, encountered rats running around the kitchen floor, and she panicked and rushed outside the kitchen, and while doing so, she tripped and broke her leg. She was consequently bedridden and later developed a blood clot due to being pregnant and immobile. The woman delivered a baby while recovering from a broken leg in a plaster cast. Due to the neglect and denial of care, a normal pregnancy was turned into a complicated pregnancy filled with risk. So that was a second point of substandard housing in how people are treated. The third point is that of hostile environment and sheer denial of care. So in approximately 30 cases that I encountered during my fieldwork, individuals were not able to register with the GP, which is a general practitioner, a medical doctor, or received sufficient medical attention. This was due to GPs running full capacity and not accepting new patients in certain areas. A number of GP offices turned down asylum seekers, and those who the asylum claims have been refused. There was a general assumption that people without legal status are not entitled to free NHS treatment or were entitled to only treatment for some common medical conditions. So even when individuals were somehow registered, GPs did not consider arranging for interpreters, and asylum seekers were unable to communicate their symptoms due to the lack of proficiency in English. In the absence of medical care, certain individuals resorted to self-medication. So they were getting medication from underground market to recover from distressing life events and numb the pain of living in limbo in the UK. The mental distress amongst people seeking asylum were often increased with the time they spent in Britain, and this is a very important point that you all should note. The research findings strongly indicated that asylum seekers were trapped in a vicious cycle and denied appropriate care, which made the recovery from the traumatic events extremely difficult. As often the trauma and suffering was ongoing, it did not end with their migration journey into the UK. It kept going on. It was neither episodic nor cumulative, and it was actually the quality of life in Britain itself. So the injuries they suffered were structural, and they were inflicted deliberately as a result of policies and procedures. I must highlight that six of the participants also attempted suicide at various points or serious self-harm. One participant highlighted the suicide of his friend during the interview and reasons behind it. So I don't want to say this in my own word, that's why I'm not going to paraphrase it, and I will read out another quote for you. Hazel was my best friend. She walked from one location to another location and back around five to six miles every single day. Whether it be winter or raining, she used to do that every day for two and a half years. She couldn't stay at home. Just like me, she lived far from the city centre and she had no money. No money because people seeking asylum are not allowed to work. She could not work, and she was only 32 years old. She always said that once she gets her papers, that is her refugee status, many of her problems will get over. Then one day she threw herself from a hurting floor balcony, and at this stage the participant was getting emotional. She did not die straight away because she fell on the grass. They called the ambulance, police came also. She was still breathing, and after two hours the police announced her death. The problem was because of a situation and all that goes back to the home office, claiming asylum and then waiting. When you are waiting, you have nothing. You are nothing. Similarly during one of the interviews an asylum claimant called Inam mentioned about paying a drug dealer about 20 or 30 pounds and pleaded to be injected with a cocktail, a toxic cocktail of class A drugs. After some reluctance from the dealer, he was administered with the overdose of meth and heroin and ended up lying in a semi-coma state like for around three days in an abandoned council estate building. He later woke up feeling weak and assumed that it was his spirit rising from his body. When he saw his image in a broken mirror, he was disappointed. So Inam was twice as powerless at that point to face the harsh reality of life that he was made to live by the home office. Also there was at least one case where an individual who was suffering suicide ideation approached the crisis team, NHS crisis team and he was then transferred in the hands of home office and subsequently deported from the country. So now I would like to move to the part B of my evidence which is the convergence of asylum system and criminal justice system. So over the past 10 years there's a new phenomena happening that has gone unnoticed. Two systems are converging and criminal justice system has been drawn into managing the migration in asylum. So the breaches of unauthorized forms immigration breaches and unauthorized forms of migration are being treated as punishable offences under the criminal law rather than administrative or civil matter. So previously any breach of immigration was managed by civil court but now it's managed by the criminal court. At the same time it has expanded the powers given to the police and immigration to detain, search and put people in prison. So there are 89 new offences created over the past 10 years. So I would like to highlight a case of a man called Rafiq, an Afghan national who worked for campaigning organization in Afghanistan which promoted human rights and he coordinated with American soldiers who were actively supporting his work and he had documentary evidence to prove that. This close association with Westerners imposed him to Taliban reprisals and he was eventually subjected to brutal and near fatal assault. So Rafiq was punished by the criminal court and his migratory history was not even considered by the criminal court judge prior to giving him a sentence for deception. So Rafiq basically during the asylum interview his name was Rafiq Ullah and he did not mention the term Ullah. At the same time he did not mention that he had actually seeked asylum in France so he was forcefully fingerprinted in France. Therefore because he gave a wrong information or not exactly wrong information because he gave a different name and because he did not mention that he had given fingerprints in France which meant that the immigration officers could transfer him to prison and therefore he was then prosecuted and imprisoned by the criminal court. And I've seen the cases of several single mothers who were in the same position who were sentenced to prison and their children taken into foster care and same goes with men who were put into detention and their children taken into foster care. Thank you. So considering the invasion now in the recent events in Afghanistan do you think that the government's response to the ongoing crisis is appropriate? Sure. Well, no. The government has deployed Operation Warm Welcome which is nothing but according to me a publicity stunt. As I've already mentioned there's nothing warm about Britain's reception and treatment of refugees. The Home Secretary has also introduced the Nationality and Borders Bill which puts the very right to seek asylum under threat. It criminalizes irregular entry and disrupts the long-standing international system of refugee protection. So, in short, no. So what recommendations do you have for the UK? A humane asylum system based on acceptance rather than deterrence, abolishing spaces of confinement and deportation machine, abolishing hostile environment and compliant environment or whatever environment Home Office wants to call it now, treating people with dignity and fairness. Home Office has been nothing but inconsistent, inconsiderate and quite frankly even reckless. I can give you an example of two identical twins that I encountered in the field. One was from Iraq, brothers from Iraq and sisters from Zimbabwe. And both pair of twins fleeing exactly the same situation have applied asylum exactly at the same time. In one case, one of the brothers gets the asylum and the other gets rejection. And it just makes you wonder what the hell are they thinking? And same goes with the endless cases, especially of Afghan nationals where Home Office have not even considered, considered the evidence. And they simply cut, copy, paste the rejection letters and when you're reading these letters you just like, have you actually even read their cases? So going back, a humane system based on acceptance rather than deterrence. No further questions, thank you. Does the panel have any additional questions for Mr. Bhatia? Yeah, I just have one question One of the things that has struck me as you've been speaking throughout both parts A and B is that there doesn't seem to be recourse for justice for those who are trapped in somewhat of a hostile system. And would it be fair to say then that for those who are entering the asylum system within the UK, their knowledge of their human rights and their basic rights as asylum seekers within the UK is information that is not always accessible to them or provided to them by the government of the UK? Yes, no, that's absolutely correct. And that's one reason why there are several different organisations who have now stepped in to fill that void and I increasingly feel that government is avoiding taking the responsibility and pushing the responsibility over to the third sector organisations and letting them pick the pieces of their harmful, quite frankly, hostile and degrading policy. So yes, I agree with you and I agree that government needs to take more responsibility there. And in terms of legal aid, I don't quite know whether you know about this but there is a legal aid cut. So not all can access legal aid and I think legal aid is quite fundamental. And I've encountered people who have put themselves in risky scenarios simply to get money to fight the case and I don't think that it should be that way taking into account we are presenting ourselves as beacon of human rights and refugee protection. Thank you very much. Any more questions from the panel? Thank you very much. You're free to go. Permission granted. Prosecution, you have the floor. Thank you. In the next section we will present the court with a truth-telling session in which those who have seen or felt the war in Afghanistan on their own flesh may speak freely to the court. The first witness we call to the stand is Mirwaz Sur. I will mention that this testimony has been reconstructed by playwright Shala Nix and the witness name has been changed to protect their own identity. I do solemnly, sincerely and truly affirm that the evidence I shall give as a Mirwaz Sur shall be truthful to how the testimony has been reconstructed by writer Shala Nix. Thank you. Please be seated. What would you like to share with the court today? My name is Mirwaz Sur. I'm from Kandahar, Afghanistan. In the south, Kandahar is a beautiful province in Afghanistan which has vast mountains, beautiful trees and beautiful places for swimming. Kandahar, since a long time, has a source of gems and it has very beautiful pomegranate which is the economic agriculture that belongs to this fruit and everyone can tell you this fruit is the pride of the Kandahar. One thing I miss since April to September when we sleep outside our house in the courtyard and when I would be very excited when I waking up in the morning with the birds' sounds and very beautiful sky with the beautiful color of kites and I waking up my sisters and brothers to take their own kites and join our friends for kite playing. That time I was the one which I was the fastest runner in the kite and I look after my sister, Shahla even though she was the oldest one but everyone respected her because she was very good at kite making and even she taught older kids to make the kite which is very funny and we love that time as well. My sister, she made very strong kites because she doubled up the paper for each kite and nobody can make like her kite. I've been in a boy's school that time but I don't like to go to that school because it was boring for me but my brothers and sister, they like too much school even my mother, she doesn't know I don't go to school she thought I'm going to school No, I didn't go to school. Finally I stopped school and I was a teenager when the Russians came to my country they came to my country and they asked us to join the army I was very scared because my uncle he was alive-born while he was hiding from the Russian people That time, Mehran, Shahla, Nazanin, little Nazanin and Nassima were twins they were not alone there was maybe around 100 people small they were trying to hide because of this reaction because the Russian people that time they tried to use the chemical explosive and in the tunnel they used a big explosion and we lost, they did my uncles and my cousins that time there was more people also died maybe more people, more families for the first time I saw crying I saw my father cries and when his friend told his brothers and cousins already died because of that explosion it was very bad for me and I was very feel sad why this happened to us some people that time they tried to join the ANA Afghan National Army it was operating by Russian people but another Afghan people they forced another Afghan people to join to that army Russian people they shared, they gave weapons for all everyone that time I didn't understand how to use the weapon how to do with that but they trained me how to use the weapon how to fight I was around six to seven years in the front line and I decided to leave it because the situation between Mojahedin and Russian people got bad my two brothers were already in the same army with ANA and we all together we decided to leave this army but to leave this army finally one night Russian people came to our house and I don't know how they understand we are four boys at home and my brother, a small brother is Sabri he is 14 years old and they want to take my brother Sabri with them my brother Sabri was scared and he was hiding behind our house we had one wooden house which my father built it he was hiding there Russian people they checked our house even they checked our rice bag our oils, everything in our house and they couldn't find my brother finally they went to the wooden house and they checked that wooden house and they find my brother from there he was scared and he didn't want to go with them once they took my brother they found some paper there which was a paper flyer which was against the government and we found that paper is from my sister because my sister used the broom and she said the broom is for girls only and we got that paper is only from my sister but we didn't understand how because she didn't go to school she didn't go to she didn't know any place for printing and we showed how she can print these papers and how she wrote these papers on the morning of that day these Russian people touched me and they took me to the hut in the hut there was I saw many people many people are there and I saw they are in very bad situation because I saw some of them the back is broken the jaw is like dislocated jaw the body is with like sign of the cigarette it looked like somebody pushed cigarette on their bodies and I said oh this is very bad place how they bring me here I was two days there in a one room which there was no place to sleep even I saw these people they put some people in a one meter room which they are not possible to sleep for them actually I've been two days there and they took me to another room in another room there was only big and light room light big light and it was on for 24 hours and they tried try me to stand up for two weeks like and they don't want they don't allow me to sleep that time and they even push me and ask me tell me about that paper where did you print it and I was not in that shed I didn't understand how and who did this one but I just got that paper is from my sister but I didn't know how she printed or how she wrote it finally one day one Russian guy came and they use bad language about me and they said if you don't tell me the truth how did you print the paper we will punish you like another people and they bring another guy and they take talk out his eye in front of me and he asked me tell me the truth otherwise I'll take your eyes like this and I was scared and I didn't know about this they tied my like my hands and this in the chair and they used electrical shock in my head in my whole body in my mouth even which is very shameful thank you thank you very much you're free to go back to your seat next we would like to call Narendra Samra who will also be performing a testimony from an anonymized witness my name is Narendra Samra I'm an actor I do solemnly sincerely and truly affirm that the evidence I shall give a Shah Jahan will be truthful to Shah Jahan's testimony as it was transcribed and shall be the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth I am appearing in his stead to protect his identity please take a seat what would you like to share with the court my name is Shah Jahan I went to military school when I was 17 years old later I went to military university the war started from the time of the revolution after 1979 before that everything was fine as a result of the war when the Russians left Afghanistan I lost my leg this is not about me but about the history of Afghanistan let me tell you about the misery of the Afghan people the Russians had their own goals in Afghanistan the Russians want to go to Pakistan after Afghanistan and then to the warm waters of the Mediterranean after that the United States abused the people of Afghanistan the people of Afghanistan are willing to give their lives for the sake of their religion which is why the United States took advantage of this in fact the United States and Russia have made Afghanistan the battleground of two superpowers Pakistan brought the Taliban into Afghanistan and they started propaganda people at that time thought that the Taliban were a good people and for the benefit of the Afghan people back in the time of the communists people believed that if the Mujahideen came the people would get rid of the persecution of the communists when the Mujahideen came the people believed that if the Taliban came the people would get rid of the Mujahideen because the enemies of Afghanistan have always misinformed the general public eventually the Taliban reached Kabul the Mujahideen had to flee Kabul and the Taliban took the path that was when I had a grocery store when the Taliban came I thought that the Taliban were a very large army but when I saw them they entered Kabul in several vehicles with the Pakistani intelligence the Taliban's first task was to oust Dr. Najibullah the president and eliminate him they hanged Dr. Najibullah at the Ariana intersection I myself went and saw Dr. Najibullah his body up close I saw with my own eyes that all the people were crying for him the women were crying under the hijab the Taliban government was one of the worst times in Afghanistan they oppressed women and beheaded anyone who stole when the Mujahideen were in Afghanistan they took the people's lands by force they oppressed men and women when the Taliban came they brought justice for example they said when the call for prayer was everyone left all their work shops and everything and went to prayer no one dared to touch someone else's belongings some people who wanted democracy left Afghanistan at that time but there were some people who liked Taliban law majority of people still thinks the original Taliban was good and had a good ideology however later mobsters, vagrants and illiterates went to the Taliban and they gave them a bad name during the Taliban era for example when a woman fell ill she was not allowed to go to the doctor alone she would need a man with her at all times later various groups from different countries collaborated with the Taliban including Osama bin Laden Chechen and Al Qaeda groups when 9-11 happened they warned the Taliban that they should give Osama or they would start a war but the Taliban did not surrender Osama to the United States and America repeated the mistake of the Russians it is known to the whole world that Afghans do not allow anyone to invade their territory it is a famous proverb because the elders and politicians said that the Russians had come to develop Afghanistan we accept it when the Russians came to Afghanistan they helped the Afghan people a lot at the time the Mujahideen were propagandizing to the people that aid would increase if the United States came to Afghanistan they said that if the United States entered Afghanistan in a few years Afghanistan would be like the United States but when America came everything happened the other way around after the arrival of the United States the people of Afghanistan suffered greatly bombing many villages in Afghanistan looting jewelry from Afghanistan and other behind the scenes activities that the general public is unaware of like night raids on people's homes imprisoning innocent young people in Guantanamo jail and so on if I go back to Afghanistan I want a good system and a national government it does not matter to me which party it is it doesn't matter to me if they are Pashtuns or Hazar if they're black or white what matters to me is that they are our own people not someone who been trained and brought up in another country and they run for president they don't know the true pain that we had as kids or the hardships we had to go through as young men or the pain as a man I remember that after I had lost both my legs and the army no longer needed me I had to find a source of income for my family and at the time I had made myself a bicycle where I would use the pedals but for my hand you know the one in the Olympics I would go from one end of Kabul to the other end of it to bring petrol I would fill up bottles and bottles of it and cycle it back and sell it most people would laugh at me and call me mad or crazy because if one bullet hits it or any form of flame then I would have been barbecued but I had no fear after losing my legs no pain is greater than become a handicap it's like I'm dying every day but I took that danger on just for my kids so that they have a better life and a better education and today all of my kids are well educated Thank you very much You're free to go We would like to call Samaranthisi to the stand who will also be performing an anonymized testimony I do solemnly, sincerely and truly affirm that the evidence I shall give shall be truthful to the testimony of Alexandra as it was recorded and transcribed Thank you, please take a seat What would you like to share with the court today? From my point of view the Romanian rehabilitation program for servicemen only exists on paper When I got divorced the first two, three cases came up so until then the Romanian army categorically refused to acknowledge the fact that there were servicemen with post-traumatic stress disorder There was this investigation conducted by some journalists on this topic that Romania was the only country without servicemen with post-traumatic stress disorder and there were psychologists from the Ministry of Defense that said Romanian servicemen are very well prepared mentally and they're very resilient and so on and that's why we don't have any such thing as soon as my ex-husband came back from Afghanistan I told him listen this isn't right let's see what we should do I knew there was this program and I called someone with links to the Ministry of Defense another serviceman so he looked into it and after a few days he called me and he said Alexandra please never tell anyone that I told you this because I'll be done for but this program only exists on paper everyone passes the test and you can't send him to therapy through the Ministry of Defense they all went home took the psychological assessment and passed it with flying colors and then they went home beat up their wives and killed them killed themselves and who knows what else my ex-husband has been with the Army since the 9th grade because he graduated from the military high school and the academy he grew up in the Army the Army practically raised him he worked with tanks but he's been a sapper for some years now when he met when we met he was a sapper already the sappers are the ones during war they disarm bombs or build roads so they both destroy and repair he was first assigned to go to Afghanistan in Kabul in 2009 I think yes, in 2009 we were already married he really wanted to go I didn't want him to go but he kept insisting that he wanted to go on assignment people want to go on assignment people pay bribes to go on assignment people pull strings to go on assignment when he left for a six month long assignment he got 1600 euros if you were wounded and it depended on how badly you were hurt you got around 40,000 euros and if you were lucky enough so to speak 80,000 it is paid to your family in installments if you ask me this was extremely badly negotiated by Romania and the Romanian Army with NATO because it wasn't our war we had no business being there and if you send me there a scan and fodder at least pay me yourself but our servicemen were paid by the Romanian state for these assignments not NATO our child he was a baby when he left well not really a baby but still little very little, a toddler the first time while he was there at first everything seemed okay but after a while he started nagging with me what am I doing by myself at home that surely I'm screwing around so on at some point I realized the soldiers were having discussions like what you really think your wife will behave until you're back home and so on that all women are whores and things like that and yeah anyway he brought me to a point where I wasn't really leaving the house because of this because he'd always call me on Skype he'd call me and if I didn't pick up that instant because I wasn't home he'd throw a tantrum that where have I been with whom and so on for a very long time it was quiet over there I actually found it weird that he'd call me however many times a day and I told him hold on what are you doing over there since I see you're on Skype all day so for a very long time it was quiet at some point they were sent on reconnaissance missions everywhere in the war zone when things quiet down when it's too quiet when there's no victims when people start saying well okay look things calm down we should pull the troops back suddenly something happens and that's pretty much what he told me happened there too they sent him on a reconnaissance mission they found themselves in an ambush something like ours someone was badly hurt it was a Romanian only squad he led the whole thing the whole mission now reconnaissance missions are meant to look for explosives for terrorist cells things like that now this is just what he told me I don't know I don't know if it went like this if it didn't anyway what I know from my dad who also went to the military if you check the history of each and every war you'll see that things like that happen when things calm down something has to happen suddenly because it means money where does the US's money come from along the fact that anyway it's already something known that they keep supplying them with weapons yeah besides the fact I don't know at least in my view it's an empire you can safely compare it to the Roman empire during Jewish Caesar's time who said you can't make peace without war so he went everywhere to make peace yeah same with them they go everywhere to make peace besides what's the largest opium market in the world what's the biggest drug dealer in the world so things tie in things tie in so well you'd have to be an idiot not to put two and two together and when someone comes up to you like nah, this is a conspiracy theory no it's not a conspiracy theory it's so obvious, you know it's staring you in the face so anyway they called for help from the Americans over the radio and he told me that during the whole time almost they had a helicopter serving the area but it didn't get involved at all only after things calmed down he told me he's convinced they waited for there to be casualties and only after things calmed down did they receive help to retreat from my ex I've heard that they went he didn't tell me much just that there were horse manians, Moldovans Bulgarians and that they knew for sure they were apparently he didn't go to them very often they didn't even pay them it's so easy to go to a prostitute and mess around without paying anything maybe even hit her especially if you're a serviceman especially if you're in an area like this and anyway they didn't just get there they didn't go there carefree in areas like those I think you're aware they were trafficked they were taken there if some of the soldiers would go on their own simply because they felt like it they definitely had to pay but their American friend showed up like let me let me get this for you you know to strengthen friendships for example because things like let's drink together or let's fuck together or let's whatever together somehow induce the idea of a stronger bond but in reality that's not exactly it it's kind of like let's make you do this you depend on me somehow I have something on you so he knew they were it's possible he knew more I mean you know if he was there I don't think he would have missed the opportunity knowing him but he didn't tell me he was there he told me others where he talked about these things very little and only show up look what happens over there same with the drinking he told me how they made drinks from all sorts of stupid stuff but he never touched alcohol during that time if you asked him others went to prostitutes others drank others did this others did that underage girls from what I've seen and heard this is what the American servicemen look for underage girls yes and it seems it's very entertaining to have group sex with underage girls and I had a certain reaction when at some point I saw my wonderful husband I caught him one night looking at porn videos and that's exactly what he was watching some servicemen raping an underage girl after he came back from Afghanistan when he when he came back from the mission he was different in a really bad way yeah a few days after he came back from the mission I've had the worst night of my life choked with a knife at my throat for half a night and in the end three police units came to get me and my child out of there he was tiny he was what three years old maybe he recently turned three he left the town and when he came back he was drunk and he started questioning what did I do during the time he was gone that he knows better he started making a bigger and bigger and bigger scene and at some point he jumped me and started choking me and he choked me until the moment he realized that if he doesn't stop I'll die so he was I don't know somehow perfectly aware of what he was doing because he always stopped right before the limit he stopped let me go let me take a few drops of air and then choked me again and it went like this for who knows how long with yelling and fists and smashing things and so on and at some point our child woke up and started crying and I found a moment and I managed to send a message to one of my cousins and I told her to call the police immediately that he'll kill me so she called the police and came with the police and when the police came knocking he went he opened up so it was the police to shut the door but luckily one of them had the sense to stick his foot in the door and my ex became pretty aggressive he immediately tried to show off that he's an officer that he's been to war that and the police officer asked me if I wanted to leave and I said yes I said okay take the child and let's go I was covered in bruises and all messed up and with marks on my neck the next day anyway I went to the forensics expert and including my boys I could barely talk because he choked me so badly I had it was very hard to talk and that night unbelievably he still had a so called a suicide attempt somehow for a show the army the army was saying there's nothing wrong with him he's perfectly normal he's got no issues that he's already taking his psychological assessment and passed it I took him to the psychiatrist a few days later because I told him it's clear you have issues and they're serious I said I didn't get married just to divorce and watch so I said let's try to see what can be done he had a moment of panic because I told him I'll divorce him and he said no look enough I'll do what you want I'll go to the psychiatrist after talking to the psychologist he told me he's convinced that it is paranoid schizophrenia that with alcohol is merciless and that he clearly recommends being admitted but it won't guarantee his recovery because this isn't curable and that was the moment my ex categorically refused to see any other psychologists or psychiatrists because he's a career service man if you get a diagnosis like this your career is finished you've got no business being in the army he became very aggressive with the child as well right before he left for good once he grabbed the child and threw the child against the bed and started punching the child in the back and since I already had a broken vertebra from a beating like this one that's when I said enough stop that's it my spine was broken from a punch in the back incredibly I was in the military hospital after this the doctor clearly saw the outline of his fist on my back I'll probably end up not probably certainly I'll get to an old age where I won't be able to move due to the pain and I'll end up in a wheelchair at some point that's a different story that's the least of my worries anyways but the most difficult issues are the psychological ones those are the hardest ones to heal I'm well aware that no matter how strong I say I am I'm not really okay and I realize I'm not really okay when someone if someone raises their voice at me or someone smashes something I jump immediately just think my ex-husband is still in the army yes and he has right to bear arms after everything that happened after this whole story serviced thank you very much feel free to go this was the last witness in this case all that is left to hear is the prosecution's closing statement Miss Saeed you have the floor when I entered the room I saw bones and teeth all over the place the four of them were lying there there was blood everywhere those were the words of a witness who saw the aftermath of a British war crime in Afghanistan on the 18th of October 2012 British and Afghan troops burst into a family home in the village of Loi Bagh opened fire a 12 year old Ahmed Shah and a 14 year old Mohammed Tayyip was staying overnight with 17 year old Naik Mohammed and his brother Faisal all four boys were murdered 143 billion pounds spent on reconstruction 2.26 trillion pounds spent on this war 69,000 Afghan troops dead over 84,000 Taliban and other militia dead 241,000 Afghan lives lost was it worth it the invasion of Afghanistan had three official reasons to eliminate Osama bin Laden following the 9-11 attacks two to improve the quality of life for women three to topple the Taliban 20 years later and the US refused to negotiate Osama bin Laden's surrender with the Taliban Osama bin Laden was found in Pakistan 10 years after the invasion and occupation of Afghanistan 10 years ago two while the quality of life improved for the women of Kabul it was temporary and there were no women at those deciding tables and women's rights were not part of the peace negotiations between the Taliban and the US three the Taliban have retaken Afghanistan as of the 31st of August 2021 the UK have abandoned Afghanistan the Afghan people's rights have disappeared and the people continue to live in fear we have established that the argument for self-defense invoked by the US and the UK was flawed we have established that the British government did not provide a suitable reason to invade Afghanistan we have established that the invasion and the occupation has had devastating impacts on the lives of ordinary Afghans so what does this mean for us for you some of us may have heard of the concept of blowback and blowback does not just mean retaliation for things that your country have done to or in a foreign country it refers to the numerous illegal operations British forces have carried out abroad that were kept a total secret from the British public this tribunal have proven that the UK funded organizations it considered extremist operated secret prisons tortured detainees and killed innocents during night raids this means that if and when the retaliation comes as it did so devastatingly and so tragically this day 20 years ago the British public will not be able to put the events into context the British public will support acts intended to lash out against the perpetrators causing more collateral damage more innocent lives lost more reason for revenge and another cycle of blowback it is typical for imperial subjects to have a short memory for their empire's painful colonial acts but for those on the receiving end this violence the memory of this violence can be long indeed it can span continents and generations it lives in our blood we ask you to look behind the war Tony Blair is paid around one million pounds a year as an advisor for the Muba-Dahla Development Fund in the UAE who have been developing a plan to mine one trillion dollars worth of resources in Afghanistan Theresa May's husband Philip May works for Capital Group which owned Lockheed Martin and BAE Systems two of the most prominent arms companies during the Afghan war Rishi Sunak was a partner at the Children's Investment Fund which owned part of Lockheed Martin and they collected biometric data on Afghans the senior members of Government interest in Afghanistan is not a mere coincidence they profit from this war the United Kingdom wishes to impose are supposedly superior and democratic and egalitarian society on others yet it continues to sell arms worth over a billion pounds the nations classified as not free by freedom house Afghanistan has been subjected to a brutal civil war for more than two decades prior to 2001 as a consequence hundreds of thousands were suffering and many were turned into refugees it was a defenceless country US and the UK coalition forces recklessly fired thousands of bombs and missiles against the country which was not the enemy they must be held accountable thank you this marks the end of trial session 8 thank you to all the 30 witnesses who have contributed to this case we take a recess while the panel deliberate and return at 5pm to hear their verdict and recommendations thank you very much