CPS secures Historic Torture Conviction

18/07/2005

Farayadi Sawar Zardad, 41, has been convicted in London of conspiracy to commit torture and take hostages in Afghanistan between 1991 and 1996.

The Crown Prosecution Service believes this is the first time in any country where offences of torture and hostage taking have been prosecuted in circumstances such as this. It is even more unusual for an English court to try matters when neither defendant nor witnesses are British subjects.

The Director of Public Prosecutions, Ken Macdonald QC said:

"By securing this conviction the CPS has shown there is no hiding place here for torturers and hostage takers. Our lawyers have worked relentlessly to prepare this case - including visits to Afghanistan - and have overcome the difficulties of proving crimes committed in another country over ten years ago.

"Zardad's actions and those of his men were horrific. Through our witnesses, we were able to tell the jury of his reign of terror. The victims - many of whom are still terrified of Zardad - showed great courage in helping us present our case. I'd also like to pay tribute to the exhaustive investigation by the Metropolitan Police in the UK and Afghanistan and their help with witness care."

In a new feature, 16 witnesses gave evidence via live video link from a studio at the British Embassy in Kabul, the Afghan capital. Using television screens in the court, the jury also saw video footage of Zardad and his men at the time of the offences.

During the five week trial, witnesses told the jury of Zardad's catalogue of abuse, reliving their often horrific ordeals at the hands of Zardad's men.

The jury heard of:

• Incidents of summary execution and hostage taking.
• The slaughter of 10 or 11 men in a minibus, separated from their wives and children left screaming at the roadside.
• An old man imprisoned in a metal cupboard and whipped with a bicycle cable.
• Petrol poured over a man while Zardad's men joked about matches.
• A seven year old boy who saw his father's ear being cut off.

One of the key legal challenges was to show that although Zardad did not necessarily administer torture himself he was still responsible through the men he controlled at his military-style checkpoints.

Notes to Editors

1. Please be aware that there are court orders prohibiting the publication of details of a number of Zardad's alleged victims or anything that would identify them unless permitted by the judge.

   A trial was held in 2004, but the jury failed to reach a verdict and a retrial was ordered.

2. Faryadi Sarwar Zardad was charged with Conspiracy to Torture, contrary to section 1(1) of the Criminal Law Act 1977 and Conspiracy to Take Hostages contrary to section 1(1) of the Criminal Law Act 1977.
3. Torture is a crime of universal jurisdiction, as decided by the House of Lords on 24 March 1999 in Pinochet No 3. Therefore these crimes, which took place in Afghanistan in 1991-1996, are within the temporal jurisdiction of the Criminal Justice Act 1988 . Afghanistan and the UK are parties to the United Nations Torture Convention and are bound by the obligations that flow from it. The UK 's obligations under the UN Convention are either to "extradite or prosecute". As no request for extradition was received by the Afghan authorities, under the Convention, it falls to the UK to prosecute Zardad. The convention allows the UK, as a signatory to an international agreement, to investigate and, if the test for prosecutors is met, to prosecute.

4. Hostage taking is also a crime of universal jurisdiction. Section 1-3 of the Hostage Taking Act 1982 implements the International Convention against the Taking of Hostages.
5. Section 134 of the Criminal Justice Act 1988 states that a public official or person acting in an official capacity, whatever his nationality, commits the offence of torture if in the United Kingdom or elsewhere he intentionally inflicts severe pain or suffering on another in the performance or purported performance of his official duties.
6. Zardad became a significant figure in the Heb-e-Islami (Islamic Party) of Gulbaddin Hekmatyar, which controlled large tracts of Afghanistan until the Taliban took over in 1996. The offences between 1991 to 1996 when Zardad was often described as a 'war lord' in charge of a vital piece of territory about 80km outside of the capital Kabul on a vital supply road between Afghanistan and Pakistan. He also controlled a prison and hydro-electric dam.
7. For further information contact the CPS Press Office, 0207 7710 6088