"If you reject, then it is deception. And we will detain you." ISD tactics for false confessions.
Article #7
There are at least two other tactics to force false confessions.
One is the accusation of deception. If I disagreed with them, that meant I was being deceptive. There was no discussion. Agree with their demands or you are lying.
And if you are lying, then you will be detained.
For example, around November 2015, I wrote a post on Facebook saying if we wanted to end invasion, colonisation and militancy, we should support the establishment of a Caliphate.
This was more than a year after I began criticising ISIS.
I had two models for the establishment of a Caliphate: 1. the Vatican/ ideational model and 2. the EU model. (Read here)
I argued that a Caliphate would be a rational actor (which means, it would act predictably and can be negotiated with). I had previously argued that militancy and terrorism were the products of failed states and state collapse. We need a strong and stable state in the Middle East to put an end to both, colonisation and militancy.
A Caliphate would establish peace. It will be strong enough to dissuade invasion. It will end a source of militancy.
In the post, I argued:
Some Muslims argued that the khilafah will be established by Imam Mahdi. I disagreed that we should just wait for the Mahdi. I argued that the khilafah have existed prior to Imam Mahdi and can be re-established before his time.
I was asked how I saw it being established. I answered, for Muslim states to create a common political, economic and social union and for the people to develop a common identity.
Just like the EU model.
During interrogation, I was shown the post and the comments about how to establish the Caliphate via the EU model. Tim and Larsson told me to say I was referring to ISIS as the Caliphate.
Which was insane.
How could developing a common political, economic and social goal and common identity be about ISIS? I showed them my response to the question. I told them it was clear I was talking about an EU model.
Tim told me I was lying. I was told to say I was referring to ISIS. After hours of interrogation, Chang joined in. He told me to say that I was referring to ISIS. I told him it was an EU model of developing a supranational organisation. That was my model for the Caliphate.
I told him to look at the article again and especially at the comment I wrote to the original post. Chang removed the comment section of my post.
“Who is the Caliphate now?” he demanded.
“There is no Caliphate” I told him.
“But who claim to be Caliphate now?” he insisted.
“ISIS claim it but they are not the Caliphate” I retorted.
“See, they claim they are Caliphate right? So you are talking about them” he argued.
It was ridiculous. I held out. They had me sign some other statements instead for that evening.
The next morning, another senior officer visited me. I had met him before but did not know his name. I referred to him as Charlton.
The room was empty when the Gurkha officers removed the beanie. A couple of minutes later, Charlton walked in.
“What is going on Zulfikar?”
“They are trying to make me sign statements that are not true.”
I thought he was concerned and wanted to get it right. He told me in our first meeting that he was the person who would make recommendations whether to detain me.
He scolded me for refusing to accept their accusations.
“What you say must be congruent with what we think.”
He then placed his right hand over the back of his left, lining his fingers over each other.
“It has to be congruent. If not, then we say it’s deception. If we say deception, then we detain you.”
I was told that if my response differed from what they said, then I was lying and would be detained. If I agreed with them, then I would be released. It went against all my instincts.
But I was reminded that Said Zahari rejected their accusations and was detained for almost 17 years. I needed to at worst, get the Restriction Order.
After he left, I met with the three officers again. I signed their statements. I signed so many false statements.
Tim regularly used Charlton’s threats. When I rejected his accusations, he would say “My boss will not like it” or “I will type it but my boss will say it is deception.”
After signing the false confessions from the first few days, I decided it did not matter anymore. What was another one? It made no difference if I signed one false statement or 20. They had what they wanted.
I accepted the statements he wanted me to sign.
“You are right” I told him. Tim would smile whenever I submitted to his demands.
Once, Tim wanted me to sign a statement saying I supported ISIS and Al-Qaeda and their plans for a global Caliphate.
It was crazy. I said I did not. I did not support the use of violence and especially not for the establishment of a Caliphate. And my vision was not for a global caliphate but one that was valid for those who wanted it.
Tim demanded that I agreed with him. After hours of Tim screaming, he finally agreed to modify the statement. Tim typed that while I disagree with their methods, I supported their plans for the caliphate. It was the best compromise I could get.
Apart from threats on my family and telling me that if I disagreed with their accusations then I was being deceptive (and would be detained), Tim had another tactic.
He told me to just agree with what they wanted me to say. It did not really matter. It was only for his bosses. I could tell the truth later.
According to Tim, before any decision was made, I would be allowed to tell the truth in a “mitigation”.
“I will give you reams and reams of paper” Tim promised.
After their threats on my family, I signed almost everything they told me to. I would usually begin by telling them the truth. They would scream and demand I change it. I would try to maintain my position. After a while they would either threaten my family, tell me I was “deceptive” which would result in my detention or promise me I could write the truth during mitigation.
I asked about writing my statement during every interrogation session. After trying to hold out and signing the statements they typed, I would ask Tim for the mitigation date. I thought it would be soon.
I was supposed to write the truth prior to any judgement.
26 days after my arrest, on 27th July 2016 I was given the Order of Detention for 2 years.
After I was given the Order of Detention, I asked Tim, when was I supposed to write my mitigation statements. I wanted to be able to tell the truth.
He finally told me that I would submit my mitigation at the Advisory Board meeting.
Two months later.
Continued in next article.