“Spying is a like a game of chess. Sometimes you have to withdraw, sometimes you have to sacrifice one of your pieces to win preferably a knight rather than a king or queen”. John Rhys-Davies
Pakistan army spokesperson announced on 30 May 2019 that two army officers and one civilian were tried by a Field General Court Martial (FGCM) for spying and passing information to foreign intelligence agencies and were convicted. No details were provided about charges and results of investigations as usually FGCM proceedings are not made public. Army is very concerned about the negative fallout especially public opinion and generally restricts circulation of any negative information; this is true of all armies and Pakistan army is no exception. However, in the 21st century, a candid discourse barring release of sensitive or operational details, sharing general information prevents speculation and rumors. This enhances the strength of the institution where public has more trust in the accountability process of the institution. It will take some time before we know the details of this incident when officers involved in investigations and FGCM proceedings provide details.
Retired Lieutenant Genera! Javed Iqbal Awan was awarded fourteen years imprisonment and retired Brigadier Raja Rizwan Haider and a civilian Dr. Wasim Akram were awarded the death sentence. It is likely that some other officers who came under the radar during this investigation will face inquiry and many a career will end. Some innocents will go down with the guilty.
Javed is from a military family and from traditional recruiting grounds of Chakwal. His father was Major, and his brother retired at Colonel rank. After his early education at Military College Sarai Alamgir, he joined Pakistan Military Academy (PMA) at Kakul. He was commissioned in 9th Frontier Force Regiment. He was an above officer but a very hard-working individual. His career path was typical of an officer destined for higher ranks. He served as instructor at PMA and Staff College Quetta and commanded Rawalpindi based 111 Brigade. He attended United States Army War College in Carlisle, Pennsylvania. After pro-motion to Major General rank, he first commanded a division in Bahawalpur and then Jhelum. He was then appointed Director General Military Operations (DGMO). This is a most important posting at Major General rank and usually held by an officer destined for further promotion. In April 2011, he was promoted to Lieutenant General rank and appointed Adjutant General (AG) and in December 2013, he was appointed Corps Commander of XXXI Bahawalpur Corps. He retired in April 2015.
Brigadier Raja Rizwan Haider is from Khanpur. His father was a Junior Commissioned Officer (JCO) of Engineers. Rizwan completed his early education from cadet college Hassan Abdal; a nursery for Pakistan army officers. He joined 68th PMA course and commissioned in 10th Frontier Force Regiment. He was a bright officer and successfully climbed the promotion ladder serving at command, staff and instructional appointments. He commanded a Brigade in tribal areas with good reputation. He served as Defence Attaché in Germany from 2009-12. He was superseded at Brigadier rank and retired in 2014. He is a handsome chap and fond of pretty faces.
Cultivating agents in hostile or even friendly countries for classified information is the basic job of every intelligence agency. Usual incentives are financial, blackmail from a weakness or compromise and ideological. Three recent cases from different countries are good case studies. Joint Secretary of Indian Research & Analysis Wing (RAW), Rabinder Singh was roped in by Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) mainly with financial incentives. Rabinder’s family was settled in United States. RAW started surveillance of Rabinder and seeing the threat, in 2004 CIA extricated him via Nepal. He later died in the United States. In February 2019, former Energy and infrastructure minister Gonen Segev was convicted of spying for Iran in exchange for money. He was tried in a civilian court and to prevent divulgence of sensitive information, the prosecutor made a plea deal with the accused where charges of treason were dropped, and he was sentenced to eleven years in jail.
2019 is an embarrassing year for United States and shows robust Chinese efforts to penetrate US institutions. In March 2019, former Defence Intelligence Agency (DIA) officer Ron Hansen pleaded guilty to spying for China and will spend fifteen years in jail. In April, a former diplomat Candice Claiborne who had worked in the US embassy in Beijing pleaded guilty to receiving money from Chinese agents and then lying to investigators. In a plea deal, she may get a lesser sentence of five years in In May 2019, a Mandarin jail. speaking former CIA officer Kevin Mallory was sentenced to 20 years in prison for spying for China. In 2017, he passed on sensitive defense information for a paltry sum of $25’000. In May, former CIA agent Jerry Chun Shing Lee was arrested for giving classified information to China. He may spend a decade in jail. The most interesting case is of US Air Force counter-intelligence Sergeant Monica Witt. A Persian speaking agent who worked in the Middle East in service and later as contractor. After leaving the air force, she was troubled, converted to Islam and defected to Iran in 2013. Her defection was ideological and not for any financial gains.
Javed Iqbal and Rizwan were likely recruited when they were posted abroad. Recruitment inside Pakistan is very difficult due to robust counter-intelligence operations of Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), Military Intelligence (MI) and Intelligence Bureau (1B). We don’t know what kind of information was passed on. Javed had served as DGMO and in that position he was privy to all operational plans. It is not clear how much information DGMO has about nuclear assets If he is in the loop, deployment. then this information is very valuable. There is no available evidence of any other motive and it appears that financial gain was main motive. It is almost certain that CIA recruited him.
I have not been able to confirm if Rizwan did a stint at Counter Terrorism directorate of ISI. If he had served at ISI, then information about Pakistan’s counter-terrorism operations is the information he may have passed. In his capacity as Brigade commander or as Defence Attaché in Germany, there is nothing unique information that he possessed. He had a liking for pretty faces and in addition to money, there is the possibility of a ‘honey trap’. It is not clear whether he was cultivated by CIA or RAW. Some sources suggest that 1B stumbled on his case during a raid to net some other culprits. Both arrested in officers were September-October 2018. In January 2019, military spokesperson admitted that they were in custody for espionage charges.
Dr. Wasim Akram is a PhD doctor and worked in a nuclear facility. He was likely recruited by CIA to pass on information about the work he was familiar with. Army spokesperson claimed that these cases were separate and not part of a network. Even if the same agency had recruited them, such operations are usually run in ‘silos’ where one team usually does not know about the work of the other team. This is essential to prevent unravelling of multiple projects if one set of birds is netted.
Two separate trials of accused were held under Pakistan Army Act Few and Official Secrets Act. months ago, I had heard that capital punishment was on the cards that suggested seriousness of the charges. Punishment is also based on the nature of the information leaked. All leaks are not equal. We don’t know the exact nature of charges and evidence It is a sad chapter that has come to an end. These are the spider webs of the dark art and gods of espionage sometimes want human sacrifice.
Javed Iqbal was sentenced to fourteen years imprisonment while Brigadier Rizwan and Dr. Wasim Akram were sentenced to death. The question is whether difference of sentence relates to the nature of information passed on or which agency recruited them. If the nature of crime is same but Wasim got capital punishment because he divulged nuclear secrets; a more serious crime and Rizwan passed on information to RAW; a sure ticket to gallows. Some are asking questions whether Javed was spared the gallows because of his rank and connections while JCO’s son sent to gallows. They are of the view that being senior and privy to more sensitive information, if the crime is the same then he should have faced the same sentence. Another question that must be on the minds of senior officers involved in sentencing is the climate in the country. Recently, the army has taken a very hard stance against Pashtun Tahaffuz Movement (PTM) accusing them to be agents of hostile intelligence agencies. In this environment, showing leniency to fellow officers who are not simply accused but convicted of this crime would not go well.
This decision of the army brass was a correct one and even the harshest critics of army have praised the army brass. However, now pause and reflection is needed. I see a clear and present danger, where some senior officers citing this evidence advocating for maximum punishment for P TM leaders now under custody. The two cases are totally different and any such action either due to anger or arrogance will have very serious consequences.
“In the intelligence community, a rumor was almost as good as a confirmation”. Kenneth Eade.
