After the 9/11 terrorist attacks, fear of another attack on our soil was and still is a shadow over our heads. Now more than a decade after the attack, the debate continues if it’s a necessary evil to compromise traditional American beliefs in rule of law for the sake of security.
“Barzan” is a documentary about Sam Malkandi, also known as Barzan, an Iraqi refugee who gains asylum in the United States and is living the American Dream; he has a wife, two kids, and a home in Kirkland. But that dream is shattered when he is arrested under suspicion of having helped an Al-Qaeda operative.
The film begins with an interview with Malkandi showing pictures of his family and then he describes his history before entering the United States. He fled Iraq in the early 1990s after deserting the army, first moving to Iran.
In Iran, his wife died by suicide, leaving Malkandi alone with their young daughter, Nicole. This prompted Malkandi to move to Pakistan in hope of providing a better standard of living and education for Nicole.
While in Pakistan, he remarried and had a son. Malkandi then applied for asylum in the United States. On the form, he lied about being a political prisoner in Iraq to improve his chances of being given asylum, a common occurrence with refugees.
In America, he worked three jobs at one time to provide for his family, but he was happy. Then everything he worked so hard for fell apart when he was arrested and put under investigation of involvement with Al-Qaeda.
On page 155 of the 9/11 Commission report, an Al-Qaeda operative named Walid bin Attash, or Khallad, gave up a name of a contact in the U.S. who was supposed to help sneak him into the country illegally. Khallad told his interrogators the name sounded like Barzan.
There was also a letter with Malkandi’s address listed as the return address sent by Khallad. Malkandi claimed to have met a mystery man name Ahmed at a mall, and he let him use his address to help Ahmed’s friend in Iraq. There is no record of this person ever entering the U.S.
At immigration court, Malkandi confessed to lying on the immigration form about his status as a political prisoner. There was only circumstantial evidence linking him to any crime, and he was never charged criminally. But immigration court has no rules for evidence, so anything could be introduced. He was sentenced to deportation.
He would spend six years in federal detention while waiting on multiple failed appeals all the way up to the Ninth Circuit Court, the court below the U.S. Supreme Court. Malkandi decided to stop fighting the ruling at that point and chose to accept his deportation to Iraq.
The film seems to ask the question: In the process of protecting our nation, is it necessary to lose the civil liberties that make us a free and independent society?
Malkandi was never given a trial. He was deported because of his alleged, never proven, involvement with an Al-Qaeda operative.
One of the last scenes of the film is a newscast about Khallad, who is currently a prisoner at Guantanamo Bay. The clip is about his trial by military tribunal once again being delayed. The newscaster says he does not think that this trial will ever be resolved.
Is preventing another attack worth ruining a man’s life? In the case of Barzan, the American government did not hold itself to the ideals of the country Barzan and his family grew to love and call home.
The editing is smooth and the sandpaper animation depicting certain scenes is beautiful to watch.
Besides having a larger social and political message, “Barzan” was the emotional human story of a man separated from his family without any due process of law and is deeply touching.
“Barzan” was directed by Bred Hutchinson and Alex Stonehill. It’s a project done in collaboration with the Seattle Globalist.
Verdict: 3.5 out of 4 stars. Recommended for those interested in government policy towards terrorism and immigration after 9/11 and how they come in conflict with civil liberties
Chris Lopaze is a student in the University of Washington Department of Communication News Laboratory.
