[caption id="attachment_255" align="aligncenter" width="201" caption="The image of FBI website page on Aafia Siddiqui"]
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The 36-year old Pakistani woman Aafia Siddiqui is again in news. She disappeared from Karachi, Pakistan's largest southernmost port city, in 2003 and was wanted by the FBI for her suspected ties to Al-Qaeda.
Media reports said she studied at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, US, for about 10 years and did her PhD in neuro-cognitive science at Brandeis University, Boston. Aafia returned to Pakistan in 2002 after she did not find a suitable job.
Since then there was no trace of her, but according to media reports US officials admitted late July that she was arrested from Afghanistan carrying documents on explosives making and details of possible targets in US including in New York City.
The US officials also alleged that Siddiqui grabbed an assault rifle left in a room where she had been detained and opened fire on the officials who had come to pick her up. She was shot in the chest by an American officer, subdued and extradited to the United States. She was to appear before a New York court on Tuesday, August 15.
Now Siddiqui has been charged attempted murder of US officers and employees facing a maximum 20 years in prison.
Siddiqui’s plight came into media lime light after a British journalist, Yvonne Ridley, disclosed in July the presence of a Pakistani woman held in solitary confinement by the US military in its main Bagram base in Afghanistan. “I call her the ‘grey lady’ because she is almost a ghost, a specter whose cries and screams continues to haunt those who heard her,†Ridley said at a press conference. Other media reports described the lady as Prisoner 650.
The FBI website still says that: “Although the FBI has no information indicating this individual is connected to specific terrorist activities, the FBI would like to locate and question this individual.â€
The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan has also strongly reacted on the latest development in Siddiqui’s case and raised a number of questions.
LAHORE, Pakistan, Aug 5 - With the US finally admitting custody of Dr Aafia Siddiqui, one of the most brutal cases of suppression of individual freedom has begun to unravel, the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan said in a statement.
The commission said: Public pressure has at last compelled the United States to admit that Dr Aafia is in their custody.
While the Pakistani government has belatedly begun to admit that it had some responsibility towards Dr Siddiqui, it has a lot of explaining to do as to who had been detaining her and where since she was picked up from Karachi in 2003 along with her three children.
To say that she had been taken into custody only on July 21, 2008 is a blatant lie. As transparently ugly as any falsehood can be. The insinuation that she had been hiding herself since 2003, is a travesty of truth, an affront to people’s commonsense.
Dr Siddiqui’s case is a reminder of the grave injustice done to God knows how many Pakistanis in US detention facilities in Bagram in Afghanistan, Guantanamo Bay in Cuba and elsewhere, who have been listed missing.
While reminding the government of Pakistan of its duty to trace all people who are reported to be involuntarily disappeared, HRCP calls upon all civil society elements and human rights organizations to make a concerted effort for the release of all missing persons and to ensure that Dr Siddiqui gets justice, that has long been denied to her and that in a manner no civilized people can condone.
Iqbal Haider
Chairperson
[/caption]The 36-year old Pakistani woman Aafia Siddiqui is again in news. She disappeared from Karachi, Pakistan's largest southernmost port city, in 2003 and was wanted by the FBI for her suspected ties to Al-Qaeda.
Media reports said she studied at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, US, for about 10 years and did her PhD in neuro-cognitive science at Brandeis University, Boston. Aafia returned to Pakistan in 2002 after she did not find a suitable job.
Since then there was no trace of her, but according to media reports US officials admitted late July that she was arrested from Afghanistan carrying documents on explosives making and details of possible targets in US including in New York City.
The US officials also alleged that Siddiqui grabbed an assault rifle left in a room where she had been detained and opened fire on the officials who had come to pick her up. She was shot in the chest by an American officer, subdued and extradited to the United States. She was to appear before a New York court on Tuesday, August 15.
Now Siddiqui has been charged attempted murder of US officers and employees facing a maximum 20 years in prison.
Siddiqui’s plight came into media lime light after a British journalist, Yvonne Ridley, disclosed in July the presence of a Pakistani woman held in solitary confinement by the US military in its main Bagram base in Afghanistan. “I call her the ‘grey lady’ because she is almost a ghost, a specter whose cries and screams continues to haunt those who heard her,†Ridley said at a press conference. Other media reports described the lady as Prisoner 650.
The FBI website still says that: “Although the FBI has no information indicating this individual is connected to specific terrorist activities, the FBI would like to locate and question this individual.â€
The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan has also strongly reacted on the latest development in Siddiqui’s case and raised a number of questions.
LAHORE, Pakistan, Aug 5 - With the US finally admitting custody of Dr Aafia Siddiqui, one of the most brutal cases of suppression of individual freedom has begun to unravel, the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan said in a statement.
The commission said: Public pressure has at last compelled the United States to admit that Dr Aafia is in their custody.
While the Pakistani government has belatedly begun to admit that it had some responsibility towards Dr Siddiqui, it has a lot of explaining to do as to who had been detaining her and where since she was picked up from Karachi in 2003 along with her three children.
To say that she had been taken into custody only on July 21, 2008 is a blatant lie. As transparently ugly as any falsehood can be. The insinuation that she had been hiding herself since 2003, is a travesty of truth, an affront to people’s commonsense.
Dr Siddiqui’s case is a reminder of the grave injustice done to God knows how many Pakistanis in US detention facilities in Bagram in Afghanistan, Guantanamo Bay in Cuba and elsewhere, who have been listed missing.
While reminding the government of Pakistan of its duty to trace all people who are reported to be involuntarily disappeared, HRCP calls upon all civil society elements and human rights organizations to make a concerted effort for the release of all missing persons and to ensure that Dr Siddiqui gets justice, that has long been denied to her and that in a manner no civilized people can condone.
Iqbal Haider
Chairperson
Comments
Pakistan foreign ministry's reaction:
Pakistan regrets the sentencing of Dr. Afia Siddiqui by a U.S. court
The Government of Pakistan regrets the sentencing of Dr. Afia
Siddiqui by a U.S. court. The prolonged detention of Dr. Afia Siddiqui and her sentencing is a source of deep concern to the Government and people of Pakistan.
The top leadership and the Government of Pakistan had repeatedly requested the U.S. Administration to release and repatriate Dr. Afia Siddiqui.
The circumstances surrounding her arrest and trial were never fully explained nor her indictment on charges substantiated.
Dr. Afia Siddiqui and her family have suffered immensely. She is a victim of circumstances. It is imperative that Dr. Afia Siddiqui be released and repatriated. The Government of Pakistan will continue to endeavour to seek justice for Dr. Afia Siddiqui.
And the reaction of Pakistan interior ministry:
Islamabad, September 24, 2010: In the wake of decision of US Court sentencing Dr. Aafia Siddiqui to 86 years imprisonment, under the directions of the Prime Minister of Pakistan, Senator A. Rehman Malik, Federal Minister for Interior convened a high level meeting in the Ministry of Interior. The situation arising out of the sentence was considered from all aspects. Following decisions were taken:-
Legal Efforts
A high level committee will be constituted comprising of representatives of Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Law & Justice and Ministry of Interior, including two eminent lawyers. The Committee’s task will be the following:
i) Suggest legal ways and means to get Dr. Aafia Siddiqui repatriated from USA to Pakistan.
ii) To examine the possibility of filing an appeal against the judgment of US Court and hiring of US Lawyer for the said purpose.
Political Efforts
An interparty delegation comprising of women Parliamentarians, having representation from all the Provinces, will be sent to USA to meet the following US officials/politicians to agitate the matter amongst the US government and civil society circles.
(i) Officials of the US State Department.
(ii) US Attorney General’s Office
(iii) US Homeland Security Officials
(iv) Legal Fraternity including Congressmen / Senators etc.
(v) Members of Civil Society.