September 23
This day in 2010 Richard Berman Condemned Aafia to 86 Years of Isolation
In response, on Sep 28, 2010, approximately half a million people poured into the streets of Karachi to peacefully express their support for Dr. Aafia Siddiqui following the actions of Richard Berman on Sept 23, 2010. This has to date been the largest public rally in recent Pakistani history and one that stayed true to Aafia's request that no violence be done in her name.
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A Reflection from British Author and Commentator, Andy Worthington:
September, 2012
I’m sorry to report that it’s two years since the Pakistani neuroscientist Dr. Aafia Siddiqui received an 86-year sentence in a court in New York...
The trial of Aafia Siddiqui, which culminated in her sentence, and which I described at the time as “barbaric,” appeared to be a cover for a much grimmer story — one of the darkest in the whole of the torture-filled “war on terror” — in which, on the basis of alleged connections with terrorism that have never been proved, she had disappeared with her children in Pakistan in March 2003 and was then held in a “black site” until her engineered reappearance in Ghazni in 2008.
According to the US authorities, after being captured in a bewildered state, she allegedly tried and failed to shoot the Americans guarding her, which provided an excuse to render her to the US to be put on trial — an unusual move given that most people accused of anti-American activities in Afghanistan did not end up in the US — and for her to be silenced as a result of the 86-year sentence handed down after a trial that critics called “a grave miscarriage of justice,” and to be held in isolation in a psychiatric prison/hospital for women in Carswell, Texas, notoriously referred to as the “hospital of horrors”, where her health continues to deteriorate, and where she is denied meaningful contact with her family...
As time passes ...several significant figures have very publicly expressed their disgust at Aafia’s plight, and the severity of her sentence. Recently, for example, former US Attorney General Ramsey Clark visited Pakistan and stated, “Justice demands that Aafia Siddiqui should immediately be released. I haven’t witnessed such bare injustice in my entire career.” In addition, Khurshid Kasuri, Pakistan’s foreign minister under Pervez Musharraf, the President at the time of Aafia’s disappearance, has stated, “I’m so sorry for handing over the innocent Dr. Aafia Siddiqui to the Americans. It was my biggest mistake ever.”
Furthermore, just this week US Senator Mike Gravel, accompanied by the attorney Tina Foster of the International Justice Network, also visited Pakistan, where, as the Express Tribune described it, they “said that the Musharraf regime had illegally kidnapped Dr. Aafia along with her three children from Karachi in March 2003, and handed her over to the US government for illegal interrogation and secret detention based on completely false information.” The Express Tribune added that Sen. Gravel “maintained that Dr Aafia’s trial in the United States was illegal,” and “added that the US government had no moral or legal justification for their actions.”
Both he and Tina Foster stressed, however, that the Pakistani government “would have to take serious action if it wanted Dr. Siddiqui to be repatriated.” Foster said, “We have received no cooperation from the Government of Pakistan in securing Dr Siddiqui’s repatriation to Pakistan. There’s been a lot of talk, but no concrete steps have been taken despite numerous requests for assistance.” She added, “I’ve come on a humanitarian mission to ask Pakistani leadership for its assistance in returning Dr. Siddiqui to Pakistan. It’s obvious that the will of the Pakistani people is being ignored by their leadership.” (Find more from Author, Worthington just below)
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The NEWS from The NATION Pk
Sept. 15, 2012
Former American Senator Mike Gravel has said that convicting Dr Aafia Siddiqui is a crime committed on the American land, adding that she was kept in illegal detention for a long time.
He expressed these views at a seminar titled “Implementation of Human Rights at International Level” organised by the Judicial Activism Panel where he was the chief guest.
Gravel said Aafia was not allowed to contact her lawyer or her relatives and they had no clue about her whereabouts for a long time.
He said Dr Aafia’s fundamental rights were infringed upon in America and the US government was constantly showing stubbornness over the issue. He said Dr Aafia was kidnapped in 2003 but she was tried in court of law only two years before.
Dr Aafia’s American lawyer, Tina Foster, said she was recently appointed as the counsel for Dr Aafia, adding that the previous lawyers for Dr Aafia did not plead her case well. She said legal requirements were not fulfilled in Aafia’s case.
To see the Video from this event GO here
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Imran Khan Demands Release of Aafia from US
Sep 12, 2012 The NEWS.com
Chairman Pakistan Tehreek e Insaf (PTI) Imran Khan has demanded from the United States to release Dr Aafia Siddiqui immediately.
The PTI Chief was talking to the former US senator Mike Gravel during their meeting here on Wednesday. Dr Fauzia Sidiqui was also present in the meeting.
On the occasion, Imran Khan said that the PTI would continue their efforts for the release of Dr Aafia.
He said that his party is not against any country but oppose polices. Innocent people are being killed in drone attacks, he added.
Imran said the former US senator confirmed that the release of Dr Aafia Siddiqui has not been demanded on the government level.
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Andy Worthington has called Aafia's case "...one of the darkest in the whole of the torture-filled “war on terror” — in which, on the basis of alleged connections with terrorism that have never been proved, she had disappeared with her children in Pakistan in March 2003 and was then held in a “black site” until her engineered reappearance in Ghazni in 2008..."
CLICK to read what Andy Worthington wrote for this occasion here as well as an earlier item upon attorney receiving compelling new evidence here and upon the sentencing of Aafia here and hear Andy Speak last spring here Andy Worthington is speaking upon the anniversary of Aafia's abduction: 'Remembering 03 30 03'
Find much more from the Official Family Site -- GO here
See earlier items from this blog and others -- here's one with her address -- keep in mind that she loves nature and the card is best kept simple with no political language GO here
Memorandum from February 2012 with key links here
Dr Aafia Siddiqui: In Her Own Words here Dr Aafia said during her trial: “I died in that very moment when my tiny baby soul was snatched from me, when my children were separated from me.."
Another with plenty of photos including one of her missing baby SEE DR AAFIA SIDDIQUI here
A theory as to Why Aafia? October 2010 here
Among the most moving and still timely post for us all are the well-spoken words of Aafia's brother --I'm glad I transcribed this talk since the audio seems to be unavialable// GO here
I also recommend you watch some of the YouTube videos of Imran Khan on Aafia...and of
the events concerning Dr. Aafia Siddiqui in Soweto, South Africa...
May all moved and concerned pray to find one small or larger act of empathy for Aafia.
May Aafia's request for no violence in her name continue to be honored.
May Allah and the people who pray to Him soon bring Aafia and her precious children to freedom and healing. May she, all her family, her legal advice and her supporters be given hourly strength, wisdom, openings and vision to last from here through eternity. Amin.
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