(New York) September 28, 2010 -- The Kuwaiti government's announcement that it will abolish its employer-based sponsorship system for recruiting migrant workers by February 2011 is a significant step to address a major source of labor abuse, Human Rights Watch said today. It is unclear, though, whether the change will apply to migrant domestic workers, who make up a significant proportion of the country's migrant workers but who are not covered by any labor law protections, Human Rights Watch said.
"This announcement is an important declaration that the Kuwaiti government is taking seriously the need to protect migrant workers," said Sarah Leah Whitson, Middle East director at Human Rights Watch. "But the government needs to say publicly what it plans to do and it needs to include domestic workers in its plans."
Kuwait's current sponsorship system ties a migrant worker's immigration status to an individual employer, or sponsor, without whose consent the worker cannot transfer employment. "Absconding" from the workplace is a criminal offense, even if a worker has left because of abuse. This system gives employers unchecked leverage and control over workers, who remain completely dependent upon the sponsoring employer for their livelihood.
Human Rights Watch has documented abuses of migrant workers enabled by sponsorship restrictions in Gulf countries, including in Kuwait. Employees can suffer physical and sexual abuse, and employers often withhold salaries, require long working hours with no time off, refuse to allow a worker to go home after an employment contract expires, and block avenues to redress. Human Rights Watch will release a report on October 6, 2010, at a news conference in Kuwait City about its findings in Kuwait.
The Labor Ministry announced in 2009 that the government would abolish the sponsorship system, but the promised reforms at that time were minor. Migrant workers were allowed to change sponsors without their consent, but only after completion of the initial employment contract or after three consecutive years of employment. Furthermore, the change did not include the country's 660,000 migrant domestic workers and offered no protection to workers in abusive employment conditions during the first three years.
"Any new system should allow workers to change or terminate employment at will, and should decriminalize 'absconding,' or leaving employment without an employer's permission," Whitson said. "The government should make its plans public and cooperate with civil society and the countries the workers come from to adopt the highest standard of protection for workers' rights."
Human Rights Watch Press release
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HREA - www.hrea.org (go to site to sign-up for free human rights emails - these are often unusually helpful items for all interested in Rights world-wide)
Human Rights Education Associates (HREA) is an international non-governmental organisation that supports human rights learning; the training of activists and professionals; the development of educational materials and programming; and community-building through on-line technologies.
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Those interested in safe-guards for the plight of domestic workers (whether migrants/immigrants or not) may want to look for more such items at Democracy Now!, Human Rights Watch, Human Rights First, Amnesty International. Somewhat related in terms of methods which have at times led to safe-guards from governments - see a short Video of the Week on Caesar Chavez - also to be found at bottom of the following post here
Find the latest on FBI raids on US groups concerned with issues of peace, migrants-immigrants issues and Palestine-Israeli peace also for 9-28 at nomorecrusades here
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Wednesday, September 29, 2010
Tuesday, September 28, 2010
UPDATE: "FRIENDS Indeed" Who are Serving Flood Victims as Their Friends
What can we do? (about the suffering ones affected by the floods - all who are neighbors no matter whether near or far?)
JUST IN - see a NEW report "Visit to Dhabeji" from the "Friends Indeed" here
Here's a beautiful, loving effort which I want many,many of us to find out how to support in the coming days, weeks and months ahead. Some readers who are local or have local contacts/relatives can easily find a way to contact this most worthy and promising effort which is already doing effective work. Please do so by going to this site HERE Also see Goals Achieved and Sought as well as Videos and more photos at this site GO HERE 
InshAllah, in time, a few of us Pakistan/American friends and along with some great cooks who've said they'd help also hope to hold fundraising and understanding-raising picnics and little cultural events inspired by Pakistani friends here on this team. Then we want to work out a fool-proofed way to contribute to this effort and to encourage many more to do so. 
Plz find more photos/videos and touching word descriptions on Urooj's lovely site "Unity in Universe" (This is one of my favorite blogs and names for a blog anywhere with one of the dearest souls you will ever find.) Click HEREBe sure also to see the exquisite and heart-felt beginning of Urooj novel in process
CLICK HERE The novel is called "Grief of Awareness" in English and "Gham-e-Agahi" in URDU and promises to get plenty of attention in the days ahead.
FUNDRAISER in NYC Tonight - Tuesday (For Pakistani Flood Affectees)
Crimson
915 Broadway
New York, NY 10013
Nearest Transit: 23rd St.
Web: www.crimsonclub.com
Email:
info@industuesdays.com
Phone:
(908) 591-5190 (973) 650-2172
Note: Valid email address is required in order to receive RSVP confirmation number via email.
SEPTEMBER 28 For the first time, an unprecedented event bringing the top South Asian Groups in NYC together for Pakistan Flood Relief Fundraiser
IndusTuesdays - Bibi Magazine - SALGA - NETIP NY
along with CitySaheli - YOUR DIL - Indo-American Arts Council
One Night, One Cause Pakistan Flood Relief Fundraiser
The United Nations estimates that more than 21 million people are injured or homeless as a result of the flooding, exceeding the combined total of individuals affected by the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami, the 2005 Kashmir earthquake and the 2010 Haiti earthquake. At one point, approximately one-fifth of Pakistan's total land area was underwater due to the flooding. All proceeds from the party will be donated through Unicef USA.
Entertainment::
* Special Performances by Bikram Singh, Jeffrey Iqbal, and Daraja Hakizimana
* DJ Karma, DJ Insomnia, DJ Ashish
* Live Auction
Tuesday, September 28, 2010 @ 6:00 PM
Age:
Ladies 23+ / Gents 25+ (ID Required)
Admission/RSVP: No Cover (RSVP Required)
Suggested Donation: http://pakistanrelief.eventbrite.com/
Note: Suggested Door Donation; $25. Tickets are in the form of donations, more if you can, less if you can't.
Dress Code:
Business Chic & Elegant
Collared Shirt Mandatory For Men
Event Highlight:
* Cool music played at a low volume to facilitate successful business and social networking til 9pm
* DJs spinning great music and creating a fun atmosphere after 9 pm while allowing for continued conversation and interaction
* Build business contacts and new friendships like you can do nowhere else
e: info@industuesdays.com | p: (908) 591-5190, (973) 650-2172
915 Broadway
New York, NY 10013
Nearest Transit: 23rd St.
Web: www.crimsonclub.com
Email:
info@industuesdays.com
Phone:
(908) 591-5190 (973) 650-2172
Note: Valid email address is required in order to receive RSVP confirmation number via email.
SEPTEMBER 28 For the first time, an unprecedented event bringing the top South Asian Groups in NYC together for Pakistan Flood Relief Fundraiser
IndusTuesdays - Bibi Magazine - SALGA - NETIP NY
along with CitySaheli - YOUR DIL - Indo-American Arts Council
One Night, One Cause Pakistan Flood Relief Fundraiser
The United Nations estimates that more than 21 million people are injured or homeless as a result of the flooding, exceeding the combined total of individuals affected by the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami, the 2005 Kashmir earthquake and the 2010 Haiti earthquake. At one point, approximately one-fifth of Pakistan's total land area was underwater due to the flooding. All proceeds from the party will be donated through Unicef USA.
Entertainment::
* Special Performances by Bikram Singh, Jeffrey Iqbal, and Daraja Hakizimana
* DJ Karma, DJ Insomnia, DJ Ashish
* Live Auction
Tuesday, September 28, 2010 @ 6:00 PM
Age:
Ladies 23+ / Gents 25+ (ID Required)
Admission/RSVP: No Cover (RSVP Required)
Suggested Donation: http://pakistanrelief.eventbrite.com/
Note: Suggested Door Donation; $25. Tickets are in the form of donations, more if you can, less if you can't.
Dress Code:
Business Chic & Elegant
Collared Shirt Mandatory For Men
Event Highlight:
* Cool music played at a low volume to facilitate successful business and social networking til 9pm
* DJs spinning great music and creating a fun atmosphere after 9 pm while allowing for continued conversation and interaction
* Build business contacts and new friendships like you can do nowhere else
e: info@industuesdays.com | p: (908) 591-5190, (973) 650-2172
Thousands rally in Karachi over scientist jailed in US
BBC
28 September 2010 Last updated at 13:00 ET
BBC News, Karachi
A massive show of support in Karachi for scientist Dr Aafia Siddiqui who was sentenced to 86 years in jail in the US last week Tens of thousands of people have marched in Pakistan's southern city of Karachi, demanding the release of imprisoned scientist Doctor Aafia Siddiqui.
Dr Siddiqui was sentenced to 86 years in prison by a New York court on 23 September.
She had been convicted of trying to kill US federal agents in Afghanistan.
US officials also say she is an al-Qaeda agent, but her family say this is a cover-up.
America is not a perfect country... they have to review a lot of their policies because they are pushing secular, moderate, liberal and progressive people on the other side of the line of divide”
End Quote Dr Farooq Sattar
MQM party
According to them, Dr Siddiqui has been a prisoner of the United States since her disappearance from Karachi in 2003.
There have been a number of protests in Pakistan over her case but this rally, organised by the MQM political party, was the largest so far.
The crowd roared as the imprisoned scientist's sister addressed them on a bright Tuesday afternoon in Karachi.
Dr Fowzia Siddiqui called on those gathered to continue their struggle for her sister's release.
She said she was positive that Aafia Siddiqui would soon be back in Pakistan if the public pressure continued.
The rally in Karachi was the latest in a continuing campaign to pressure the US and Pakistani governments.
But it is the first time that a mainstream political party has called for Dr Siddiqui's release.
The MQM is also a part of the ruling coalition.
Growing chorus
Protesters hope to put pressure on the US and the Pakistan government to secure Dr Siddiqui's release Its most senior leader in Pakistan, Dr Farooq Sattar, explains why the party has joined the chorus: "America is not a perfect country, American system and their policies are not perfect."
Dr Sattar said US authorities should review many of their policies.
"They are pushing secular, moderate, liberal and progressive people on the other side of the line of divide," he said, "and more and more people are becoming fanatic, becoming extremists and becoming terrorists."
Pakistan's government is now feeling the heat of this fast-growing campaign.
Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gillani expressed his displeasure after Dr Aafia was sentenced.
He called her a daughter of the nation, and said his government would do its best to get her released.
Monday, September 27, 2010
Dr Aafia: PETITION - Unity of Parliamentarians - US -Pakistan Consultations
HIGH TIME to Write your letter/join the Petition/Campaign for Aafia's repatriation: Pakistanis/Americans/Leaders/Lay-Folk and all others who care for human rights world-wide. See one example of such a letter here Write your own letter or simply sign this one to the Presidents of both America and Pakistan online - PLEASE GO Online NOW Click here
Parliamentarians protest against Dr Aafia’s sentence ISLAMABAD, (SANA): Members of the Parliament on Monday held a joint march on Constitution Avenue here to protest against conviction of Dr. Aafia Siddiqui by an American court. It was participated by members belonging to all parties; Dr. Fauzia Siddiqui, sister of Dr. Aafia and representatives of human rights organizations and members of the civil society. They raised slogans rejecting the sentence awarded to Dr. Aafia and demanding her early repatriation to Pakistan. Speaking on the occasion leader of the opposition
Ch. Nisar Ali Khan, Interior Minister Rehman Malik and Chairman Parliamentary Kashmir Committee Maulana Fazl-ur-Rehman expressed their resolve to continue struggle for the release of Dr. Aafia. They said that today’s protest demonstration was a message that the ENTIRE PAKISTANI NATION was UNANIMOUS in demanding an end to injustice being meted out to Dr. Aafia and (insisting) on her immediate release.
They also criticized the American judicial system and said a weak Muslim woman has been awarded (likely) the most maximum ever sentence in the US judicial history.
They pointed out that the United States is taking refuge behind the plea that it cannot interfere with its judicial system but on the other hand it has scant respect for judiciary of Pakistan as its absconders are enjoying life in the United States and other countries of the West.
See above story at Sana News dot net here
========
Just in:
America in touch with Pakistan regarding Dr. Aafia Siddiqui - asks Pakistan to sign two conventions See Daily Times dot com Just in 5:15 PM ET GO here
* Malik says conventions to be signed after consultations with team of int’l lawyers, approval from Dr Aafia’s family
Staff Report
ISLAMABAD: Interior Minister Rehman Malik on Monday said that the US government has asked Pakistan to sign two conventions on transfer of prisoners, to make Dr Aafia Siddiqui’s repatriation possible.
Addressing a press conference with Dr Aafia’s sister Dr Fauzia Siddiqui, Malik said the US demand came in response to a letter he had written to the US attorney general. He said Pakistan will have to sign the Convention on the Transfer of Sentenced Persons and OAF Convention for Dr Aafia’s return. However, he added that on Dr Fauzia’s insistence the authorities had decided not to sign the conventions yet. “These conventions will be signed only if we are sure that they benefit Dr Aafia,” he added.
According to sources, the US authorities had informed the interior minister following Dr Aafia’s conviction (or sentencing), that there would be a framework for discussion on the issue of prisoner exchange only after Pakistan signed the international treaties on exchange of prisoners. Malik earlier chaired a meeting that was attended by deputy attorney general, interior and foreign secretaries, joint secretary of the Law Ministry and Dr Fauzia to chart future course of action. He said that a decision to sign the conventions would be taken after approval from Dr Aafia’s family. He said a team of lawyers belonging to the International Justice Network would be invited to Pakistan for consultations on the issue. Dr Aafia’s brother, who lives in the US, will accompany the team. He said prominent lawyer Bilal Sufi had also been engaged for consultations. Malik told reporters that the US government would be asked to improve Dr Aafia’s living conditions. Washington will also be requested to provide telephonic access to her family in Pakistan.
===============================
"Every Pakistani leader – secular or religious – has called for the repatriation of Dr. Aafia Siddiqui. Her antagonists may not have intended it but through their violations of her rights she has become the daughter of the nation – the daughter of the ummah. And that ummah will not rest until she is home."
"At the sentencing, Judge Berman praised Aafia’s attitude in calling for calm and ended by telling her that she had the right to file an appeal. She replied simply by saying, “I appeal to God and he hears me.”
Pakistan: my return to the scene of the crime and the plight of Aafia Siddiqui
Written by Moazzam Begg
Cage Prisoners
Qadr (fate) is a difficult concept to understand and an even harder one to explain but, travelling to Pakistan during the days of ‘Eid ul-fitr, on the ninth anniversary of 9/11 was indeed fated.
The decision was spontaneous, but I have to thank Yvonne Ridley for making it happen: I'd planned to go for 'umrah for the last ten days of Ramadan but was denied a visa by the Saudi authorities at the last minute, whom I must ultimately thank too.
Some would have said that my choice to visit Pakistan, especially at this time, would not have been the wisest of moves. My father was dead against the idea, my wife apprehensive and my friends, although supportive, were worried for me. Kidnappings, shootings, robberies and corruption occur regularly.
And if that wasn’t enough, over the past few weeks this country has been under sustained attack, both in an earthly and divine sense, on an unprecedented scale: earthquakes, floods, drone attacks, bombings and a state of civil war in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. Even the one thing the nation usually feels proud about, cricket, has not escaped the onslaught.
I had vowed not to visit Pakistan again as long as Pervez Musharraf was still in power and even then, I'd wondered exactly under what circumstances I could return to the country that sold me over to the US war machine.
Yvonne had asked me if I'd be willing to return to Pakistan with her to help with the campaign for Aafia Siddiqui and to meet some of the people there fighting for justice regarding disappeared Pakistani prisoners. I had two days to decide; I prayed istikhaarah (prayer of seeking the good wherever it is) and made my decision. The flight out was on September 11.
Pakistan: The Return
The Pakistani capital was in the grip of another downpour by the time we finally reached our destination. In all honesty I wasn’t even sure if we’d find what we were looking for. I gazed out of the aeroplane onto Islamabad, the city of Islam, with a sense of excitement and dread. My heart was beating fast, my nerves and thoughts racing back and forth between that fateful night nine years ago and what has happened in my life since.
It was the night I was abducted from my house at gunpoint by the Pakistani and American intelligence services - with British intelligence services in full cahoots. That night is engraved in my memory with blood and tears when like thieves they came and stole from me what was not theirs to take: my freedom. That night shaped the person I am today.
It took us a little time to get there but I recognised the area: where we’d shop, the restaurants we’d eat in, the mosque we prayed in, the park we played in and the tailors shop where the shalwar kameez I was wearing even now was made.
We drove around and approached the road where the house still stands. This was it.
“How do you feel?” Yvonne asked me. How could I answer her question, how could I explain properly that the last memories I have of this place before my kidnap are of Zaynab, Marium, Omar and Nusyabah – my wife and children – shut behind this green metal gate. It is this place I’m referring to when I tell people that “I have never been to America, America has been to me.”
“I feel like the weather, “I replied to Yvonne, my eyes welling up and my heart in my throat. The heavens were opening up as we sat in silence, scouring the house for signs of life.
The rain abated and we came out, examining the gates closer. Yes, this was the house for sure. In my subconscious I was half-expecting my children to throw open the gate and pounce on me, asking for chocolates and ice cream. This is the place I’d thought about during my time in Bagram, believing that my family was here waiting. Once upon a time, this was my home.
The current occupier of the house came out and we asked him if we could just film the door and courtyard. This was the door I opened for the last time on the night of 31st January 2002, this was the courtyard in which I was forced down on the floor at gunpoint, my hands shackled behind my back, my ankles cuffed and where both a real and metaphorical hood was placed over my head to darken the next three years.
The new resident, an Afghan gentleman from Jalalabad, then invited us in for tea. None of us wanted to intrude upon him and his family, which included a young girl with cerebral palsy but, how could I refuse? I had to maintain my composure, couldn’t let people see how I was feeling. He didn’t know what had happened here, that in fact we were returning to the scene of a crime.
The house hadn’t changed – only the occupants. They’d moved in during 2005 so were not aware of any other history. Just as well. There were ghosts here that needed to be put to rest for me and, in sha Allah, I believe that has happened.
But there is more, much more.
From his UK base former president Musharraf is attempting a comeback into Pakistani politics. His justification for handing people over to the US in the wake of the 9/11 attacks was the threat that Pakistan would be bombed into the Stone Age if he refused to co-operate . The irony may be lost on him but, Pakistan has suffered trauma after trauma since we were handed over: drone attacks, terrorism and war with its own people over the last nine years. Devastating earthquakes, with tremors recurring to this day and vast swathes of Pakistan’s soil submerged under the flood waters, all creating refugee crises on a biblical scale, make some parts of the country look as if the Stone Age is yet to arrive.
Could it be that the men and women handed over to America were raising their hands in prayer against the entire nation? The Prophet (pbuh) said: "Fear the supplication of the oppressed, for between it and Allah there is no barrier."
The vast majority of the men sent to Guantanamo were sold over to the Americans for bounties of millions of dollars, as confirmed by Musharraf in his autobiography, In the Line of Fire. These people included citizens of Pakistan who were sold over without any legal process. There are fourteen remaining Pakistanis in Guantanamo and scores of others in Bagram.
Amina Masood Janjua
There are also hundreds of people ‘disappeared’ and still unaccounted for in Pakistan. Their case is fought by an incredible woman, Amina Masood Janjua who with her Defence of Human Rights Campaign (DHRC), has fought for the last five years to trace her own husband, Masood Janjua, and hundreds of others in the process. It was an honour to meet this woman who fights day and night, sometimes alone, to seek justice for the hundreds of disappeared and detained without trial around the country. I tried to give her some consolation during my meeting with her, that like me, her husband will surely be home soon. She’s appreciative of the sentiments but then tells me about the corrosive effects all this has had on her daughter, who often accompanies her .
DHRC have registered over 900 cases of missing persons and believe that is only the tip of the iceberg. Estimates suggest the figures are ten times that number.
Amina has just been demonstrating outside the Supreme court in Islamabad carrying mock coffins as a symbol of the living-dead lives they are leading with their loved ones still unaccounted for and, with men dressed in Guantanamo signature orange suits wearing shackles. Her struggle is an uphill one, requiring full-time commitment with insufficient support or funds.
Amina Janjua was to be our main guest at the Cageprisoners Annual Iftaar this year but, for reasons unexplained was refused a visa to the UK despite having come before at the behest of Amnesty International.
Dr. Ghairat Baheer
I first met Dr. Ghairat Baheer in 2009 at the start of Cageprisoners’ Two Sides, One Story tour. It was a strange, but truly historical occasion: 12 former Guantanamo and Bagram prisoners sat down to dinner at a Turkish restaurant with a former US soldier and guard from Guantanamo.
Dr. Baheer is the son-in-law of Gulbuddin Hekmatyar and an Hizb-e-Islami leader. They have both been opposed to the Taliban in the past but equally have fought against the US-led occupation of Afghanistan. For this, Dr. Baheer, more a politician than fighter, was kidnapped by armed CIA and Pakistani intelligence agents from his Islamabad home, like me, and ended up spending six years in US custody in the Salt Pit, Bagram (where he encountered female prisoner 650) and the Panjshir prison where he met Ibn al-Shaykh al-Libi who told him how he’d given the infamous false confession about Saddam and weapons of mass destruction after being water-boarded numerous times.
Dr. Baheer is a highly cultured, educated and hospitable physician whose manners are impeccable and company delightful. I stayed with him in the same house he’d been abducted from where he showed me ICRC (Red Cross) letters from his children in perfect English, Arabic and Pashto. They were clearly written by intelligent children who both loved and revered their father but, only when I met his sons did I realise just why they wrote so well.
I spoke with them for a whole evening and they told me about how their father had been so careful to ensure they had a good Islamic and secular education. They speak English, Arabic, Urdu, Pashto and Farsi fluently. They can quote from the Quran and Sunnah in all languages and understand the intricacies of aqeedah (creed) and fiqh (jurisprudence) as they do the poetry of Tennyson and Poe. They also understand the obligation of resisting occupation as much as the need to build nations. Between the boys and the girls, the latter of whom I was told are more intelligent, they’re studying Islam, engineering, political science, medicine and languages. The eldest told me how he’d became a man at the age of fifteen as the responsibilities of the father all fell on his shoulders after he was seized. Little surprise that they also help Amina Janjua in her campaign for justice.
At Dr. Baheer’s house I also met Farhad Mohammed, a former Guantanamo prisoner. The last time I saw him was in Bagram. He’d suffered terrible beatings at the hands of the Pakistanis who’d then handed him over to the Americans. The reason: Farhad was a shop-keeper who ran a store on the famous Chicken Street in Kabul where Arabs used to do their shopping. I remember my disbelief at seeing him in Bagram. Farhad returned home after four years in Guantanamo to his mud house in an Afghan refugee camp in Pakistan.
Drone Attacks
One of the other things I was hoping to achieve during this visit was to get more information about the drone attacks in the Waziristan region and to obtain more eye-witness testimony about their effects. I remember when evacuating Afghanistan in 2001 we would see numerous spy-planes flying over head and expect that airstrikes might follow at any given moment. Now of course, the Predator drones carry the ‘hellfire’ payload themselves and strike targets with utter disregard for life, liberty or law. I met several people who told me about the effects on the population of the strikes. In addition to the deaths, injuries and refugee crises ensuing directly from these bombings the attitudes towards people from that region from other parts of Pakistan seems to have worsened. Exasperated by the floods and retaliatory strikes against the Pakistani army the refugees become the easiest targets: hit by the Americans, killed by the Pakistani Army and despised by the rest of the population.
There is also a sense that foreigners, namely Arabs, must be linked by default to al-Qaida and subsequently forfeit the right to life. Despite this, the ones I met did not condone the spate of bombings against schools and mosques that have recently plagued the country.
And yet, drone attacks take place almost on a daily basis and go largely unreported. Whilst US officials often miraculously claim exact numbers of ‘militants killed’ the reality is that there is hardly any independently sourced information regarding casualties and even less first-hand testimony.
Aafia Siddiqui
Despite all of this my primary reason for going to Pakistan was to assist in whatever little way I could to in the case of Aafia Siddiqui.
Waiting to collect our luggage near the exit at Karachi airport we could hear the sounds of a crowd gathered outside, but I didn’t know for what. As we walked out I realised it was for us. Hundreds of people had come to welcome us. It was overwhelming. They put so many flower garlands around my neck I that I was in a permanent nod. We were showered with rose petals, people shaking our hands and shouting more slogans than I can remember, except for one: “We want Aafia!”
After what seemed an age walking through the crowds we made it to the vehicles waiting to take us to some rally points. We drove through the packed streets of Karachi with a large convoy in tow, blasting on huge speakers songs about Aafia and American injustice. All along the way someone bellowed out on the loudspeakers that we had arrived, that Aafia, the daughter of the nation, must not be forgotten and that the shameless rulers were responsible for her continued ordeal. There were signs visible all over Karachi that say: DAUGHTERS NOT FOR SALE.
We arrived at a destination where both Yvonne and I were asked to address the people through the sunroof of the car, Benazir-style. Now, I’m no stranger giving speeches and rarely get nervous doing so but this was different. And, my very first speech out of a car, I realised, was also going to be my very first in Urdu.
I didn’t realise but people knew my story, especially as Yvonne had told them previously how she’d first heard about women in US custody from me and what I’d heard in Bagram.
After hearing Dr. Fawzia’s heartfelt thanks to the crowd for their support it was someone else’s turn to deliver his very first speech. We all listened in pin-drop silence as Ahmed Siddiqui, Aafia’s son, sat on the bonnet of the car and spoke of his determination to get his mother back. It was hard to fight back the tears.
Going to Aafia’s house and meeting her family was the most moving experience I’ve had in many years. Aafia’s mother, Ismet Siddiqui, embraced me like a son with tears in her eyes. At dinner she explained to me so many things I hadn’t comprehended properly: the levels to which the family has fought to get justice for Aafia, the love a mother has for a daughter whose dishevelled pictures she cannot even recognise have now become the iconic image of qaum ki beti (daughter of the nation). Ismet showed me the rooms where Aafia would have her friends over and described how she was loved by all who knew her. With the care of a mother but the heart of a believer whose faith is being tested she told me how she cannot bow her head to injustice or bear to hear the terrible predicament of her daughter. The light and joy she said have left the Siddiqui houselhold, even though overwhelming happiness was felt with the return of Aafia’s children, Mariam and Ahmed. No one even talks of Suleman to me, perhaps from fearing the worst.
Fawzia showed me pictures of Mariam distributing aid to the flood victims and Ahmed talked to me about his plans for the future. He’s one of these boys who always smiles, extremely respectful and dutiful. Only Allah and his loved ones know just how much he has had to bear. The thought is crushing. Fawzia also showed me one of Aafia’s headscarves that was ripped while is US custody, along with a Quran with English translation – all sent from the prison. Several of the pages are bookmarked and I read the underlined verses, trying to understand what may have been going through her mind when she did so. One of the many is from the chapter of the Prophets:23
He will not be questioned as to that which He does but they will be questioned. And verse 28:
He knows what is before them, and what is behind them, and they offer no intercession except for those who are acceptable, and they stand in awe and reverence of His (glory).
Sentencing the 'daughter of the nation'
Although I returned to the Siddiqui household the following day for more press engagements I was hoping that we really might get to hear, somehow, that everyone has relented and that Aafia will be coming home, before the sentence. The government did announce officially that they had requested Aafia’s repatriation from the Americans but, we all knew that all real efforts for repatriation could only begin after sentencing.
I went on to give more press conferences in Lahore and Islamabad contrasting Aafia’s case with some of the released Guantanamo prisoners who include Bin Laden bodyguards and senior Taliban ministers. How is it that Aafia is still there? I cast great doubt too on the US version of events in her case, stating that in over nine years of US detentions around the world no strong, committed al-Qaida or Taliban man has yet once managed to acquire a firearm from a US soldier, how did Aafia manage such a fait accompli?
And now, Aafia has been sentenced in a US court to a term of 86 years for the attempted murder of a US soldier in Afghanistan. Thousands of US soldiers have been killed or wounded in Afghanistan and yet no one has been taken to the US to be charged with their killing. What is it about Aafia they fear so much?
During an interview with Binyam Mohamed last year I showed him a photograph of Aafia and asked him if she was the same woman he and the others had seen in Bagram. He confirmed that she was one and the same. Yvonne Ridley presented this evidence and much more regarding the inconsistencies of the alleged shooting in her film In Search of Prisoner 650. None of this eye-witness testimony was accepted by the US courts during the trial of Aafia Siddiqui.
At the sentencing, Judge Berman praised Aafia’s attitude in calling for calm and ended by telling her that she had the right to file an appeal. She replied simply by saying, “I appeal to God and he hears me.”
Today, the streets of Pakistan literally burn for the return of its daughter. Every Pakistani leader – secular or religious – has called for the repatriation of Dr. Aafia Siddiqui. Her antagonists may not have intended it but through their violations of her rights she has become the daughter of the nation – the daughter of the ummah. And that ummah will not rest until she is home.
Please Sign the ONLINE LETTER for Dr. Aafia's Repatriation Now (editing is welcome) CLICK here
Parliamentarians protest against Dr Aafia’s sentence ISLAMABAD, (SANA): Members of the Parliament on Monday held a joint march on Constitution Avenue here to protest against conviction of Dr. Aafia Siddiqui by an American court. It was participated by members belonging to all parties; Dr. Fauzia Siddiqui, sister of Dr. Aafia and representatives of human rights organizations and members of the civil society. They raised slogans rejecting the sentence awarded to Dr. Aafia and demanding her early repatriation to Pakistan. Speaking on the occasion leader of the opposition
Ch. Nisar Ali Khan, Interior Minister Rehman Malik and Chairman Parliamentary Kashmir Committee Maulana Fazl-ur-Rehman expressed their resolve to continue struggle for the release of Dr. Aafia. They said that today’s protest demonstration was a message that the ENTIRE PAKISTANI NATION was UNANIMOUS in demanding an end to injustice being meted out to Dr. Aafia and (insisting) on her immediate release.
They also criticized the American judicial system and said a weak Muslim woman has been awarded (likely) the most maximum ever sentence in the US judicial history.
They pointed out that the United States is taking refuge behind the plea that it cannot interfere with its judicial system but on the other hand it has scant respect for judiciary of Pakistan as its absconders are enjoying life in the United States and other countries of the West.
See above story at Sana News dot net here
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Just in:
America in touch with Pakistan regarding Dr. Aafia Siddiqui - asks Pakistan to sign two conventions See Daily Times dot com Just in 5:15 PM ET GO here
* Malik says conventions to be signed after consultations with team of int’l lawyers, approval from Dr Aafia’s family
Staff Report
ISLAMABAD: Interior Minister Rehman Malik on Monday said that the US government has asked Pakistan to sign two conventions on transfer of prisoners, to make Dr Aafia Siddiqui’s repatriation possible.
Addressing a press conference with Dr Aafia’s sister Dr Fauzia Siddiqui, Malik said the US demand came in response to a letter he had written to the US attorney general. He said Pakistan will have to sign the Convention on the Transfer of Sentenced Persons and OAF Convention for Dr Aafia’s return. However, he added that on Dr Fauzia’s insistence the authorities had decided not to sign the conventions yet. “These conventions will be signed only if we are sure that they benefit Dr Aafia,” he added.
According to sources, the US authorities had informed the interior minister following Dr Aafia’s conviction (or sentencing), that there would be a framework for discussion on the issue of prisoner exchange only after Pakistan signed the international treaties on exchange of prisoners. Malik earlier chaired a meeting that was attended by deputy attorney general, interior and foreign secretaries, joint secretary of the Law Ministry and Dr Fauzia to chart future course of action. He said that a decision to sign the conventions would be taken after approval from Dr Aafia’s family. He said a team of lawyers belonging to the International Justice Network would be invited to Pakistan for consultations on the issue. Dr Aafia’s brother, who lives in the US, will accompany the team. He said prominent lawyer Bilal Sufi had also been engaged for consultations. Malik told reporters that the US government would be asked to improve Dr Aafia’s living conditions. Washington will also be requested to provide telephonic access to her family in Pakistan.
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"Every Pakistani leader – secular or religious – has called for the repatriation of Dr. Aafia Siddiqui. Her antagonists may not have intended it but through their violations of her rights she has become the daughter of the nation – the daughter of the ummah. And that ummah will not rest until she is home."
"At the sentencing, Judge Berman praised Aafia’s attitude in calling for calm and ended by telling her that she had the right to file an appeal. She replied simply by saying, “I appeal to God and he hears me.”
Pakistan: my return to the scene of the crime and the plight of Aafia Siddiqui
Written by Moazzam Begg
Cage Prisoners
Qadr (fate) is a difficult concept to understand and an even harder one to explain but, travelling to Pakistan during the days of ‘Eid ul-fitr, on the ninth anniversary of 9/11 was indeed fated.
The decision was spontaneous, but I have to thank Yvonne Ridley for making it happen: I'd planned to go for 'umrah for the last ten days of Ramadan but was denied a visa by the Saudi authorities at the last minute, whom I must ultimately thank too.
Some would have said that my choice to visit Pakistan, especially at this time, would not have been the wisest of moves. My father was dead against the idea, my wife apprehensive and my friends, although supportive, were worried for me. Kidnappings, shootings, robberies and corruption occur regularly.
And if that wasn’t enough, over the past few weeks this country has been under sustained attack, both in an earthly and divine sense, on an unprecedented scale: earthquakes, floods, drone attacks, bombings and a state of civil war in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. Even the one thing the nation usually feels proud about, cricket, has not escaped the onslaught.
I had vowed not to visit Pakistan again as long as Pervez Musharraf was still in power and even then, I'd wondered exactly under what circumstances I could return to the country that sold me over to the US war machine.
Yvonne had asked me if I'd be willing to return to Pakistan with her to help with the campaign for Aafia Siddiqui and to meet some of the people there fighting for justice regarding disappeared Pakistani prisoners. I had two days to decide; I prayed istikhaarah (prayer of seeking the good wherever it is) and made my decision. The flight out was on September 11.
Pakistan: The Return
The Pakistani capital was in the grip of another downpour by the time we finally reached our destination. In all honesty I wasn’t even sure if we’d find what we were looking for. I gazed out of the aeroplane onto Islamabad, the city of Islam, with a sense of excitement and dread. My heart was beating fast, my nerves and thoughts racing back and forth between that fateful night nine years ago and what has happened in my life since.
It was the night I was abducted from my house at gunpoint by the Pakistani and American intelligence services - with British intelligence services in full cahoots. That night is engraved in my memory with blood and tears when like thieves they came and stole from me what was not theirs to take: my freedom. That night shaped the person I am today.
It took us a little time to get there but I recognised the area: where we’d shop, the restaurants we’d eat in, the mosque we prayed in, the park we played in and the tailors shop where the shalwar kameez I was wearing even now was made.
We drove around and approached the road where the house still stands. This was it.
“How do you feel?” Yvonne asked me. How could I answer her question, how could I explain properly that the last memories I have of this place before my kidnap are of Zaynab, Marium, Omar and Nusyabah – my wife and children – shut behind this green metal gate. It is this place I’m referring to when I tell people that “I have never been to America, America has been to me.”
“I feel like the weather, “I replied to Yvonne, my eyes welling up and my heart in my throat. The heavens were opening up as we sat in silence, scouring the house for signs of life.
The rain abated and we came out, examining the gates closer. Yes, this was the house for sure. In my subconscious I was half-expecting my children to throw open the gate and pounce on me, asking for chocolates and ice cream. This is the place I’d thought about during my time in Bagram, believing that my family was here waiting. Once upon a time, this was my home.
The current occupier of the house came out and we asked him if we could just film the door and courtyard. This was the door I opened for the last time on the night of 31st January 2002, this was the courtyard in which I was forced down on the floor at gunpoint, my hands shackled behind my back, my ankles cuffed and where both a real and metaphorical hood was placed over my head to darken the next three years.
The new resident, an Afghan gentleman from Jalalabad, then invited us in for tea. None of us wanted to intrude upon him and his family, which included a young girl with cerebral palsy but, how could I refuse? I had to maintain my composure, couldn’t let people see how I was feeling. He didn’t know what had happened here, that in fact we were returning to the scene of a crime.
The house hadn’t changed – only the occupants. They’d moved in during 2005 so were not aware of any other history. Just as well. There were ghosts here that needed to be put to rest for me and, in sha Allah, I believe that has happened.
But there is more, much more.
From his UK base former president Musharraf is attempting a comeback into Pakistani politics. His justification for handing people over to the US in the wake of the 9/11 attacks was the threat that Pakistan would be bombed into the Stone Age if he refused to co-operate . The irony may be lost on him but, Pakistan has suffered trauma after trauma since we were handed over: drone attacks, terrorism and war with its own people over the last nine years. Devastating earthquakes, with tremors recurring to this day and vast swathes of Pakistan’s soil submerged under the flood waters, all creating refugee crises on a biblical scale, make some parts of the country look as if the Stone Age is yet to arrive.
Could it be that the men and women handed over to America were raising their hands in prayer against the entire nation? The Prophet (pbuh) said: "Fear the supplication of the oppressed, for between it and Allah there is no barrier."
The vast majority of the men sent to Guantanamo were sold over to the Americans for bounties of millions of dollars, as confirmed by Musharraf in his autobiography, In the Line of Fire. These people included citizens of Pakistan who were sold over without any legal process. There are fourteen remaining Pakistanis in Guantanamo and scores of others in Bagram.
Amina Masood Janjua
There are also hundreds of people ‘disappeared’ and still unaccounted for in Pakistan. Their case is fought by an incredible woman, Amina Masood Janjua who with her Defence of Human Rights Campaign (DHRC), has fought for the last five years to trace her own husband, Masood Janjua, and hundreds of others in the process. It was an honour to meet this woman who fights day and night, sometimes alone, to seek justice for the hundreds of disappeared and detained without trial around the country. I tried to give her some consolation during my meeting with her, that like me, her husband will surely be home soon. She’s appreciative of the sentiments but then tells me about the corrosive effects all this has had on her daughter, who often accompanies her .
DHRC have registered over 900 cases of missing persons and believe that is only the tip of the iceberg. Estimates suggest the figures are ten times that number.
Amina has just been demonstrating outside the Supreme court in Islamabad carrying mock coffins as a symbol of the living-dead lives they are leading with their loved ones still unaccounted for and, with men dressed in Guantanamo signature orange suits wearing shackles. Her struggle is an uphill one, requiring full-time commitment with insufficient support or funds.
Amina Janjua was to be our main guest at the Cageprisoners Annual Iftaar this year but, for reasons unexplained was refused a visa to the UK despite having come before at the behest of Amnesty International.
Dr. Ghairat Baheer
I first met Dr. Ghairat Baheer in 2009 at the start of Cageprisoners’ Two Sides, One Story tour. It was a strange, but truly historical occasion: 12 former Guantanamo and Bagram prisoners sat down to dinner at a Turkish restaurant with a former US soldier and guard from Guantanamo.
Dr. Baheer is the son-in-law of Gulbuddin Hekmatyar and an Hizb-e-Islami leader. They have both been opposed to the Taliban in the past but equally have fought against the US-led occupation of Afghanistan. For this, Dr. Baheer, more a politician than fighter, was kidnapped by armed CIA and Pakistani intelligence agents from his Islamabad home, like me, and ended up spending six years in US custody in the Salt Pit, Bagram (where he encountered female prisoner 650) and the Panjshir prison where he met Ibn al-Shaykh al-Libi who told him how he’d given the infamous false confession about Saddam and weapons of mass destruction after being water-boarded numerous times.
Dr. Baheer is a highly cultured, educated and hospitable physician whose manners are impeccable and company delightful. I stayed with him in the same house he’d been abducted from where he showed me ICRC (Red Cross) letters from his children in perfect English, Arabic and Pashto. They were clearly written by intelligent children who both loved and revered their father but, only when I met his sons did I realise just why they wrote so well.
I spoke with them for a whole evening and they told me about how their father had been so careful to ensure they had a good Islamic and secular education. They speak English, Arabic, Urdu, Pashto and Farsi fluently. They can quote from the Quran and Sunnah in all languages and understand the intricacies of aqeedah (creed) and fiqh (jurisprudence) as they do the poetry of Tennyson and Poe. They also understand the obligation of resisting occupation as much as the need to build nations. Between the boys and the girls, the latter of whom I was told are more intelligent, they’re studying Islam, engineering, political science, medicine and languages. The eldest told me how he’d became a man at the age of fifteen as the responsibilities of the father all fell on his shoulders after he was seized. Little surprise that they also help Amina Janjua in her campaign for justice.
At Dr. Baheer’s house I also met Farhad Mohammed, a former Guantanamo prisoner. The last time I saw him was in Bagram. He’d suffered terrible beatings at the hands of the Pakistanis who’d then handed him over to the Americans. The reason: Farhad was a shop-keeper who ran a store on the famous Chicken Street in Kabul where Arabs used to do their shopping. I remember my disbelief at seeing him in Bagram. Farhad returned home after four years in Guantanamo to his mud house in an Afghan refugee camp in Pakistan.
Drone Attacks
One of the other things I was hoping to achieve during this visit was to get more information about the drone attacks in the Waziristan region and to obtain more eye-witness testimony about their effects. I remember when evacuating Afghanistan in 2001 we would see numerous spy-planes flying over head and expect that airstrikes might follow at any given moment. Now of course, the Predator drones carry the ‘hellfire’ payload themselves and strike targets with utter disregard for life, liberty or law. I met several people who told me about the effects on the population of the strikes. In addition to the deaths, injuries and refugee crises ensuing directly from these bombings the attitudes towards people from that region from other parts of Pakistan seems to have worsened. Exasperated by the floods and retaliatory strikes against the Pakistani army the refugees become the easiest targets: hit by the Americans, killed by the Pakistani Army and despised by the rest of the population.
There is also a sense that foreigners, namely Arabs, must be linked by default to al-Qaida and subsequently forfeit the right to life. Despite this, the ones I met did not condone the spate of bombings against schools and mosques that have recently plagued the country.
And yet, drone attacks take place almost on a daily basis and go largely unreported. Whilst US officials often miraculously claim exact numbers of ‘militants killed’ the reality is that there is hardly any independently sourced information regarding casualties and even less first-hand testimony.
Aafia Siddiqui
Despite all of this my primary reason for going to Pakistan was to assist in whatever little way I could to in the case of Aafia Siddiqui.
Waiting to collect our luggage near the exit at Karachi airport we could hear the sounds of a crowd gathered outside, but I didn’t know for what. As we walked out I realised it was for us. Hundreds of people had come to welcome us. It was overwhelming. They put so many flower garlands around my neck I that I was in a permanent nod. We were showered with rose petals, people shaking our hands and shouting more slogans than I can remember, except for one: “We want Aafia!”
After what seemed an age walking through the crowds we made it to the vehicles waiting to take us to some rally points. We drove through the packed streets of Karachi with a large convoy in tow, blasting on huge speakers songs about Aafia and American injustice. All along the way someone bellowed out on the loudspeakers that we had arrived, that Aafia, the daughter of the nation, must not be forgotten and that the shameless rulers were responsible for her continued ordeal. There were signs visible all over Karachi that say: DAUGHTERS NOT FOR SALE.
We arrived at a destination where both Yvonne and I were asked to address the people through the sunroof of the car, Benazir-style. Now, I’m no stranger giving speeches and rarely get nervous doing so but this was different. And, my very first speech out of a car, I realised, was also going to be my very first in Urdu.
I didn’t realise but people knew my story, especially as Yvonne had told them previously how she’d first heard about women in US custody from me and what I’d heard in Bagram.
After hearing Dr. Fawzia’s heartfelt thanks to the crowd for their support it was someone else’s turn to deliver his very first speech. We all listened in pin-drop silence as Ahmed Siddiqui, Aafia’s son, sat on the bonnet of the car and spoke of his determination to get his mother back. It was hard to fight back the tears.
Going to Aafia’s house and meeting her family was the most moving experience I’ve had in many years. Aafia’s mother, Ismet Siddiqui, embraced me like a son with tears in her eyes. At dinner she explained to me so many things I hadn’t comprehended properly: the levels to which the family has fought to get justice for Aafia, the love a mother has for a daughter whose dishevelled pictures she cannot even recognise have now become the iconic image of qaum ki beti (daughter of the nation). Ismet showed me the rooms where Aafia would have her friends over and described how she was loved by all who knew her. With the care of a mother but the heart of a believer whose faith is being tested she told me how she cannot bow her head to injustice or bear to hear the terrible predicament of her daughter. The light and joy she said have left the Siddiqui houselhold, even though overwhelming happiness was felt with the return of Aafia’s children, Mariam and Ahmed. No one even talks of Suleman to me, perhaps from fearing the worst.
Fawzia showed me pictures of Mariam distributing aid to the flood victims and Ahmed talked to me about his plans for the future. He’s one of these boys who always smiles, extremely respectful and dutiful. Only Allah and his loved ones know just how much he has had to bear. The thought is crushing. Fawzia also showed me one of Aafia’s headscarves that was ripped while is US custody, along with a Quran with English translation – all sent from the prison. Several of the pages are bookmarked and I read the underlined verses, trying to understand what may have been going through her mind when she did so. One of the many is from the chapter of the Prophets:23
He will not be questioned as to that which He does but they will be questioned. And verse 28:
He knows what is before them, and what is behind them, and they offer no intercession except for those who are acceptable, and they stand in awe and reverence of His (glory).
Sentencing the 'daughter of the nation'
Although I returned to the Siddiqui household the following day for more press engagements I was hoping that we really might get to hear, somehow, that everyone has relented and that Aafia will be coming home, before the sentence. The government did announce officially that they had requested Aafia’s repatriation from the Americans but, we all knew that all real efforts for repatriation could only begin after sentencing.
I went on to give more press conferences in Lahore and Islamabad contrasting Aafia’s case with some of the released Guantanamo prisoners who include Bin Laden bodyguards and senior Taliban ministers. How is it that Aafia is still there? I cast great doubt too on the US version of events in her case, stating that in over nine years of US detentions around the world no strong, committed al-Qaida or Taliban man has yet once managed to acquire a firearm from a US soldier, how did Aafia manage such a fait accompli?
And now, Aafia has been sentenced in a US court to a term of 86 years for the attempted murder of a US soldier in Afghanistan. Thousands of US soldiers have been killed or wounded in Afghanistan and yet no one has been taken to the US to be charged with their killing. What is it about Aafia they fear so much?
During an interview with Binyam Mohamed last year I showed him a photograph of Aafia and asked him if she was the same woman he and the others had seen in Bagram. He confirmed that she was one and the same. Yvonne Ridley presented this evidence and much more regarding the inconsistencies of the alleged shooting in her film In Search of Prisoner 650. None of this eye-witness testimony was accepted by the US courts during the trial of Aafia Siddiqui.
At the sentencing, Judge Berman praised Aafia’s attitude in calling for calm and ended by telling her that she had the right to file an appeal. She replied simply by saying, “I appeal to God and he hears me.”
Today, the streets of Pakistan literally burn for the return of its daughter. Every Pakistani leader – secular or religious – has called for the repatriation of Dr. Aafia Siddiqui. Her antagonists may not have intended it but through their violations of her rights she has become the daughter of the nation – the daughter of the ummah. And that ummah will not rest until she is home.
Please Sign the ONLINE LETTER for Dr. Aafia's Repatriation Now (editing is welcome) CLICK here
Government Says Using All Political - Legal Channels for Dr. Aafia's Release
ORIGINAL here
ABDUL B.A. WAHEED ABDULLAH Ask Questions Re: Aafia Siddiqui — My heart bled when I read the news of American soldiers killing Afghan civilian for sport.We have not yet recovered from the shock of Abu Ghraib. Now comes the news of another savagery by the American forces in another occupied Muslim country. We can draw two occlusions: Either American forces are not under proper command or they know they can do anything and get away with it (meaning they do everything with official connivance).Now let us place the fabricated crimes of Dr. Aafia Siddiqui’s against the real crimes of American forces in Iraq and Afghanistan. Siddiqui gets 86 years in prison. What about those involved in Abu Ghraib depravities and those US troops killing Afghans for fun? They may get medals for bravery if downing of Iran Air flight is anything to go by.I have worked with Americans and admire them for their fairness and openness. What has gone wrong with a nation known for its openness, civilized culture, commitment to justice and freedom?President Barack Obama says, “America is not at war with Islam.” Such platitudes are not enough. He should do more to improve the image of America. The first step in this direction should be the release of Dr. Aafia Siddiqui.
Keep Going to Free Aafia dot Org (Official Aafia Siddiqui Site), Cage Prisoners dot com, ondelette and more on this site below. Be sure to SIGN PETITIONARY LETTER named below.
Now, let's turn our hearts and minds toward those so devastated by the floods...
ABDUL B.A. WAHEED ABDULLAH Ask Questions Re: Aafia Siddiqui — My heart bled when I read the news of American soldiers killing Afghan civilian for sport.We have not yet recovered from the shock of Abu Ghraib. Now comes the news of another savagery by the American forces in another occupied Muslim country. We can draw two occlusions: Either American forces are not under proper command or they know they can do anything and get away with it (meaning they do everything with official connivance).Now let us place the fabricated crimes of Dr. Aafia Siddiqui’s against the real crimes of American forces in Iraq and Afghanistan. Siddiqui gets 86 years in prison. What about those involved in Abu Ghraib depravities and those US troops killing Afghans for fun? They may get medals for bravery if downing of Iran Air flight is anything to go by.I have worked with Americans and admire them for their fairness and openness. What has gone wrong with a nation known for its openness, civilized culture, commitment to justice and freedom?President Barack Obama says, “America is not at war with Islam.” Such platitudes are not enough. He should do more to improve the image of America. The first step in this direction should be the release of Dr. Aafia Siddiqui.
Keep Going to Free Aafia dot Org (Official Aafia Siddiqui Site), Cage Prisoners dot com, ondelette and more on this site below. Be sure to SIGN PETITIONARY LETTER named below.
Now, let's turn our hearts and minds toward those so devastated by the floods...
An Open Letter to President Obama on Behalf of Dr. Aafia Siddiui
Write your own letter to the Presidents online GO to:
http://www.ahrchk.net/ua/support.php?ua=UAU-049-2008-1
Please Sign the ONLINE PETITION (editing is welcome) CLICK here
(Sent with consideration for Dr. Aafia's children, your children, Pakistani children, American children and children around the world who need peace and justice.)
Dear President Obama,
A leader who knows the Rule of Law:
What an unbelievable, unjust and cruel sentence has now been added to the suspicious arrest, charge and kangaroo trial of Dr. Aafia Siddiqui.
What kind of legacy is being left by our US administration and all involved in this case - including that left by a Judge Richard Berman - who's conduct has been anything but honorable in this case?
Since you probably by now know the details - and/or will be receiving them multiple times - I will skip most elaborations.
Note that Dr. Siddiqui was detained in a facility used by the American government to hold persons suspected of being agents of Al Qaida.
Find out who may be guilty of planting the crazy evidence in her bag to begin with as I'm sure you could find out if anyone is able to do so. Why not go to the top and find that "someone" who has been known to do or direct similar acts of deceit. (Many of our American US military/FBI/CIA and contractors officials over this entire "war on terror" have records of the same many miles long.)
Although she has testified in open court about her detention in Bagram it has never been properly explained by the FBI. Dr. Aafia and her family - as well as all concerned Americans and Pakistanis - need a FULL explanation.
There are many discrepancies with the case as put forward by this our (and your) American government officials. They have never been able to properly explain how a woman, weakened by five years of imprisonment and mistreatment - and between 90-100 pounds - was able to wrestle a weapon away from a fully-trained soldier. No Americans were actually injured in the incident but they found it necessary to shoot her.
Dr. Siddique was shot during the incident and was not given the necessary medical treatment for some months. Where is the humane and truthful explanation for this?
Why did we hear about these events when the Asian Human Rights Commission issued its first Urgent Appeal on July 24, 2008 yet not before by our own governments? Why did the FBI wait until after the publication of this appeal on July 24, 2008 to announce that she had been arrested on July 17, 2008? Finally, why have there been no explanations as to her whereabouts after she was arrested in March 2003? Where is the actual, factual and complete justification for this silence?
Why were the two returned children only found after much international protest raised the issue? Where is the third? How can your government and military leaders have allowed the third missing child to be missing so long without any written explanation? What is your explanation now? We need answers.
Why has Aafia been denied contact with members of her family and her lawyers? Why was Aafia kept in a prison in Texas known to have a dark history of mistreatment of women including rape?
Such ongoing silence, mistreatment and the complete lack of any reasonable or scientific evidence for her indictment, the questionable behavior of the judge during the trial and more are without conscience.
Therefore I urge President Obama to grant her amnesty. We are longing to see and know such a tangible indication that such an entity as justice still exists in our land. Finally, we need such a response to Dr. Aafia's case to demonstrate that a Muslim can indeed be treated fairly in these United States.
I also urge President Zadari to to see that his American counterpart grants
Dr. Siddiqui the amnesty she deserves. Such foundational response to these injustices are urgently needed. Our citizens in both America and Pakistan are in great need of peace between our peoples. Such an act of amnesty and the push by you for the same would go a long way to help heal the growing breaches and hostilities.
The results of the so-called "civilian trial" has been anything but civil and has added more miles of anger from your citizens toward Americans.
There's only one saving grace and help in response to the sentencing, Mr. Presidents: See that Dr. Aafia Siddiqui is PARDONED. We all must needs consider our legacies each and every day. Someday, when your children and grandchildren ask you about this case -- and they most certainly will -- then at least when they bring up Dr. Aafia, maybe you will be able look them in the eyes with clearer consciences.
Pardoning Aafia may be one way to usher in some much needed integrity in this deceitful "war on terror" which has become so largely a "war on the innocent" in the name of oil, power, sovereign nation-occupation and assumption of superiority.
May freeing Dr. Aafia at last allow you to hold your heads just a little higher and your hearts/minds a little freer.
Yours sincerely,
Connie Lynn Nash
Mother, Writer, Human Rights Specialist
============================
Write your own letter to the Presidents online GO to:
http://www.ahrchk.net/ua/support.php?ua=UAU-049-2008-1
Blog/post/email readers, when you pass on this letter, please be sure to add the URL just above and/or just under my Open Letter so that you and others will be able to send your own. This can be done online easily and quickly and be mailed for you. Appropriate editing is encouraged. More information in other posts just below this one on oneheartforpeace dot blogspot dot com
http://www.ahrchk.net/ua/support.php?ua=UAU-049-2008-1
Please Sign the ONLINE PETITION (editing is welcome) CLICK here
(Sent with consideration for Dr. Aafia's children, your children, Pakistani children, American children and children around the world who need peace and justice.)
Dear President Obama,
A leader who knows the Rule of Law:
What an unbelievable, unjust and cruel sentence has now been added to the suspicious arrest, charge and kangaroo trial of Dr. Aafia Siddiqui.
What kind of legacy is being left by our US administration and all involved in this case - including that left by a Judge Richard Berman - who's conduct has been anything but honorable in this case?
Since you probably by now know the details - and/or will be receiving them multiple times - I will skip most elaborations.
Note that Dr. Siddiqui was detained in a facility used by the American government to hold persons suspected of being agents of Al Qaida.
Find out who may be guilty of planting the crazy evidence in her bag to begin with as I'm sure you could find out if anyone is able to do so. Why not go to the top and find that "someone" who has been known to do or direct similar acts of deceit. (Many of our American US military/FBI/CIA and contractors officials over this entire "war on terror" have records of the same many miles long.)
Although she has testified in open court about her detention in Bagram it has never been properly explained by the FBI. Dr. Aafia and her family - as well as all concerned Americans and Pakistanis - need a FULL explanation.
There are many discrepancies with the case as put forward by this our (and your) American government officials. They have never been able to properly explain how a woman, weakened by five years of imprisonment and mistreatment - and between 90-100 pounds - was able to wrestle a weapon away from a fully-trained soldier. No Americans were actually injured in the incident but they found it necessary to shoot her.
Dr. Siddique was shot during the incident and was not given the necessary medical treatment for some months. Where is the humane and truthful explanation for this?
Why did we hear about these events when the Asian Human Rights Commission issued its first Urgent Appeal on July 24, 2008 yet not before by our own governments? Why did the FBI wait until after the publication of this appeal on July 24, 2008 to announce that she had been arrested on July 17, 2008? Finally, why have there been no explanations as to her whereabouts after she was arrested in March 2003? Where is the actual, factual and complete justification for this silence?
Why were the two returned children only found after much international protest raised the issue? Where is the third? How can your government and military leaders have allowed the third missing child to be missing so long without any written explanation? What is your explanation now? We need answers.
Why has Aafia been denied contact with members of her family and her lawyers? Why was Aafia kept in a prison in Texas known to have a dark history of mistreatment of women including rape?
Such ongoing silence, mistreatment and the complete lack of any reasonable or scientific evidence for her indictment, the questionable behavior of the judge during the trial and more are without conscience.
Therefore I urge President Obama to grant her amnesty. We are longing to see and know such a tangible indication that such an entity as justice still exists in our land. Finally, we need such a response to Dr. Aafia's case to demonstrate that a Muslim can indeed be treated fairly in these United States.
I also urge President Zadari to to see that his American counterpart grants
Dr. Siddiqui the amnesty she deserves. Such foundational response to these injustices are urgently needed. Our citizens in both America and Pakistan are in great need of peace between our peoples. Such an act of amnesty and the push by you for the same would go a long way to help heal the growing breaches and hostilities.
The results of the so-called "civilian trial" has been anything but civil and has added more miles of anger from your citizens toward Americans.
There's only one saving grace and help in response to the sentencing, Mr. Presidents: See that Dr. Aafia Siddiqui is PARDONED. We all must needs consider our legacies each and every day. Someday, when your children and grandchildren ask you about this case -- and they most certainly will -- then at least when they bring up Dr. Aafia, maybe you will be able look them in the eyes with clearer consciences.
Pardoning Aafia may be one way to usher in some much needed integrity in this deceitful "war on terror" which has become so largely a "war on the innocent" in the name of oil, power, sovereign nation-occupation and assumption of superiority.
May freeing Dr. Aafia at last allow you to hold your heads just a little higher and your hearts/minds a little freer.
Yours sincerely,
Connie Lynn Nash
Mother, Writer, Human Rights Specialist
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