Dr. Aafia’s Siddiqui story has been haunting most Pakistanis for months now. Famously known as ‘Prisoner 650′ at Bagram Base in Afghanistan, she is one of the missing persons of Pakistan, wanted by FBI on alleged links with Al-Qaeda.
Dr. Afia Siddiqui, a highly educated researcher who studied at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, US, for about 10 years and did her PhD in genetics, mysteriously disappeared from Karachi in March 2003 along with her three children. Since then, US and Pakistani officials have continuously denied any knowledge about her.
It was only after British prisoner Moazzam Begg mentioned her in his book The Enemy Combatant that Human Rights Organizations and activists, British journalist Yvonne Ridley and MP Lord Nazir in particular, raised voice for Dr. Aafia kept in solitary confinement and her three children. A specially disturbing part of this story is that fate of her three children, aged between one month and 7 years at the time of her kidnapping, is still unknown.
In 2007, the media started giving Dr. Aafia’s case more serious attention and several reports were published about her tragic fate. Amnesty International included her on a June 2007 list as someone for whom there was “evidence of secret detention by the United States and whose fate and whereabouts remain unknown.”
Britain’s Lord Nazir Ahmed, (of the House of Lords), asked questions in the House about the condition of Prisoner 650. According to one news story, “He [Lord Nazir] said she is physically tortured and continuously raped by the officers at the prison.” Lord Nazir has also submitted that Prisoner 650 has no separate toilet facilities and has to attend to her bathing and movements in full view of the other prisoners.
And it was on July 6, 2008, when a British journalist, Yvonne Ridley, called for help for a Pakistani woman she believes has been held in isolation by the Americans in their Bagram detention centre in Afghanistan, for over four years. “I call her the ‘grey lady’ because she is almost a ghost, a spectre whose cries and screams continues to haunt those who heard her. This would never happen to a Western Woman,” Ms Ridley said at a press conference.
Ms Ridley, who came to Pakistan to appeal for help, said the case came to her attention when she read the book, The Enemy Combatant, by a former Guantanamo detainee, Moazzam Begg. After being seized in February 2002 in Islamabad, Mr. Begg was held in detention centres in Kandahar and Bagram for about a year before he was transferred to Guantanamo Bay. He recounted his experiences in the book after his release in 2005. Imran Khan, leader of Justice Party (PTI) has also been raising voice, held a joint press conference with Ms. Ridley on this issue, and criticised government of Pakistan for not doing anything and hiding facts about Prisoner 650.
After these reports in media, the US and Pakistani authorities were forced to admit just last week that Dr. Aafia was indeed in US captivity, the Prisoner 650 at Bagram Base.
CNN has released the official version of US Government today and according to Dr. Aafia’s attorney, Elaine Whitfield Sharp, “a lot of the allegations implausible” and argued that the charges “don’t pass the sniff test.” According to CNN:
A Pakistani scientist accused of shooting at U.S. officers while in Afghan custody last month was due to appear before a U.S. magistrate judge Tuesday morning in New York.
Aafia Siddiqui, whom the FBI had sought for several years for terrorism, faces federal charges of attempted murder and assault of a U.S. officer and U.S. employees, federal authorities said.
The 36-year-old American-educated neuroscientist is a suspected member of al Qaeda. If convicted, she faces a maximum of 20 years in prison on each charge. On July 18 Siddiqui shot at two FBI special agents, a U.S. Army warrant officer, an Army captain and military interpreters who unknowingly entered a room where she was being held unsecured at an Afghan facility, officials said.
Siddiqui was behind a curtain when she used an officer’s rifle to shoot at the group, officials said. She shot twice but hit no one, they said. The warrant officer returned fire with a pistol, shooting Siddiqui at least once. She struggled with the officers before she lost consciousness and was then given medical attention. The day before the shootings, Afghan police arrested Siddiqui outside the Ghazni governor’s compound where they found bomb-making instructions, excerpts from the “Anarchist’s Arsenal,” papers with descriptions of U.S. landmarks, and substances sealed in bottles and glass jars, U.S. officials said Monday.
Responding to these allegation, Elaine Whitfield Sharp told DAWN, Geo and CNN:
“This is a very intelligent woman. What is she doing outside of the governor’s residence? The woman is a Ph.D. Is a woman like this really that stupid? There is an incongruity and I have trouble accepting the government’s claims,” the attorney said.
“If she was carrying fluids and was considered dangerous, then why was she left unattended in a room behind a curtain? And this dangerous, hardened criminal picks up a gun and misses?”
Dr. Aafia’s sister, Dr. Fauzia, held a press conference today along with Human Rights Activist Iqbal Haider and she urged authorities to presume her sister is innocent and is demanding that the government be required to prove any charges against her “beyond a reasonable doubt.” She appealed to the government of Pakistan, all religious, political parties and human rights organizations to play their active role in bringing her sister back home. At least, they should immediately hand over the children to the family as no law on earth allows that. This is one of the most serious violation of human rights. “I fear a political prosecution to protect the United States from embarrassment, rather than from ‘terrorism,’” Fouzia Siddiqui said. Iqbal Haider severely criticised US and Pakistani Governments and said that they promoting terrorism by doing inhuman acts like this.
I don’t know if Dr. Aafia has done anything illegal or not but the way she has been picked and handed over to US authorities along with three innocent children is a violation of even basic human rights and human dignity. What happened to the moral values, respect for law and Human Rights? If she has done something wrong, she should have been held accountable in the court of law and punished. But why detaining her illegally, along with 3 children, with any charge whatsoever for 5 years?
It should not be forgotten that the missing persons case was a turning point in recent Pakistan politics where Pervez Musharraf had a severe falling out with the then CJP Iftikhar Chaudhry who was investigating this case. After much public agitation on the issue, the Chief Justice ordered that EVERYONE to be produced in court and then charged so that a free and fair trial could be held. Something which couldn’t be done at that time as many of the missing were already handed over to US authorities secretly.
Dr. Aafia’s case reminds us that how important the rule of law and justice is if we are to survive as a nation. Pakistan should immediately demand US Government to release 3 innocent children picked up with Dr. Aafia and hand them over to her family. Whatever the allegations on her may be, there is no justification whatsoever for kidnapping and detaining three innocent children and keeping them away from their family for 5 years.
Additional information about Dr. Aafia can be found here, here, here and here. For more info about Missing in Pakistan, watch these 3-part video by Ziad Zafar.
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Well said MQ….
We still do not know the true story , but If, as alleged, Afia Siddiqui had committed committed a crime, she should have been brought before a court of law. Not kidnapped!
However, to those “brothers” whose “ghairat” has suddenly been aroused for their “sister”, may one ask where were they for 5 years when the HRCP, Amenesty International, Iqbal Haiders, Asma Jahangirs, and Imran Khans were protesting about Afia’s disappearance and that of other missing persons?
And, sadly, one may address the same question to Chief Justice Chaudhry. Where was he before 2008?
What a shame? first on Musharaf and those responsible for handing over our sister and her kids to Americans, and then on this super power that claims to be the custodian of human rights.
You keep her under mental, physical torture for 5 years in an Afghanistan military jail (the details of which will be known only if she remains alive) and when you are getting exposed, on one nice morning you find her outside governer’s residence in Ghazni carrying chemicals and bomb making formulas. Than she attacks innocent FBI agents and they shoot her in self defence. What a Story? I am surprised that a court even accepted such a weak case for hearing.. (seriously, I expected something smarter from them).
Anyways! assume that you are able to prove in an american court that a weak and frail lady is in reality a dangerous and trained al-qaida member, do you think you will be able to justify this in front of millions of muslims to whom nothing is more important and sacred than the honour of their sister.
And are we forgetting something here? what happens to the 3 innocent children Mr. America? one of whom was a one month infant.. Human Rights… remember!
DR AFIA SHOULD RELESAE
Monday, August 4, 2008
Raise the issue of Dr. Afia :Make a difference
Dr. Afia Siddiqui, was arrested along with her three children by a Pakistani intelligence agency in early 2003 and has been missing since then. American and Pakistani intelligence agencies confirmed that she had been arrested in connection with Al-Qaeda, the terrorist organisation run by Osama Bin Laden. However, later both agencies denied that she had been arrested. Dr. Afia’s whereabouts remain unknown but it is suspected that she is being held in an American detention centre.
CASE DETAILS:
The press reports claimed that Dr. Afia had been picked-up by Pakistani intelligence agencies while on her way to the airport and initial reports suggested that she was handed over to the American Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). At the time of her arrest she was 30 years and the mother of three sons the oldest of which was four and the youngest only one month.
A Monthly English magazine of Karachi in a special coverage on Dr. Afia reported that one week after her disappearance, a plain clothed intelligence went to her mother’s house and warned her, “We know that you are connected to higher-ups but do not make an issue out of your daughter’s disappearance.” According to the report the mother was threatened her with ‘dire consequences’ if she made a fuss.
Whilst Dr. Afia’s whereabouts remain unknown, there are reports of a woman called ‘Prisoner 650′ is being detained in Afghanistan’s Bagram prison and that she has been tortured to the point where she has lost her mind. Britain’s Lord Nazeer Ahmed, (of the House of Lords), asked questions in the House about the condition of Prisoner 650 who, according to him is physically tortured and continuously raped by the officers at prison. Lord Nazeer has also submitted that Prisoner 650 has no separate toilet facilities and has to attend to her bathing and movements in full view of the other prisoners.
Also, on July 6, 2008 a British journalist, Yvonne Ridley, called for help for a Pakistani woman she believes has been held in isolation by the Americans in their Bagram detention centre in Afghanistan, for over four years. “I call her the ‘grey lady’ because she is almost a ghost, a spectre whose cries and screams continues to haunt those who heard her,” Ms Ridley said at a press conference.
Ms Ridley, who went to Pakistan to appeal for help, said the case came to her attention when she read the book, The Enemy Combatant, by a former Guantanamo detainee, Moazzam Begg. After being seized in February 2002 in Islamabad, Mr Begg was held in detention centres in Kandahar and Bagram for about a year before he was transferred to Guantanamo Bay. He recounted his experiences in the book after his release in 2005. Mr. Imran Khan, leader of Justice Party (T.I) suspects that prisoner 650 is the Dr. Afia Siddiqui and USA and Pakistani authorities are hiding facts of ‘Prisoner 650′.
SUGGESTED ACTION:
Please write to the relevant authorities listed below and request them to investigate immediately. Dr. Afia’s whereabouts must be confirmed and the safety of her children assured. Regardless of whether Dr. Afia is Prisoner 650 or not the fact is that she has been missing, along with her children for five years. The governments of the USA and Pakistan at first confirmed her arrest and then denied it. Both governments have a duty to report any information they might have on the matter.
SAMPLE LETTER:
Dear________,
PAKISTAN/USA: A lady doctor is missing with her three children since five years after her arrest
Name of victim: Ms. Dr. Afia Siddiqui and her three children
Block 7, Gulshan-e-Iqbal, Karachi, Sindh province
The units of the alleged perpetrators: Intelligence agencies of Pakistan and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI-US)
I am shocked to know that Dr. Afia Siddiqui, a Pakistani citizen has been missing with her three children since April 2003, after her arrest by intelligence agencies of Pakistan. The whereabouts of children is also unknown, which is a serious act of negligence on the part of the government with regard to its responsibility to protect the citizen of the Pakistan.
According to the information I have received Dr. Afia was picked-up by Pakistani intelligence agencies while on her way to the airport and initial reports suggested that she was handed over to the American FBI. A few days later an American news channel, NBC, reported that Afia had been arrested in Pakistan on suspicion of facilitating money transfers for terror networks of Osama Bin Laden.
On April 1, 2003, a small news item was published in an Urdu daily with reference to a press conference of then Interior Minister Faisal Saleh Hayat when, in reply to a question regarding the arrest of Dr. Siddiqui, he said she has not been arrested. But in another report the minister for interior said,”You will be astonished to know about the activities of Dr. Afia.” A weekly English magazine in its special coverage on Dr. Afia reported that after one week of the incident, an intelligence agency official, a motor cyclist in plain clothes, came to the house of her mother and warned “We know that you are connected to higher-ups but do not make an issue out of her daughter’s disappearance” and threatened her with dire consequences. After this development the whereabouts of Dr. Afia and her children are yet unknown.
What is also of grave concern to me is that when she was arrested by Pakistani intelligence authorities she was handed over to American intelligence agencies without being tried in Pakistan, I do not find any rationale in sending her along with her children to other country when there are Pakistani laws to deal with the suspected terrorists. It is known that President Musharraf handed over 600 suspected terrorists to America.
There are reports that in Afghanistan’s prison of Bagram there is a woman prison known as Prisoner 650 and that she has been severely tortured. It is also widely suspected that Prisoner 650 is Dr. Afia Siddiqui. This prisoner has reportedly lost her mind due to constant rape and ill treatment.
I remind you that this is the duty of coalition government under Prime Minister Mr. Yousaf Raza Gillani to probe cases of those Pakistani suspected terrorists who have been handed over to foreign forces in the name of war on terror. The government should also inform Pakistani citizens about the whereabouts of Dr. Afia Siddiqui and her children. I also demand that government should also ensure the safety of her children.
Yours sincerely,
————-
PLEASE SEND YOU LETTERS TO:
1. The Chief
Allied Joint Force Command
Head Quarters Brunssum,
Public Affirs office, P.O. BOX 270
6440, AG, Brunssem
THE NETHERLANDS
Tel. No.: +31 45 526 2409
Email: pio@jfcbs.nato.intHeadquar
t
2. Mr. George W. Bush
President of the United State of America (USA)
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW,
Washington, DC 20500
USA
Email: presidents@presidentsusa.net
3. Mr. Hamid Karzai
President of Afghanistan
Gul Khana Palace
Presidential Palace
Kabul
AFGHANISTAN
Email: president@afghanistangov.org
4. General Pervez Musharraf
President of Pakistan
President’s Secretariat
Islamabad
PAKISTAN
Fax: +92 51 922 1422 / 4768; 920 1893 or 1835
E-mail: (please see: http://www.presidentofpakistan.gov.pk/WTPresidentM essage.aspx)
5. Mr. Syed Yousaf Raza Gillani
Prime Minister
Prime Minister House, Islamabad,
PAKISTAN
Fax: +92 51 922 1596
Tel: +92 51 920 6111
E-mail: webmaster@infopak.gov.pk or infominister@pak.gov.pk
6. Mr. Farooq Naik
Minister of Law, Justice and Human Rights
S Block Pakistan Secretariat
Islamabad
PAKISTAN
Fax: +92 51 920 2628
E-mail: minister@molaw.gov.pk
7. Mr. Rehman Malik
Advisor for Ministry of Interior
Room No. 404, 4th Floor, R Block,
Pak Secretariat
Islamabad
PAKISTAN
Fax: +92 51 920 2624
Tel: +92 51 921 2026
E-mail: minister@interior.gov.pk
Thank you
Urgent Appeals Programme
Asian Human Rights Commission (ua@ahrchk.org)
just for the sake for dollars we sold our sister……..I am so ashamed …………..This is just one case which has been in the limelight…………I wonder how many innocent brothers and sisters like Dr Afia have been handed over to the FBI for money….
Musharraf in his book has accepted selling of Pakistanis to the USA by him……..such a shameful act……..Musharraf has been reponsible for all the debacle country has faced during the last few yrs…………
Musharraf have to pay for his deed…if not in this world then in the life hereafter……………..
May ALLAH help Dr Afia …………………
All things aside - she was working for a terrorist organization. She was caught with evidences. I have no sympathy towards her or other terrorists. Haven’t people learnt anything from all the innocent people being killed around the World day in, day out? Her plans were evil, they were bent on creating widows, orphans, and economic mess for many families - and yet you want mercy for her?
She got herself into trouble. Intelligence agencies are not our enemies. Governments are not our enemies. They know exactly who is bad. They are not fools. Alhamdolillah, she was caught.
Regarding her kids, it is the saddest of all tragedies but I am sure they were put up for adoption at foundations like Edhi - sad but the reality for an evil parent like Dr. Aafia Siddiqui.
Pakistani government should revoke her citizenship. She threw away all her education she could have used to make World a more friendly, beautiful place - what a waste.
What a tragedy, no matter what allegations stand on Dr. Aafia Siddiqui, pertaining to collecting bloody diamonds from liberia, (an allegation without any proof), detention since 2003 in Bagram Air Base and being subjected to inhumane treatment is indeed very sad and highly deplorable.
In the statement by the FBI Dr. Aafia Siddiqui was captured on 17 July (which). two FBI agents escorted by US soldiers interrogated her the following day. The soldiers were unaware that she was being held behind a curtain and a warrant officer put his M4 rifle on the ground.
Ms Siddiqui allegedly grabbed the rifle and fired two shots at a US army captain but an interpreter pushed the gun away as she fired. As the soldiers returned fire, she was hit at least once. “The warrant officer saw and heard Siddiqui fire at least two shots as Interpreter 1 tried to wrestle the gun from her. No one was hit,” the criminal complaint says. “The warrant officer heard Siddiqui exclaim, ‘Allah akbar!’ Another interpreter heard Siddiqui yell in English, ‘Get the f*** out of here!’ as she fired the rifle.”
What the hell is all this. Was Dr. Aafia Siddiqui playing the part of SINGH IS KING.
Law will accept the impossible not the improbable.”
“FBI visiting THE DARKNESS PRISON and putting their rifles near the curtain .. for God’s sake .. that is improbable, nonsense.”
CNN reports” Fink said she believes Siddiqui has been in custody since 2003 — but she did not know what government was responsible.
“I do not believe she shot at anybody,” Fink said. “What the real story is … I don’t know. You don’t know. Nobody knows.”
Elaine Whitfield Sharp, a Massachusetts attorney also representing Siddiqui, told CNN the allegations against her client are “implausible” and that the charges “don’t pass the sniff test.”
This is the American side of the story. What about Pakistanis ? That were the intelligence agencies of Pakistan that picked Dr. siddiqui from Karachi in 2003. America is playing a very smart game by saying that Dr. Siddiqui was arrested on 17th July, 2007, but where was she before that and where are her three kids who are American Nationals.
There’s lot more to come and Musharaf, Faisal Saleh Hayat and Sheikh Rasheed are going to face the real music this time.