Dr Aafia Siddiqui - A victim of extraordinary rendition
Dr Aafia Siddiqui has been secretly held in US custody since she disappeared from Pakistan in 2003 with her three children, although the US denies holding her since 2003
Dr Aafia Siddiqui is a 37 year old Pakistan national who had lived and worked in the US for several years. In March 2003 while on a short trip back to Pakistan, Aafia Siddiqui was on
her way to Karachi airport with her three children in order to catch a flight to Rawalpindi. While at the airport the family were abducted by the Pakistani authorities and taken into custody. Leaked reports to the media claimed that she was in FBI custody soon after that.The Pakistani government has since denied any knowledge or involvement in her disappearance.
In 2004 the FBI placed Aafia Siddiqui’s name on the list of Al Qaeda suspects. The FBI claimed that Aafia was in Liberia in 2001 buying conflict diamonds in order to help facilitate Al Qaeda operations, at the time Afia was in Boston in the United States.
Aafia became a victim of extraordinary rendition, one of the War on Terror’s disappeared for five years as she was held in secret detention without access to lawyers and without her family or anyone knowing where she was.
On 7th July 2008, a press conference organised by Yvonne Ridley, and Saghir Hussain, in Pakistan resulted in international press coverage of Aafia’s disappearance.
On 3rd August 2008 an agent from the FBI visited the home of Afia’s brother and told him that she was being detained in Afghanistan.
The US administration claims that she was arrested by Afghani forces outside the Ghazni governor’s compound with manuals on explosives and dangerous substances in sealed jars on her person, they further allege that whilst in custody she shot at US officers and was injured.
Aafia Siddiqui was not arrested in Afghanistan in 2008, she had already been held in Bagram for 5 years and abused during her detention after she was abducted by the Pakistani authorities in 2003.
On Monday 4th August 2008, federal prosecutors in the US confirmed that Aafia Siddiqui had been extradited to the US from Afghanistan where they allege she had been detained since mid-July 2008.
Aafia’s lawyer, Elaine Whitfield Sharp, says “We do know she was at Bagram for a long time. It was a long time. According to my client she was there for years and she was held in American custody; her treatment was horrendous.”
The US administration claims that she was detained in July by Afghan forces while attempting to bomb the compound of the governor of Ghazni. The US has previously denied the presence of female detainees in Bagram and that Aafia was ever held there, except for medical treatment in July 2008.
Aafia was indicted by federal authorities in New York today for allegedly attempting to kill the FBI agents, US soldiers, interpreters and others who attempted to interview her following her July capture in Afghanistan.
The seven count indictment detailed her alleged possession of detailed handwritten notes on “dirty bombs,” terrorist recruiting, New York targets, and the relative casualty rates for various weapons of mass destruction.
Dr Aafia Siddiqui, who holds degrees from MIT and Brandeis in biology and neuroscience, is alleged to have had in her possession when captured by Afghanistan’s National Police on July 17th, detailed chemical, biological and radiological weapon information, as well as a USB drive packed with emails, plus a litre of cyanide.
She also allegedly had with her a list of potential targets that included the Statue of Liberty, the Brooklyn Bridge, the Empire State Building, Wall Street and the animal disease center on Plum Island.
According to the indictment, Siddiqui’s notes contained the details of casualty rates for various weapons of mass destruction. Her hand written notes, the indictment stated, “referred to the construction of ‘dirty bombs’ chemical and biological weapons, and other explosives.”
Those handwritten notes included details on other methods of attack by “destroying reconnaissance drones, using underwater bombs and using gliders,” the indictment stated.
The one gigabyte USB drive is alleged to contain what information referring to terrorist cells as well as notes on recruiting and training.
Aafia Siddiqui now faces trial in the US in bizarre circumstances, questions remain as to where she has been over the last five years and the current whereabouts of her children.
Her medical condition is currently extremely poor as she is suffering from slight brain damage, a lost kidney and injured intestines. Her condition is not made any easier by her detention conditions and the strip and cavity searches that she is forced to endure.
To access her legal team Dr Aafia siddiqui has to endure humiliating full body cavity searches every single time. This means that she finds it extremely difficult to meet with her legal team which is necessary if she is to go through the US legal system in a just manner.
It is ironic how officers have been allowed to roughly manhandle Dr Aafia, in full view of the public, in the courtroom where she is to supposedly receive justice.
Not only is Aafia subject to physical humiliation, but, her emotional and mental torture continues, she does not know where her two youngest children are or where they have been for the past five years.
Download Cageprisoners new report Aafia Siddiqui: A case of lies and
Inconsistencies here
More information about Aafia Siddiqui, available here
If you would like to help to ensure that Aafia is treated in a humane and civil manner by the US justice system please write to Judge Richard Berman, the US judge presiding over her case,
and ask him to ensure that Dr Aafia Siddiqui is treated with due courtesy and respect.
Please address your letters to Judge Richard Berman, US District Court, 500 Pearl St. Manhattan, New York, NY 10007, USA
If you receive a reply to your letter you are requested to send a copy of the letter you sent and the reply you received to Cageprisoners.
Telephone: (+44) 207 953 4074 Fax: (+44) 207 7953 4001 Email: contact@cageprisoners.com
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November 24th, 2009 at 8:16 pm
Cageprisoners launches comprehensive report detailing the inconsistencies in the legal case against Dr Aafia Siddiqui, who has recently returned to court in the US.
Aafia Siddiqui: A case of lies and Inconsistencies’ examines the allegations made against Dr Aafia Siddiqui in the past six years since she and her three children were originally kidnapped and detained without charge in 2003. Since then she has been detained and abused in Bagram for five years before being transferred to the US to stand trial last year. Two of her three children remain missing.
From the day of her initial abduction the serious allegations made by the US administration against Aafia Siddiqui are very clearly riddled with discrepancies. Her various alleged persona can give the impression of an extremely high level Al Qaeda operative. However, at the same time, the statements of lawyers, family and friends render her these allegations highly questionable at best.
Exposing the truth in the case of Aafia Siddiqui is of the utmost importance to all those who believe in the value of due process and the rule of law. For six years, this mother of three has been placed through some of the most horrific forms of torturous imprisonment. After a series of prevarications, including denials of rendition, torture, abuse and lack of transparency and accountability in her case it is now high time that she is reunited with her children and repatriated to Pakistan.
Cageprisoners spokesperson Moazzam Begg said:
“The case of Aafia Siddiqui stands out amongst the thousands who have borne the brunt of the renditions and secret prison programme: Firstly she and all her three children were detained, two of whom remain missing. Secondly because of the blatant lies that have been circulated by the US administration about this poor woman, and lastly because unlike others she has been transferred to the US mainland to stand trial against charges which strangely are the most minor of those listed against her”
Cageprisoners is a human rights NGO that exists to raise awareness of the plight of the prisoners at Guantanamo Bay and other detainees held as part of the War on Terror. We aim to give a voice to the voiceless.
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