As the sentencing of Dr. Aafia Siddiqui draws closer at the Federal District Court in Manhattan, we, the undersigned, urge US Attorney General Eric Holder to exercise all prosecutorial authority vested in him to permit Dr. Aafia Siddiqui to be repatriated to her native Pakistan as a matter of urgency. Given all the facts and circumstances of this case, repatriation of Dr. Siddiqui to Pakistan would not only serve the interests of justice and the American people, but is also warranted on humanitarian grounds.
There are numerous credible reports that Dr. Siddiqui was abducted from Pakistan with her three young children in March 2003. Dr. Siddiqui claims that she was detained in a series of secret prisons for five years during which time she was abused, tortured and raped by her captors. Her youngest son, Suleman, remains missing to this day.
Prosecution witnesses claim that Dr. Siddiqui first came into US military custody after having been shot while being detained with her eldest son, Ahmed, at a local police station in Afghanistan in July 2008. Dr. Siddiqui suffered two near-fatal gunshot wounds in the incident, but no one else was injured. Prosecution witnesses say that Dr. Siddiqui picked up an unattended firearm and attempted to shoot at US personnel in Afghanistan, who shot back at her in self-defense. Despite the lack of any forensic evidence that Dr. Siddiqui ever touched, much less fired, a gun Dr. Siddiqui was convicted by a jury sitting in US federal court in New York in February 2010.
Regardless of whatever happened in the July 2008 incident for which Dr. Siddiqui was prosecuted, important questions remain unanswered in Dr Siddiqui’s case. What little information has been made available to date paints a chilling portrait of Dr. Aafia as a victim – first, of domestic violence and related physical and emotional trauma, and later, of governmental abuses of power (or, at a minimum, indifference to her plight).
The interests of the US public are also best served by permitting Dr. Siddiqui’s two young children, both of whom are US citizens, to be reunited with their mother. Both children are believed to have been kept in detention camps in Afghanistan prior to having finally located with assistance from regional authorities. Ahmed and Mariam, ages 14 and 12 respectively, now reside with their grandmother in Karachi.
In light of the unusual circumstances of this case, in which it appears that at a minimum, Dr. Siddiqui suffered severe physical and emotional trauma prior to the crimes which she has been charged with, we call upon US Attorney General Eric Holder to exercise all lawful authority vested with the US Department of Justice to allow Dr. Siddiqui to be repatriated to Pakistan on humanitarian grounds.
Yours
Maryam Hassan, Justice for Aafia Coalition
Imran Khan, Tehreek e Insaaf
Lord Nazir Ahmed
Caroline Lucas MEP, Green Party
John McDonnell MP
Sir Geoffrey Bindman
Bruce Kent, Vice-President, Pax Christi, UK
Professor Gargi Bhattacharyya, Sociology and Public Policy, School of Languages and Social Sciences, Aston University
Professor Bill Bowring, Barrister, Professor of Law, Birkbeck College
Gareth Peirce, Birnberg Peirce and Partners
Louise Christian, Christian Khan Solicitors
Salma Yaqoob, Respect Party
Lindsey German, Stop the War Coalition
John Rees, Co-founder, Stop the War Coalition
Andy Worthington, Journalist, Author, The Guantanamo Files
Anjum Anwar MBE, Dialogue Development Officer, Chair of Woman’s Voice, Blackburn Cathedral
Aamer Anwar, Human rights lawyer
Tayab Ali, Partner, ITN Solicitors
Omar Deghayes, former Guantanamo detainee and Legal Director, Guantanamo Justice Centre
Ismail Patel, British Muslim Institute
Stephen Lendman, Commentator and Broadcaster
Massoud Shadjareh, Islamic Human Rights Commission
Natalia Garcia, Tyndallwoods Solicitors
John Clossick, Stop the War Coalition
Liz Davies, Chair, Haldane Society of Socialist Lawyers
Anne Gray, CAMPACC
Dr Les Levidow, Open University
Liz Fekete, Editor, Institute of Race Relations' European Race Bulletin
Tayab Ali, Partner, ITN Solicitors
El-Hajj Mauri’ Saalakhan, Peace Thru Justice Foundation
Imam Shakeel Begg, Redbridge Islamic Centre
Richard Haley, Secretary, Scotland Against Criminalising Communities
Amina Masood Janjua, Defence of Human Rights Pakistan
Sara Flounders, Co-Director, International Action Center
Dr Ihtesham Sabri, GP Principal
Dr Younus Saleem, Consultant Psychiatrist
Nabil Ahmed, President, Federation of Student Islamic Societies (FOSIS)
Dr.Muniba Khan MB BS MRCGP GP
Mr.David Halpin FRCS, Retired Consultant Surgeon
Families United for Justice in America (FUJA)
Thomas Ruffin, Nat Turner Rebellion
Pakistan USA Freedom Forum
Women's Fightback Network
May 1 Workers and Immigrant Rights Coalition
Project SALAM
Suzanne Ross, Free Mumia Abu-Jamal Coalition
Ms. Sharmila Farooqui, Advisor to the Chief Minister Sind (PPP)
Mufti Muhammad Rafiq, Nizam-e-Mustafa Party
Adil Aleem Shaikh, Muslim League Qia’s release
Qari Sher Afzal Khan, JUI-d Group
Nihal Hashmi, PML-N
Mr. Obaid, IJT
Jameel Ahmad Noorani, Multan
Arshad Aqeel, ANI, Madinatul Aulia
Usman Muazzam, General Secretary, PASBAN Pakistan
Asadullah Bhutto, Jamaat-e- Islami
Qari Usman, JUI-F
Mir Nawaz Khan Marwat, Adv. Supreme Court, Gen. Secretary World Islamic Congress
M.H Mehanti, JI- Sind
Dr Shahzad, PMA
Dr. Sohail Akhter, PIMA
Maryam Shirazi, Attorney
M. Shaukat Usmani, Good Governance
Muhammad Tariq Rana, PML –N
Senator Syed Iqbal Hyder, Human Rights Corporation Pakistan
Justice Saeeduz Zaman Siddiqui, Former Chief Justice Pakistan
Attiya Anayat ullah MPA, PML-Q Chairperson, Standing Committee of Foreign Affairs
Senator Talha Mahmood, Chairman, Standing Committee of Interior Affairs
Gulshan Town Mayor Wasay Jalil
Anis Raza Haroon, Minister for Information and Technology, MQM
Intekhab Alam Suri, President, Human Rights Network, Pakistan
Nasrullah Shaji, Chairman, Aafia Release Committee, JI
Yusuf Munir, Shabab-e-Milli, Pakistan
Mufti Rafi Usmani, Grand Mufti of Pakistan
President Pemra ur
Qadir Khan Mandukhail, Advocate, Member London Bar, Chairman Mandukhail Welfare Trust
Aftab Qadri, Sunni Tahreek
Shaukat Omari, Fikre Milli Trust
Hafiz Muhammad Rafi, Jamaat Ahle Sunnat
Maulana Ata ul Haq Abid, Mohtamam Madina Masjid
Asad Usmani, PML-N
Hafiz Muhammad Abid Khan, Anjuman Youth of Islam Pakistan
Col. Abdul Jabbar Abbassi, Chairman Pakistan, Saraiki Association
Waqar Azim, Shabab-e- Milli,Pakistan
Muzammil Qureshi, MQM
Justice (R) Wajihuddin, Former Chief Justice of Pakistan Supreme Court
Adv. Raja Zulqainain, Secretary, Supreme Court Bar Association
Adv. Qazi Anwer, President, Supreme Court Bar
Altaf Shakoor, President, Pasban Pakistan
Syed Munawwer Hassan Ameer, Jamaat-e- Islami
Tariq Syed, MLQ
Adv. Mahfooz Yar Khan, ML Shaikh Rasheed
Younus Barai, former MPA JI
Sahibzada Abul Khair, President JUP
Mushahid Hussein, Vice President PMLQ
Senator, SM Zafer
Yusuf Munir, Shahab-e-Milli Pakistan
Dr. Abu Bakr Gondel, President, Young Doctors Association
Wasif Nagi, President Mir Khalil ur Rahman Society
Asif Luqman Qazi, President People’s Civil Activism Forum
Ms. Unaiza Khan, Human Rights Network
Tariq Kamalvi, Pasban Islamabad
Mushtaq Ahmad Qureshi, President Pakistan Democratic Forum
Tahmina Malik, Business Professional and Agricultural Women Islamabad
Shahzad Mazhar, Secretary Human Rights Network Pakistan
Saleem Zia, PML-N
Saleem Mughal, President Adabi Society Pakistan
Amjad Islam Amjad, Poet and writer
Mufti Salauddin, Jarrar Press Service
Aziz Awan, President Tameer-e-Pakistan Party
Samia Raheel Qazi, President Pakistan Women Development Society
Hassan Niazi, Insaf Student Federation
Professor Ghafoor Ahmad
Mufti Naeemuzzafar Khan, JUI
Dr. Zahid Abbassi, Tehreek Minhajul Quran
Dr. Akif Ahmad, Quran Academy
Dr. Akif Siddiqui, Society for Prevention Against Blindness
Adv Omer Faizan, Peoples Rights Forum
Abul Rafi, Jamiat Talaba-i-Islam
Azam Minhas, President Pasban Sind
Adv. Nisar A. Mujahid, Human Rights Corporation Pakistan
Adv. Mahmood ul Hassan, President Sind Bar Association
Malik Zeeshan Awan, President Bar Association, Sagodha
Dr. Ashraf Abbassi, President Pak American Congress
Asma Waheed, Islamabad Students Federation
Dr. Anwar ul Haq, PIMS
Bashir Khan, JSQM
Azeem Sarwar, Senior columnist and analyst
Irfan Siddiqui, Senior columnist and analyst
Hassein Paracha, Senior columnist and analyst
Razi uddin Syed, Senior columnist and analyst
Adv. Mukhtar Ghazi, President Ghazi Welfare Trust
Khalid Jamal Khalid, Human Rights Network
Ms. Kubra Rasool, War Against Rape, Shaikhupura
Salman Butt, Al Meezan Welfare Organization
Mubashir Mustafa, President Contractors and Distributers Association
Malik Safaiduddin Awan, President Human Rights Enforcement Sind
Ms. Maliha Awan, Tanzeem ul Awan Pakistan
Ms. Sarwat Jehan, University of Karachi
Zafar Iqbal Awan, Punjab Bar Council
Adv. Azhar Siddiqui, President Judicial Activism Panel
Dr. Abdul Malik, PIMA
Dr. Riffat Rana, Pakistan Lady Doctors Association
Dr Wasim PMA Multan
Dr. Farida Habib, Islamic Doctors Association
Farooq Chohan, Media Coordinator, JI Lahore
Asma Shariff, Women Development Association LHR
Fazal Awan, IJT Sargodha
M. A. Ghazi JTI, Karachi University
A.S Piracha, Good Governance Pakistan
Abdul Hakim, Pasban Quetta
Hashmat Husein, JUP
Hina Abdullah, Institute of Psychiatry, University of Karachi
Javed Hashmi, MNA, MLN
Syed Bilal, JI Islamabad
Kamran Fatimai, Scholar
Kasrat Rai, PML N
Khalid Hassan, Alsuffa Foundation
 Open Letter to Eric Holder | [ ] | 456 Kb |
