Justice for Aafia Coalition
As the International Day in Support of Victims of Torture draws to a close, there now remains only 50 days before Dr. Aafia Siddiqui will be sentenced following her conviction in a US court in February. It is highly probable that she will receive a heavy sentence, and thus spend the remainder of her life in solitary confinement in a harsh US prison, never to see her children again.
Siddiqui’s legal team has warned that there will be far greater obstacles in the way of her release and repatriation after she has been sentenced.
US Attorney General Eric Holder and Anne Patterson, the US Ambassador to Pakistan have both made misleading statements that Dr. Siddiqui cannot be repatriated as her case is still pending in the US courts. In the words of Siddiqui’s lawyer, Tina Foster, “this is incorrect and the government of Pakistan should not be fooled by this obvious attempt to forestall Dr Siddiqui’s return to Pakistan."
It is fully within the capability of the governments of Pakistan and the US to ensure her repatriation to Pakistan. We therefore urge all concerned individuals to write to the US and Pakistani governments, to exert every possible effort to ensure Dr Siddiqui’s immediate repatriation to Pakistan, ahead of her sentencing in August.
US Secretary of State Hilary Clinton will be visiting Pakistan on July 15th. We therefore urge campaigners to aim to send their appeals prior to her arrival.
TAKE ACTION
Write to the Pakistani and US Governments:
· Remind the Pakistani government of their obligation to their citizen and that they are in a unique position to change the course of events; if they requested it, it would be granted immediately.
· Urge them to do all in their capacity and exhaust every avenue to pressure for Dr Siddiqui’s repatriation to Pakistan prior to her sentencing hearing on August 16th
· That repatriation thereafter will be far more difficult
· That Pakistan should not be misled by inaccurate statements that Dr Siddiqui cannot be repatriated legally at this time.
· Dr. Siddiqui was not charged with committing any crime on US soil nor is she a US citizen and therefore should not have been extradited to the US but either tried in Afghanistan or extradited to Pakistan.
· Refer to the shocking miscarriage of justice in the trial; the absence of any forensic physical evidence; the abusive treatment she has endured in US custody;
· The seven year nightmare Siddiqui has endured since her extralegal disappearance in 2003, forcibly separated from her children whose welfare was a source of immense anxiety for her to date; reportedly held without charge and tortured in US custody in secret prisons for five years;
· The state of Dr Siddiqui’s mental health which we fear can only deteriorate further if she faces the rest of her life in a harsh US prison.
· Emphasise that Aafia Siddiqui is not only the ‘Daughter of the Nation’ but holds a place in the hearts of Pakistanis, Muslims and people of conscience internationally irrespective of their faith, nationality or location; there is already immense international outrage about the case;
· That public anger and anti-US sentiment will only increase if Dr. Siddiqui is not returned to Pakistan and receives a harsh sentence.
Write to:
Mr. Asif Ali Zardari
President of Pakistan
President's Secretariat
Islamabad,
PAKISTAN,
Email:
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Phone 92-51-9204801-9214171
Fax 92-51-9207458
Mr. Syed Yousaf Raza Gilani
Prime Minister of Pakistan
Prime Minister House
Islamabad
PAKISTAN
Fax: + 92 51 9221596
E-mail:
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Mr. Rehman Malik
Minister of Interior
Room No. 404, 4th Floor, R Block,
Pak Secretariat
Islamabad
PAKISTAN
Fax: +92 51 920 2624
Tel: +92 51 9921 2026
E-mail:
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Makhdoom Shah Mahmood Qureshi,
Foreign Minister,
Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Islamabad,
Pakistan
Tel: +92 51 921 0335
Fax: +92 51 920 7600
Email:
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,
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President Barack Obama
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW
Washington,
DC 20500
Tel: 202-456-1111
Fax: 202-456-246
Email at: http://www.whitehouse.gov/contact
Eric Holder,
Attorney General,
U.S. Department of Justice,
950 Pennsylvania Avenue,
NW Washington,
DC 20530-0001
Tel: 202-353-1555
Email:
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Hilary Clinton
Secretary of State,
U.S. Department of State,
2201 C Street,
N.W. Washington
DC 20520
Tel: +1 202 647 4000
Fax: +1 202 261 8577
Email:
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SAMPLE LETTER TEMPLATE - US GOVERNMENT
Dear Attorney General Eric Holder,
As the sentencing of Dr. Aafia Siddiqui draws closer at the Federal District Court in Manhattan, I urge you to exercise all prosecutorial authority vested in you 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 you to exercise all lawful authority vested with the US Department of Justice to allow Dr. Siddiqui to be repatriated to Pakistan on humanitarian grounds.
I look forward to hearing from you.
Yours sincerely,
[Your name]
SAMPLE LETTER TEMPLATE - PAKISTANI GOVERNMENT
Dear [name],
As the sentencing of Dr. Aafia Siddiqui draws ever closer at the Federal District Court in Manhattan, we urge you to exert every effort to request 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 Pakistani 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-defence. Dr. Siddiqui was extradited to the US despite the fact the alleged crime neither occurred in the US nor is she a US citizen. 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 country’s interests are also best served by permitting Dr. Siddiqui’s two young children, 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. Dr Siddiqui faces the prospect of life in a harsh US prison, never to see her children again.
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 urge you to exhaust every avenue to ensure that Dr. Siddiqui is repatriated to Pakistan ahead of her sentencing in August. Whilst some statements have been made, claiming that it is not possible for Pakistan to request her return whilst her case still remains pending in the US courts, these are in fact misleading and inaccurate. Were Pakistan to formally request this, the US would immediately acquiesce. The US recently lobbied for the release and repatriation for one of their own citizens who was by all accounts in possession of firearms and acting in contravention to the law.
I urge you to do your utmost to formally request Dr. Aafia's immediate repatriation to Pakistan.
I look forward to your response.
Yours sincerely,
[Your name]
NB: Please note that the initial alert stated that Dr Siddiqui will not have the right of appeal to the Supreme Court post sentencing. This statement was erroneously attributed to Tina Foster by a Pakistani news agency and is inaccurate.
