Basic Info

Name:: Release Dr. Afia Siddiqui! (Urgent Appeal)
Category:: Organizations - Advocacy Organizations
Description:: Please invite as many people as possible to join this group and take action!

This is a human rights group dedicated to Dr. Aafia Siddiqui. Members of this online community consist of volunteers and human rights workers and we would like you to join us because human rights is everyone's business.

This is an open group and anyone can join and support freedom and justice. However, the views expressed by members do not necesserily reflect the views of Amnesty International - Memorial University, or the administrators of this group.

Dear Members,

Please be advised, the following will NOT be tolerated in this group. Any questionable comments can and will get members banned.

1) Offensive language: this includes swearing and any and all words that hurt another member of the group. We have members from all nationalities, races and religions.

2) Defamatory comments: These are comments that may hurt the reputation of an organisation or people.

3) Contempt of court: do not write anything that might affect Dr. Afia's court case negetively, or result in loss of support for the defendent.

4) Do not incite racial hatred.

5) Do not post irrelevant, and unrelated material.

Finally, this group, as you all know, is a support and action group for Dr. Afia. I understand your emotions but please try not to offend your fellow members and our visitors.

Please message an administator or the creator if you come across a post that you find offensive.

Thank you!

PAKISTAN/USA: A Ph.D doctor Aafia Siddiqui remains in US custody and we as citizens of the world demand justice for her. Dr. Aafia's three children remain missing after five years. A report by Asian Human Rights Commission suggests that during her detention Dr. Aafia has been tortured to the point where she has lost her mental balance. Britain's Lord Nazeer Ahmed, (of the House of Lords), asked questions in the House about the condition of Prisoner 650 (believed to be Dr. Aafia) who, according to him was physically tortured and continuously raped by the officers at Bagram 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.

Please sing The Petition for the Release of Dr. Afia Siddiqui & Her 3 Children To: Un Human Rights, European Court of Human Rights, Amnesty International USA, Islamic Human Rights Commission
http://www.petitiononline.com/af258633/petition.html

Dr. Aafia Siddiqui Humanitarian Support Committee

Contacts:
Ryan Hancock, Esq. (PA)
Asma Bajwa (NY)
Mahmood Alam MD (NY)

Email: freedraafia@gmail.com
Fax: 215-501-7163 (read less)
Please invite as many people as possible to join this group and take action!

This is a human rights group dedicated to Dr. Aafia Siddiqui. Members of this online community consist of volunteers and human rights workers and we would like you to join us because human rights is everyone's business.

This is an open group and anyone can join and support freedom and justice. However, the views expressed by members do not necesserily reflect the views of Amnesty International - Memorial University,... (read more)
Privacy Type:: Open: All content is public.

Contact Info

Email:
Website:: http://www.ahrchk.net/ua/mainfile.php/20...
Office:: Suite 2000, University Centre. Memorial University
Location:: St. John's, NL

Recent News

News:: The Pakistan Youth Revolution would like to invite YOU in a peaceful protest to Justice for Dr Aafia Siddiqui. Its the time to show strength of what we are just 30 minutes to show up we are Muslims and Pakistanis are alive. please take out some time out of your busy schedules and lets make a difference. thanks

Date: Saturday, 17 October 2009
Time: 07:30 - 08:00
Location: Karachi Press Club
City: Karachi

Lets give strength and glory to our selves as nation.

Spread the word by email & SMS to all your contacts so as to create more pressure
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ONE EID CARD
To DR AFIA

Dr. Afia's Address:

AFIA SADDIQUI # 90279-054, MDC Brooklyn, Metropolitan, Detention Center, P.O. Box 329002 Brooklyn, New York 11232, U.S.A

Requested by:
Social Behavior Development Organization of Pakistan

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Please sing The Petition for the Release of Dr. Afia Siddiqui & Her 3 Children
To: Un Human Rights, European Court of Human Rights, Amnesty International USA, Islamic Human Rights Commission
http://www.petitiononline.com/af258633/petition.html
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http://www.aafiasiddiqui.org
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Move UN if bid for Aafia’s repatriation fails, IHC asks govt

ISLAMABAD: The government must move the United Nations if its efforts for repatriation of Dr Aafia Siddiqui fail, the Islamabad High Court (IHC) observed on Monday.

A single bench of Justice Munir Paracha observed while announcing its verdict in a petition asking Islamabad to seek Dr Aafia’s repatriation from Washington.

The court directed the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to expedite efforts for repatriation of Dr Aafia, a Pakistani-born American neuroscientist. It added that a reference must be filed with the United Nations if the ministry’s efforts did not bear fruit.

The petition, filed by Barrister Javed Jafree, had requested the court to direct the government to take up the issue of Dr Aafia’s repatriation with the International Court of Justice (ICJ) under the Pak-US Treaty of Friendship and Commerce signed in 1959, as the government had failed to secure her repatriation diplomatically.

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On November 18, 2008, the BBC reported that Siddiqui was unfit to stand trial after a psychiatric examination was conducted at a medical centre in Fort Worth, Texas. The evaluation said she is "not currently competent to proceed as a result of her mental disease". US District Judge Richard M Berman announced a conference of lawyers for November 19, which may consider the possibility of medication for Ms Siddiqui's "depression".[38] According to International Herald Tribune, a prison psychologist had previously declared that Siddiqui suffers from severe depression, and her lawyer said "she's psychotic

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ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gillani has said Dr Aafia is daughter of Pakistan and her return to Pakistan is a very vital issue adding serous efforts are being made at every level in this connection.

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Islamabad High Court (IHC) while giving verdict on the petition related to repatriation of Pakistani doctor Aafia Siddiqui detained in US directed foreign ministry to resolve this issue through diplomatic channel and if no solution was found then it should consider the prospects of filing reference in UN.
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A single bench of the Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Monday again directed the ministries of Foreign Affairs and Interior to submit replies by February 25 to a petition seeking the return of Pakistani scientist Dr Aafia Siddiqui to the country.

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Sharing the surveillance tape of a prisoner, Steffey, in US custody, who was stripped naked in a jail cell by seven deputies, Dr Aafia’s mother, Ismat Siddiqui, appealed to the government to secure her daughter’s release, saying that she was undergoing similar kind of torture and assault by US authorities.

Addressing a press conference at Dr Aafia’s residence here, Ismat Siddiqui termed the strip search of a female prisoner an outrageous act by US authorities, saying that she feared her daughter Dr Aafia might have been treated similarly. “The thought of what she may have gone through in these past years, after being shot, beaten, shackled and stripped, tears my heart apart. The government is well aware of the conditions she is being detained in, and should ensure her early repatriation,” said Siddiqui who was accompanied by her daughter Dr Fowzia Siddiqui and representatives of Human Rights Network.

Speaking at the occasion, Dr Fowzia said that since the charges against her younger sister had not been proved over these five years, there was no reason for US authorities to detain her.

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Yvonne Ridley film on Prisoner 650 premiers in 2 parts on Press TV, Sunday April 5 and Monday April 6 - standby for shocking revelations. Preview on next Thursday's Agenda
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The judge said he would hold a hearing on June 1 to determine Siddiqui’s competency. He also set a tentative trial date of July 6. daily times monitor

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The hearing of the case was adjourned till April, 17.

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Trial delayed for terror defendant in NYC 2009-04-29

A defense lawyer says a U.S.-trained scientist accused of being an al-Qaida operative may use a mental illness defense if she is brought to trial.

The comments by defense attorney Dawn Cardi came as Judge Richard Berman postponed a July trial for Pakistan-born Aafia Siddiqui.

The judge scheduled a hearing instead to determine if Siddiqui is competent to stand trial. She is charged with shooting at U.S. soldiers and FBI agents after her capture in Afghanistan.

The government says she is faking mental illness to avoid trial. Cardi says Siddiqui may use mental illness as a defense at trial or may use a justification defense.

Siddiqui studied at MIT and Brandeis University before she fled to Pakistan in 2003.

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US embassy clarifies
Sunday, May 10, 2009
Once again, we at the US embassy note untruthful and irresponsible reporting concerning the case of Dr Aafia Siddiqui in a report titled "Saga of Aafia's unending torment in NY jail" (May 7). The truth is never served by sensationalism; we believe your readers, as fair-minded and critical thinkers, deserve better, and we are equally troubled by the complete failure on the part of your reporter to solicit comment from US government sources. We continue to commend the majority of Pakistani journalists for their accurate and balanced reporting and overall professionalism.

Grossly unsubstantiated allegations continue to be reported as 'fact'. Allegations that Dr Siddiqui has been in custody at the Bagram Theatre Internment Facility in Afghanistan are completely erroneous. Ms Siddiqui was never in US custody, either at the Bagram Theatre Internment Facility or elsewhere, prior to her detention by the Afghan police in Afghanistan on July 17, 2008. On July 18, 2008, she was wounded while attempting to kill US personnel who had come to interview her.

She briefly received medical treatment at Bagram Air Field, receiving the same level of medical care that a US soldier with like wounds would receive, before being transferred to US custody to stand trial. At no time has Dr Siddiqui been mistreated or abused in any manner whatsoever. Consular authorities of the government of Pakistan have had standard consular access to her under the terms of the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations; she has been visited by family members; and she has access to a female physician. In addition, Dr Siddiqui has full access to telephonic communication and has made calls to the embassy of Pakistan. There are no restrictions on social calls to Pakistan. Dr Siddiqui has taken full advantage of this ability.

Dr Siddiqui is presumed innocent unless and until she is proven guilty. She will have a fair and public trial. She has at all times been represented by court-appointed legal counsel, and she has also been advised from the outset of her right to retain legal counsel of her choosing.

The people of Pakistan have time and again demonstrated their commitment to justice and the rule of law; they have also made clear their belief that every citizen should be held accountable for their actions. The American people share those beliefs. It is our hope that your readers will remain critical of this kind of inaccurate and irresponsible reporting.

Gerald Feierstein

Charge d'Affaires,

Embassy of the United States of America

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NEW YORK, July 7
Pakistani scientist accused of shooting at FBI agents and helping al-Qaida turned a hearing to decide if she's competent for trial into a pulpit for telling anyone who would listen that she doesn't hate America but doesn't trust its courts.

Aafia Siddiqui repeatedly spoke Monday to spectators, a U.S. marshal's deputy sitting behind her, her lawyers and even a team of five prosecutors and aides in front of her at the start of the afternoon session of the daylong proceeding. They were her first public comments since she was brought to the United States from Afghanistan 11 months ago.

"I want to make peace with the United States of America," Siddiqui said to the backs of those at the prosecution table. "I'm not an enemy. I never was."

Siddiqui is accused of having ties to al-Qaida and grabbing a U.S. Army officer's rifle in Afghanistan in July 2008 and firing at U.S. soldiers and FBI agents. She was shot in the abdomen in the encounter and was brought to the United States weeks later to face charges of attempted murder and assault.

A defense attorney has disputed the U.S. government's account of what happened in Afghanistan, and a not guilty plea has been entered for Siddiqui. In court Monday, she said: "I did not shoot anybody. I didn't fire any bullets."

If convicted of the charges, Siddiqui, 37, would face a minimum of 30 years in prison and a maximum penalty of life in prison.

Throughout Monday's hearing, Siddiqui rubbed her wrists, reddened by what she said was rough treatment by jailhouse guards who forced her to court in observance of the judge's order that she appear.

Siddiqui, a specialist in neuroscience who trained at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Brandeis University, had appeared in court twice after she was brought to the U.S. last August but had refused to attend proceedings since then. On Monday, she pulled a white scarf over her face so only her eyes were seen.

U.S. District Judge Richard Berman said he will rule later if she's competent to stand trial in October. Psychologists say she's had delusions that include seeing her three children in her cell and being visited by flying infants and dark angels.

L. Thomas Kucharski, a psychologist for the defense, testified Siddiqui suffers from delusional disorder and depression and is unfit for trial. Two mental health experts for the government, Gregory B. Saathoff and Sally C. Johnson, testified she's fit for trial because her behavior reflects malingering or grossly exaggerated psychological symptoms aimed at getting a result, such as avoiding trial.

When Johnson testified that Siddiqui had said the judge is a pawn of a Zionist conspiracy and only wants to kill her, Siddiqui turned toward spectators and nodded her head enthusiastically in apparent agreement.

Johnson said Siddiqui's descriptions of seeing her children in her cell and other events had subsided over the months and an analysis of her recorded conversations with her brother and others had shown that she understood the charges against her and the legal process.

Kucharski testified that her prospects might be worse if she were found incompetent because it could trigger a court order of forced medication to treat symptoms so that she could become competent for trial. And, if her symptoms are not treatable, she could remain institutionalized for life, he said.

Before she left court, Siddiqui insisted she's not paranoid or psychotic and described her fears that her statements Monday might be her last.

"It's probably the last opportunity I'm going to get," she said, noting the possibility she will be subjected to forced medication. "I've seen people on the drugs. They can't talk."

At least twice during the hearing she indicated she will not cooperate with her court-appointed lawyer, Dawn M. Cardi.

Cardi said outside court that her client's behavior supported her argument that she's unfit for trial.

"She's not making any sense," Cardi said.

The lawyer noted that Siddiqui had shouted to spectators that she could bring peace to Pakistan and Afghanistan if she were permitted to speak with President Barack Obama. It was an example of grandiose behavior that supports conclusions that she is delusional, Cardi said.

In court, Siddiqui told spectators: "The American president wants to make peace. I want to help him. Am I making sense? I'm sincere."

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