Home | Explore | Broadcasters | Media | Donations | About Us | Contact | Fatwa | Our Sheikh     Save Zardari Government Impedes Repatriation Efforts for Dr. Aafia: The Release Of Sarah Shourd, And Continued Imprisonment Of Aafia Siddiqui 17 September 2010 By El-Hajj Mauri' Saalakhan Zardari Government Impedes Repatriation Efforts for Dr. Aafia, Says Pakistan American National Alliance The Government of Pakistan has refused to cooperate with the efforts of an international delegation of prominent experts scheduled to visit Pakistan to advocate for the repatriation of Dr. Aafia Siddiqui, a U.S.-educated child specialist, being tried in a NY Court for the attempted murder of U.S. soldiers.  Independent journalists like Yvonne Ridley believe that she was illegally kidnapped in 2003 by Pakistani and U.S. agencies and held incommunicado, along with her three children, one of whom might be dead. The Pakistan American National Alliance (PANA) organized the group's visit in order to provide expertise to facilitate Dr. Aafia's repatriation, improve Pakistan-U.S. relations, and lend support to the Pakistan Government in the aftermath of a cataclysmic flood. The delegation was to be led by former U.S. Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney.  However, Ms. McKinney's visa application was unreasonably delayed before being denied without explanation by Pakistani authorities. "I am shocked by the lack of support offered to our delegation by Pakistani authorities; I thought we were on the same side," McKinney said.  "I know the Pakistani people want Dr. Aafia to come home," McKinney added. Other members of the delegation include UK Member of Parliament Lord Nazir Ahmed, as well as world-renowned investigative journalist and expert on Dr. Siddiqui's case, Ms. Yvonne Ridley. PANA Founder Dr. Agha Saeed stated, "The denial of visas by Mr. Zardari's NRO government lends further credence to the popular belief that his government is resisting Dr. Aafia's repatriation to avoid harrowing revelations about thousands of other missing Pakistanis." PANA has urged the government of Pakistan to act now -- prior to sentencing -- to secure Dr. Siddiqui's repatriation.  Under applicable U.S. law, once there is a final judgment of conviction entered against Dr. Siddiqui, she cannot be returned to Pakistan unless it is pursuant to a prisoner transfer treaty.  There is currently no such treaty in force between the U.S. and Pakistan. The government of Pakistan can avoid unnecessary legal impediments, as other governments have done, if it takes serious steps now to repatriate Dr. Siddiqui.  At any time before sentencing, expected to occur on 23 September 2010, U.S. prosecutors have the authority to dismiss the charges if they believe the interests of justice and public policy are advanced.  The Pakistani government has been fully aware of this information since early this year. An Important Note to the Friends of Peace & Justice: While I sincerely welcome the humanitarian health-related release of Sarah Shourd - a U.S. citizen who has reportedly been imprisoned in Iran since July of last year (2009) - I'm deeply saddened that another woman, a Muslim woman of Pakistan, who was just 31 years of age when she disappeared within U.S. custody over seven years ago, still remains imprisoned in the United States of America under horrific conditions.  I also find the grossly imbalanced media attention that has been devoted (and not devoted, in fair and equal measure) to these two cases in the United States, both disturbing and revealing to say the least. I pray that in the days ahead, Iranian officials will find a way to channel some of the enormous attention accompanying the release of Sarah Shourd into an international spotlight on the ongoing political imprisonment of Dr. Aafia Siddiqui (under torturous conditions) right here on U.S. soil!  Please review the following for additional background on Aafia's case, and share it with others. We need a MASS MOBILIZATION at the courthouse on the day Aafia is sentenced!  A SNAPSHOT ON THE CASE OF DR. AAFIA SIDDIQUI  Dr. Aafia Siddiqui, a Pakistani national, came to the United States as an 18 year old and began her freshman year at the University of Houston (Texas). Aafia later matriculated to Boston’s MIT, and eventually acquired a PhD. at Brandeis University. She was known and respected for her academic excellence, charitable work, and her commitment to Islam.  After the tragedy of September 11th, Aafia Siddiqui and her former husband, Dr. Amjad Khan, came under suspicion and decided to leave the United States as a result of the corrosive Post 9/11 atmosphere (in many quarters) towards Islam and Muslims. Later, after an unfortunate separation and divorce, Aafia decided to return to the U.S. in order to pursue work in her academic and professional field.  At some point in 2003, then U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft publicly identified Dr. Aafia Siddiqui as a person the U.S. government believed to be an “Al-Qaeda facilitator.”   In March 2003, after departing her family’s home in Karachi (Pakistan) to visit an uncle in Islamabad, the taxi that she and her three young children were traveling in was stopped by persons believed to be Pakistani agents, and then they were made to disappear.  After FIVE YEARS of secret imprisonment (aka rendition) and torture, Aafia Siddiqui was mysteriously released on the streets of Ghazni (Afghanistan), re-arrested, and in the moments leading up to her interrogation at the police compound, Aafia was shot and almost killed. After receiving emergency treatment, Aafia was brought to the United States and held under a brutal maximum security regime for almost two years before being placed on trial in a federal court in New York City.  Despite the U.S. government’s earlier description of Aafia Siddiqui as someone believed to be an agent of Al-Qaeda, NOT ONE TERRORISM CHARGE was leveled against her in the forthcoming criminal indictment. She was charged with attempting to kill U.S. personnel in Afghanistan in July 2008 (after she mysteriously re-appeared following five years of secret detention, aka “rendition”).   Despite blatant inconsistencies in the testimonies of the government’s star witnesses, and despite the material evidence that was solidly in the defendant’s favor, Dr. Aafia Siddiqui was found guilty on all counts, in what could aptly be described as a new type of “jury nullification.” If she receives the maximum penalty on the day of her sentencing, the sentence will be LIFE without the possibility of parole.  There have been massive demonstrations in all of Pakistan’s major cities demanding the return of this 38 year old mother, now dubbed the “daughter of Pakistan.”  Dr. Aafia Siddiqui is scheduled to be sentenced, at a federal court in New York City, on Thursday, September 23, 2010.       ©  EsinIslam.Com Add Comments © EsinIslam.Com Designed & produced by The Awqaf London. Please pray for us