Lynne Stewart Arrives Home: Aafia Siddiqui - A War Against Islam, Against Activism

05 January 2014

By Stephen Lendman

She's free at last. On New Year's day, she arrived at LaGuardia Airport. Deliverance took much too long. She's back where she belongs. She's home with loved ones, friends and supporters.

"It's just really wonderful," she said after being released. "I'm very grateful to be free. We've been waiting months and months and months."

"It's a great way to start the new year," said her husband Ralph Poynter.

She's a dedicated human rights activist. She'll work for the rights of other political prisoners. Many remain unjustly confined longterm in parallel universe hell.

Previous articles discussed her case. It reflects gross injustice writ large. She was wrongfully charged, prosecuted and convicted. She committed no crimes. Justice Department claims otherwise were lies.

She spent 30 years representing society's most disadvantaged. She did so responsibly. She did honorably. She did it because it matters. She asked little in return. Doing the right thing is its own reward.

She deserved much better. America punishes its best. It rewards its worst. It reveals its dark side doing so. It's merciless. It's malicious. It's cruel. It's unjust. Bipartisan complicity permits it.

Lynne was targeted for defending clients prosecutors wanted convicted. Kangaroo court proceedings railroaded her to prison.

She was originally sentenced to 28 months. Appeals court pressure increased it to 10 years. At the time, Poynter called it "a death sentence."

It may turn out that way. Lynne is gravely ill. Last summer she was given 18 months to live. She has Stage 4 cancer.

Type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure, anemia and asthma complicate it. She was denied proper medical treatment in prison.

She'll get superb care in New York. Whether it helps remains to be seen. For months, prison authorities denied her compassionate release request.

Perhaps they held her long enough to kill her. A previous article said Obama wants her dead. Family members, friends, and legions of worldwide supporters hope not.

They rejoice now that she's free. They pray she'll survive. She devoted her entire professional career to helping others. She deserves life, not pain, suffering or death.

She's an inspiration to millions. She's a role model to emulate. She's one of America's best.

Just societies honor people like Lynne. Ruthless ones like the United States of Barbarism punish them.

It's the American way. It's always been this way. It's worse than ever now. Police state injustice is the law of the land.

Thousands of political prisoners languish in prison confinement. Numerous previous articles addressed notable and less well known victims.

Leonard Peltier is an artist, writer, great grandfather, Nobel Peace Prize nominee, peace, equity, justice and indigenous rights activist, and wrongfully imprisoned political prisoner since 1976.

Authorities repeatedly denied him parole, clemency, a pardon, due process on appeal, or retrial. At issue is serious prosecutorial and FBI irregularities.

Fabricated evidence framed him. He was wrongfully convicted of murder. He had nothing to do with killing two FBI agents.

He's currently serving two consecutive life terms. It's not for murder. It's for dedicated activism.

He's been brutally treated. He's been isolated in solitary confinement numerous times.

He's not well. He suffers from diabetes, high blood pressure, heart and prostate problems, as well as other ailments. He's denied proper medical care.

Washington wants him dead. Authorities are killing him by neglect. Longterm incarceration inflicts enormous harm. He's one of many political prisoners suffering unjustly behind bars.

So is Mumia Abu-Jamal. He's a former Black Panther Party leader. He was a Philadelphia-based award-winning radio journalist.

He wrote critically acclaimed books. He's a freedom fighter. He champions oppressed people everywhere.

French Professor Claude Gillaumaud called him "an example to all because he remains an activist after spending 30-plus years in hell."

He's outspoken against police brutality, criminal injustice, imperial wars, racism and longstanding US barbarism.

He's perhaps America's best known political prisoner. He symbolizes police state injustice.

He was framed for policeman Daniel Faulkner's 1981 murder. He had nothing whatever to do with it.

He spent over three decades on death row. His trial was a travesty of injustice. Due process was nowhere in sight.

He has legions of global supporters. St. Denis is a Paris suburb. On April 29, 2006, Mayor Didier Paillard hosted a ceremony. It dedicated a street in his honor.

In 2003, Paris Mayor Bertrand Delanoe named him an honorary citizen. He and Pablo Picasso are the only honorees.

In 2012, the Parisian suburb of Bobigny named a street in his honor. He remains imprisoned for supporting right over wrong.

Ramsey Muniz is a Latin America activist. He committed no crimes. He's imprisoned for life without parole on bogus drug related charges.

The League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC) said he "contributed greatly to the Chicano Civil Rights Movement during the 1970s as a leader for justice and equality for all Mexican Americans, Hispanics, and Latinos throughout the United States."

In 1972 and 1974, he was a La Raza Unida Party (RUP) Texas gubernatorial candidate. He represented Mexican Americans.

He did it for greater economic, social, and political self-determination. He was unjustly targeted. It was for challenging entrenched power.

Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals and Supreme Court appeals were denied. After imprisonment he said:

"Is life so dear or peace so sweet as to be purchased at the price of false chains and shackles, the imprisonment of innocence?"

"I know not what others will do, but as for me, I will forever continue the struggle for my freedom until I die."

"I firmly believe with my life and heart that we, as a people, as a race, as a nation within a nation, will never be totally liberated, until we formulate and establish our 'own' political power in America."

Oscar Lopez Rivera is a Puerto Rican independence activist. He was wrongfully convicted of "seditious conspiracy."

Puerto Rican Independentistas said earlier:

"Our position remains clear: Puerto Rico is a nation intervened, militarily conquered and colonized by the United States."

"We are prisoners of war captured by the enemy. Our actions have always been and continue to be in the nature of fighting a war of independence, a war of national liberation."

"The US interventionist government has absolutely no right, no say so whatsoever in regards to Puerto Rico, ourselves, or any Puerto Rican prisoner of war."

"The US interventionist government has only one choice...and that is to GET OUT!"

"It is our right to regain and secure our national sovereignty. Nothing will stand in the way of achieving our goal."

Rivera is a decorated Vietnam veteran. He was born in Puerto Rico. At age 12, he moved to America. Two years later, he settled in Chicago.

After returning from war, he dedicated himself to helping his Puerto Rican community. He was a community organizer. He was involved in numerous social service initiatives.

He worked for Puerto Rican independence. He became a marked man. Activism forced him underground.

Justice Department authorities named him an FALN (Armed Forces of National Liberation) leader.

They called him a terrorist for supporting Puerto Rican independence. The FBI called him one of America's most wanted fugitives.

After arrest and imprisonment, he called himself a "prisoner of war." He endured longterm solitary confinement.

He's been wrongfully imprisoned for over three decades. In February 2013, a Puerto Rican festival honored his activism. He wasn't there to thank organizers for holding it.

COINTELPRO lawlessness targeted numerous victims. They included political dissidents, alleged communists, anti-war, human and civil rights activists, the American Indian Movement, and Black Panther Party among others.

FBI agents infiltrated, disrupted, sabotaged, and arrested activists for ethnic justice, racial emancipation, as well as economic, social and political equality across gender and color lines.

In 1969, Chicago police and FBI agents murders Black Panther leaders Fred Hampton and Mark Clark. They did so while they slept.

Huey Newton titled his 1980 doctoral dissertation "War Against the Panthers: A Study of Repression in America."

"How many people's lives were ruined in countless ways by a government intent on destroying them as representatives of an 'enemy' political organization," he said.

"Enemy" ideas included full employment, decent housing and education, justice, peace, and ending police brutality, he explained.

Things today are worse than ever. It bears repeating. Police state injustice is the law of the land.

The Cuban 5 are victims of US state terrorism. They were wrongfully imprisoned on fabricated charges. No evidence whatever existed.

Prosecutors maliciously accused them of conspiracy to commit crimes against America, espionage, using false documents, and not registering as foreign agents.

Gerardo Hernandez separately was falsely charged voluntary homicide.

They've been horrifically treated. Political prisoners fare worst. South Florida is a hotbed of anti-Castro extremism. Washington actively supports it.

Loyalty to their native country got Cuban 5 activists targeted. They committed no crimes. They monitored US-supported terrorist groups. They include Brothers to the Rescue, Omega 7, Alpha 66, Brigada 2506, Comandos F4, and other anti-Castro elements.

Kangaroo court proceedings convicted them. They never had a chance. They're considered national heroes back home.

Four of the five remain imprisoned. In October 2011, Rene Gonzalez completed his sentence.

The National Committee to Free the Cuban 5 operates in around 20 US cities and over 30 countries.

Eight Nobel Prize winners called on Washington to free them. So did 110 UK parliamentarians and many others. Doing the right thing isn't America's long suit. It never was. For sure it's not now.

Aafia Siddiqui represents one of the most outrageous examples of US injustice. She's a Pakistani national. In 1990, she emigrated to America.

She's an MIT graduate. She's a Brandeis University PhD. She studied neurocognitive science.

Her interests were post-doctoral teaching, other academic work, as well as studying the capabilities of dyslexic and other impaired children.

She married a Boston physician. She's deeply religious. She raised money for charities. She did volunteer work. She distributed Korans to area Muslim prisoners. She committed no crimes. It didn't matter.

She was ruthlessly targeted. Justice Department officials wrongfully called her a terrorist. She was guilty of being Muslim in America at the wrong time.

She was abducted in Pakistan. She was home visiting family members. She was held at America's infamous Bagram, Afghanistan prison. She was brutally tortured and raped.

She was Prisoner 650. She was called the "Gray Lady of Bagram." It was because other detainees heard her screams during years of confinement.

She's one of America's most unjustly held war on terror victims. Charges against her were fabricated. She was declared guilty by accusation.

She never had a chance. Authorities maliciously and wrongfully accused her of terrorism. A dubious incident led to her indictment.

She was well guarded. She was frail and weak. She weighed 110 pounds at most. She was tied down. Then untied. She was left behind a curtain. She peaked through it.

A US soldier shot her in the stomach. Another bullet struck her side. She was violently thrown to the floor. She was unconscious. She vaguely remembered what happened.

Prosecutors lied. They claimed she managed to grab a US soldier's rifle. They said she opened fire at close range. She alone was severely wounded.

No forensic evidence proved the rifle she allegedly used was fired. No bullets, shell casings, or bullet debris were recovered.

No bullet holes were detected. None existed. Prosecutorial charges were lies. They were fake. They were maliciously fabricated to convict.

In September 2010, she was wrongfully sentenced. She got 86 years unjustly. Efforts continue to repatriate her to Pakistan. She remains a horrific war on terror victim.

It's a war against Islam. It's against activism. It's against supporting right over wrong. It's against freedom. It's against peace, equity and justice.

It's for corporate empowerment. It's for Wall Street, war profiteers, and other corporate crooks. It's for unchallenged US global dominance.

It rages out-of-control. It made America unfit to live in. It targets its best and most honorable.

It threatens free people everywhere. It threatens humanity. Washington's dark side harms everyone unjustly.

Rogue states operate this way. America is by far the worst.

Stephen Lendman lives in Chicago. He can be reached at lendmanstephen@sbcglobal.net. His new book is titled "Banker Occupation: Waging Financial War on Humanity." http://www.claritypress.com/LendmanII.html Visit his blog site at sjlendman.blogspot.com. Listen to cutting-edge discussions with distinguished guests on the Progressive Radio News Hour on the Progressive Radio Network. It airs Fridays at 10AM US Central time and Saturdays and Sundays at noon. All programs are archived for easy listening. http://www.progressiveradionetwork.com/the-progressive-news-hour http://www.dailycensored.com/palestinian-children-cages/

 

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