[Pnews] 'War on terror': US protesters rally in support of incarcerated Aafia Siddiqui

[Prisoner News]

middleeasteye.net
<https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/us-pakistan-aafia-siddiqui-war-on-terror-protest>
'War
on terror': US protesters rally in support of incarcerated Aafia Siddiqui
By Umar A Farooq - October 20, 2021
------------------------------

Dozens of protesters stood outside Pakistan's
<https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/www.middleeasteye.net/countries/pakistan>
consulate in New York City on Wednesday, calling for the release of Aafia
Siddiqui, a Pakistani woman who is currently serving 86 years in prison in
what civil liberties groups and activists say was an unjust sentencing as a
result of the US "war on terror".

The demonstrators, who rallied in the same city where Siddiqui was
convicted and sentenced more than 10 years ago, carried signs demanding she
be repatriated to Pakistan, while chanting "Free our sister Aafia" and
"Afia, Aafia, don't cry, we won't let your case die."

'We want to make sure her case isn't forgotten'

*- Anwaar Huk, protest organiser*

"The Pakistani government needs to pressure the US government to send her
back," Anwaar Huk, an organiser of the rally, told Middle East Eye.

"This isn't an anti-Pakistan rally, Aafia is a Pakistani patriot," Huk
said, "but we want to make sure her case isn't forgotten."

A graduate of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and PhD scholar in
neuroscience from Brandeis University, Siddiqui disappeared from her home
in Karachi in 2003 and was later found in Ghazni, Afghanistan in 2008.

She was arrested, charged, and convicted of the attempted murder
<https://archives.fbi.gov/archives/newyork/press-releases/2010/nyfo092310.htm>
of US officials and nationals, and later sentenced to 86 years of
imprisonment.

In the indictment presented to the US court, prosecutors had said that
Siddiqui possessed notes referring to a "mass casualty attack", with
multiple locations listed as the target, including the Empire State
Building and the Brooklyn Bridge.

Cage, a London-based rights group, has made accusations
<https://www.cage.ngo/product/aafia-siddiqui-a-case-of-lies-and-inconsistencies-report>
that her case is rife with inconsistencies, contradictory allegations and
evidence obtained under torture.

While she was never charged with links to the militant group al-Qaeda,
multiple attempts were made to connect her to the organisation, according
to Cage.

"Aafia Siddiqui's case remains one of the most troubling in the sordid
history of the 'War on Terror'. It is time this chapter of Aafia Siddiqui’s
life was closed. She needs to go home and be with the children she never
saw grow up," Moazzem Begg, an ex-Guantanamo prisoner and outreach director
at Cage, said in a statement in August.

[image: Protesters gather near the Pakistani consulate in New York City to
demand the release of Aafia Siddiqui.]
Protesters gather near the Pakistani consulate in New York City to demand
the release of Aafia Siddiqui (MEE/Sean Mathews)

The protesters in New York, part of a five-city mobilisation effort to
raise awareness about the case, said that Siddiqui has been wrongly
imprisoned by the US.

"I'm here to be a part of the protest," Aila, a protester from Canada, told
MEE. "Aafia Siddiqi's imprisonment is a crime and something I am totally
against.”
Assault in prison

Huk said this was the third rally organised in the past month, with the
first two taking place in the Texan cities of Houston and Dallas. The next
protest will be held in Boston, followed by a final demonstration in
Washington.

Civil liberties groups reported
<https://www.cage.ngo/aafia-siddiqui-calls-for-public-support-after-enduring-serious-assault-in-texas-prison>
in August that Siddiqui had suffered a "serious violent assault" at the
hands of another inmate, and her lawyers had called on prison authorities
to ensure her safety.

Following the assault, Siddiqui was placed in administrative solitary
confinement for an unknown period of time.

"During my last visit with Dr Siddiqui, I was shocked to see visible burns
around her eyes, an approximately 3-inch scar near her left eye, a wound on
her right cheek covered in toothpaste and a small piece of paper, and
bruises on her right arm and legs," Marwa Elbially, Siddiqui's lawyer, said
at the time.

"It is important that we receive reassurance that Dr Siddiqui is not
punished for being a victim of a vicious assault and is safe from future
attacks."
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