- On September 23, the FBI headlined, "Aafia Siddiqui
Sentenced in Manhattan Federal Court to 86 Years for Attempting to Murder
US Nationals in Afghanistan and Six Additional Crimes." More on its
press release below.
-
- No matter that she's completely innocent, and has been
a US political prisoner since her March 30, 2003 abduction, incarceration,
torture, prosecution, and conviction on bogus charges. Her case is one
of America's most egregious examples of horrific abuse and injustice, climaxed
by her virtual life sentence for an alleged crime she never committed.
-
- Yet she was convicted for these claimed felonies:
-
- (1) one count of trying to kill US nationals outside
the US;
-
- (2) one count of trying to kill US officers and employees;
-
- (3) one count of armed assault of US officers and employees;
-
- (4) one count of using and carrying a firearm during
and in relation to a crime of violence; and
-
- (5) three counts of assault of US officers and employees.
-
- Earlier articles about her can be accessed through the
following links:
-
- http://sjlendman.blogspot.com/2008/12/abduction-secret-detention-torture-and.html
-
- http://sjlendman.blogspot.com/2010/02/aafia-siddiqui-victimized-by-american.html
-
- http://sjlendman.blogspot.com/2010/03/aafia-siddiqui-victimized-by-american.html
-
- http://sjlendman.blogspot.com/2010/09/aafia-siddiqui-sentenced-grievous.html
-
- Gloating about another victory, like a predator over
its prey, the FBI quoted Manhattan US Attorney Preet Bharara saying:
-
- "As a unanimous jury found beyond a reasonable doubt
(they're all unanimous or hung), Aafia Siddiqui attempted to murder Americans
serving in Afghanistan, as well as their Afghan colleagues," though
only Americans were with her in Bagram Prison at the time the alleged incident
took place, as follows:
-
- In the presence of two FBI agents, two Army interpreters,
and three US Army officers, this frail 110 pound woman allegedly assaulted
three of them, seized one of their rifles, opened fire at close range,
hit no one, yet she alone was severely wounded.
-
- It was her word against theirs. At trial, no credible
evidence was presented, because there was none, not even her fingerprints
on the alleged weapon. The charges were concocted, bogus and absurd, not
even rising to the level of a bad film plot, yet jurors were intimidated
to convict.
-
- A Pakistani/American scientist, home visiting her family
in 2003, local authorities abducted her at the behest of Washington, after
which she was handed over and incarcerated at America's infamous Bagram
Prison, Afghanistan.
-
- Yet the FBI statement says: "SIDDIQUI was detailed
(on July 17, 2008) by Afghan authorities," who found alleged incriminating
items "in her possession" about a "mass casualty attack"
planned against high-profile New York targets. "Other notes....referred
to the construction of 'dirty bombs,' (and) ways to attack 'enemies,' including
by destroying reconnaissance drones, using underwater bombs, and deploying
gliders."
-
- Yet these charges weren't in her indictment, exposing
them as spurious. Instead, on July 18, 2008, she was accused of allegedly
disarming and attacking seven armed Americans during interrogation.
-
- Rampaging Imperial America
-
- Post-9/11, America declared war on Islam to justify rampaging
globally, focused heavily on Eurasia's mineral wealth, principally Middle
Eastern oil, comprising two-thirds of the world's proved reserves.
-
- Abroad, illegal imperial wars and occupations followed.
At home, Muslims have been victimized, vilified, and persecuted for their
faith, ethnicity, prominence, and activism - opportunistically targeted
for political advantage. They've been singled out, hunted down, rounded
up, held in detention, kept in isolation, denied bail, brutally tortured,
restricted in their right to counsel, tried on secret evidence, convicted
on bogus charges, given long sentences, and incarcerated as political prisoners
or extraordinarily renditioned to a similar or worse fate abroad.
-
- Victims are innocent pawns in the war on terror, mocking
the rule of law, judicial fairness, and democratic freedoms - the modus
operandi of rogue states, calling wars of aggression liberating ones, suppressing
civil liberties for our own good, and rampaging globally for alleged "democratic
freedoms," ones America won't tolerate at home or abroad.
-
- US v. Pakistani Media Reports
-
- After her sentencing, US media reports highlighted bogus
government charges, ignoring the truth and Aafia's horrific treatment.
CBS, for example, affirmed allegations that she's an "Al Qaeda supporter"
and "cold-blooded radical." CNN noted her "Anarchist's Arsenal."
ABC News called her "Lady Qaeda."
-
- Wall Street Journal writer Chad Bray referred to her
alleged "mass casualty attack" plan on New York landmarks, and
for Rupert Murdoch's New York Post, she's a "terror mom (and) reputed
Al Qaeda associate," a Bruce Golding headline saying, "Judge
throws book at Pakistani plotter....'terror mom' has been eighty-sixed."
-
- Note the difference in Pakistan. The entire country is
outraged - in Karachi (Aafia's home city), Rawalpindi, Islamabad, Faisalabad,
Hyderabad, Lehore, Quetta, Peshawar, Multan, and elsewhere.
-
- Dawn.com headlined "Pakistanis furious over Aafia
Siddiqui's sentence," saying:
-
- In Karachi, "Pakistanis burned tires, (Obama effigies),
and chanted anti-US slogans after a New York (hanging) judge handed down
an 86-year sentence" on bogus charges. Her case "has long stirred
passions in Pakistan....where anti-American sentiment is (deservedly) widespread."
-
- "Many Pakistanis believe the US abducted Siddiqui
and kept her in a secret prison for years as it pursued its war on terror."
News of her "harsh sentence immediately sparked anger and disbelief."
In Peshawar, angry protestors burned tires and shouted "Down with
America!" Pakistan's president and prime minister were also named,
and "Some hit a portrait of....Obama with their shoes."
-
- Islamabad students were also outraged, shouting "Crush
America, Siddiqui is our sister," and "We will bring her back."
-
- More in Multan where dozens of lawyers and activists
blocked traffic, shouting "Down with America," and burning effigies
of Obama and former Pakistani despot Pervez Musharra.
-
- In Peshawar, thousands of political, social, and religious
activists protested on city streets, holding banners and placards condemning
the sentence. They demanded Aafia's release and end to US Waziristan drone
attacks.
-
- A supportive Pakistan Times editorial called America
"an authoritarian, arrogant superpower," and Aafia's sentence
"unheard of....people will be waiting to see how (Obama reacts). Only
time will tell if the US president will step in to mitigate (this outrage)
by either pardoning Dr. Aafia or sending her back to Pakistan to serve
at least part of her sentence in her home country."
-
- "Dr. Aafia may very well become the poster-child
for increased hatred against the US and more sympathy for the militants,"
a possibility both countries should consider.
-
- Aafia's sister, Fauzia, called the sentence "a slap
in the face of our rulers, who have pledged and made promises to bring"
her back.
-
- Addressing a supportive rally, she said they failed miserably
to help Aafia. "The sentence bears testimony to the fact that this
government is a puppet of the US. We are peaceful people, and our aim is
to bring back Aafia."
-
- Foreign Office spokesman Abdul Basit expressed "disappoint(ment
with) the sentence and sad that our efforts....did not succeed. We are
still in touch with the US administration to see what possible options
are available. We are not giving up." At issue is whether they ever
tried, given the ties between the countries "in the fight against
Terrorist militancy...."
-
- The International Tribune reported that Federal Interior
Minister Rehman Malik said government efforts "will surely bring (her
back), but it needs time to do it."
-
- Pakistan's US ambassador, Hussain Haqqani, said "the
government took every possible step for (her) safe release," adding
that efforts will continue.
-
- Pakistan's Jamiat Uleme-e-Islam Party (JUI) chief, Fazalur
Rehman, cancelled his US trip in protest, saying "the punishment of
Doctor Aafia has added to the list of American crimes, and former prime
minister Nawaz Sharif said he, too, "would make all efforts for Dr.
Aafia's release," adding that "the entire nation was praying
for her safe return."
-
- Tekreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Party chairman, Imran Khan, condemned
the verdict as "unethical and inhuman," warning it could inflame
the entire Muslim world. He also announced launch of a countrywide protest,
saying Pakistanis won't tolerate this outrage.
-
- "Aafia is the daughter of the nation," he said,
"and all-our efforts should be made for her early return." PTI
plans protest rallies, seminars and meeting throughout the country, its
campaign to continue until Affia's back home.
-
- Farooq Sattar, Parliamentary leader of Pakistan's third
largest political party, Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM), condemned Aafia's
sentence, announced protests, and said MQM officials would meet with America's
ambassador to demand her release. MQM head, Altaf Hussain, also wants her
released and sent home, saying, if in power, MQM "would have immediately
severed ties with the US and its allies...."
-
- In America, Aafia's a "terrorist," in Pakistan
a national hero, at least on the country's streets, if not the halls of
power, despite the above rhetoric.
-
- For their part, Aafia's family vowed to launch a "movement"
for her release, Fauzia telling reporters that all of Pakistan would agitate
for her. "I was alone when I started the campaign to release my sister,
but from now on it will be the Aafia movement as the whole nation is with
me."
-
- Qazi Muhammad, Pakistan Supreme Court Bar Association
(SCBA) president asked "Why is our individual and collective conscience
as a nation silent on the maltreatment of Dr. Aafia, the daughter of the
nation?" He said an SCBA delegation would meet with her family, and
offered to defend her in the US pro bono.
-
- Responses from Human Rights Groups
-
- The International Justice Network (ICN - supporting human
rights globally, including Aafia's family) issued a press release, saying:
-
- "Dr. Aafia Siddiqui - who has never caused harm
to anyone - has now been condemned to spend the rest of her life in a (US)
maximum security prison....This sentence is not only unjust because of
its harshness, (but) also because of its impact on her....children....who
may never see their mother again. But the greatest injustice....is that
those who are responsible for the kidnapping, disappearance, and abuse
of Dr. Siddiqui and her children without cause have yet to answer for their
actions."
-
- "The International Justice Network stands in solidarity
with the international community in condemning this unfair and unjust result
in Dr. Siddiqui's case."
-
- Dr. Mehdi Hasan, chairperson of The Human Rights Commission
of Pakistan (HRCP) issued the following statement:
-
- America must "assess the impact of the unusually
harsh punishment awarded to (Aafia), particularly in view of the absence
of direct and credible evidence against her."
-
- In fact, there's none.
-
- It's also a red herring for the US embassy to say Pakistan
must sign two international treaties relating to prisoner exchanges before
Aafia can be returned - the Council of Europe Treaty and OAF Convention.
In fact, reversing her sentence and repatriating her is as simple as doing
it, an Obama stroke of the pen sending her home. It's time for Pakistan's
government to put its muscle where it's rhetoric is and demand nothing
less, suspending diplomatic relations until done.
-
- A Final Comment
-
- On September 11, 2001, America declared "war on
terror" based on a lie, then used it as justification to rampage globally.
Thereafter, democratic freedoms weakened or disappeared, and Muslims became
the target of choice. A war on Islam followed.
-
- Stereotypically called culturally inferior, dirty, lecherous,
untrustworthy, religiously fanatical, and violent, they've been prejudicially
called Islamofascists, "terrorists," or a homeland fifth column.
Their fate became summary judgment - no due process, judicial fairness,
or innocent unless proved guilty beyond a shadow of a doubt by an impartial
jury of their peers.
-
- Aafia is their poster child, an innocent woman brutalized
and condemned to spend the rest of her life in maximum security confinement,
meant for America's "worst of the worst" criminals. The facilities
are extremely harsh. They crush the human spirit, body and mind, in Aafia's
case even more than already after seven and a half brutalizing years.
-
- More is now planned for the rest of her life unless world
outrage saves her, no easy task given the Obama administration's contempt
for the rule of law, human rights and justice, as roguish as Bush officials.
-
- That alone should incite everyone's moral outrage. Aafia's
case adds an exclamation point!
-
- Stephen Lendman lives in Chicago and can be reached at
lendmanstephen@sbcglobal.net. Also visit his blog site at sjlendman.blogspot.com
and listen to cutting-edge discussions with distinguished guests on the
Progressive Radio News Hour on the Progressive Radio Network Thursdays
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/.
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