Consider the following claims against the U.S. and allied/contracted forces:

1)      Abduction of a mother and her three children with the children used for extortion

2)      Long term captivity in secret prisons

3)      Rape, torture, mental and physical abuse

4)      Use of elaborate disorientation and false flag techniques

This laundry list is definitely sensational enough for a kneejerk rejection from the average American patriot. However, what are we to think when these very same allegations are listed in a recently declassified Department of Defense’s Inspector General’s report entitled Review of DoD-Directed Investigations of Detainee Abuse[i]?

There are other serious questions surround this impending trial:

1. Why is she considered such a high profile suspect when the charges against her are not related to terrorism[ii]?
2. What caused the interest in Siddiqui in the first place?
3. How long has she been in custody?
4. Where have her children been all this time?
5. Who was responsible for them?
6. Did we outsource her and her children’s detention and interrogation to other nations?

Despite all these issues, there is one central theme in Siddiqui’s ordeal. It holds true regardless of ones status as a supporter or detractor.  As an American, the one inescapable question is: how we, the U.S., treated and continue to treat her.

How Dr. Aafia Siddiqui was and will be treated matters

Why? The reasons are plentiful, but let us examine one of our more important relationships: Pakistan, a strategically vital U.S. ally. Pakistan is a nation that seems to continuously suffer from regime changes, political assassinations and other stability issues; these are conditions conducive to the widespread popular support that Aafia Siddiqui is receiving.

Siddiqui has been transformed from a “U.S. person of interest,” into a galvanizing symbol of the Pakistani people. Her growing status as a focal point of that nation’s pride and desire for true sovereignty is evident. The streets are regularly flooded with pro-Aafia rallies and demonstrations that on occasion number in the tens of thousands. Popular singers, poets and artists continue to release tributes to Siddiqui as their chosen symbol for all of Pakistan’s missing persons and other popular, pro-Pakistani sentiments. Siddiqui’s story serves as a common rallying point for both Pakistan’s secular and religious as well as for their conservatives and their liberals. Aafia Siddiqui’s case has even overcome bitter rivalries between Pakistan’s competing political movements.

Siddiqui’s status is growing in influence, even transcending Pakistani politics and reaching the broader Muslim world as new and persistent allegations of abuse surface against the U.S. These allegations, especially when women and children are involved, undermine our standing in the world and provoke very serious and avoidable diplomatic problems.

This report legitimizes the hard to accept claims put forth by Aafia Siddiqui’s supporters.

It can no longer be claimed that abusive ‘interrogation techniques’ and assaults on detainees have not been either approved or perpetrated by our servicemen and contractors. This is the second reason that U.S. treatment of Aafia Siddiqui is the central issue of this case; it is directly related to our values as Americans.

To illustrate the point, let us examine the claims made by Aafia Siddiqui’s supporters with the DoD report’s findings:

CLAIM 1: The abduction of a mother and her three children/ children used for extortion

• REPORT: The use of scenarios designed to convince the detainee that death or severely painful consequences are imminent for him and/or his family:… - pg 36

CLAIM 2: Long term captivity in secret prisons

• REPORT: CIA detainees in Abu Ghraib, known locally as “Ghost Detainees,” were not accounted for in the detention system. With these detainees unidentified or unaccounted for, detention operations at large were impacted because personnel at the operations level were uncertain how to report or classify detainees. – pg 59
• REPORT: …DoD temporarily held detainees for the CIA – including the detainee known as “Triple-X” – without properly registering them and providing notification to the International Committee of the Red Cross. This practice of holding “ghost detainees” for the CIA was guided by oral, ad hoc agreements… - pg 78

CLAIM 3: Rape, torture, mental and physical abuse

• REPORT: At the extremes were the death of a detainee in OGA custody, an alleged rape committed by a US translator and observed by a female Soldier, and the alleged sexual assault of a female detainee. - pg 59

CLAIM 4: Use of elaborate disorientation and false flag techniques

• REPORT: …military personnel improperly interfered with FBI interrogators in the performance of their FBI duties. – pg 86
• REPORT: False Flag: Convincing the detainee that individuals from a country other than the United States are interrogating him. - pg 97
• REPORT: …our interviews with DoD personnel assigned to various detention facilities throughout Afghanistan and Iraq demonstrated that they did not have a uniform understanding of what rules governed the involvement of OGAs in the interrogation of DoD detainees. That DoD interrogators improperly impersonated FBI agents and Department of State officers during the interrogation of detainees. – pg 86

How our nation treats its detainees will continue to become more and more significant during the progression of Aafia Siddiqui’s trial. It will be a reoccurring theme in all similar trials as well. Regardless of verdicts, our treatment of detainees if not addressed properly will continue to degrade our nation’s image and standing in the world. This fact cannot be tempered by our stance on the all important and most immediate question of when did the U.S. take custody of Aafia? There are enough claims of mistreatment for either scenario of when Siddiqui came under U.S. authority.

Supporters contend that Aafia was abducted and handed over to U.S. Authorities in April 2003. This claim is supported by an NBC News clip available here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6xwCHha5ITM . This claim is corroborated by Siddiqui’s family’s statements expressing their belief that she was dead from 2003 until her capture in Afghanistan.

While convenient, it should be noted that the NBC and other media reports of Aafia’s abduction in 2003 have been denied/contested[iii].

What is certain is that once captured in Afghanistan, Siddiqui has been shuffled between mental and maximum security facilities, both with documented histories of abuse especially toward Muslims[iv] [v] and women[vi] inmates.

Currently, despite the fact that she is held in solitary confinement, under video surveillance, Siddiqui under goes regular, forced, strip searches, when making any outside contact – effectively denying her reasonable access to her attorneys. It is also a matter of record that after Siddiqui was officially in U.S. custody, she was shot by U.S. personal in Ghazni, Afghanistan and that the medical care she needed was at best delayed and inadequate[vii].

For most American’s, there might just be too many allegations against the U.S. for us to sallow. This type of thinking will miss the lessons that are to be learned as information comes to light. Siddiqui’s case, how she was treated and what we will do about it going forward, will define, in part, our capability for leadership in the world. Most importantly, it will serve as a window for who we are or who we have become.

PLEASE NOTE: Aafia is due in court tomorrow, Nov. 3. Those who are able are encouraged to attend! Details here.

[ii] http://www.usdoj.gov/opa/pr/2008/September/08-nsd-765.html

[iii] http://therepublicofrumi.com/archives/aafia01.htm

[iv] http://dir.salon.com/story/news/feature/2004/05/19/maddy/index.html

[v] http://cryptome.org/bop-abuse.htm

[vi] http://www.aclutx.org/article.php?aid=252

[vii] http://www.reuters.com/article/asiaCrisis/idUSN11499491

SOURCE: Muslimmatters.org

WHEN: Tuesday, Nov. 03 at 2:00pm (Time, and possibly date, may change as has now become routine with Judge Berman)

WHERE: Federal Court, 500 Pearl Street, New York

Please advise your networks and encourage people in New York area to attend.  It is likely that Judge Richard Berman will require Dr Aafia to be brought to court under a force order that requires forced strip searches and a few friendly faces may be some consolation.
.
For those who cannot attend, please say a special prayer.

SOURCE: Freeaafia.org

Earlier, Dr Aafia’s elder sister, Dr Fauzia Siddiqui, informed the committee that the government had handed over her sister to US authorities in 2003, long before she was charged for terrorism in 2008.

Asked if the government had approached the International Court of Justice in this regard, Fauzia said authorities told her that they could not get US permission for the move.

The committee questioned the credibility of charges framed by US authorities against Pakistani scientist Dr Aafia Siddiqui, saying she has been in US custody since 2003, but was charged with terrorism in Afghanistan in 2008.

It also summoned then interior minister and secretary to explain the circumstances under which she landed at Afghanistan’s Bagram airbase after going missing along with her three children from Karachi in 2003.

Dr Fauzia said Faisal Saleh Hayat, the interior minister at the time, confessed in a TV programme in 2003 that Pakistani authorities had handed over Dr Aafia to the US.

She said she could produce TV footage in which an FIA spokesman stated in 2003 that “(Dr Aafia) is practically in the hands of the FBI”.

She said the charges framed against her sister of firing on US soldiers in Afghanistan in 2008 were fake, as she was already in US custody.

Interior Ministry Joint Secretary Muhammad Ahsan Raja informed the committee that the government had no information on when Dr Aafia reached Afghanistan or where she had been between 2003 and 2008.

Committee Chairman Talha Mahmood asked ministry officials if Dr Aafia was provided consular access in Afghanistan before US authorities took her to the US.

Upon being told that she was not, Talha said Dr Aafia’s extradition to the US was illegal.

SOURCE: Dailytimes.com.pk

The standing committee meeting chaired by Senator Talha Mahmood held here. The officials of interior and foreign ministries briefed the meeting about measures taken for the release of Dr. Aadia Siddiqui. The committee has informed that legal and medical aid is being provided to Dr. Aafia. Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani had raised the issue during US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s current visit to Pakistan. The officials of foreign ministry having a view that it is useless to bring the issue in International Court of Justice as US and Afghanistan not recognized International court.

Dr. Aafia’ sister Dr. Fouzia informed the committee that her mother had informed the then IG Sindh Asad Ashraf Malik when Dr. Aafia gone missing in 2003. However she was told that FIR for missing persons could not be registered. Later, chairman standing committee has summoned former IG Sindh in next meeting.

SOURCE: Thenews.com.pk

On the other hand, Chairman Senate Standing Committee on Interior Senator Talha Mehmood has made it clear Former President Gen. (Retd) Pervez Musharraf can also be summoned in the meeting if needed.

Senator Talha Mehmood chaired the committee meeting held in Parliament house on Saturday and attended by Dr. Mohammad Malik, Almas Praveen, Sughra Imam, Haji Adeel, high level authorities of interior, foreign and law and justice ministries. Dr. Fouzia Siddiqui, sister of Dr. Aafia Siddiqui who is in US detention also participated in the meeting on special invitation.

Additional Interior Secretary told the committee that Dr. Aafia Siddiqui along with her three children went missing in 2003 and in 2004 on the identification of British journalist we knew that she was kept in Afghanistan and after detail investigation it was revealed that she was extradited to US in 2004. All efforts are being made through diplomatic channel for release of Dr. Aafia Siddiqui and Government has also hired lawyers to run her case in the US, he said.

The authorities of foreign ministry told the committee that Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani raised the issue of Dr. Aafia Siddiqui during visit of US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton but we have got no answer. We are raising the matter at every forum, they said, adding that, the issue can not be raised at international court of justice due to some complexities.

Government of Pakistan has paid 2 million dollar to fight case of Dr. Aafia Siddiqui, they added. Chairman Senate Standing Committee on Interior Senator Talha Mehmood welcoming the amount allocated to run case of Dr. Aafia Siddiqui directed concerned authorities to ensure proper utilization of money.

Fouzia Siddiqui, daughter of Dr. Aafia Siddiqui told the committee that we are a sovereign nation and the case of her sister should be run in international court of justice. She said the condition of her sister is much deteriorating and despite assurance of Government of Pakistan she is still in custody. In human behavior is being meted out with her sister in detention center, she said.

Chairman Committee Senator Talha Mehmood asked the authorities of foreign ministry to why councilor access was being denied to Pakistani languishing in jails of US.

The authorities of foreign ministry informed the committee that 6,377 Pakistani are languishing in jails of United States and report in this respect would be submitted to committee within 15 days.

Chairman Senate Standing Committee Talha Mehmood urged US to release Dr. Aafia Siddiqui unconditionally if it intends to make a room in hearts of Pakistani people.

The case of Dr. Affair should be run in international court of justice, he said.

SOURCE: Onlinenews.com.pk

A few months ago, I came home one evening to find this box waiting at my front door. It was odd.  I had not ordered anything by mail and was not expecting any other delivery. Unfortunately, these days, finding an unexpected box is more cause for fear than curious excitement.

But then I noticed on the side it had printed in large writing a name and a number in one of the best examples of penmanship I have seen in years.  The name was one I recognized. I was momentarily paralyzed.  How or why would someone send this package to me.

I took the Box inside and did not know what to do with it.  I was both apprehensive and curious.  I checked with lawyers and friends. But for some time I just let it sit there in the entry way in my home and every day when I came home the box stared at me and I knew I wanted to open it.  I mention this dilemma this only to illustrate how the events of the past 6 ½ years have shaped our lives and how routine, simple actions can become a complex ordeal filled with suspicion, apprehension, anxiety and anticipation all rolled into one.

Getting back to the box. Finally, one day I decided to open the box.  Nothing special or auspicious about the day.  Just another day but it seemed that it was time.  With camera and video in witness, the tape sealing the box was cut and the lids carefully opened.

Inside the box the contents were sloppily thrown in – a marked contrast to the neatness of the handwriting that adorned the front of the box.  Surely different people must have handled the contents and the labeling.  No one could be both that rash and sensitive at the same time.

As I slowly removed the contents, one by one, my hands trembled.  There were two folded white scarves, several envelopes, writing pads with half written thoughts as if the pads were snatched in mid sentence.  There were letters from people from as far afield as Australia and Hawaii, from Pakistan and Arkansas.  And there were partially written letters to people who would now never get them even though the stamps were right there. And incomplete poems for which we would not know the ending. There were articles from magazines carefully clipped to highlight what? It would not be known. In the middle of this there was a Quran thrown in the pile.  It had been meticulously tagged by its reader who would no longer be able to use these references.

The rest of the box contained items of food – from tea bags to cookies, sealed fish and snacks. Sustenance no longer destined for the person who stored it.

I went through the items carefully at first, almost scientifically, as if handling a lost treasure, cataloging what I found.  But soon, as the items became personal, the reality of what I had in my hands hit me – and it hit hard.

You see the box had come from Carswell Medical Center in Fort Worth Texas and the name on the side was that of my sister Aafia, # 90279-054

This box contained all that remained of the worldly belongings of Aafia’s life. This is what she accumulated during the 8 months at the institution known as the “House of Horrors”. It hit me that without warning, one day someone took her away.  She had no time to complete tasks, letters, consume a special treat or send a last letter.  All her belongings, both of her scarves and her beloved Quran were all left behind.

She was strip searched naked and taken away with nothing but her body.

And I was reminded of what it must be like to die.  All the things that are left undone.  The things we think we will finish the next moment or the next day.  The favorite clothes, the favorite book, the favorite meal. In the end when they take you, it is you alone they take.

For a while, I could think of nothing else.  And then I realized that for Aafia, this was probably just another case of dé jà vu.

Back in March 2003, Aafia had her whole life snatched away when she and her three young children were summarily disappeared from the streets of Karachi.  How must that have felt?  You lose the “things” most precious to you – even more precious than your own life? – Your children, the youngest only 6 months old.

We don’t know much of what Aafia endured between then and when she suddenly emerged in Ghazni in July last year.  But there again, she was shot and everything in her possession taken from her –  and for a second time she lost her son – a son whom she was not sure was even alive anymore and had been reunited with only a short time earlier – and who did not recognize her as his mother.

So you see, Aafia has experienced the feeling of “death” over and over again. No wonder she says they have “killed” me. Every time they “transfer” her, it is akin to dying. Only she is forced to wake up and the nightmare continues. So, I wonder – When is it enough? Or is this all a lesson for others to see?

I used to think Aafia meant the phrase “killed me” in a metaphorical sense but now I see it as a much more physical expression. Just imagine how many times this may have happened over the years of her captivity when we have witnessed it at least three times in the “open” non-secret captivity of the past year. And there is the brown box that testifies to it.

Yes, back to the Brown Box.  Because the story does not end here.  That Box stayed in the entry, contents placed back inside. Then one day I saw the box and thought of the Pharaohs and how they built Pyramids to carefully store the contents of the world that they would take with them on the journey beyond death.  How meticulous the exterior architecture but equally haphazard the interior chambers and the storing of the food… clothes… ornaments…

So too the brown box – simple clean exterior with meticulous writing and an interior haphazardly packed with the tools of life.

But there was a difference – a big difference between the pyramids of the pharaohs and the Brown Box of Aafia.  The one was planned. The other reflects reality of how life ends abruptly.  In reality, even the Pharaohs would have had a brown box that collected their daily unfinished business because while they could prepare for death, they could not predict its time.

By now the Brown Box was becoming an eyesore in the entry and the kids were asking too many questions so I took it up to the attic to store it. Here it found company among many other brown boxes that contained pieces of my life, forgotten memories and material possessions that I had not seen in years and probably will not even remember until and if I see them again.  But I hang on to them as if they and I will someday re-live the “good old days.”

And it struck me that I had dozens of brown boxes and they only filled the forgotten pieces of my life and here was Aafia’s one Brown box that was now representative of her entire life. But she is alive so she will accumulate more “stuff”.  But how many more times will these be taken away? How many more deaths? How many more Brown boxes?

I left the Brown Box in the Attic but had trouble sleeping until one morning I woke up and brought it back down and placed it in my study – out of the way but in full view of where I sit every day.  You see, I could not just put away Aafia’s life in the Attic and let it become another forgotten piece of my life.  I have to see it every day because my sister is in my thoughts every day and as long as she is alive the Brown Box will be waiting so she may complete those letters, those poems and drink that tea.

So, for now, the story remains incomplete, waiting for an ending… with a prayer that God will make it a happy one.

SOURCE: Freeaafia.org

The measure has already been approved by the House of Representatives and now goes to Obama for his signature.

The closure of the Gitmo prison was the first executive decision Obama made after taking office. Considering the worldwide opinion and growing international pressure to shut the prison, the move was understandably hailed around the world as a huge step forward on human rights front. It indeed had been a courageous decision by the new president after all that had been going on at Gitmo for years under the previous administration.

More than 600 people picked up randomly from around the world, especially from Afghanistan and Pakistan, after the US invasion of Afghanistan had been lodged at the prison camp in Cuba for years in despicable conditions — without a trial and without giving them access to their families. In fact, even today little information is available about those held at the Bay and their crimes. As some of America’s own most respected newspapers and media networks have reported, most of those faceless suspects at Gitmo had been men who just happened to be at a wrong place at a wrong time.

Some of those detainees have subsequently been released or transferred to their home countries. However, there is still a large number of detainees out there who have been given up for dead by their families. They don’t have anyone to defend or fight for them. This is why the Obama administration’s move to transfer those unfortunate men to the US soil before shutting what has come to be known as America’s gulag is so welcome. If those men are indeed guilty of what they have been accused of, they should be tried in a US court of law. Else, they should be set free to go home to their countries. In fact, they should be compensated for having been imprisoned and traumatised all these years without a charge and without any evidence.

While shutting down the Guantanamo Bay, Obama must not forget about the other gulag that the US has been operating in Afghanistan. According to human rights groups, the Bagram airbase prison is even worse than Gitmo because of its hellish conditions and torture of detainees. While the US is in the process of closing down Gitmo giving its inmates a chance to defend themselves in its courts, it is refusing to extend the same privilege to those held at Bagram. However, rights groups insist that most Bagram detainees are equally innocent.

One case in point is that of Dr Aafia Siddiqui, who mysteriously disappeared in Islamabad to resurface in the US custody last year – after five years. The US-trained neuroscientist is said to have been kept at Bagram and tortured for years even as her family looked for her everywhere.

President Obama can restore the world’s faith in America and its moral leadership by shutting both Gitmo and Bagram — or by opening them to justice and the rule of law.

SOURCE: Khaleejtimes.com

The petitioner, Barrister Iqbal Jaffery, pleaded that there was no need to get the consent of the countries in question as Pakistan could move the ICJ on its own. He submitted that the government laid aside a huge amount to fight the case while it did not bother to write a letter to the ICJ to take up the matter.He asked the court to restrain the government from spending such a huge amount to contest the case.

According to Aafia’s family, she was arrested from and was taken to Afghanistan. They claim that she was later taken to the US, where she is on trial for the attempted murder of two US investigators. staff report

SOURCE: Dailytimes.com.pk

Banned Speech by Anwar al-Awlaki – Part 2 of 3

Banned Speech by Anwar al-Awlaki – Part 3 of 3

Beyond Guantanamo Event – Moussa Zemmouri

Beyond Guantanamo Event – Yvonne Ridley, Part 1

Beyond Guantanamo Event – Yvonne Ridley, Part 2

Beyond Guantanamo Event – Amir Sulaiman, Part 1

Beyond Guantanamo Event – Amir Sulaiman, Part 2

Beyond Guantanamo Event – Ahmed Ghappour, Part 1

Beyond Guantanamo Event – Ahmed Ghappour, Part 2

Beyond Guantanamo Event – Binyam Mohamed

Beyond Guantanamo Event – Mustafa Terry Holdbrooks

Beyond Guantanamo Event – Sami el-Hajj, Part 1

Beyond Guantanamo Event – Sami el-Hajj, Part 2

Beyond Guantanamo Event – Auction

Beyond Guantanamo Event – Shaker Amer Letter and Mustafidh Ghani, Part 1

Beyond Guantanamo Event – Mustafidh Ghani, Part 2

A deputy attorney general, appearing on behalf of the Interior Ministry, said this on Tuesday in reply to a petition, filed by Barrister Iqbal Jafferry, seeking the court’s directions for invoking jurisdiction of the ICJ for recovery of Dr Aafia from the US detention.

The petitioner’s lawyer insisted that there was no need to get the consent of the US or Afghanistan as there was a treaty which allowed Pakistan to move the ICJ on its own.

However, the court adjourned hearing till October 30 and asked the petitioner to file his written reply in this regard.

Dr Aafia was reportedly arrested from Karachi on March 30, 2003, from outside her house to be taken to Afghanistan.

Later, she was transported to the US, where she was being tried under terrorism charges for attempting to kill two American investigators.

Two of her American national children were still missing while one of her child had been handed over to her sister by the Interior Ministry.

SOURCE: Thenews.com.pk