I love researching current world events and happenings.
Something that's been on my mind for a while is the situation in the US concerning the capture and detainment of an American-Pakistani woman, a PhD from MIT who was quietly captured in Pakistan by American authorities, smuggled off with her 3 young children to Bagram Prison in Afghanistan, and then eventually to America.
Her 2 children remain missing, no one knows where the American/Pakistani/Afghan authorities may have put them. SubhanAllah, what irks me the most is that her youngest child at that time was only 1 month old. Allah knows best if he's even alive or not.
Here's an excerpt from a few articles regarding her detainment:
"Dr. Afia Siddiqui left her mother's house in Karachi, Pakistan, along with her three children, in a cab on March 30, 2003 to catch a flight for Islamabad, but never reached the airport. The press reports claimed that Dr. Afia had been picked-up by Pakistani intelligence agencies while on her way to the airport and that she was handed over to the FBI. At the time of her arrest she was 30 years and the mother of three, the oldest of which was six and the youngest only one month.
Dr. Afia's whereabouts at that time remained unknown, however there were reports of a woman called 'Prisoner 650' being detained in Afghanistan's Bagram prison and that she has been tortured to the point where she has lost her mind. Britain's Lord Nazeer Ahmed, (of the House of Lords), asked questions in the House about the condition of Prisoner 650 who, according to him is physically tortured and continuously raped by the officers at prison. Lord Nazeer has also submitted that Prisoner 650 has no separate toilet facilities and has to attend to her bathing and movements in full view of the other prisoners.
In August 2008, she was charged in United States District Court with assaulting and attempting to kill US personnel whilst in detention in Afghanistan. As a result of the assault, she was shot in her chest and brought to America.
Newspaper reports all over the world say that Siddiqui's health is very frail, over and above her recent gun-shot wound. The reports state that: one of her kidneys had been removed while in captivity; her teeth had been removed; her nose had been broken, and improperly reset; that her recent gun-shot wound had been incompetently dressed, was oozing blood, leaving her clothes soaked with blood.
An August 11, 2008 Reuters report stated that she had appeared at her hearing in a wheelchair, and that her lawyers pleaded with the judge to make sure she received medical care.
In September of 2008, US authorities confirmed that the 11-year old boy they claim to have captured with Dr Aafia Siddiqui is her son Ahmed. According to a report in the Washington Post, in a letter to Siddiqui’s family, US authorities said that photos and DNA tests strongly suggest that the youngster in Afghan custody is Siddiqui’s son Ahmed. The boy is claimed to have been detained when police arrested Siddiqui in Karachi. Siddiqui and her three children disappeared in 2003 in Karachi. She had set out from her mother’s home on her way to the airport to take a flight to Islamabad, but she never arrived.
On September 3, Siddiqui was produced before a federal grand jury in New York, which indicted her for possession of handwritten notes referring to a 'mass casualty attack' at various prominent locations in the US, such as Empire State Building, Statue of Liberty, Wall Street and the Brooklyn Bridge. However, activists and her family believe that she is being targeted. "An ordinary Pakistani has been wrongfully taken to a foreign country without established judicial processes," said Dr Fouzia Siddiqui, Aafia's elder sister. Even the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) has insisted that she was picked up by a Pakistani intelligence agency and handed over to the US authorities.
The picture that was released when she was brought to the court in New York showed a woman who seemed to have experienced years of torture - a broken and badly fixed nose, made up teeth, and crumbled lips. The HRCP described her as a person "almost as if on the deathbed". Gaunt, wounded, she was unable to even walk by herself. Her resurfacing, and that too in such a frail condition, sent shock waves throughout Pakistan, which has demanded her immediate repatriation.
Aafiya's brother met her in October at a Psychiatric treatment centre, and afterwards he explained the situation to Aafiya's older sister Fouzia. She later gave a press conference in which she described her sister as being frail and bent after years of physical and mental torture and sexual assaults. “Aafia has no insight to the extent of allegations against her... she was paranoid and at times delusional” said Fouzia. “I have videotapes provided by her inmates about how she was physically tortured and abused during different searches conducted by the Psychiatric Centre." She added that Aafia was so tired of the torture and abuse that she had requested the facility authorities not to put her on DNR (artificial respiratory system) and let her die. Putting her on the artificial respiratory system once saved her life when she became unconscious during torture."
That's the gist of the story. American authorities obviously have differing versions of this story and their own beliefs, but clearly, regardless of what her crimes may or may not have been, what about the age old theory of "innocent until proven guilty" ? No one deserves such treatment; this is really a crime against all humanity. Have we as a species really sunk so low?
Truly shocking.
Something that's been on my mind for a while is the situation in the US concerning the capture and detainment of an American-Pakistani woman, a PhD from MIT who was quietly captured in Pakistan by American authorities, smuggled off with her 3 young children to Bagram Prison in Afghanistan, and then eventually to America.
Her 2 children remain missing, no one knows where the American/Pakistani/Afghan authorities may have put them. SubhanAllah, what irks me the most is that her youngest child at that time was only 1 month old. Allah knows best if he's even alive or not.
Here's an excerpt from a few articles regarding her detainment:
"Dr. Afia Siddiqui left her mother's house in Karachi, Pakistan, along with her three children, in a cab on March 30, 2003 to catch a flight for Islamabad, but never reached the airport. The press reports claimed that Dr. Afia had been picked-up by Pakistani intelligence agencies while on her way to the airport and that she was handed over to the FBI. At the time of her arrest she was 30 years and the mother of three, the oldest of which was six and the youngest only one month.
Dr. Afia's whereabouts at that time remained unknown, however there were reports of a woman called 'Prisoner 650' being detained in Afghanistan's Bagram prison and that she has been tortured to the point where she has lost her mind. Britain's Lord Nazeer Ahmed, (of the House of Lords), asked questions in the House about the condition of Prisoner 650 who, according to him is physically tortured and continuously raped by the officers at prison. Lord Nazeer has also submitted that Prisoner 650 has no separate toilet facilities and has to attend to her bathing and movements in full view of the other prisoners.
In August 2008, she was charged in United States District Court with assaulting and attempting to kill US personnel whilst in detention in Afghanistan. As a result of the assault, she was shot in her chest and brought to America.
Newspaper reports all over the world say that Siddiqui's health is very frail, over and above her recent gun-shot wound. The reports state that: one of her kidneys had been removed while in captivity; her teeth had been removed; her nose had been broken, and improperly reset; that her recent gun-shot wound had been incompetently dressed, was oozing blood, leaving her clothes soaked with blood.
An August 11, 2008 Reuters report stated that she had appeared at her hearing in a wheelchair, and that her lawyers pleaded with the judge to make sure she received medical care.In September of 2008, US authorities confirmed that the 11-year old boy they claim to have captured with Dr Aafia Siddiqui is her son Ahmed. According to a report in the Washington Post, in a letter to Siddiqui’s family, US authorities said that photos and DNA tests strongly suggest that the youngster in Afghan custody is Siddiqui’s son Ahmed. The boy is claimed to have been detained when police arrested Siddiqui in Karachi. Siddiqui and her three children disappeared in 2003 in Karachi. She had set out from her mother’s home on her way to the airport to take a flight to Islamabad, but she never arrived.
On September 3, Siddiqui was produced before a federal grand jury in New York, which indicted her for possession of handwritten notes referring to a 'mass casualty attack' at various prominent locations in the US, such as Empire State Building, Statue of Liberty, Wall Street and the Brooklyn Bridge. However, activists and her family believe that she is being targeted. "An ordinary Pakistani has been wrongfully taken to a foreign country without established judicial processes," said Dr Fouzia Siddiqui, Aafia's elder sister. Even the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) has insisted that she was picked up by a Pakistani intelligence agency and handed over to the US authorities.
The picture that was released when she was brought to the court in New York showed a woman who seemed to have experienced years of torture - a broken and badly fixed nose, made up teeth, and crumbled lips. The HRCP described her as a person "almost as if on the deathbed". Gaunt, wounded, she was unable to even walk by herself. Her resurfacing, and that too in such a frail condition, sent shock waves throughout Pakistan, which has demanded her immediate repatriation.
Aafiya's brother met her in October at a Psychiatric treatment centre, and afterwards he explained the situation to Aafiya's older sister Fouzia. She later gave a press conference in which she described her sister as being frail and bent after years of physical and mental torture and sexual assaults. “Aafia has no insight to the extent of allegations against her... she was paranoid and at times delusional” said Fouzia. “I have videotapes provided by her inmates about how she was physically tortured and abused during different searches conducted by the Psychiatric Centre." She added that Aafia was so tired of the torture and abuse that she had requested the facility authorities not to put her on DNR (artificial respiratory system) and let her die. Putting her on the artificial respiratory system once saved her life when she became unconscious during torture."
That's the gist of the story. American authorities obviously have differing versions of this story and their own beliefs, but clearly, regardless of what her crimes may or may not have been, what about the age old theory of "innocent until proven guilty" ? No one deserves such treatment; this is really a crime against all humanity. Have we as a species really sunk so low?
Truly shocking.
