Opinion Editorials, September 2010

   
Protests erupt over Dr Aafia’s conviction

Saturday, September 25, 2010

* Thousands turn out to protest across country
* Protesters chant anti-US slogans
* 14 arrested in Karachi
* Police foil attempts to march on US missions

KARACHI:

Dr Aafia Siddiqui’s conviction sparked nationwide protests on Friday with thousands of enraged demonstrators burning US flags and trying to march onto US missions.

In Karachi, Aafia’s hometown, activists of various political parties and common citizens poured into the streets shouting “Death to America”, and “Free Aafia Siddiqui”. They burnt effigies of US President Barack Obama. Riot police stopped hundreds of protesters led by the members of Islami Jamiat Talaba from marching towards US consulate in Karachi. They resorted to baton charge and tear gas shelling. At least 14 protesters were arrested.

Aafia’s sister Fowzia Siddiqui, who has vowed to lead a national movement to campaign for her sister’s freedom, told a rally of hundreds of women that the government had failed miserably in helping Aafia. “The sentence bears testimony to the fact that this government is puppet of the US... We are peaceful people and our aim is to bring back Aafia.”

Hundreds took to streets in Lahore, where Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan led a rally to condemn the verdict as “unethical and inhuman”. Khan warned the verdict could fan anti-American sentiment across Pakistan and the Muslim world.

In Islamabad, police stopped dozens of students from marching on the US embassy. The students intended to hand over a protest note to the mission. The crowd shouted “Crush America,” “Siddiqui is our sister” and “We will bring her back”.

Dozens of lawyers and activists blocked traffic in Multan, shouting “Down with America” and setting fire to effigies of US president and former Pakistani president Pervez Musharraf. Protest marches were also taken out in Quetta, where Jamiat-e-Ulema Islam and PTI held separate demonstrations in front of the Quetta Press Club.Thousands of political, religious and social activists marched in Peshawar. The protesters were holding banners and placards condemning Dr Aafia’s sentencing. They demanded her release and called for end to drone attacks in Waziristan. In Rawalpindi, a large number of protestors gathered outside the Rawalpindi Islamabad Press Club (RIPC). They demanded quashing of the sentence and Dr Aafia’s release. Protests were also held in Multan, Chakwal and Hyderabad. staff report/agencies

US rights group calls Aafia’s sentence ‘unjust’

Saturday, September 25, 2010
* International Justice Network says sentence not only unjust but also harsh
NEW YORK:

A New York-based human rights group has condemned as “unfair and unjust” the 86-year prison sentence handed down to Dr Aafia Siddiqui, a Pakistan neuroscientist, saying she had never caused harm to anyone.

“This sentence is not only unjust because of its harshness to Aafia – but also because of its impact on her two children in Pakistan who may never see their mother again,” the International Justice Network, attorneys for the Siddiqui’s family, said in a statement after Thursday’s tough sentence imposed by US District Judge Richard Berman.

“But the greatest injustice of all is that those who are responsible for the kidnapping, disappearance, and abuse of Aafia and her children without cause have yet to answer for their actions.

“While today’s sentence concludes a shameful chapter in US history, it is only a matter of time before the truth about what has been done to Aafia, her family, and the thousands of other innocents who have disappeared is revealed. Importantly, despite today’s sentence and all the injustices, which she has endured, Aafia has consistently made clear that she does not support any acts of violence being taken in her name,” the statement added.

“The International Justice Network stands in solidarity with the international community in condemning this unfair and unjust result in her case.”

In a four-hour sentencing session, Judge Berman repeatedly termed her acts premeditated. Her defence lawyers argued for a minimum sentence of 12 years, saying that she had been mentally ill.

Berman rejected that argument and said he increased the sentence because of several factors, including terrorist intent and motivation to commit a hate crime. app

Pakistan erupts over US scientist verdict

AFP, September 24, 2010, 05:54 pm

Hasan Mansoor

Pakistani activists poured into the streets on Friday shouting "Death to America" and burning effigies of President Barack Obama after a US court jailed a woman scientist for 86 years.

In a case that has been condemned across the nuclear-armed Muslim nation of 167 million, the government said it would petition Washington to secure the repatriation of the mother of three on humanitarian grounds.

A New York court found Aafia Siddiqui, the once brilliant scientist dubbed "Lady Qaeda" by the US tabloids, guilty of the attempted murder of US military officers in Afghanistan in 2008 -- five years after she disappeared.

In Karachi, Siddiqui's home town and Pakistan's largest city, police fired tear gas shells to prevent scores of people from marching on the US consulate at the behest of the youth wing of Islamist party Jamaat-e-Islami (JI).

The protestors shouted "Death to America," "Allahu akbar" (God is greater), "Free Aafia Siddiqui" and "Down with the US system of justice".

Hundreds of anti-riot police deployed on the main Shahra-e-Faisal road to stop protesters from marching towards the US mission.

Police official Javed Akbar Qazi said police arrested at least 14 people for creating a disturbance.

At a small protest outside the Karachi press club, JI activists burnt a crudely made Obama effigy, condemning US policies as anti-Muslim.

Fowzia Siddiqui, who has vowed to lead a national movement to campaign for her sister's freedom, told a rally of hundreds of heavily veiled women that the Pakistani government had failed miserably.

"The sentence bears testimony to the fact that this government is puppet of the US... We are peaceful people and our aim is to bring back Aafia."

About 1,000 people attended another rally called by a hardline Islamic party, Sipah-e-Sahaba Pakistan (SSP), in Karachi late Friday. Amid anti-US slogans, its leader Aurangzeb Farooqi urged the Muslim world to play its role in securing Siddiqui's release.

Hundreds more took to the streets in Pakistan's second largest city of Lahore. Cricket hero-turned-politician Imran Khan led a rally to condemn the verdict as "unethical and inhuman," an AFP reporter said.

They condemned President Asif Ali Zardari, while Khan, who heads the party Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (Pakistan Movement for Justice), warned that the verdict could fan anti-Americanism across Pakistan and the Muslim world.

In Islamabad, police stopped dozens of Islamic students from marching on the US embassy to hand over a protest note. The crowd shouted "Crush America," "Siddiqui is our sister" and "We will bring her back."

Dozens of lawyers and activists blocked traffic in the central city of Multan, shouting "Down with America" and setting fire to an effigy of Obama and former Pakistani president Pervez Musharraf, an AFP reporter said.

Siddiqui, 38, who as a student excelled at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, was found guilty of grabbing a rifle at an Afghan police station where she was being interrogated in 2008 and of trying to shoot US servicemen.

Prosecutors said she picked up the weapon and opened fire on servicemen and FBI representatives trying to take her into detention. She missed and in a struggle was herself shot by one of the US soldiers.

Defence lawyers argued there was no physical evidence, such as fingerprints or gunpowder traces, to show Siddiqui even grabbed the rifle.

Siddiqui's lawyers have said they will appeal against the sentence and her family vowed to launch a "movement" to get her released from jail.

Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani told the upper house of parliament: "We will use every means to bring her back. Doctor Aafia is the daughter of the nation. We fought for her and we will fight politically to bring her back."

Interior Minister Rehman Malik said the government would petition the US administration to review the sentence on a "humanitarian basis" and request that Siddiqui be handed over to Pakistan and dealt with under Pakistani law.

Asked under what circumstances Siddiqui could return home, the foreign ministry said Obama could pardon her, or an agreement could be reached for her to serve at least part of her sentence in Pakistan.

The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan called on Islamabad and Washington to negotiate urgently for her repatriation on humanitarian grounds.

"We fear that the verdict will be misunderstood in Pakistan and bring relations between the two allies in the war on terror under increased strain," said its chairman Mehdi Hasan.

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editor@aljazeerah.info & editor@ccun.org