*ISLAMABAD: *Dr Aafia Siddiqui in US jail has accused personal assistant toPakistan’s former ambassador to the US Husain Haqqani, of siphoning off the$2 million allocated by the government of Pakistan for trial in 2010.
Aafia described Haqqani as unhelpful and uninterested in her case. Shestated that this was public money which had been taken by the two.
She further categorically stated unlike the misconceptions about herassociation with banned organisations, Aafia had little to do with slain alQaeda chief Osama bin Laden.
A confidential report prepared by Pakistan’s consul general in Houston,United States of America, of her visit to Dr Aafia Siddiqui claimed thatshe was subjected to physical and sexual abuse during her ongoing detention.
Consul General Aisha Farooqui visited Aafia at the Federal Medical Centerin Carswell, Texas. The report recommends diplomatic authorities to take upthe case at the highest levels to find a way for her repatriation so thatshe can serve her remaining sentence in Pakistan, where her modesty andprivacy would not be interfered with.
Aafia’s sister Fowzia Siddiqui submitted the report of the consul general’sMay 23 meeting with her.
The report presents details of the miserable state of Aafia, who is beingdetained, and details of her struggles to protect her dignity, integrityand respect paint a different picture altogether.
It is recommended that a detailed note be sent to the US Department ofJustice for an inquiry into the allegations of physical and sexual abuseAafia spoke of. CG Farooqui also suggested suggested a formal request to bemade to the US Department of Justice to restrict male staff members intoher unit and to ensure her safety.
Aafia has accused the male staffer of urinating on her possessions.
“Explore a legal mechanism for her repatriation to Pakistan to complete hersentence in Pakistan, where at least she would be safe and would be able tomeet her mother and children, who she has not met in almost eight years,”the report further recommends.
During her two-hour meeting, Farooqui stated, she saw Dr Aafia’snervousness and phobias, and fear of everything and everyone at thefacility. It was clear that she was afraid of the jail staff, theirviolations of her privacy, repeatedly confiscation of her things, therampant threat of physical and sexual abuse and institutionalised rape andbisexuality that she claimed existed at the FMC Carswell.
“For a practising Muslim woman to be incarcerated in a facility where therewas an existential threat of being raped and sexually abused repeatedly isan untenable situation and should not be allowed to continue. In spite ofall this, I found Dr Aafia determined, hopeful and full of faith in Allahand Pakistani people that there will be help sent for their daughterspecially and that sooner rather than later she would get out of theprison,” CG Farooqui wrote in the report.
Report further reveals that Aafia has no confidence in the New York-basedlawyers engaged by her sister. She requested the consul general to tell herfamily to replace her legal team as soon as possible.
“In her opinion, only her previous attorney, Tina Foster, could be reliedupon as she was sincere and was also Muslim. She was also the one who gother son Ahmed out of the secret prison in Afghanistan.”
Aafia also alleged that jail authorities confiscated her belongings. Herphone calls to family members were recorded and monitored. When asked whyshe did not call her mother in Karachi, Aafia said she didn’t feelcomfortable talking to her in the presence of the jail staff.
Aafia also expressed mistrust that jail authorities dialed inaccurate phonenumbers on purpose. She suspected that it wasn’t her mother or family onthe other end of the line.
“She repeatedly told me she was constantly disturbed in her room and herprivacy was consistently violated by jail staff who harassed her,threatened her and attempted to sexually abuse her as well on a number ofoccasions. Jail staff, including her case supervisor Annie Noblett, bargedinto her room, confiscated her belongings and made fun of her and evensnatched her scarf off her head,” the report read.
“Her belongings were often missing she was of the view that there could besome drugs given to her which made her incoherent and not in her senseslike on the three occasions when had visited her previously,” CG Farooquiwrote in the report.
About her written submission to the judge for not filing an appeal againsther sentence in 2011, Aafia said she did it because she was not expectingjustice from the same judge in the appeal, while additionally claiming thather case was “lost in the US Supreme Court” due to the incompetence of herlawyers. She asserted that her trial was a sham.
When CG Farooqui asked Aafia if she would like her mother and sister tovisit her, she refused by saying, “Please don’t bring them here”. Aafiaalso stated that she tried profusely to stay true to her religion and itspractices, but termed her detainment center as severely unhygienic andalleged that she was given unclean materials and detergents.
Aafia also alleged that her case supervisor and two others attempted torape her in February. The CG also mentioned that Aafia didn’t want to bephotographed in jail. However, she wrote a short message in Urdu for hermother which is also attached to the report.
Fowzia while submitting the report, lamented that she was extremely upsetwhile reading the report and requested the SC to make it part of the caseproceedings.
On June 7, the apex court asked the federal government to find out withinthree days whether Dr Aafia is still alive or otherwise. According toFowzia, the government has failed to submit anything in this regard.
On February 3, 2010, a US federal court in New York found Dr Aafia guiltyof two counts of attempted murder, armed assault, using and carrying afirearm, and three counts of assault on US officers and employees. She wassentenced to 86 years in prison.