Update on Dr. Siddiqui

[Aapa]

Salaam,

FYI:


U.S. Judge Orders Pakistani To Take Psychiatric Exam


02/10/2008



NEW YORK (Reuters) - A Pakistani woman suspected of links to al Qaeda who is charged with trying to kill American interrogators in Afghanistan must undergo a psychiatric evaluation and hearing, a U.S. judge ordered on Wednesday.



Aafia Siddiqui, 36, will undergo a month-long medical assessment, treatment and psychological examination before a special competency hearing to determine if she is "medically fit and mentally competent" to stand trial, U.S. District Judge Richard Berman ordered.



The U.S.-trained neuroscientist was shot in the abdomen by an officer after allegedly grabbing a U.S. soldier's gun during questioning in July and was brought to the United States to face charges of attempted murder and assault.



But her arraignment has been delayed after she refused to submit to a strip search and prosecutors argued the now frail-looking Siddiqui, who has also refused to cooperate with prison doctors, is suffering from a mental disease and is unfit to stand trial.



The federal indictment says Siddiqui, while detained for questioning in Afghanistan, grabbed a U.S. warrant officer's rifle and fired it at the interrogation team, which included two FBI agents in the room. The warrant officer then shot her with his pistol.



It is unclear how Siddiqui came to be in Afghanistan. U.S. officials say police found documents in her handbag on making explosives, excerpts from the book "Anarchist's Arsenal" and descriptions of New York City landmarks.



Her lawyers say she may be a victim of torture and believe she was kidnapped with her children in March 2003 in Karachi, Pakistan and secretly held in custody for the past five years by either Pakistani or U.S. authorities.



The hearing was scheduled for December 17 in Manhattan federal court.



(Reporting by Christine Kearney; Editing by Michelle Nichols and Cynthia Osterman)



SOURCE: Reuters


http://www.cageprisoners.com/articles.php?id=26356

 

[Munawar]

A ray of light at the end of the tunnel.

:salam2:

Haqqani seeks Dr. Aafia’s custody from U.S.
Friday, October 03, 2008

WASHINGTON: Pakistan’s ambassador to United States, Husain Haqqani has demanded that U.S. should immediately hand over Dr. Aafia Siddiqui to Pakistan.

Earlier, U.S. State department apprised Pakistan embassy that Dr. Aafia has been moved to Texas from New York for psychiatric evaluation on court’s orders. Members of Foreign Affairs Committee of Pakistani Senate will not be able to see Dr. Aafia in New York at the moment, statement said.

Meanwhile, Pakistan's envoy demanded the U.S. government to hand over Dr. Aafia to Pakistan. He said there are better facilities of psychiatric evaluation and treatment in Pakistan.

Earlier, Dr. Aafia’s lawyer pleaded that she should not be sent to Texas where she could undergo psychiatric examination only, adding that Dr. Aafia requires medical treatment as well.

 

[Aapa]

Salaam,

She was to have appeared in court on Sept. 23rd. Nothing in the press. We find out she is to undergo a series of examinations. In the meanwhile her sister feels that Dr. Siddiqui may be dead. Now, a woman with a wound is being transported to Texas..
This is bizarre.

 

[Aapa]

Statement From Dr Fowzia Siddiqui

Salaam,


FYI:

03/10/2008
by Dr Fowzia Siddiqui



Hearing yesterdays ruling by Judge Berman on Aafia’s case is both alarming and sad.



As you are all aware that Aafia was given a diagnosis of chronic depressive psychosis, which is understandable under the circumstances that she has been through. How would you feel after being held in solitary confinement for years forgotten, than suddenly a glimpse of hope and light then back to the same solitary confinement of a mother separated from her children? What was her crime? Basically nothing. My dear brothers and sisters how would you feel? Happy, thrilled, elated, OR sad and depressed?



That is what my sister Aafia is suffering from and that very rightly the diagnosis that has been given to her.



I, as a sister as well as a diplomat of the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology, can confidently say that Aafia’s salvation lies not in locking her in a psychiatric institute, putting her through dehumanizing strip searches, chaining her to beds and walls,……….instead reuniting her with her family in familiar surroundings nurturing her, mental and psychological rehabilitation, medications, most of all love and affection.



It is curious that the prosecution is so keen for the mental "evaluation". Do they want an evaluation or is this a pretext to affect her memory and bring it in line with something they have concocted about the past 5 years??



These things are not fictional, the common term for memory alteration is brain washing, pscychoanalytical hypnotics.



It seems they want to create the story in the media that she is mentally unfit so now whatever she says can be easily dismissed as the ravings of a mad person so all the horrors of what may have happened to her in the past 5 years can be easily dismissed.



The institution they want to send her to (CARSWELL) is notorious even in the US as being “a place of horrors”. It has a documented history (recent history) of physical, psychological and sexual abuse (even by medical people and priests, not just prison guards ), rape and treatment that can be called torture is a norm for the centre. See some attached references, below.



If you want graphic knowledge of what these institutions are like, watch the true movie "One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest"



So, while for 5 years what happened to her was done in secret, now we openly see the treatment, and people, human rights activists, are watching. Will they speak out? Or are we no longer shocked because this is happening so often?



Sadly, this new round of torture is being done with the collusion of the legal and medical people.



The torture now is sophisticated and mental. For example she was shown a glimpse of her brother and than no more, she was given hope to call family but it was delayed and then taken away. Also, they want to strip search her even to make PHONE calls to lawyers or family by BOP and US marshals, that in my eyes that for a muslim woman is equal to being raped everytime!



The government’s proposed order would result in Aafia’s transfer to the Federal Medical Facility in Carswell, Texas, the only Bureau of Prisons medical facility that treats female detainees. Given her psychosis, I believe that the transfer to Fort Worth,Texas, along with the attendant prison airlifts, heavy restraints, and continual strip searches, would further exacerbate Aafia’s pain and illness.



We do not believe a competency examination under 18 U.S.C § 4241 should be undertaken until Dr. Siddiqui is treated for her obviously

incapacitating mental illness. However, should the Court order such an evaluation at this time, the Forensic Unit at Elmhurst in NYC which was designed for this specific purpose.



There are other things we cannot talk about at this time.



References:



1 Brink, Berry. 2005. Hospital of Horrors: Time in Carswell’s prison medical facility can be a death sentence for women prisoners. Fort Worth Weekly, October 19. http://www.fwweekly.com/content.asp?article=3325



2. Another report dated January 31, 2007 catalogues further neglect, mistreatment, lack of treatment, and abuse. See http://www.fwweekly.com/content.asp?article=4583



3. According to an October 19, 2005 article “a number of inmates at Carswell have died under “questionable circumstances.” In addition, the newspapers reports that “accusations of gross medical neglect, rape by prison guards, and toxic exposure for prison workers . . . continue to pile up.”



4. In 2003, a former Carswell staff physician was convicted for sexually abusing inmates;



5.In 2004, a former Carswell correctional officer was convicted of raping an inmate



5. In 2006, Dr. Roger Guthrie reported that he was fired from Carswell after he complained about the sexual abuse of prisoners, which he said was “rampant;”



6. In May of 2008, a priest who sexually abused inmates at Carswell

was sentenced to four years in prison.



7. Fort Worth Star Telegram, 2008. Carswell Prison doctor gets 14

months for abuse. October 23.



8. Fort Worth Star Telegram, 2004. Ex correction officer is sentenced for rape. July 3.



9. USA Today, 2006. Former inmates, experts say that prisoner sexual abuse is out of control at carlswell. June 22. http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2006-06-22-prisonrape_x.htm .



10. Reuters Newswire, May 5, 2008. a priest who sexually abused inmates at Carswell was sentenced to four years in prison http://www.reuters.com/article/pressRelease/idUS12561+06-

May-2008+PRN20080506.



http://www.cageprisoners.com/articles.php?id=26378

 

[Munawar]

:salam2:

This is a kind of related news item:

Top White House Officials Discussed and Approved Torture, Rice Admits

White House officials discussed torturing suspected "enemy combatants" early in 2002, according to a detailed questionnaire put to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice by Senate investigators. The Senate Armed Services Committee (SASC) released a series of new documents that shed additional light on the origins of U.S. torture policies. The Washington Post reports,

The details of the controversial program were discussed in multiple meetings inside the White House over a two-year period, triggering concerns among several officials who worried that the agency's methods might be illegal or violate anti-torture treaties, according to separate statements signed by Rice and her top legal adviser. ("Top Officials Knew in 2002 of Harsh Interrogations," Joby Warrick, The Washington Post, Thursday, September 25, 2008; A07)

John Bellinger III, Rice's legal adviser at the State Department and during her tenure at the National Security Council (NSC), said in answer to written questions by Senate investigators, "I expressed concern that the proposed CIA interrogation techniques comply with applicable U.S. law, including our international obligations."


Read more here... http://globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=10410

 

[Optimist]

very, very sad & tragic

The Pakistani gov. has no shame. Why can they not at least maintain a degree of nationalism (as the Islamic cause is lost on them). Even the UK got her citizens out of US jails.

May Allah (glorified He may be) ease her suffering and grant her family patience. Amin.

 

[Aapa]

Salaam,

Brother, first it is good to see you post.

From what I have been able to ascertain, Dr. Siddiqui's family seems to be grateful to the efforts put forth from Pakistan and its people. The Pakistani press has been instrumental in making sure people are aware of the situation.

I do agree that our politicians could utilize thier times by speaking about Dr. Siddiqui and not wasting time on potential vice presidents and thier looks.

 

[Aapa]

Salaam,


FYI two posts:

Print this article
Send to friend
04/10/2008


Zahid Hussain



Washington—Detained Pakistani doctor in US, Dr Aafia Siddiqui, has been moved to Texas from New York for psychiatric evaluation on court’s orders.



The detained doctor has been shifted to Carswell Federal Medical Centre of Fort Worth city of Texas, reported a private TV channel.



The members of the Foreign Affairs Committee of Pakistan’s Senate will not be able now to see Dr. Siddiqui in New York due to her shifting.



On the plea of Dr. Aafia’s lawyer, the New York court’s judge also asked the US officials and State Department to submit a report over Aaifa’s psychological condition within 30 days, besides asking them to confirm whether she could defend herself before court.



Meanwhile, Pakistan ambassador to US Hussain Haqqani has demanded that US should immediately hand over Dr. Aafia Siddiqui to Pakistan.



Pakistan’s envoy demanded of US government to hand over Dr. Siddiqui to Pakistan, saying there are better facilities of psychiatric evaluation and treatment.


04/10/2008



WASHINGTON: Paksitan ambassador to US, Hussain Haqqani has demanded that US should immediately hand over Dr. Aafia Siddiqui to Pakistan.



Earlier, US State department apprised Pakistan embassy that Dr. Siddiqui has been moved to Texas from New York for psychiatric evaluation on court’s orders. Members of Foreign Affairs Committee of Pakistan’s Senate will not be able to see Dr. Siddiqui in New York now, statement said.



Meanwhile, Pakistan's envoy demanded of US government to hand over Dr. Siddiqui to Paksitan. He said there are better facilities of psychiatric evaluation and treatment in Pakistan.



Earlier, Dr. Aafia’s lawyer pleaded that she should not be sent to Texas where she could undergo psychiatric examination only, adding Siddiqui required medical treatment as well.



SOURCE: TheNews.com.pk

http://www.cageprisoners.com/articles.php?id=26382



SOURCE: PakObserver.net

 

[Aapa]

Salaam,

FYI:


06/10/2008
Aafia Has Been Transferred - New Address


Aafia has been moved to FMC Carswell is Texas for psychiatric evaluation. Please note her new address.

Aafia's sister, Dr Fowzia Siddiqui, specifically requested that concerned individuals send postcards to Aafia; postcards require less scrutiny and so she has a stronger chance of receiving such mail. Aafia has requested in particular pictures of nature, flowers, mountains, animals and children.

AAFIA SIDDIQUI #90279-054
FMC CARSWELL
FEDERAL MEDICAL CENTER
P.O. BOX 27137
FORT WORTH, TX 76127

http://cageprisoners.com/campaigns.php?id=810

 

[Aapa]

Salaam,


FYI:


03/10/2008
Provide Humane Prison Conditions for Dr. Aafia Siddiqui

We petition Attorney General Michael Mukasey and United States Attorney Michael J. Garcia to provide humane treatment for Dr. Aafia Siddiqui while she remains in the custody of the U.S. government.

Dr. Aafia is a gunshot victim and has suffered unspeakable torture and abuse during the last 5 years of her disappearance and kidnapping in Pakistan and Afghanistan.

The prison has been unable to treat Dr. Aafia effectively and insists on giving her dehumanizing and degrading strip searches that cause further harm and prevent attorney visits. Her attorneys have stated in court that Dr. Aafia has become more despondent and fearful about her health and that if she does not receive the proper medical and psychiatric treatment, Dr. Aafia’s health will seriously decline.

Dr. Aafia has the basic right to appropriate medical treatment for her physical and psychological injuries.

Click here to sign the petition

Thank You!

Dr. Aafia Siddiqui Humanitarian Support Committee

Contacts:
Ryan Hancock, Esq. (PA) - 215-913-1749
Asma Bajwa (NY)
Mahmood Alam MD (NY)

Email: [email protected]
Fax: 215-501-7163

http://cageprisoners.com/campaigns.php?id=809

 

[shalina08]

i just make dua that allah eases her suffering inshaallah

 

[Aapa]

Salaam,

Dua is our hope.

 

[Aapa]

Salaam,


FYI:

US Court’s Psychiatric Evaluation of Dr Aafia Slated


07/10/2008



Dr Fouzia Siddiqui, sister of Dr Aafia Siddiqui, expressed shock over the ruling of Judge Berman in which he ordered the transfer of Aafia to Carswell Psychiatric Centre in Fort-Worth, Texas for psychiatric evaluation along with a ‘Use of Force Order’.



In a hurriedly called press conference at the Karachi Press Club on Monday, Fouzia said that her sister detained by the US authorities was already diagnosed with ‘Chronic Depressive Psychosis,’ which is understandable under the circumstances in which she has endured horrific mental and physical abuse. “This diagnosis was a beacon of hope for the family as it meant that Aafia will get the required treatment and will eventually be freed or repatriated to Pakistan,” said Fouzia. She added that the transfer of Aafia to this notorious horror centre means even worse abuse and solitary incarceration for an unlimited period without further due process and without further trial.



“There is no justification against Aafia to keep her in prison anymore, this is a new tactic of the US government to keep her in detention under the pretext of psychiatric evaluation, which is commonly used against inmates when government lacks evidence for holding them,” explained Fouzia. “The question arises as why the prosecution is so keen for her psychiatric/ mental evaluation?” She has already been diagnosed by American doctors and was supposed to be followed by requisite treatment, she added. “Is this evaluation just a pretext to affect her memory and bring it in line with something they have concocted about the past five years?”



Fouzia urged for the best treatment and care for Aafia. She also advocated for Aafia’s immediate repatriation in order for her to acquire a sense of security that she has been deprived for so long. It will raise the morale of our nation and strengthen our democratic claims.



She thanked the current Government of Pakistan for all its cooperation in this regard but said that the Siddiqui family needs an official pledge of financial assistance for a legal team of their choice. So that they can start a vigorous defence while the repatriation is in process. “I fear Aafia may not have long to live,” she lamented. Fouzia says that her sister’s salvation lies not in locking her in a psychiatric institute, putting her through dehumanising strip searches, chaining her to beds, floor hooks or walls, rather, she should be reunited with her family.



“It seems that these “intelligence” or “investigative” agencies have been scheming to sculpt a story in the international media to show that she is mentally unfit and whatever she says now can be easily dismissed as the ravings of a lunatic. If they are successful then the horrors that Aafia, her children, and many others have been put through will go un-noticed,” she said.



“The struggle to have Aafia’s true story told and her health improved is the duty of everyone who believes in human dignity,” she said. The torture now is sophisticated, invisible, subliminal and mental. For example, she was shown a glimpse of her brother and then no more. She was given hope to call her family but it was delayed and eventually taken away. This is completely unnecessary, uncivil and out of order. We believe that a competency examination of Aafia should not be undertaken until she is treated for her obviously incapacitating mental illness and healing of gunshot wounds.



The current Pakistan government has assured the family that they have already approached the US authorities officially and expressed the hope that Aafia will be repatriated. Iqbal Haider of Human Rights Commission of Pakistan was also present on the occasion.



SOURCE: The News.com.pk

http://www.cageprisoners.com/articles.php?id=26407

 

[a_stranger]

:salam2:

Ya Allah rab Alaarsh aladeem , Ya Allah alAhed alsamed , Ya Hey Ya kayoom be with your poor servants give them faith, strength, hope , heal their wounds and make their hearts firm. AAmen

 

[Aapa]

Salaam,


Those who are jailed and tortured and isolated have firm hearts...it us on the outside that need dua more. We refuse to be moved.

 

[AAminAA]

:salam2:

Dua is not the only thing that we can do. We can also sign petition !

Here you go :

Tittle "Provide Humane Prison Conditions for Dr. Aafia Siddiqui"

SIGN PETITION

 

[Aapa]

Salaam,

There is no institute for psychological diseases. Dr. Siddiqui is in a medical prison for women. I read an article on a female prisoner who had her left breast removed due to cancer. She needed a CAT scan. She was refused one. Instead she was to have a mamogram on her left side..she refused the mamogram and was written up. Carswell is not humane. Women are constantly molested, beaten, raped. Male guards strip covers at night, constantly. I am not making any of this up. The chaplin at the Federal Medical Center, Carswell in Fort Worth, Texas was sentenced to 48 months on two counts of sexual abuse.
Brothers and sisters..if nothing else..send our sister a post card...you do not need to write a return address..let the prison have something to do...let us send a million post cards.


FYI
08/10/2008



Allegations regarding Al-Qaida are baseless: Dr Aafia TEXAS: Dr Aafia Siddiqui said that the allegations she was charged with were baseless and she has no relations with Al-Qaida.



She said this during a meeting with a four-member delegation of Pakistan senators at an institute of psychological diseases in Texas.



It may be recalled that Dr Aafia has been shifted to the institute of psychological diseases for medical checkup on the order of the court.



Senator Mushahid Hussain Syed led the delegation of the Pakistan senators and the meeting lasted two-and-half-an-hour.



Dr.Aafia’s health was better during the meeting and she was looking happy.



She thanked Pakistan delegation and the government for this meeting.



Mushahid Hussain Syed along with his delegation will hold a press conference regarding the meeting with Dr Aafia today at 12 pm according to New York time.



SOURCE: GeoTV

 

[Aapa]

Salaam,



FYI:

11/10/2008

ISLAMABAD, Oct 10 (APP): Pakistan Friday expressed the hope that Dr. Afia Siddiqui would be released very soon as the Pakistan government has been making sincere efforts in this regard.



Foreign Office spokesman Muhammad Sadiq in his weekly briefing said a Senate delegation led by Senator Mushahid Hussain Sayed, Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, was currently visiting USA and they had met with Dr. Afia Siddiqui.



He said the delegation met Dr. Afia Siddiqui on 7th October and arrangements for the meeting were made by the Pakistan Embassy in Washington and one of the diplomats was present during the meeting that lasted around two hours and forty five minutes.



The spokesman said the US authorities have expressed inability to arrange the visit of the Senate delegation to Guantanamo Bay. He said they informed that the US regulations do not permit meeting of delegations of this nature with the Guantanamo Bay detainees.



The spokesman said at present there are 5 Pakistani prisoners in Guantanamo Bay. Pakistan has secured the repatriation of 68 Pakistani detainees from Guantanamo Bay since 2003, he added.



The Government is in regular contact with the Office of War Crimes Issue, US Department of State, regarding Pakistani detainees.



The issue of fair treatment and repatriation of Pakistani detainees is raised at all levels including in leadership meetings with the US President.



“We are committed to seek repatriation of all Pakistani detainees.” he added.



SOURCE:


http://cageprisoners.com/articles.php?id=26470