KARACHI: Expressing disappointment at the lack of proactivity on part of the government, the family of Dr. Aafia Siddiqui, a Pakistani neuroscientist imprisoned in the US, said on Sunday that while it was within their scope to ensure her release, the authorities had done nothing substantial to initiate the process and were instead issuing empty statements to the media.
Dr. Aafia’s, 46, was convicted in 2010 of seven counts of attempted murder, and assault of US personnel in Afghanistan. She is serving an 86-year jail term at the Federal Medical Center, Carswell in Fort Worth, Texas.
“Except for that initial phonecall from the foreign office saying that I would be called in for a meeting to Islamabad, no one has contacted or shared anything with the family but they are issuing statements, apparently, to get attention of the public, which wants to see Aafia in Pakistan,” Dr. Fauzia Siddiqui, her sister, told Arab News.
“I have done all the homework. All that the government has to do now is to take some steps and get the credit but they are just issuing statements,” Fauzia said, adding that she would respond to further queries once there was some progress in the case.
Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi told reporters on Saturday that the “government will make all efforts on the diplomatic level to bring Dr. Aafia Siddiqui back to Pakistan.”
The move, Qureshi added, would be subject to Dr. Aafia serving the rest of her sentence in a Pakistani prison, even as he pledged to extend legal assistance within the ambit of law last Thursday.
He refuted allegations that the government had agreed to exchange prisoners in 2011, and categorically dismissed the notion that Pakistan was willing to swap Dr. Aafia with Dr. Shakeel Afridi — the man who had helped the CIA gain access to Osama Bin Laden in Pakistan’s city of Abbottabad. “We understand that Shakil Afridi acted against Pakistan’s interests,” he said.
When asked if the requests from Pakistan were being reviewed by the US and what Washington hopes to gain in return, a spokesman of the US Embassy in Islamabad said: “Consistent with the protections afforded to individuals under the US constitution and other applicable US law, the United States treats convicted prisoners humanely and in a manner that complies with our international human rights obligations. I refer you to the US Department of Justice for further comment on this question.”
On November 7, Foreign Office spokesman, Dr. Muhammad Faisal told Arab News that the US envoy to Islamabad had promised to ensure that Dr. Aafia’s legal and human rights were not compromised.
Earlier, the Foreign Office, in a statement issued on Wednesday, said that Pakistan has been raising the issue with US authorities on a regular basis.
“Pakistan’s CG in Houston pays consular visits to Dr. Siddiqui periodically to enquire about her well-being and conveys her messages to her family,” read the statement, adding that her case was brought to the attention of Ambassador Alice Wells, during a meeting at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Pakistan, on November 6.
“The US side has promised to look into our request,” the statement read, adding that Qureshi is expected to meet Dr. Aafia’s sister in Islamabad soon.
During a meeting on October 9 with Aisha Farooqui, the Pakistan’s consul general in Houston, Dr. Aafia had requested that her message be conveyed to Prime Minister Imran Khan, whereby she had said that her imprisonment in the US was illegal as she had been kidnapped by Washington.
“Imran Khan had supported me in the past also. I have always considered him one of my biggest heroes,” read the message sent by Dr. Aafia.
Her sister argued that through the “Transfer Of Offenders Ordinance-2002,” Pakistan has the authority to transfer Dr. Aafia to a Pakistani jail.