Sunday, September 7, 2008

Aafia Siddiqui

I sometimes find stories on the internet that are so deeply moving, such profound mirrors of my own inadequacies, that I am silent, humbled in my own shame of lacking the courage I see others demonstrating.

One such story it that of Aafia Siddiqui. Pakistani born, Aafia was American educated, eventually becoming a doctor of neuroscience with a degree from MIT, and an impressive array of published papers through 1999. She became the focus of 'terrorist witchhunters' in 2001 and in 2003, she and her 3 children disappeared into the torturous labrinth of renditions; she has been deposited, sans children, in an undisclosed location in Afghanistan for more than five years.

Pursuant to legal requests for her whereabouts (recall the Pakistan Judges were castrated by Musharraf in 2007), Aafia was finally located and brought to New York to be charged for shooting an FBI agent. However, after five years in isolation and enduring various interrogation methods by her captors, she was unable to appear in court; and the presiding judge so ordered her to receive medical treatment before her next appearance (she appeared incoherent, in a wheelchair).

The details of the alleged shooting are contradict0ry in the extreme; one can only imagine how a lone woman overpowered American and Afghani men, armed to the hilt, stole one of their guns and shot an agent. The FBI then of course shot her. She must have been a very clever woman to overpower all those military men, fully armed; especially since she had just come out of 5 years in isolation (with no knowledge of her children), had her teeth pulled, liver removed and most likely have severe bowel problems after having been repeated raped.

I can see why the USA would find her dangerous alright.

It is even painful to try and imagine the physical and psychological pain Aafia has endured, year after year; yet she had the courage to keep living, perhaps for her children. There is no moral or legal justification for what has been done to her, in any civilized society anywhere. There should be a trial alright; but it is her Pakistani/USA torturers who should be in the spotlight.

Now you know about her. I have provided a link below, but perhaps you prefer your own research. I can do nothing to help her. But I can tell you, and ask you to sign the petition.
Scales tilt by adding grains of sand to one side or the other. Please add your grain to her side..

http://www.petitiononline.com/af258633/petition.html

You can find updated reports at http://www.allvoices.com/contributed-news/1162264. I recommend an image search of 'Aafia Siddiqui' for the very best articles giving all sides to the situation. Video clip http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gMcJr0NbzNA

No comments:

Welcome

All blogs are really just small snapshots of a person's mind, heart and soul as they evolve together through life....

Small bits of the thread of life we weave together into the fabric of ourselves, in the hope we will make sense of our existence, individual and collective.

On this page, is the cloak I have fashioned from my fabric to warm myself in a universe which often makes little sense.

Inside my cloak, it is warm enough to face the blistering cold winds of the insane world in which I find myself.

If you find some a bit of 'the good stuff' here, it has been my pleasure.