Excluding faith: US deny imprisoned Dr Aafia Siddiqui visits from an imam

We person precocious – imam and lawyer – joined forces, on pinch truthful galore unsung heroes, to request respect for nan humanity of Dr Aafia Siddiqui. She is often called nan “Most Oppressed Muslim Woman successful nan World” – and pinch bully cause. There is nary different female who went done nan afloat US Rendition to Torture program. There is nary different illustration of a lawsuit wherever a female was abducted by nan CIA and their Pakistani co-conspirators on pinch her 3 mini children.

And is location a genitor successful nan world who does not tremble astatine nan destiny that befell those kids? Suleman, aged 6 months, was apparently killed erstwhile he was dropped connected his caput during nan abduction. The CIA has ne'er fto Aafia know, but this happened connected March 30, 2003, successful Karachi, truthful it seems improbable that nan kid is still alive. Yet which destiny would beryllium worse for nan mother – to cognize nan babe who was truthful precocious a portion of your assemblage is dead? Or to clasp retired a faint dream 2 decades later that he lives?

It mightiness look evident that Suleman did dice erstwhile you perceive what our authorities – nan US – did to nan different two. Mariam, aged 3, was taken each nan measurement to Afghanistan, a warfare zone, wherever her sanction was changed to Fatima and she was involuntarily put successful a family of achromatic Christian Americans for 7 years. She would still beryllium location but for erstwhile President Hamid Karzai, who later helped get her home.

Then location is Ahmed, who was taken to Kabul and put successful prison, astatine nan property of six! He was told his sanction henceforth was to beryllium Ihsan Ali and that he would beryllium killed if he said it was thing else. Ahmed and Mariam are some US citizens, and it is mind-boggling that nan CIA, sworn to uphold nan US Constitution, would do this to 2 children from anywhere, fto unsocial kids carrying US passports.

Aafia was herself taken to Bagram Airbase successful Afghanistan wherever she endured 5 years of torture. Eventually, done an agonizing path, she ended up successful FMC Carswell, a national women’s situation successful Fort Worth, Texas, serving what is fundamentally a life sentence.

This article is not nan forum successful which to title her guilt – immoderate our well-founded doubts – truthful fto america dress she really did effort to termination an American soldier, moreover though she was nan only personification to beryllium shot. Regardless, it is simply a communal thread successful astir faiths that we should retrieve those successful distress, and that’s portion of what brings nan 2 of america together successful this struggle for Aafia. In nan Quran we are told, “And they springiness nutrient from their sustenance, successful spite of their emotion for it, to nan needy, nan orphan, and nan captive…” (Insaan “The Human” 76:8). The Prophet Muhammad (peace beryllium upon him) famously taught that “no 1 of you believes until he loves for his relative what he loves for himself” (Bukhari). In nan Bible, a verse sounds that we should “continue to retrieve those successful situation arsenic if you were together pinch them successful prison, and those who are mistreated arsenic if you yourselves were suffering”. (Hebrews 13:3)

Empathy is simply a pronounced worth successful our traditions, and if ever location was personification who needs belief solace correct now, it is Aafia Siddiqui. So erstwhile she told her unpaid lawyer (Clive Stafford Smith) that she had not had an imam during her 16 years successful prison, fto unsocial nan 5 years of torture earlier that, Clive reached retired to Imam Omar, who instantly agreed to sojourn her each mates of weeks to springiness her belief assistance.

This was months ago, and each clip we chased up nan situation authorities, they came up pinch a caller logic to do nothing. First, they wanted their shape filled out. We did that. Then they said they needed a driver’s licence and impervious of being an imam. Then they said they did not person nan documents they needed, and we asked what other they needed. Months went by and they requested unusual archiving that demonstrated they had nary volition to facilitate Aafia’s request.

Last period Clive’s squad demanded to cognize erstwhile this was going to get resolved. We were told nothing. Then this week we were told that they had denied Omar’s correct to thief Aafia: “This memorandum is to counsel of nan denial of visiting for Imam Suleiman.” The memorandum is dated September 26 – meaning it was written 2 months ago, but they had not bothered to show america until now.

No logic is given. The Biden management has laboured agelong and difficult to alienate Muslim Americans successful its blinkered support for Israel’s warfare crimes successful Gaza, but it is difficult to understand why this petition would beryllium denied. Is it because of different quality authorities advocacy? Could it beryllium precipitated by erstwhile tweets and protests demanding that location should beryllium justness for Aafia? Or could it beryllium that demanding an extremity to nan atrocities against nan Palestinian group has erstwhile again alienated america from yet different basal abstraction successful which to function?

Today Clive and his colleagues person revenge a suit successful national tribunal to unit nan issue, yet it should not return a suit for nan Carswell authorities to respect basal belief authorities – they could conscionable publication nan Bible, nan Quran aliases possibly moreover conscionable nan First Amendment to nan US Constitution.

The views expressed successful this article are nan authors’ ain and do not needfully bespeak Al Jazeera’s editorial stance.