Pakistan lodges complaint with US to probe assault on Dr Aafia

Pakistan has lodged a formal complaint with the United States authorities to investigate the assault on Dr Aafia Siddiqui in prison, the foreign office spokesperson said on Saturday.

“We lodged a formal complaint with the relevant US authorities to thoroughly investigate the matter and ensure the safety and well-being of Dr Siddiqui,” FO Spokesperson Zahid Hafeez Chaudhri said in response to media queries.

“We learnt of an assault on Dr Aafia Siddiqui by a fellow inmate at FMC Carswell on July 30, 2021," he said and added that the embassy in Washington DC, as well as the Consulate General in Houston, immediately took up the matter with the concerned US authorities.

Read more: ‘Woman in Dr Aafia’s prison died of Covid-19’

He mentioned that Pakistan’s Consul General in Houston visited Dr Siddiqui immediately to ascertain her well-being. "She had received some minor injuries, but was doing fine."

Zahid said that both the embassy of Pakistan in Washington DC and the consulate in Houston continued to make every effort to ensure that Dr Siddiqui was properly looked after during her incarceration at FMC Carswell.

In 2010, a US federal court in Manhattan had sentenced Dr Aafia Siddiqui to 86 years imprisonment for the attempted murder of US military personnel in Afghanistan. She is serving her sentence at the Federal Medical Centre, Carswell, Fort Worth in Texas.

Incidents of abuse against Dr Siddiqui have been reported in the past as well. In June 2018, a confidential report prepared by Pakistan's consul general in Houston of her visit to Dr Aafia Siddiqui claimed that she was subjected to physical and sexual abuse during her ongoing detention.

Also read: 'Dr Aafia subjected to physical, sexual abuse in US detention center'

The report had recommended diplomatic authorities to take up the case at the highest levels to find a way for her repatriation so that she can serve her remaining sentence in Pakistan, where her modesty and privacy would not be interfered with.

Later that year, Washington had promised to look into the request made by Islamabad to review Dr Siddiqui's detention in view of respecting her human and legal rights.

Pakistan has been raising the issue with the United States on a regular basis. However, no progress has been made in this regard so far.

(With additional input from APP)