The Senate Standing Committee on Interior on Thursday urged the government to ensure prompt repatriation of Dr Aafia Siddiqui from the US, where she is being languished in jail on the basis of unfounded charges. The committee, which met here with Talha Mehmood in the chair, passed a resolution taking serious note of the undignified treatment and traumatic conditions being suffered by Dr Aafia and the intense psychological and emotional agony from which her family is passing through.
The committee said that Dr Aafia should be treated under the international human rights standards and her children should be given cover following the convention on Rights of the Child in particular. It expressed deep concern about the plight of Dr Aafia's three dependent children, two of whom are still missing since March 2003 when she and her children were illegally shifted to Afghanistan. The committee also called upon international human rights organisations and UN Secretary General to exercise their influence to help secure release of Dr Aafia and trace her two missing children, condemning the inhumane treatment to her. "These include continued psychological manipulation, physical isolation and degrading strip searches that she is routinely subjected to, denying her basic human dignity during her prolonged detention and mental distress", the committee maintained.
The parliamentary panel also took serious note of maligning Pakistani citizens in terrorist activities and using baseless allegations for abduction, punishment and detention without taking into account the provisions of international human rights laws.
The Senate body called upon the government to act immediately for: Giving highest diplomatic priority, using other channels to ensure her prompt release and honourable return to Pakistan; approaching US government to provide the required treatment to Dr Aafia strictly in accordance with international human rights conventions and rights guaranteed by the US constitution, as many of which were being denied; working in liaison with the UN, international human rights organisations and NGOs to exert full influence to mitigate the sufferings and bring a humanitarian conclusion to this tragedy by bringing back Dr Aafia with her family and children. The committee stressed for continued efforts to trace and bring back the two missing children of Dr Aafia for safe reunion with mother and family. Sharing the grief of the family and committing for continued efforts until the sufferings of Dr Aafia come to an end, condemning the humiliating strip searches she is subjected to and demanding that the same must stop forthwith.
The government also urged that Dr Aafia must be given access to meet her family and people she trusts without being subjected to strip searches; considering the highly emotional involvement of the people of Pakistan in this case, and the treatment meted out to a young mother with young children, two of whom are still missing, the government and the Senate Standing committee on Interior should emphasise the importance of the case and the goodwill that the release of Dr Aafia will bring to the American government amongst the people of Pakistan.