SHC hears plea seeking repatriation of Dr Afia Siddiqui

The Sindh High Court on Wednesday observed that it would pass an order on a petition seeking repatriation of detained Pakistani Dr Afia Siddiqui from the US after hearing the arguments of the counsel.

Dr Fouzia Siddiqui, sister of Dr Afia, had sought implementation of court orders directing the ministry of foreign affairs to explore ways and make efforts towards bilateral agreement with the US government regarding repatriation of her sister.  Dr Afia studied at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and did her PhD in genetics. She was prosecuted in the US for allegedly attacking US soldiers in Afghanistan and convicted by a US court for 86 years in prison in September 2010. 

The petitioner stated that Dr Afia, a resident of Karachi, was allegedly kidnapped from Gulshan-e-Iqbal in March 2003 with her three children when she was leaving for Rawalpindi from her mother’s house. She claimed that the detainees were handed over to US agencies by Pakistan’s law-enforcement agencies in violation of the constitution.  The petitioner said that US courts had no authority to conduct a trial of Dr Aafia without the fulfilment of lawful extradition formalities.  She requested the court to direct the government to sign the Council of Europe or the Organisation of American States, and request the US for repatriation of Dr Afia to Pakistan. 

The petitioner’s counsel, M Ilyas Khan, submitted that the SHC in May 2013 had disposed of the petition with directions to federal government, including the ministry of foreign affairs, for exploring new ways and means and making efforts for improving bilateral agreements as envisaged in the Ordinance and light of conventions between Pakistan and US within reasonable time. However, he argued, despite a lapse of three years no development had been made to implement the directions of the court and asked the court to order the authorities concerned to implement them in letter and spirit. He said a prisoner could be repatriated from the US if there was agreement between attorney generals of both the governments.

Federal law officer, however, filed comments on behalf of the ministry of foreign affairs, mentioning that the US government would not repatriate Dr Aafia Siddiqui to Pakistan even if Islamabad joined the Inter-American Convention on Serving of Criminal Sentences Abroad 1993. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs said the US government had conveyed that the present political climate in the US would preclude the chances of any meaningful response regarding Pakistan’s request for repatriation of Dr Aafia Siddiqui even if Pakistan were to join the Inter-American Convention on Serving of Criminal Sentences Abroad.