SUPPORTING LYNNE STEWART, COURAGEOUS FIGHTER FOR HUMAN RIGHTS!

> Free Kashmir
>
> No Indian Army
>
> PAKISTAN – USA FREEDOM FORUM
>
> 82-44 243 rd Street
> Bellerose, NY 11426
>
> (718) 343-1653 or (718) 763-3543
> E-mail: pakusaff@hotmail.com
>
> End Raids and
> Deportations
>
> Stop Dividing
> Families
>
> SUPPORT LYNNE STEWART, COURAGEOUS FIGHTER FOR HUMAN RIGHTS!
>
>
>
> November 17, 2009
>
> The shootings at Ft Hood base are another tragedy of US war and occupation. It is not enough to train people on how to console others who have participated in US wars and occupation; we must end the wars and occupations themselves (and dismantle the bases in the Philippines, Japan and elsewhere). The man accused of the shootings, Maj. Nidal Malik Hassan, who earned a medical degree in Virginia in 2003, was born and trained in the United States. He daily heard the real stories of death, destruction and frustration by US soldiers, and this tragedy is on the hands of the US government. PAKUSAFF demands a full public inquiry and open disclosure into the Ft Hood shootings. We also demand a full public inquiry and open disclosure into the FBI shooting of Imam Luqman Ameen Abdullah, Imam of the Masjid Al-Haqq in Detroit. When the US government tries to hide its crimes, one thing that we can do is to demand a full injury and open disclosure to the public, not only about these events, but also about their illegal wars and occupations. Yesterday, the US government seized 4 mosques and an office building in the US, alleging that they were controlled by the Alavi Foundation and the Iranian government. This will not increase the respect for the US government by Muslims in either the US or around the world. Openness is the only way to justice. This is the same as with Dr Aafia and Fahad Hashmi, and we must demand and fight for the truth. We support the decision of Attorney General Holder to bring Khalid Sheik Mohammed to trial in open court. This is the only way that the facts can come out, including any possible connections between Sheikh Mohammed and the US government when he fought against the Soviet Union in Afghanistan in 1987. The US was founded on the basis of truth and justice, and only in this way can the government really break with the policies of the Bush era and earn respect.
>
> Pakistan USA Freedom Forum and the Pakistani community wish to thank all those who have shown their support to Dr. Aafia, whether by coming to the hearings or sending messages of support or by aiding the legal fund, which is a blessing from the family of Dr. Aafia Siddiqui. At a time when the working people of the U.S. are suffering from the economic crisis, the bailout to the banks, loss of jobs, foreclosures and evictions, from the wars of aggression, we understand that this support is especially difficult but also especially important. In particular, we want to thank the International Action Center, May 1st Coalition, Bail Out the People, Troops Out Now, Workers World, World Can’t Wait, Progressive Women, Working People’s Voice, No Police State, Free Speech Union Square, students, artists and women’s organizations who have come out to show the face of the real New Yorkers who stand for justice.
>
> Thanks to Ms. Yvonne Ridley for coming to the USA to make a speaking tour for Dr. Aafia, with the blessing of her brother, Muhammad Siddiqui. Thanks to the Theaters Against War ( www.thawaction.org ), who have performed skits for justice.
>
> Here are the email addresses of Dr Aafia’s defense team:
>
> Elaine Sharp elainesharp@sharplaw.biz, Charles Swift cswift@prolegaldefense.com, Dawn Cardi dcardi@cardilaw.com, and Linda Moreno cmcdonald@prolegaldefense.com
>
> We salute Lynne Stewart, the only lawyer prosecuted and convicted for aggressively defending unpopular clients, whose bail is being revoked while she is being re-sentenced.
>
> Both Judges Berman and Preska, in the cases of Dr. Siddiqui and Fahad Hashmi, respectively, have been frequently changing the dates of the hearings at the last minute. This makes it difficult for the organizations involved to inform the public. Please visit these websites for more information: www.muslimsforjustice.org and www.freefahad.com .
>
> On November 3rd Dr. Aafia was brought to the court against her will, on the basis of her refusal to submit to inhumane strip searches. She will not accept any further humiliation, no matter the consequence to her hearing and trial. How can she get justice in this situation? Perhaps they will be able to put a camera in her cell. This will be a question for the Judge about how she can uphold the Constitution in this situation. The hearing took place in front of a packed court of Dr Aafia's supporters, including youth, students, people from the religious community and others.
>
> For up-to-date information, see www.freeaafia.org , the family-approved web-site for Dr. Aafia, or e-mail news@freeaafia.org, sidd2@hotmail.com (e-mail of Muhammad Siddiqui), or pakusaff@hotmail.com.
>
> We want to remind our friends that all these horrible inhumane events happen to innocent people due to the wrong foreign policies enforced by the Bush administration and dictator Musharraf and Shoukat. They declared the so-called war on terror on innocent men and women and shoved them into secret prisons at Guantanamo Bay, Bagram and Abu Graib without any evidence. PAKUSAFF is proud to give solidarity to DHRP in its struggles for the missing people whose camp in front of the Supreme Court Pakistan from November 2-13, 2009, which won the victory of setting Nov. 16 for a hearing on missing persons. E-mail mrsjanjua@gmail.com and be among the first voices of human rights to bring this truth to the public eye. We vow to continue working hard for truth and justice.
>
> PAKUSAFF would like congratulate the men and women of Honduras for their continued struggle for democracy and freedom in Honduras. In the struggle against the military coup in their country, they continue to sacrifice their lives, attacked by the coup forces during peaceful actions and demonstrations. We were not satisfied with Obama's policy with Honduras.
>
> Obama and the US State Department continue their refusal to support the people of Honduras against the coup government. The people of Honduras are our partners in Pakistani struggles against the Bush-Musharraf and US polices that have been protecting the Pakistani dictators. We need to unite together and organize in support of the people of Honduras in all of our communities.
>
> ALERT! ALERT! DR AAFIA ALERT! ALERT! ALERT! FAHAD HASHMI ALERT!
>
>
> HEARING DATE FOR
> DR. AAFIA SIDDIQUI
> Thursday, November 19, 2009, 2:00 PM
>
> United States District Court
> 500 Pearl St.
> Manhattan, NY
> [In front of Judge Berman]
>
>
>
> TRIAL DATE FOR FAHAD HASHMI
> Tuesday, December 1, 2009, 9:30 AM
>
> United States District Court
> 500 Pearl St
> Manhattan, NY
> [In front of Judge Preska]
>
> PakUSAFF is once again calling on all human rights activists, men, women and students of all ages, colors and religions to come out and support Dr Aafia Siddiqui and Fahad Hashmi. Judge Berman has declared that Dr. Aafia is fit to stand trial, so her trial will actually begin on January 19. But it will be almost impossible for Dr. Aafia to get a fair trial because of the negative publicity by the U.S. government.
>
> Dr Aafia is currently in solitary maximum security prison in Metropolitan Detention Center, Brooklyn, NY; she is mentally and physically ill and is not allowed to meet or talk to family. Dr Aafia has been forced to undergo a strip search every time she is taken from and returned to her cell to meet anyone, and as a result she refuses to see anyone including her defense team to avoid these inhumane, painful and demoralizing procedures. Dr. Aafia has refused the help of any lawyer, and has stated that she only wants to question the man who shot her. The elected Pakistani government of PM Gillani has provided $2 million for Dr. Aafia’s defense, most of which has already been distributed to her current and former lawyers. Judge Berman has accepted all 3 of the lawyers paid for by Pakistan and accepted by Dr. Aafia’s family (Charles Swift, Linda Moreno and Elaine Sharpe) as well as her earlier lawyer, Dawn Cardi. Even though the Pakistan Assembly has passed a resolution to bring back Dr Aafia, she has been demonized by the U.S. media.
>
> Dr Aafia is a 36-year-old Pakistani neuroscientist, charged with allegedly attempting to murder FBI agent(s) in Afghanistan. These charges, as well as fabricated tales about her supposed ‘ties to Al Qaeda’, have been spread in the U.S. media without any credible evidence. She was illegally kidnapped with her three young children in Karachi in 2003 by US agencies with the help of local agencies and taken into U.S. custody in Afghanistan, where she was shot and severely wounded during interrogation by FBI agents. Her sister, Dr. Fauzia Siddiqui, and family, friends and her lawyers believe she was tortured in Afghanistan and the children were terrorized in US custody. The family and friends have been fighting diligently to get support from the Pakistani government as well as from international human rights organizations. Her older son was freed after 5 years of abuse to Pakistan; the youngest infant is still missing and it is believed that he died in custody, and no one knows the whereabouts of her daughter (about 11 years now). US authorities claim that they have no knowledge of this, which is highly suspicious as the entire area is under the microscopic eyes of US intelligence agencies.
>
> Hashmi is a 29-year-old Pakistani who received a BS in political science from Brooklyn College in 2003 and a master's degree in international relations from London Metropolitan University in 2006. According to London Police, he allowed an acquaintance, Junaid Babar, to stay at his London apartment for two weeks in 2004. Babar left raincoats and waterproof socks at the apartment in Hashmi’s luggage and later on Hashmi was arrested by London Police at Heathrow Airport on June 6, 2006, and charged with providing material support to al-Qaeda. He was not accused of providing money or resources to al-Qaeda, or personally giving anything at all to any member of al-Qaeda, or being a terrorist himself. Yet he was held in general population of Belmarsh Prison in England for 11 months, and then extradited to the United States, where he has been held in solitary confinement for over a year without any charges. It would be almost impossible for an attorney to get justice for him and relieve his mother and family from the insufferable torture, when the government has put so many hurdles in his way in the name of “national security” and deprived him of all the required information. Jury selection in Fahad Hashmi’s trial has been set for Tuesday, December 1, 2009 at 9:30 AM.
>
> We want to remind our friends that all these horrible inhumane events happen to innocent people due to the wrong foreign policies enforced by the Bush administration (and continued under Obama) and dictator Musharraf and his PM Shoukat Aziz. They declared the so-called war on terror on innocent men and women and shoved them into secret prisons at Guantanamo Bay without any evidence. PAKUSAFF is proud to be among the first voices of human rights to bring this truth to the public eye and we vow to continue working hard for truth and justice.
>
>
>
> Contact: Shahid Comrade 917-280-0840 pakusaff@hotmail.com ; Kouser Izhar 732-829-2601 kizhar1@hotmail.com ; Mashal Anjum – Student Coordinator 732-570-4076 mashalanjum@gmail.com
>
>
>
>
> Shahid Comrade
> Secretary General (917) 280-0840
>
> Dr. Mohammed Shafique
> President (718) 343-1653