21 years on, Aafia Siddiqui has alibi and witnesses. Will US set her free?

Two decades ago, the United States detained Aafia Siddiqui, then a 31-year-old Pakistani neuroscientist, in a move widely attributed to America's notorious 'war on terror' following the September 11, 2001 attacks.

Aafia, who championed several human rights causes, was accused of various crimes — from attempting to kill American soldiers and conducting shady financial transactions to making suspicious trips between the US, Pakistan, Liberia, and other countries.

But new evidence gathered by her lawyer, Clive Stafford Smith, challenges the US government's arguments, exposing significant inconsistencies.

Aafia has an alibi, says her sister Fowzia. One of the accusations — that she had bought diamonds in Liberia on behalf of Al Qaeda in the lead-up to the 9/11 attacks — has no legs to stand on.

Contrary to the dates and whereabouts provided by the US government to suggest Aafia was in Liberia for diamond shopping, Aafia was "actually in Boston, having a scan at the hospital", Fowzia tells TRT World.

"The date and everything is there," she says.

Yet, at the time of her arrest, Western press portrayed her as a villain, with a section of the US media labelling her 'Lady Al Qaeda'. The media witch hunt was followed by a controversial court trial. In 2010, a US court sentenced Aafia to 86 years in prison.

The case against her, framed by the US government, is full of red flags right from the get-go.

The abduction

Aafia went missing in March 2003 as she set out for the Karachi airport along with her three children — six-months-old Suleiman, three-year-old Mariam and six-year-old Ahmed. And five years later, the family learned that she was in the US custody in Ghazni, Afghanistan, where she had undergone severe torture, according to her sister Fowzia.

As abductors pulled her away violently, toddler Suleiman fell on the floor, injuring his head, according to Smith, who believes the baby most likely succumbed to his head injury. Mariam, he says, was forcibly adopted into a white Christian family from the US and renamed Fatima.

"Ahmed was taken to Kabul, imprisoned at just six years old, and given the name Ehsan Ali," Smith says. "What person in their right mind would do that?"

Fowzia has managed to gain custody of both Mariam and Ahmed, while the fate of Suleiman remains unknown. Nevertheless, Fowzia continues to believe he could still be alive.

"One of the most touching things is that Fowzia creates an updated picture of what Suleiman would look like now, if he is still alive," Smith says.

The Siddiqui family claims Aafia was taken by Pakistani authorities, who initially acknowledged her detention, but denied it later.

During her detention in Afghanistan under the supervision of the Washington-backed Afghan government, US federal prosecutors presented documents in a New York court purportedly linked to some terrorism plots. They also accused her of snatching an "unattended rifle" and firing at US soldiers and FBI agents during her detention in Afghanistan. Though no one was injured by her alleged attack, she was shot and wounded in response.

For all these years, Aafia's family could not wrap their heads around why she was picked up in the first place or how she came under the scrutiny of the US government, especially since she had been leading a good life and had a promising career in neuroscience ahead of her.

"It has been a traumatic existence for us ever since," Fowzia says.

Aafia's defence team could not investigate the US government's story earlier. Between 2003 and 2008, when she was held in Bagram and other facilities run by Americans in Afghanistan, her lawyers were not allowed to visit the country, according to the family.

With the Taliban in power now, Aafia's lawyer Smith was able to travel to Bagram, locate former detainees and her cellmates, who shared details of how she was treated there.

In 2008, she was transferred to the US. Two years later, during her court trial in New York, Aafia told the jury that the US forces had tortured her both physically and sexually at the Bagram prison. However, the US authorities were quick to deny her claims, even refusing to admit that she had ever been held in Afghanistan.

"In the past year, we have uncovered a lot of new evidence," says Fowzia, who is also a consultant neurologist. "Earlier, we only had Aafia's word and one other person's testimony, plus Yvonne Ridley, a reporter who had done some research."

Fowzia adds that former prisoners have responded enthusiastically, coming forward to narrate first-hand accounts of how Aafia was treated, and debunk key elements of the US prosecution's case.

"Now we have witnesses, we know (the facts)," says Fowzia. "And the gruesome details (of torture) — I have heard a lot of them, and every time I hear them, I just cannot (bear it)… it is so painful."

Smith made a key discovery that he says further questions the prosecution's claim that Aafia was found with incriminating documents. One of the things she was accused of having written turned out to have been copied "word-for-word from a magazine" named Discover.

A publication exclusively available in the US, Discover did not have any online presence and was only available in hard copy, Smith says, adding that the plagiarised content was lifted from the December 2007 edition.

"She could not possibly have gotten hold of the magazine as we know she was captive in 2007, and the magazine could only have come from the people who were torturing her in Bagram at the time," Smith says.

Smith's frustration with the US judicial system is palpable. "Aafia ended up getting 86 years as some terrorist, and it is just extraordinary," he says.

Moazzam Begg, a senior director at CAGE International, a UK-based advocacy group, and himself a former Bagram and Guantanamo Bay detainee, strongly believes that Aafia has been framed.

"I have been to Afghanistan several times since my return," Begg tells TRT World, "and I've visited since the fall of Kabul with my lawyer, who is now Aafia's lawyer, Clive. We visited Bagram prison where I was held, where I used to hear the sounds of a woman screaming."

Begg has also spoken to numerous former prisoners, many of whom are now serving as senior officials in Afghanistan's administration.

"We are 100 percent sure that the true story of Aafia Siddiqui was never told," Begg says. "There has been a terrible miscarriage of justice and a terrible sentencing."

Renewed legal efforts

In addition to the testimonies from Afghanistan, Fowzia and Smith are pursuing legal action in the US, including a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request aimed at uncovering more details about Aafia's detention and treatment.

"We have four lawsuits going on," Fowzia says. "One is in Washington, a FOIA request to obtain information. Through that, we have found prison records of Aafia's, including records of her torture."

These records reveal shocking violations, including instances where Aafia was punished for speaking out about her abuse during confidential diplomatic meetings with Pakistani officials.

"There is mention of the prison recording them and punishing Aafia for complaining to the counsellor that they were trying to rape and sexually abuse her," Fowzia says. "And then they would punish her."

Fowzia also points to a lawsuit in New York, where they are fighting to lift a protective order that has kept crucial case records sealed since Aafia's sentencing.

"We want the protective order that the judge put in place lifted. After sentencing, the records and all the documents were sealed, so no one could really see them. And if you wanted to look and see what went wrong, or what was right, you cannot because it is under this protective order."

The stakes of this legal battle are high — not just for Aafia's freedom, but for her dignity and the restoration of her rights after years of alleged abuse.

"This is about the dignity and honour of a woman, of a daughter of a nation, of bringing Aafia back," Fowzia says. "And Aafia herself is just a shell of what she once was."

With four legal cases underway — including a clemency petition filed and a request with US President Joe Biden — there is a renewed sense of urgency.

The clemency petition, filed last month, details the human rights abuses Aafia has endured. For the first time in this case, the Pakistan government, too, has officially come forth by writing a letter to its US counterpart, seeking her release on humanitarian grounds.

"This is the first time Pakistan has owned Aafia," Fowzia says, adding that the country's Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif had earlier promised to intervene in the case, and he had even shared the draft of the letter with her.

Yet Fowzia is acutely aware of how fragile their progress is.

"This is the first time we are steadily taking two steps forward," she says. "Yes, we have had setbacks, but nothing that would derail the whole thing. The political climate right now in America is very much in favour of bringing Aafia back."

For now, the question remains: Will this new evidence finally be enough to free her?

Fowzia, however, is not one to lose hope.

"If Pakistan actually takes a stand like any sovereign country should, Aafia would be back in less than a week. That is how strong our case is," she says.