'Public pressure compelled US to admit Aafia's arrest'

LAHORE - The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan on the basis of admission made by the US authorities about the custody of Dr Afia Siddiqui, has said, her case is reminder of the grave injustices done to God knows how many Pakistanis in US detention facilities in Bagram, Afghanistan, Guantanamo Bay and elsewhere, who have listed a missing. According to a statement issued by the Co-chairperson of the Commission, Iqbal Haider, with the US admission of the custody of Dr Afia, one of the most brutal cases of suppression of individual freedom, has begun to unravel. It said it was public pressure which at last worked to compel the US to admit that Afia was in their custody. While Pakistani government, has belatedly begun to admit that it had some responsibility towards Dr Afia however it has yet to explain a lot as to who had been detaining her and where since she was picked up from Karachi in 2003 along with three children. To say that she was taken into custody on July 21 last, it said, was a blatant lie and blaming that she had been hiding herself since 2003, is a travesty of truth and affront to people's commonsense. While reminding the government of its duty to trace all people who are reported to be involuntarily disappeared, HRCP has called upon all civil society elements and human rights organization to make concerted effort for the release of all missing persons and to ensure that Dr Afia gets justice, that had long been denied to her and that in a manner no civilized people can condone.

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