Muslim Leadership Silent as Dr. Aafia and Other Prisoners Bear the Brunt of Texas Winter Weather Emergency Without Heat and Running Water

By Nadrat Siddique

The recent unprecedented winter weather emergency in Texas was another prime opportunity for U.S.-based Muslim leadership to call for the release of political prisoner Dr. Aafia Siddiqui. As temperatures dipped into the teens and '20s, FMC Carswell, the prison where Dr. Aafia is being held, was without heat and running water for several days. Toilets were overflowing due to the lack of water, and the women prisoners put on multiple layers of clothing in an effort to stay warm.

You can read the full story on that horrific situation here.

As usual, Muslim organizations, busily genuflecting to Biden and his Hindu VP, dropped the ball, taking no action to press for Dr. Aafia's release from a freezing cold prison. While the immediate emergency appears over, it is a very sad commentary on our Muslim organizations and Muslim leadership that they did not raise a finger to help these women prisoners, including Aafia, and missed a huge opportunity to call for their release on humanitarian grounds. And so, we who believe in freedom must remain vigilant.

ACTION ALERT

What you can do to help Aafia now

1) Call or write to the prison

People of conscience, particularly those based in the U.S., should call or write the prison regularly to express concern about Dr. Aafia Siddiqui. This will keep the authorities on notice that people are vigilant and watching their actions, and that Aafia is not forgotten.

When writing, please be polite, courteous, and, if possible, specific (eg if a particular situation, eg the heat being out, has just occurred, mention that). Be sure to use the correct legal spelling of Aafia's name, and her register number. These are: Dr. Aafia Siddiqui, #90279-054

Send your letter to:

Michael Carr, Warden
FMC Carswell
PO Box 27066
Fort Worth, TX 76127

Or use this form.

2) Write to Dr. Aafia Siddiqui in prison
The worse thing for a political prisoner is the thought that they have been forgotten, or that no one knows where they are, or what is being done to them. A single letter from the outside can mitigate such feelings. Some prisoners mention reading and re-reading the letters they get many times over. Letters should not mention illegal or violent acts, and should be general expressions of concern.

Aafia Siddiqui, #90279-054
FMC Carswell
Federal Medical Center
PO Box 27137
Fort Worth, TX 76127

More than likely, your letter will be returned to you. (That is what happened to a number of Maryland-based Aafia supporters who wrote to her.) When the prison returns the letter, they frequently also (perhaps as a taunt), let the prisoner know they did so.

If your letter to Aafia is returned, it is important to call the prison to ask them why.

Phone for FMC Carswell is: (817) 782-4000
Hours (The prison administration only appears to accept calls during these hours, U.S. Central Standard Time):
Sat: 8:00 AM - 3:00 PM
Sun: 8:00 AM - 3:00 PM

Again, these are small ways of letting the authorities know the outside world is watching.

3) Send small amounts of money to Dr. Aafia's commissary

This will allow her to buy items not provided by the prison from the commissary (prison store). The prison system has very specific rules on how to send money to a prisoner:

• If you want to send her money by mail, it must be a money order (U.S. Postal money orders are best).

• You must write her full, legal name and register number on the money order itself.

• Then, address the envelope as follows:

Federal Bureau of Prisons
Aafia Siddiqui
#90279-054
Post Office Box 474701
Des Moines, Iowa 50947-0001

• Then, write your name and return address on the upper left-hand corner of the envelope.

• If you prefer to send Dr. Aafia money electronically, you can do so using Western Union or Moneygram. Again, the prison system has very specific rules for doing this. Check them here, and follow the directions as precisely as you can (to avoid rejection of payment):

4) Send Aafia a birthday card:

Aafia's birthday is March 2. She will spend it in a cold, filthy, COVID-ridden prison, while both U.S. and Pakistani lawmakers (including Pakistani PM Imran Khan, who came to power on campaign promises to free her) ignore the enormous injustice being done to her.

Send her a birthday card to let her know she is not forgotten. (A very simple card, with no frills or decorations, or a postcard with your handwritten birthday message is best.)

Send the card to:

Aafia Siddiqui, #90279-054
FMC Carswell
Federal Medical Center
PO Box 27137
Fort Worth, TX 76127

5) Educate yourself about the case, and join any local actions, protests, etc calling for justice for Aafia. For regular updates on Dr. Aafia's case, follow her sister on Twitter: @FowziaSiddiqui

#FreeAafiaSiddiqui #FMCCarswell #TexasWinter

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Nadrat Siddique is a DC-based writer and political prisoner advocate, who believes that "None of us are free, if one of us is chained."

Petition for Dr. Aafia Siddiqui

We, the undersigned, petition:

Donald J. Trump

Greg Abbott

Department of Justice

William Barr (Attorney General of the United States)

Eric S. Dreiband (Assistant U.S. Attorney General for Civil Rights Division, DOJ)

Ken Paxton (Attorney General of Texas)

Michael Carvajal (Director, Federal Bureau of Prisons)

Kathleen Hawk Sawyer (Director, Federal Bureau of Prisons)

Release or Home Confinement for Dr. Aafia Siddiqui from Coronavirus-Infected Prison

Dr. Aafia Siddiqui, a Pakistani neuroscientist, is serving an 86-year term at FMC Carswell. Carswell is a prison-cum-medical facility for female prisoners. Other than Seagoville Prison, which is also located in the Dallas-Fort Worth area and has 1,359 cases, Carswell has the largest COVID-19 outbreak of any U.S. prison. According to Bureau of Prisons own website, the number of reported cases there is 542. (Other sources place it even higher, at 571.) Carswell’s inmate population totals 1,357. That makes the current infection rate at the facility 40%. Three female prisoners, Andrea Circle Bear, Sandra Kincaid, and Teresa Ely, have died from the virus at the facility. Of these dead women, Circle Bear, a 34-year old Native American, was much younger than Dr. Siddiqui. So, the risk to Dr. Siddiqui is clearly grave.

According to the Appeal, a project of the Justice Collaborative, "There's no air conditioning; incarcerated women are confined to their cells; the commissary is closed indefinitely, so women are running out of basic hygiene products like soap and shampoo; the warden was nowhere to be found; women weren't getting necessary medical care; inedible meals arrived in brown sacks." The facility is also sorely lacking in cleaning supplies and PPE.

(Much of the information on conditions at Carswell originates with the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, a local news outlet in the area, with no political agenda. The paper has been reporting on the situation there since April. The reports were later picked up by the local NBC affiliate, Time Magazine, and Newsweek.)

The bottom line is that Dr. Siddiqui, an MIT and Brandeis graduate, with no prior record of violence, and who was likely turned in by a vindicative, abusive ex-husband, has a greater than 40% chance of contracting Coronavirus while in U.S. custody. She is already in very poor physical, as well as mental health, having been denied timely medical treatment from a gunshot wound when she was captured in Afghanistan. The torture she endured while in captivity in Pakistan and Afghanistan exacerbated her physical condition. The death of her baby, Sulaiman, in the course of her arrest, and the imprisonment of her other two children, Ahmad and Mariam, along with her (they were each separately released years later), added to her grave mental trauma. 

Not one person was killed or injured in connection with the charges for which Dr. Siddiqui was convicted. And she was convicted in New York District Court, on the basis of ambiguous and highly contradictory testimony, due largely to the climate of fear and Islamophobia which existed at the time. Upon her conviction, she called for her supporters to stay calm, and to refrain from violence. She has continued to maintain her innocence throughout her 17-years of captivity.

Her sister, Dr. Fowzia Siddiqui, a Pakistan-based physician who holds a degree from Harvard University, has long spearheaded a national campaign in Pakistan, calling for her release. In Pakistan, the broad masses of people believe Dr. Siddiqui to be innocent, and the prevailing view is one of disbelief that the U.S., which touts itself as a supporter of women's rights, has accorded torture, solitary confinement, and now (the prospect of) COVID-19 to this Pakistani woman neuroscientist.

Supporters from the Aafia Foundation and other groups hold annual rallies outside FMC Carswell calling for her release. Human rights advocates in London, Durban, New York, Boston, and other cities worldwide regularly march calling for Dr. Siddiqui's release.

Countries like China and Russia are often associated with the jailing of scientists. The U.S. need not join their ranks. Dr. Siddiqui's release on humanitarian grounds from a COVID-infected prison would open the door to improved U.S.-Pakistan relations.

Dr. Aafia Siddiqui, is neither a threat to public welfare, nor a flight risk. She has suffered enough. We ask that she be released to home confinement with supporters in Maryland; or, that she be repatriated to Pakistan, where her elderly mother and her children have long awaited her. As COVID-19 ravages Texas prisons, particularly Carswell, Dr. Siddiqui’s life may depend upon it.

Sign the petition here.