Clive Stafford Smith, the US-based lawyer of Dr Aafia Siddiqui, has alleged that she and her children were abducted with the cooperation of both the US and Pakistani governments, and that Aafia was subjected to rape by Afghan soldiers while being held in an Afghan prison.

“She endured years of inhumane treatment,” Smith said during a roundtable conference on human rights in Islamabad.

Speaking to the media and participants, Smith revealed that he was in Pakistan not just for Aafia’s case but also for other detainees, adding that he had previously visited the country in 2015 during the peak of US military strikes in Afghanistan. “I’m honoured to work for the disappeared,” he said, urging all present to speak up for the oppressed.

Sharing insights from his work on Guantanamo Bay detainees, Smith noted that out of 768 cases, 756 prisoners were proven innocent. “Even though Guantanamo holds some of the world’s most dangerous alleged criminals, we proved in 73% of the cases that the detainees were innocent.”

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Dr. Aafia Siddiqui being raped twice by Afghan soldiers

On Aafia’s ordeal, Smith said she was held in an Afghan jail where she was raped twice by Afghan soldiers. When taken into CIA custody, her son Suleman was with her—his whereabouts remain unknown. “Afghan police later transferred her to a police headquarters where she was placed behind a curtain and shot twice during an encounter with six US soldiers. Yet no evidence of her firing an M4 rifle was ever found,” he added.

Smith also revealed that Aafia was sentenced to 86 years in prison based on charges of attempted murder of US soldiers, despite the lack of concrete evidence. “I’ve been to many death cells in US prisons, but the one Aafia is in is the worst,” he said, describing the denial of medical care and visits as grave human rights violations.

Former PM Abbasi remarks on Dr. Aafia’s arrest

Former Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, also present at the conference, praised Smith’s dedication to Aafia’s case and said that the Pakistani government had viable options to repatriate her but failed to act. “Some claim she was a US national, but in reality, she is Pakistani. It reflects the weakness of our system that we couldn’t bring her back,” Abbasi said, calling for a bilateral agreement between Pakistan and the US as the only viable path forward.

When asked why Aafia was targeted, Smith claimed the CIA believed she was a nuclear scientist capable of developing a bomb and accused her of being sent by al-Qaeda to the US with nuclear material. “Just imagine, a woman carrying uranium around—it’s absurd,” he remarked.

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Smith concluded by stressing the urgency of action for Aafia, who remains in solitary confinement, denied basic human rights and medical care. “What must we do for a person who is being abused in custody and forgotten by the world?” he asked.