Durban, South Africa – Protesters flocked to the U.S. consulate here, March 22, on the tenth anniversary of the abduction of Dr. Siddiqui and her three children in Karachi, Pakistan.

The picket drew widespread interest from thousands of motorists and pedestrians. The demonstration was extremely vocal and passionate chants of “Free Free Aafia!” echoed through one of the busiest streets in the city. The protesters demanded an end to the oppression and injustices against Dr. Aafia Siddiqui and demanded her repatriation to Pakistan.

National coordinator for The Aafia Foundation, Inayet Wadee, addressed the crowd, saying the U.S. administration has a pathetic human rights record and that the national justice and prison system in the U.S. has been linked to widespread human rights abuses.

“We are fully aware of the unlawful arrests, unfair trials, inhumane prison conditions, lack of adequate health care, humiliating and degrading treatment by prison guards and cruel forms of punishment meted out to Dr Aafia Siddiqui,” said Wadee.

#DurbanSouthAfrica #Durban #RacismInTheCriminalJusticeSystem #PoliticalPrisoners #DrAafiaSiddiqui #SouthAfrica

Fort Worth, TX – More than 40 protesters gathered at the Carswell federal prison, March 30, to demand freedom for Dr. Aafia Siddiqui and the other women political prisoners held here.

Hundreds of cars slowed as they passed by, to see what the protest was about. The saw a large banner with Aafia Siddiqui’s face and the demand “Free Aafia” along with signs demanding freedom for Aafia Siddiqui and jailed activist attorney Lynne Stewart.

Jess Sundin, of the Committee to Stop FBI Repression, called for the release of Siddiqui and the other political prisoners held at Carswell, including the Colombian revolutionary “Sonia,” people's attorney Lynne Stewart and environmentalist Marie Mason. Sundin was one of the anti-war activists raided by the FBI in 2010.

Mauri’ Saalakhan, of the Peace Thru Justice Foundation, told the crowd, “This demonstration is important. Our presence here two years ago broke through some of the isolation of sister Aafia. Five days after our protest, she was allowed her first phone call home to Karachi, to talk to her mother, her sister and two of her children. A couple months after that, she was allowed her first visitor, her brother Mohamed.”

The protest at Carswell is a part of a growing movement to stop political repression in the U.S.

#FortWorthTX #RacismInTheCriminalJusticeSystem #JessSundin #PoliticalPrisoners #CommitteeToStopFBIRepression #DrAafiaSiddiqui #CarswellFederalPrison

Fort Worth, TX – About 60 people gathered here at the U.S. District Court building, March 29, to demand “Free Aafia Siddiqui!” Dr. Siddiqui is a Pakistani woman who was kidnapped in Pakistan and tortured. She is now a political prisoner held in a Texas prison.

Among the speakers at the protest was former U.S. Attorney General Ramsey Clark.

Jess Sundin, who is one of the anti-war activist raided by the FBI in 2010, told the crowd, “It's an honor to stand with you today, to demand justice for Dr. Aafia Siddiqui. Her imprisonment stands as a shameful example of the crimes carried out by the U.S. government across the globe in the interests of empire and under the banner of the so-called war on terror.”

A statement from the Committee to Stop FBI Repression notes that nearby Carswell federal prison is where the U.S. holds its women political prisoners, including for Dr. Siddiqui, activist attorney Lynn Stewart, and the Colombian rebel “Sonia” – Anayibe Rojas Valderrama.

Sundin said, “We stand with Colombian revolutionary ‘Sonia’, people's attorney Lynne Stewart, and environmentalist Marie Mason, all imprisoned right here in Carswell.”

#FortWorthTX #PoliticalPrisoner #AnayibeSoniaValderrama #CommitteeToStopFBIRepression #DrAafiaSiddiqui #InjusticeSystem #Pakistan

Hello my name is Sue Udry with Defending Dissent Foundation and I am speaking in solidarity with Aafia Siddiqui on behalf of the Committee to Stop FBI Repression. For those opposed to FBI raids and political repression in the U.S., Aafia Siddiqui’s incredible story makes a lot of sense. We know firsthand that the U.S. government will send heavily armed agents to invade people’s homes, wave automatic weapons in the faces of loved ones and children and take away notebooks, phones, computers, address lists of activists or anything they want. Political freedom in the U.S. is being repressed, from the anti-war 23 who formed the Committee to Stop FBI Repression, to the Occupy Wall Street movement, to the nearly 200 Arab-American and Muslim political prisoners held in solitary confinement and other punishment units that violate basic human rights.

We know the U.S. government is bullying and abusing anti-war activists in this country, so it makes perfect sense that in Pakistan or other countries where the U.S. is at war, that U.S. intelligence agents and the FBI would illegally spy on, kidnap, torture and murder people. We saw it in the U.S. war in Iraq, we see it in the U.S. occupation of Afghanistan and we see it carried out by soldiers and death squads under U.S. advisors in places like Colombia and the Philippines. In this context Aafia Siddiqui’s story makes perfect sense. For us, Aafia Siddiqui is the symbol of solidarity on International Women’s Day!

We ask you to support Aafia Siddiqui and to show solidarity with the 23 anti-war and international solidarity activists raided by the FBI and subpoenaed to a grand jury in Chicago in 2010. They refused to go to the grand jury, but two and a half years later, Assistant U.S. Attorney Barry Jonas continues to claim to be investigating them. Jonas, who imprisoned the Holy Land Five, is refusing to return the belongings of Palestinian-American leader Hatem Abudayyeh in Chicago. We ask you to join us in opposing political repression here at home and wars and oppression overseas. We can forge a new and better society here at home by ending the wars and oppression overseas.

#WashingtonDC #InJusticeSystem #RacismInTheCriminalJusticeSystem #InternationalWomensDay #PoliticalPrisoners #CommitteeToStopFBIRepression #LynneStewart #DrAafiaSiddiqui #DefendingDissentFoundation

Washington, DC – More than 50 protesters came together here, in front of the U.S. Department of Justice on Sept. 10 for a rally in defense of Muslims, anti-war activists and immigrants facing state repression. Organizations supporting the rally included the National Jericho Movement, International Action Center, and the Committee to Stop FBI Repression, among others.

David Hoskins from the Committee to Stop FBI Repression raised the case of the 23 anti-war and international solidarity activists whose homes were raided on September 24, 2010 and are being subpoenaed as part of a campaign of state repression against activists.

“The FBI and U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald in Chicago claim to be investigating material support for terrorism. But we know that their real goal is to repress anti-war organizing and free speech inside the United States,” said Hoskins. He also asked activists at the rally to support Carlos Montes - a veteran Chicano leader and immigrant rights activist from Los Angeles whose home was raided by the L.A. Sheriff’s Department. More than four decades of political documents were seized in the raid and Montes is now being tried on felony charges and threatened with 18 years of imprisonment.

Sharon Black from the International Action Center also spoke and pointed out that “the current period of repression of Muslim people is similar to the internment of Japanese-Americans during World War II. And while Sept. 11 is a tragedy, it also provides an opening for resistance by oppressed people.”

Mauri Saalakhan chaired the event and called attention to the fact that “right here in the U.S., untold numbers of Muslims have had their lives impacted by having a son, brother, or other loved one snatched away from them since 9/11.” He also called on participants to work together and continue to build the movement against repression.

#WashingtonDC #CommitteeToStopFBIRepression #politicalRepression #DrAafiaSiddiqui