The repatriation of Aafia Siddiqui could only take place if Pakistan could become a party to either the Convention on the Council of Europe Convention on Transfer of Sentenced Persons (CEO Convention) or the Inter-American Convention on Serving Criminal Sentences Abroad (OAS Convention).
This was disclosed by Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar in a written reply to the Senate on Thursday. Giving the present status of Aafia’s case, she said that the Pakistani consul general in Houston, US visited the FMC Carswell Prison on April 15, August 8 and November 22, 2011 to meet Aafia. During those visits, he discussed the inmate’s various concerns about her condition of detention with prison authorities, who took appropriate action to allay most of these concerns. The Pakistani Embassy and the consulate general were also able to arrange telephone calls between Aafia and her family in Karachi, Khar said.
She told the House that Aafia’s brother Ali Siddiqui was able to meet her on November 5, 2011. During the consul general’s visits to FMC Carswell, Aafia mentioned to him that she was suffering from poor health. The consul general conveyed the concerns to prison authorities who responded that they tried to provide medical attention to Aafia but she refused to cooperate. Pakistani Ambassador to the US Sherry Rehman received Aafia’s lawyer Tina Foster on 26 January and assured her full cooperation.