AHRC demands early release of Dr Aafia's children

LAHORE - The Asian Human Rights Commission has urged United Nation to intervene in the case of Dr Afia Siddiqui’s 11 year-old son, who is being kept in detention in violation of all international laws.

In a statement issued here on Sunday, the AHRC demanded that the Afia’s three children must be recovered and returned to family members, and that state authorities should be made accountable for their detention. That this young boy has been detained at all is of extreme concern.

The AHRC urges the governments of the US, Pakistan and Afghanistan to respect and implement the rights of minors in the true spirit of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, as signed/ratified by them. The child must be handed over to the maternal family as they have requested, and responsibility for his care and welfare must be fully accepted by his State Countries. The AHRC condemns the lack of transparency shown in this case of Dr Aafia and her children, and the lack of information and assistance given to the family of the missing minor while he was in state custody.