I found some more follow up on Aafia's case. Thank you, God, for allowing one scrap of transparency to arise from the muddied miasma that has ensnared the planet.

The eerie case of Prisoner 650
July 8, 8:03 AM
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Pictures of Aafia Siddiqui before and after custody

Last Monday saw the latest installment in the strange and eerie case of 37 year old Aafia Siddiqui, a neuroscientist educated at MIT and Brandeis University in Boston.

Aafia, unknown to most Americans, is also a suspect arrested on charges of having attempted to shoot at American personnel while in detention in Afghanistan in 2003.

While none of her alleged victims were killed, Aafia however was shot in the abdomen and was promptly taken into custody by US authorities along with her three children, all of whom were born in the US and are American citizens.

Referring to charges made against her, Siddiqui has always maintained that she is innocent.

"I did not shoot anybody, and I did not fire at anybody." - Aafia Siddiqui

Aafia Siddiqui after all is one of the many casualties of Septemer 11th, and like the prisoners at Camp X-Ray in Guantanamo Bay or at Abu Ghraib, remains in the eyes of many as guilty until proven innocent.

Regardless of her presumed innocence, it is the shocking and demeaning treatment that Aafia has suffered that is so horrendous in nature that it has become a story in itself.

On July 6th, Aafia Siddiqui appeared again in court in New York City, this time on a judge-ordered forced summons.

Aafia has lately begun to refuse court appearances due to the humiliating and unnecessary strip-searches she is forced to routinely undergo for every appearance.

Throughout Monday’s hearing, Aafia rubbed her wrists, reddened by what she said was rough treatment by jailhouse guards.

According to an eye-witness account, in court Aafia insisted that "she never shot anybody, nor is she against America."

"I want to make peace with the United States of America, I'm not an enemy. I never was." - Aafia Siddiqui

However during Monday's hearing another disturbing detail was uncovered in court.

Siddiqui complained of continuing "physical harm" as late as that same Monday morning in the form of "forced gynecological exams ordered by the court" that left her "aching all over."

As the court drama unfolded, witnesses being brought to speak time and time again gave misleading statements forcing Aafia to interject their remarks and correct them, while she ended her words with "..I want the world to know this."

With the hopelessness she saw in the court proceedings as well as with the impotence of her own attorneys, Aafia on one occasion even turned to the judge and in desperation said she wanted to relieve her attorneys.

The judge instead ignored her plea and told the attorney speaking at the time to continue, causing Aafia to eventually declare that "this court is the worst court ever."

The purpose of Monday's court hearing was to determine whether Aafia Siddiqui is mentally fit to stand trial or not.

However observers remarked that if Aafia was assumed mentally capable for trial, when she requested relief from her attorneys the judge incorrectly reacted as if she was delusional and psychotic, and therefore ignored her request.

But if Aafia is psychotic then why didn't the court approve the defense's motion that she is mentally unfit for trial and therefore the case ought to be dismissed and Aafia should be given medical assistance, questioned one observer.

Whatever the outcome of the case, the prison conditions that Aafia has been undergoing are as cruel and inhumane as those suffered during the well-known abuses that occured at Camp X-Ray and Abu Ghraib.

While under US detention in Afghanistan, Aafia was dubbed the "gray lady of Bagram" because she was kept in solitary confinement at the Bagram Theater Internment Facility where, as the nameless Prisoner 650, she was repeatedly tortured and raped over four years.

According to statements given by several formal captives, Aafia's cries echoed with such torment in the jail that it prompted other prisoners to go on hunger strike.

According to their accounts, Aafia was referred to as the "the gray lady" because she was almost a ghost whose cries and screams continue to haunt those who heard her.

"He did not take off the helmet, but told me that if I ever wanted to see my daughter and grandchildren again, I should keep quiet" - Aafia Siddiqui

But perhaps the most cruel consequence of this episode is that two of her three children, with whom Aafia was collectively arrested, are now missing.

How this enormity was allowed to happen even though the three children, all American citizens, along with their mother were taken into US custody together remains a mystery.

The third child was eventually handed over Aafia's sister and now resides with her, where he eagerly hopes to see his mother again someday.

"Her absence has given us great pain for the last five years and we have been looking for her and her children. My sister is innocent, she has done no wrong." - Fauzia Siddiqui

Acknowledgment: Many thanks to the Associated Press, Reuters and Jawad Rasul whose detailed coverage made this article possible.