BRING AAFIA HOME: AWARENESS EVENTS COMING TO YOUR TOWN

Image: Clive Stafford Smith arrived in Johannesburg on Wednesday, 21 January 2025. Credit: Ebrahim Essay /Salaamedia

Thu 22 January 2026:

For more than two decades, the case of Dr Aafia Siddiqui has remained one of the most contested human rights cases associated with the global war on terror.

A Pakistani neuroscientist educated in the United States, Dr Siddiqui disappeared in 2003 along with her three young children. She later resurfaced in United States custody under unclear circumstances and was convicted in 2010 following an incident in Afghanistan. She is currently serving an 86-year sentence in a United States federal prison.

Human rights organisations, legal experts and advocacy groups around the world have raised persistent concerns about her case. These include allegations of enforced disappearance, torture, violations of due process and serious questions about the fairness of her trial.

Supporters argue that her continued imprisonment represents a grave miscarriage of justice. The Bring Aafia Home campaign has since grown into a global movement calling for accountability, transparency and her return to Pakistan.

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Salaamedia’s Global Voices Campaign is hosting a series of public programmes across South Africa aimed at raising awareness about Dr Siddiqui’s case and exploring broader issues of justice, detention and human rights.

The events are being led by Clive Stafford Smith, a renowned human rights lawyer and legal representative for Dr Aafia Siddiqui, internationally recognised for his work on death penalty cases and for representing detainees held at Guantanamo Bay.

The first programme in the series took place in Pietermaritzburg on Wednesday, 21 January 2026, where community members gathered for a public engagement on the legal and humanitarian dimensions of Dr Siddiqui’s imprisonment. This will be followed by a programme in Overport on Thursday, 22 January 2026, continuing the conversation with audiences in KwaZulu-Natal and providing an opportunity for direct engagement with Dr Siddiqui’s legal representative.

The programme then moves to Port Shepstone on Friday, 23 January 2026. The public event is taking place at the Port Shepstone Islamic School Hall at 19:30 and features Clive Stafford Smith with special guest Edris Khamissa. The discussion focuses on the legal challenges surrounding the case and the broader realities faced by detainees in the post-9/11 era.

The Johannesburg event is being held on Saturday, 24 January 2026, at Emmarentia Primary School at the corner of Umgeni and Hill Road. The programme runs from 15:45 to 18:00, with refreshments served on site between 15:45 and 16:15. This is the only Johannesburg appearance on the tour.

The final event in the series is taking place in Pretoria on Sunday, 25 January 2026, at 14:00. The venue is The Ballroom in Laudium. This programme features Clive Stafford Smith alongside special guest Moazzam Begg, an author and former Guantanamo Bay detainee and a prominent international voice on detention, civil liberties and state accountability.

Supported by a range of community organisations and civil society partners, the Bring Aafia Home tour aims to promote informed and meaningful dialogue. Organisers hope the series encourages reflection on the long-term human cost of indefinite detention, secrecy and the erosion of legal protections, while keeping attention focused on the human reality behind one of the most enduring human rights cases of the past two decades.

written by Muskaan Ayesha

This article originally published in Salaamedia click here