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PAKISTAN: Love marriage couple greeted with 'shoot-on-sight' order from Jihadi groups

February 6, 2012

ASIAN HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION - URGENT APPEALS PROGRAMME

Urgent Appeal Case: AHRC-UAC-017-2012

6 February 2012
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PAKISTAN: Love marriage couple greeted with 'shoot-on-sight' order from Jihadi groups

ISSUES: Marriage by choice; honour killing; illegal tribal court; death threats
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Dear friends,

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information that a couple from Pakistani held Kashmir has threatened with being shot on sight by Jihadi militant groups whenever they are seen at any place in Pakistan. The militants from the Jihadi groups (Islamic holy warriors) have been following the couple from their hide out and given ammunition to the residents of the nearby houses to disclose the whereabouts of the couple. The death threat to the couple was announced in a local illegal court known as a Jirga, which was held in the presence of and with the knowledge and cooperation of the police. Jirgas have been declared illegal by the courts. The couple has also written letters to the highest police officer of the district about the death threats but no action has been taken because of the involvement of Jihadi groups who work under the state intelligence agencies to conduct subversive activities inside the Indian held Kashmir.

The lives of the couple are in danger and at any moment they might be abducted and killed.

CASE NARRATIVE:

Miss Tahira Hayat (27), daughter of Hayat Khan Mughal married Mr. Saeed Hussain Shah (29), son of Tufail Hussain Shah, a resident of Tehseel Rawalakot, Pakistani Kashmir, on January 26 in a civil court, which has infuriated Tahira's family members who are from the Jihadi militant groups working for Jihad (holy war) in Indian Held Kashmir.

In 2007, the family members of Shah, the groom, contacted those of the bride for marriage with Shah, a transport driver. This offered was refused as Shah is not as well educated as Tahira. The other reason was that both were genuinely in love which was not liked by the family from a jihadi background as it is against their Islamic tradition. Tahira was married in 2007 with her cousin when she was in the custody of her parents who beat her to follow their decision. After the marriage she told her strange husband that she already loved Shah so it would be difficult for her to carry out the marriage. The former husband happily divorced her in 2008. Again she was dealt with cruelly by her parents. She was also a teacher and started her M. Ed (Master of Education).

During the M. Ed examinations she married Shah on 26 January 2012 in a civil court of Rawalpindi, 130 kilometers away from her district. This infuriated her family and other Jihadi groups. On 28 January when the couple was going to market from their hide out more than six armed men tried to abduct her at gun point and at the time when she was being dragged into a car by the attackers the couple begged the passers-by to help. With the help of people in the area they were able to escape but the abductors threatened them. The couple quickly informed the Chacklala Airport police station but as is usual when religious militants are involved the police refused to file the case. The couple then filed an application before the First Class Magistrate of Rawalpindi, Punjab province.

The parents of the bride with the help of officers from the Datot police station, Rawalakot held a Jirga and the police forced the family members of the groom to attend. The Jirga was held on 3 February, in which the representatives from the bride's parents were eight persons including three leaders of local Jihadi organizations, two of them from banned terrorist and sectarian organizations. They demanded, in front of the police representatives from Datot police station, Rawalakot, that the family surrenders the couple who would be shot in public before the whole community. At this point the Jirga proceeding was stopped because the family members refused to comply. Then with the intervention from the police the representatives of the bride's father, Mughal, asked that Tahira Hayat be handed over so that they could kill her in the name of honour as she had tarnished the honour of the Mughal family. They also demanded Rs. one million and a girl from the groom's family as compensation for this marriage. The police approved the deal but the family members of the groom refused.

On the behalf of the bride's parents, Molana Aftaab Kashir, Saleem Javed, Muhammad Hussain Bashani and Rasheed, all members of banned Jihadi parties, refused to accept the apology from the groom's family and emphasized the severe punishment awaiting the couple. This was his murder and that of his wife in order to set an example to others not to marry without their parent's permission. The representatives were from Sipahe Sahaba, Jamaat-ud-Dawa and other local terrorist groups which are banned under Pakistani law. The date of February 4 was fixed as the deadline to hand over the couple to Mughal's family and the police was instructed by the Jirga that if they were arrested then the police were also to hand over the couple to the Jihadi leaders for their final fate.

The Jihadi groups were told by their informers that the couple was visiting the office of their lawyer in Rawalpindi city, 130 kilometers away from their village. The Jihadis attacked the office premises with firearms but were unable to enter the lawyer's premises. They manhandled one person from the law office and at gun point demanded the whereabouts of the couple. The man was told that he was to inform them when they turned up.

The lives of Tahira and her husband Shah are in grave danger and at any moment they could be abducted and killed by the Jihadi groups. They have no recourse to the police as it is the very officers of the Datot police station, Rawalakot, who are providing assistance and impunity to the Jihadis.

SUGGESTED ACTION:
Please write letters to the authorities listed below calling them to provide protection to the couple who are hiding from the death threat by Islamic militant organizations. Please urge them to prosecute the Dadot police of Azad Kashmir for being part of the death threat to the couple and working on the instructions of the Jirga. The leaders of the Jihadi groups must be arrested and tried in the cases of death threats, attempt to murder and honour killings.

The AHRC is writing a separate letter to the UN Special Rapporteurs on Extra-judicial, Summary, or Arbitrary Executions and Violence against Women calling for their interventions into this matter.

To support this appeal, please click here:

SAMPLE LETTER:

Dear ___________,

PAKISTAN: Love marriage couple greeted with 'shoot-on-sight' order from Jihadi groups

Name of victims:
1. Miss Tahira Hayat 27, daughter of Hayat Khan Mughal
2. Mr. Saeed Hussain Shah 29, son of Tufail Hussain Shah

Both are residents of Bangueen, Tehseel Rawala Kot, district Poonch Azad Kashmir

Names of alleged perpetrators:
1. Mr. Hayat Khan Mughal, father of the bride, resident of Bangueen, Tehseel Rawala Kot, district Poonch Azad Kashmir
2. Station House officer (SHO) Dadot police station, Rawalakot, district Poonch, Azad Kashmir
Molana Aftaab Kashir, chief of the sipahe Sahaba, the banned organization, resident of Rawalakot, Azad Kashmir
3. Mr. Saleem Javed, Jamat-e-Islami, RawalaKot, Azasd Kashmir
4. Muhammad Hussain Bashani, Jamaat ud Dawa, Azad Kashmir
Rasheed, a local Jihadi, of Rawala Kot, Azad Kashmir

Date of incident: Banguin, Tehseel Rawalakot, district poonch, Azad Kashmir,
Place of incident: 3 February 2012

I am writing to voice my deep concern regarding threats to the lives of Miss Tahira Hayat and Mr. Saeed Hassan Shah, who love each other and married of their own free will before the First Class Magistrate in a civil court of Rawalpindi. The couple has been threatened by the Jihadi and banned terrorist organizations for taking an un-Islamic course for marriage. It has been declared that they are liable to be killed whenever they are seen.

It is very shocking for me that banned organizations, who are declared as the terrorists, are working openly and holding a Jirga, an illegal court, with the permission of the local police station. From this it is quite evident that banned terrorist organizations are more powerful than the law enforcement agencies and the government.

According to the information I have received Miss Tahira Hayat (27), daughter of Hayat Khan Mughal married Mr. Saeed Hussain Shah (29), son of Tufail Hussain Shah, a resident of Tehseel Rawalakot, Pakistani Kashmir, on January 26 in a civil court, which has infuriated Tahira's family members who are from the Jihadi militant groups working for Jihad (holy war) in Indian Held Kashmir.

I am informed that in 2007, the family members of Shah, the groom, contacted those of the bride for marriage with Shah, a transport driver. This offered was refused as Shah is not as well educated as Tahira. The other reason was that both were genuinely in love which was not liked by the family from a jihadi background as it is against their Islamic tradition. Tahira was married in 2007 with her cousin when she was in the custody of her parents who beat her to follow their decision. After the marriage she told her strange husband that she already loved Shah so it would be difficult for her to carry out the marriage. The former husband happily divorced her in 2008. Again she was dealt with cruelly by her parents. She was also a teacher and started her M. Ed (Master of Education).

During the M. Ed examinations she married Shah on January 26, 2012 in a civil court of Rawalpindi, 130 kilometers away from her district. This infuriated her family and other Jihadi groups. On January 28 when the couple was going to market from their hide out more than six armed men tried to abduct her at gun point and at the time when she was being dragged into a car by the attackers the couple begged the passers-by to help. With the help of people in the area they were able to escape but the abductors threatened them. The couple quickly informed the Chacklala Airport police station but as is usual when religious militants are involved the police refused to file the case. The couple then filed an application before the First Class Magistrate of Rawalpindi, Punjab province.

It is to my utmost surprise and distress that I have learned that the parents of the bride with the help of officers from the Datot police station, Rawalakot held a Jirga and the police forced the family members of the groom to attend. The Jirga was held on February 3, in which the representatives from the bride's parents were eight persons including three leaders of local Jihadi organizations, two of them from banned terrorist and sectarian organizations. They demanded, in front of the police representatives from Datot police station, Rawalakot, that the family surrenders the couple who would be shot in public before the whole community. At this point the Jirga proceeding was stopped because the family members refused to comply. Then with the intervention from the police the representatives of the bride's father, Mughal, asked that Tahira Hayat be handed over so that they could kill her in the name of honour as she had tarnished the honour of the Mughal family. They also demanded Rs. one million and a girl from the groom's family as compensation for this marriage. The police approved the deal but the family members of the groom refused.

It is very shocking to know that on the behalf of the bride's parents, Molana Aftaab Kashir, Saleem Javed, Muhammad Hussain Bashani and Rasheed, all members of banned Jihadi parties, refused to accept the apology from the groom's family and emphasized the severe punishment awaiting the couple. This was his murder and that of his wife in order to set an example to others not to marry without their parent's permission. The representatives were from Sipahe Sahaba, Jamaat-ud-Dawa and other local terrorist groups which are banned under Pakistani law. The date of February 4 was fixed as the deadline to hand over the couple to Mughal's family and the police was instructed by the Jirga that if they were arrested then the police were also to hand over the couple to the Jihadi leaders for their final fate.

I am amazed that the police would willingly follow the illegal instructions of persons from banned militant groups. The Jihadi groups were told by their informers that the couple was visiting the office of their lawyer in Rawalpindi city, 130 kilometers away from their village. The Jihadis attacked the office premises with firearms but were unable to enter the lawyer's premises. They manhandled one person from the law office and at gun point demanded the whereabouts of the couple. The man was told that he was to inform them when they turned up.

The lives of Tahira and her husband Shah are in grave danger and at any moment they could be abducted and killed by the Jihadi groups. They have no recourse to the police as it is the very officers of the Datot police station, Rawalakot, who are providing assistance and impunity to the Jihadis.

We urge you to provide protection to the couple who are hiding from the death threats by the Islamic militant organizations. Please also prosecute the Dadot police of Azad Kashmir for being part of the death threat to the couple and working on the instructions of the Jirga. The leaders of the Jihadi groups must be arrested and tried in the cases of death threats, attempt to murder and honour killings.

Yours sincerely,

----------------
PLEASE SEND YOUR LETTERS TO:

1. Mr. Asif Ali Zardari
President of Pakistan
President's Secretariat
Islamabad
PAKISTAN
Tel: +92 51 9204801-9214171
Fax +92 51 9207458
Email: publicmail@president.gov.pk

2. Mr. Syed Yousaf Raza Gilani
Prime Minister
Prime Minister House
Islamabad
PAKISTAN
Fax: +92 51 922 1596
Tel: +92 51 920 6111
E-mail: secretary@cabinet.gov.pk or pspm@pmsectt.gov.pk

3. Federal Minister for Human Rights
Ministry of Human Rights
Old US Aid building
Ata Turk Avenue
G-5, Islamabad
PAKISTAN
Fax: +92 51 9204108
Email: sarfraz_yousuf@yahoo.com

4. Mr. Lateef Khosa
Governor of Punjab
Governor House
Mall Road
Lahore
PAKISTAN
Fax: +92 42 99203044
Email: governor.sectt@punjab.gov.pk

5. Mr. Shahbaz Shareef
Chief Minister Secretariat
5-Club Road
GOR-I, Lahore, Punnjab
PAKISTAN
Fax: +92 42 99205065

6. Dr. Faqir Hussain
Registrar
Supreme Court of Pakistan
Constitution Avenue, Islamabad
PAKISTAN
Fax: +92 51 9213452
E-mail: mail@supremecourt.gov.pk

7. Inspector-General of Police, Punjab
Police Head Office, Lahore
Punjab province
PAKISTAN
Fax: +92 42 9921006

8. Mr. Raja Mohammad Farooq Haider
Prime Minister of Azad Jammu and Kashmir
The Prime Minister Secretariat
Muzaffarbad
Azad Kashmir
PAKISTAN
Tel: +92 58 22 921600
Fax+92 58 22 921601

And: Kashmir House
F-5, Islamabad
PAKISTAN
Tel: +92 51 9209093-5
Fax: +92 51 9206288
Email: pm@pmajk.gov.pk

9. Secretary
Ministry of Kashmir Affairs and Northern Areas
Pakistan Secretariat
Islamabad
PAKISTAN
Email: secretary@moka.gov.pk


Thank you.

Urgent Appeals Programme
Asian Human Rights Commission (ua@ahrc.asia)

Document Type :
Urgent Appeal Case
Document ID :
AHRC-UAC-017-2012
Countries :
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Extended Introduction: Urgent Appeals, theory and practice

A need for dialogue

Many people across Asia are frustrated by the widespread lack of respect for human rights in their countries.  Some may be unhappy about the limitations on the freedom of expression or restrictions on privacy, while some are affected by police brutality and military killings.  Many others are frustrated with the absence of rights on labour issues, the environment, gender and the like. 

Yet the expression of this frustration tends to stay firmly in the private sphere.  People complain among friends and family and within their social circles, but often on a low profile basis. This kind of public discourse is not usually an effective measure of the situation in a country because it is so hard to monitor. 

Though the media may cover the issues in a broad manner they rarely broadcast the private fears and anxieties of the average person.  And along with censorship – a common blight in Asia – there is also often a conscious attempt in the media to reflect a positive or at least sober mood at home, where expressions of domestic malcontent are discouraged as unfashionably unpatriotic. Talking about issues like torture is rarely encouraged in the public realm.

There may also be unwritten, possibly unconscious social taboos that stop the public reflection of private grievances.  Where authoritarian control is tight, sophisticated strategies are put into play by equally sophisticated media practices to keep complaints out of the public space, sometimes very subtly.  In other places an inner consensus is influenced by the privileged section of a society, which can control social expression of those less fortunate.  Moral and ethical qualms can also be an obstacle.

In this way, causes for complaint go unaddressed, un-discussed and unresolved and oppression in its many forms, self perpetuates.  For any action to arise out of private frustration, people need ways to get these issues into the public sphere.

Changing society

In the past bridging this gap was a formidable task; it relied on channels of public expression that required money and were therefore controlled by investors.  Printing presses were expensive, which blocked the gate to expression to anyone without money.  Except in times of revolution the media in Asia has tended to serve the well-off and sideline or misrepresent the poor.

Still, thanks to the IT revolution it is now possible to communicate with large audiences at little cost.  In this situation there is a real avenue for taking issues from private to public, regardless of the class or caste of the individual.

Practical action

The AHRC Urgent Appeals system was created to give a voice to those affected by human rights violations, and by doing so, to create a network of support and open avenues for action.  If X’s freedom of expression is denied, if Y is tortured by someone in power or if Z finds his or her labour rights abused, the incident can be swiftly and effectively broadcast and dealt with. The resulting solidarity can lead to action, resolution and change. And as more people understand their rights and follow suit, as the human rights consciousness grows, change happens faster. The Internet has become one of the human rights community’s most powerful tools.   

At the core of the Urgent Appeals Program is the recording of human rights violations at a grass roots level with objectivity, sympathy and competence. Our information is firstly gathered on the ground, close to the victim of the violation, and is then broadcast by a team of advocates, who can apply decades of experience in the field and a working knowledge of the international human rights arena. The flow of information – due to domestic restrictions – often goes from the source and out to the international community via our program, which then builds a pressure for action that steadily makes its way back to the source through his or her own government.   However these cases in bulk create a narrative – and this is most important aspect of our program. As noted by Sri Lankan human rights lawyer and director of the Asian Human Rights Commission, Basil Fernando:

"The urgent appeal introduces narrative as the driving force for social change. This idea was well expressed in the film Amistad, regarding the issue of slavery. The old man in the film, former president and lawyer, states that to resolve this historical problem it is very essential to know the narrative of the people. It was on this basis that a court case is conducted later. The AHRC establishes the narrative of human rights violations through the urgent appeals. If the narrative is right, the organisation will be doing all right."

Patterns start to emerge as violations are documented across the continent, allowing us to take a more authoritative, systemic response, and to pinpoint the systems within each country that are breaking down. This way we are able to discover and explain why and how violations take place, and how they can most effectively be addressed. On this path, larger audiences have opened up to us and become involved: international NGOs and think tanks, national human rights commissions and United Nations bodies.  The program and its coordinators have become a well-used tool for the international media and for human rights education programs. All this helps pave the way for radical reforms to improve, protect and to promote human rights in the region.