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PAKISTAN: The Frontier Corp brings a disappeared person in front of the media under fabricated circumstances after nine months

March 30, 2010

ASIAN HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION – URGENT APPEALS PROGRAMME

Urgent Appeal Case: AHRC-UAC-036-2010



31 March 2010
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PAKISTAN: The Frontier Corp bring a disappeared person in front of the media under fabricated circumstances after nine months  

ISSUES: Disappearance; arbitrary arrest and detention; torture; fabricated charges
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Dear friends,

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has learned that a man who went missing nine months ago near Karachi has resurfaced this month in the custody of the Frontier Corp (FC). The man's family were prevented from filing a report by police when he was abducted and so acted through the Balochistan High Court, where his case has been pending since August 2009. The man's name has featured in various a government-issued lists of disappeared persons, yet in a press conference on 27 March FC representatives produced him as a recent arrestee, who had been caught crossing the border from Afghanistan in to Balochistan carrying explosives, and foreign currencies and SIM cards. They have proceeded to charge him with the murder of six Chinese engineers.

We have also learned that four relatives who went to visit him in detention were arbitrarily arrested and kept in a police station by the FC for three days.

CASE DETAILS:

According to information received from the Voice of Balochistan – an NGO for missing persons -
and the victim's family, Mr. Murad Khan Marri, 45, was arrested by uniformed and plain clothed persons near the Aachar Hotel in Hub Chowki, Balochistan on 27 June 2009.

On Sakran Road he was seen being loaded into a red Toyota that had no number plate. The next day his son went to file a case at the Hub Chowki police station with other relatives, where the police reportedly refused to comply and denied Murri's arrest.

After other attempts to file the case with the police failed, the victim's mother Mrs. Nazi filed a constitutional petition in the High Court of Balochistan on 17 August 2009. The petition made allegations of arbitrary arrest, and challenged the ministry of interior in Islamabad, military intelligence agencies, the commander of the Inter Services Intelligence agency (ISI) and of the Federal Investigation unit (FIU), and the government of Balochistan, through the ministry of interior and the FC. Military int
elligence and government representatives denied that Marri was in their custody and the petition is pending in the high court before the Chief Justice of Balochistan.

While hearing petitions on disappearances in January the Supreme Court ordered the police to allow families of the disappeared to file their complaints. After further obstacles we are told that Mrs Nazi was able to file an FIR for Marri's disappearance on 10 February at the HITE (Hub Industrial and Trading Estate) police station, which is near the area of his abduction. Police have yet to launch an investigation.

Marri's name has since appeared in various lists of missing persons, including the latest list (of 65 persons) issued by National Crises Management Cell of the government, and in a Balochistan list of the disappeared (at No. 1060, seen pictured here along with a press statement made by the victims mother on 28 March 2010).

However on 27 March Marri was produced at a press conference, called by Colonel Asad Shehzad Khatak of the FC. The colonel claimed that Marri was captured crossing the Afghan border illegally while carrying Indian rupees, explosives and a number of cell phones bearing SIM cards from of Afghanistan, India and Pakistan. He claimed that Marri has confessed to involvement in the murder of six Chinese engineers as an active member of the Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA), a banned organisation. The detainee's family report that he looked thin, unwell and scared; journalists noted that he was not able to walk properly and appeared to be in pain. He was not allowed to speak with them. The situation bears strong signs of illegal detention and torture among other violations, and the AHRC is extremely doubtful that he will be given a fair trial.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:

Disappearances have become endemic in Balochistan, even after military offensives were suspended in 2008 by the current government. The list of the missing maintained by the NCMC shows that 65 persons have disappeared since the civilian government took power, when law and order was largely handed to the FC. The AHRC has reported many of these cases, including UAC-041-2009 http://www.ahrchk.net/ua/mainfile.php/2009/3145/, in which three political activists were arrested by the FC from the office of a lawyer and days later, were found brutalized and murdered in a remote area; a year on, no one has been held to account for their deaths. In Balochistan the hallmarks of such arbitrary arrests are plain clothed persons in red or white Toyotas without number plates.

BACKGROUND INFORMATION:

In July last year during a meeting with the Indian prime minister in Egypt, the Pakistan prime minister announced its conviction that India is involved in the Balochistan independence movement, something it has often hinted. Many of the recent disappearances and false arrests appear to be linked to the increased pressure felt by law enforcement agents to provide evidence to support this claim. Please read more about the issue – from the uncovering of secret torture cells to violations committed against the Baloch student population – in our statements, such as STM-157-2009, STM-019-2010  and STM-158-2008 

SUGGESTED ACTION:

Please write to the authorities below insisting on a thorough, transparent and impartial investigation into the operation of the Frontier Corp in Balochistan, holding to account the persons responsible for the arbitrary arrest and detention of Mr. Murad Khan Marri.

The AHRC is writing a separate letter to the UN Working Group on Enforced and Involuntary Disappearances, the working group on arbitrary detention, calling for his intervention into this case.

To support this appeal please click here:
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SAMPLE LETTER:

Dear __________,

PAKISTAN: The Frontier Corp bring a disappeared person in front of the media after nine months under fabricated circumstances

Name of victim:
Mr. Murad Khan Marri, son of Wazir Marri, 45. Resident of Sakran Road, Hub Chowki,
Lasbela District, Balochistan province.

Name of alleged perpetrators:
Colonel Asad Shehzad Khatak and officers of the Frontier Corp, Quetta; police officers at the HITE, Hub Chowkie and Airport police stations, Quetta, Balochistan.

Date of incident: June 27, 2009 and March 27, 2010
Place of incident: Quetta; and Hub Chowki, Lasbella in Balochistan

I am writing to voice my deepest concern regarding the implication of a missing person in false cases of murder and terrorism, nine months after he was seen being abducted.

According to my information Mr. Marri was arrested by uniformed and plain clothed persons on Sakran Road near the Aachar Hotel in Hub Chowki, Balochistan on 27 June 2009; he was reportedly loaded into a red Toyota that had no number plate.

Attempts to file an FIR at the Hub Chowki police station were denied his family and the victim's mother Mrs. Nazi filed a constitutional petition in the High Court of Balochistan on 17 August 2009. Mr. Marri's name has since appeared in various lists of missing persons, including the latest list (of 65 persons) issued by National Crises Management Cell of the government, and in a Balochistan list of the disappeared (No. 1060).

I understand that while hearing petitions on disappearances in January the Supreme Court ordered the police to allow families of the disappeared to file their complaints, and - after further obstacles – Mrs Nazi filed an FIR on 10 February at the HITE police station. I'd like to know why police failed to launch an investigation.

Furthermore it has surprised me greatly to hear that on 27 March Mr. Marri was produced at a press conference called by Colonel Asad Shehzad Khatak of the FC, in which the colonel claimed that the detainee was captured crossing the Afghan border illegally while carrying Indian rupees, explosives and a number of cell phones bearing SIM cards from Afghanistan, India and Pakistan.

According to the colonel Marri has confessed to involvement in the murder of six Chinese engineers as an active member of the Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA), a banned organization.

The detainee's family report that he looked thin, unwell and scared; journalists noted that he was not able to walk properly and appeared to be in pain. He was not permitted to speak with them. The situation bears strong signs of illegal detention and torture among other violations, and I have little faith that the administration of justice in this case will ensure a fair trial.

I demand to know where Mr. Marri has been kept for nine months, and on what grounds, and hope you will ensure that the suspicious circumstances of his arrest and likely torture are thoroughly and credibly investigated by an independent authority. He must not become a victim of political posturing under the guise of national security concerns.

I also ask that you join me in requesting an explanation for the arrest of four of Mr. Marri's relatives on March 28, who I understand were kept in Airport police station, Quetta by the FC for three days after they tried to visit the detainee.

I'm sure that you are aware how little the events in this case bear resemblance to the criminal proceedings of the criminal court of Pakistan, or indeed any procedure at all. I trust that this incident will be investigated and resolved according to the international norms and standards that Pakistan, through the ratification of numerous human rights laws and conventions, has pledged to uphold.

Yours sincerely,


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PLEASE SEND YOUR LETTERS TO:

1. Prime Minister
Prime Minister House
Islamabad
PAKISTAN
Fax: +92 51 922 1596
Tel: +92 51 920 6111 +92 51 920 6111 +92 51 920 6111 +92 51 920 6111 +92 51 920 6111 +92 51 920 6111 +92 51 920 6111 +92 51 920 6111
E-mail: secretary@cabinet.gov.pk

2. Mr.Syed Mumtaz Alam Gillani
Federal Minister for Human Rights
Ministry of Human Rights
Old US Aid building
Ata Turk Avenue
G-5, Islamabad
PAKISTAN
Fax: +9251-9204108
Email: sarfraz_yousuf@yahoo.com

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

4. Minister of Law
Government of Punjab
Punjab Secretariat
Ravi Road
Lahore
PAKISTAN
Fax: +92-42-99212004
E-mail: law@punjab.gov.pk

5. Nawab Aslam Raisani
Chief Minister of Balochistan
Chief Minister House, Quette,
PAKISTAN
Fax: +92 81 920 2240
Tel: +92 81 449582 / 440661
E-mail: mirlashkari@yahoo.com

6. Nawab Zulfiqar Magsi
Governor of Balochistan
Governor House Balochistan,
Quetta- Balochistan province,
PAKISTAN
Fax: +92 81 920 2992

7. Chief Secretary
Government of Balochistan
Quetta, Balochistan province
PAKISTAN
Fax: +92 81 9202132

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Thank you.

Urgent Appeals Programme
Asian Human Rights Commission (ua@ahrchk.org)


Document Type :
Urgent Appeal Case
Document ID :
AHRC-UAC-036-2010
Countries :
Issues :
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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.