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PAKISTAN: Government of Punjab kept four teenagers and a man in illegal detention on Blasphemy charge

May 6, 2009

ASIAN HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION - URGENT APPEALS PROGRAMME

Urgent Appeal Case: AHRC-UAC-045-2009



6 May 2009
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PAKISTAN: Government of Punjab kept four teenagers and a man in illegal detention on Blasphemy charge

ISSUES: Illegal detention; medical treatment; threats; false charges
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Dear friends,

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information that four children were illegally arrested under the blasphemy laws on January 28, 2009. They are in dangerous health conditions in the jail and their parents are not allowed to visit them according to jail policy. One, Mohammad Irfan son of Mukhtar Ahmed, 15 years of age came down with typhoid fever due to the jail's inhuman, unsanitary conditions. His health is in a precarious state with the jail authorities not allowing him to see a doctor. The detention of the four children has been proved illegal. The senior police officer has submitted a report to the government of Punjab province that the children are innocent and charges of blasphemy as arrested, accused persons are baseless. It is reported that the government of Punjab did not want to annoy Muslim fundamentalists, who are allies of the provincal government, as they will create problems for the government.

CASE DETAILS:

Four students from grades nine and ten of the Superior Academy and Mr. Mubashar Ahmed had been arrested on January 28, 2009. Charges were made that they wrote the name of the last prophet of Islam, peace be upon him, on the walls of a toilet in a mosque. (See further: AHRC-STM-022-2009) The students are Muhammad Irfan (14), son of Muhammad Mukhtar, Tahir Imran (16), son of Abdul Ghaffar, Tahir Mehmood (14), son of Muhammad Aslam and Naseer Ahmed (14), son of Nasrullah. All five are from the Ahmedi community, a minority sect of Islam. It was declared infidel for making amendments in the constitution. The five are victims of the Punjab provincial government working against the Ahmediah sect by holding a conference against the community. On April 11, 2009, the provincial government arranged a conference on the finalization of prophethood and a resolution was passed to purge all officials from the provincial government who are from the Ahmediah sect.

The whole process of the arrest of four students and one aged person was illegal because an investigation, mandated by law prior to the registration of a blasphemy case, was not held. According to an amendment made by parliament in 2004 in section 295-C of the constitution, police officials, not less than senior superintendent of police, are obligated to thoroughly investigate accusations of blasphemy before presenting criminal charges. But police, under the pressure from Muslim fundamentalists' groups, have not followed the due process of law and arrested five persons. The provincial police, under threats of strike and agitation, made no investigation for almost one and half months just to please the fundamentalists' groups. The Layyah district police also have not made any investigation, in spite of the fact, that the case was registered in the same district. This was again due to violent reaction from the Muslim groups. The senior superintendent of police (SSP) of another district, the Rajan Pur, Mr. Pervez Rathore was assigned to conduct the investigation and prepare a report in which the police will submit a challan (case diary) in the court against the accused persons. The SSP, after thorough investigation, declared that the case of Blasphemy against the accused students and a man, was false. It had no base and the accused persons were to be released as no bad intentions were involved. The report was sent to the ministry of the interior, government of Punjab, at the end of March 2009 for the withdrawal of the cases against the five accused persons on blasphemy charges.

The report from the senior police officer is still waiting for action from the government of Punjab since January 28. In addition, another illegal process has surfaced because according to the law, police have to produce challan (case diary) immediately after the investigation is completed. The government has stopped producing students before the magistrate's court and parents are still not allowed to visit their children in jail. One student, Mohammad Irfan, contracted typhoid fever and the others are suffering from several other diseases. On the instruction of the first class magistrate, Layyah, the provincial police have to submit the challan on April 28. However, it was again deferred to May 12. The local police say that they could not submit challan as they are waiting for instructions from the government of Punjab. The Layyah district police fears that if they release all the students then Muslim fundamentalist groups will resort to violence and kill the accused persons.

SUGGESTED ACTION:
Please write to the concerned authorities to immediately release the four students and one man illegally arrested on false charges of Blasphemy. Please also urge the authorities to file cases against the complainants who accused the five persons using false information.

Please be informed that the AHRC has written a separate letter to the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention and Special Rapporteur on freedom of religion or belief calling for intervention in this matter.

To support this appeal, please click here:

SAMPLE LETTER:

Dear ________,

PAKISTAN: Government of Punjab kept four teenagers and a man in illegal detention on Blasphemy charge

Name of victims:
1. Muhammad Irfan (14), son of Muhammad Mukhtar
2. Tahir Imran (16), son of Abdul Ghaffar
3. Tahir Mehmood (14), son of Muhammad Aslam
4. Naseer Ahmed (14), son of Nasrullah
5. Mr. Mubashar Ahmed, 45
(All are residents of Chak no. 172, TDA in Layyah district, Punjab province-PAKISTAN)
Names of alleged perpetrators:
1. Dr. Muhammad Azam, the district police officer (DPO) of Layyah District, Punjab province-Pakistan
2. Inspector Khalid Rauf, station head officer (SHO) of Kot Sultan police satation, Layyah district, Punjab province-Pakistan
3. Mr. Shahbaz, a government school teacher and a leader of the anti-Ahmadi sect movement, Gulzare Madina Mosque, Layyah district, Punjab province-Pakistan
4. Mr. Liaquat, Gulzare Madina Mosque, Layyah district, Punjab province-Pakistan

It is shocking to me that in the Islamic Republic of Pakistan minorities are treated as third class citizens. They have not been provided legal remedies according to the law and the constitution of the country. The Blasphemy laws have become a tool in the hands of fundamentalist groups and the local police are held hostage to them. In this case, four teenagers and a man from the Ahmediah sect of Islam were arrested and charged citing the Blasphemy laws. These actions were carried out without any investigation by the police who are required by law to do so according to an amendment in article 295 C of the Pakistan Penal Code.

According to information received, the four students from grades nine and ten of the Superior Academy and Mr. Mubashar Ahmed were arrested on January 28, 2009 on charges of writing the name of the last prophet of Islam, peace be upon him, on the walls of a toilet in a mosque. The students and aged person are from the Ahmedi community, a minority sect of Islam. They are victims of the Punjab provincial government which is working against the Ahmediah sect by holding a conference against the community. On April 11, 2009, the provincial governmen arranged a conference on finalization of prophethood and a resolution was passed to purge all officials from the provincial government who are from the Ahmediah sect.

I am very much concerned that the whole process of the arrest of four students and one aged man was illegal. An investigation, mandated by law, prior to the registration of a blasphemy case, was not held. This is necessary according to an amendment made by the parliament in 2004 in section 295-C, which states that police officials, not less than senior superintendent of police, are obligated to thoroughly investigate accusations of blasphemy before bring criminal charges. But police under pressure from some fundamentalists' groups, have not followed the due process of law and have arrested five persons. The provincial police, under threats of strike and agitation attempted to please the fundamentalists' groups.

It is of grave concern to me that the Layyah district police have not investigated despite the fact that the case was registered in the same district because of violent reactions from Muslim groups. The senior superintendent of police (SSP) of another district, the Rajan Pur, Mr. Pervez Rathore was assigned to conduct the investigation and prepare a report in which the police have to submit a challan (case diary) to the court against the accused persons. The SSP, after thorough investigation, declared that the case of Blasphemy against the accused students and a man, was false, had no base and the accused persons were to be released. At the end of March 2009 cases against the five accused persons on blasphemy charges were withdrawn..

The report from the senior police officer is still waiting action from the government of Punjab since January 28. As a result another illegal process surfaced from the provincial police, as according to law, police have to produce challan (case diary) immediately after an investigation is completed. The government has stopped producing students before the magistrate's court and parents are still not allowed to visit their children in jail. One student, Mohammad Irfan contracted typhoid fever and others are suffering from other several diseases. On the instruction of the first class magistrate, Layyah, provincial police have to submit the challan on April 28. However, it was deferred to May 12. The local police say that they could not submit challan because they are waiting for instructions from the government of Punjab. The Layyah district police fear that if all the accused are released, then Muslim fundamentalist groups will resort to violence and kill the accused persons.

I hope that your intervention in this case will provide redress to the victims, four of whom are under 15 years of age and facing charges of a very serious nature including the death penalty for Blasphemy. If this case is not taken up at your level, it will most certainly make a bad name for an Islamic country and Islamic law in the civilized world.

I request that you release all of the accused immediately and punish the perpetrators for lodging false First Information Reports at the police station.

Thank you.

Yours sincerely,

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PLEASE SEND YOUR LETTERS TO:

1. Mr. Asif Ali Zardari
President of Pakistan
President's Secretariat
Islamabad
PAKISTAN
Fax: +92 51 922 1422, 4768/ 920 1893 or 1835

2. Mr. Syed Yousaf Raza Gillani
Prime minister
Prime Minister House, Islamabad,
PAKISTAN
Fax: +92 51 922 1596
Tel: +92 51 920 6111
E-mail: webmaster@infopak.gov.pk

3. Mr. A Rehman Malik
Minister for Interior
R Block Pak Secretariat
Islamabad
PAKISTAN
Tel: +92 51 9212026
Fax: +92 51 9202624
E-mail: ministry.interior@gmail.com or interior.complaintcell@gmail.com

4. Mr. Mian Shahbaz Sharif
Chief Minister of Punjab
H-180 Model Town, Lahore
PAKISTAN
Fax: +92 42 5881383

5. Minister of Law
Government of Punjab
Punjab Secretariat
Ravi Road
Lahore
PAKISTAN
E-mail: law@punjab.gov.pk

6. Mr. Syed Hamid Saeed Kazmi
Minister for Religious Affairs
Islamabad
PAKISTAN
Tel: +92 51 9214856 / 9206982
Fax: +92 51 9213593
E-mail: mra.hajj@gmail.com

7. Chief Secretary of Government of Punjab
Punjab Secretariat
Lahore
PAKISTAN
Fax: +92 42 7324489
E-mail: chiefsecy@punjab.gov.pk

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

Thank you.

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

Document Type :
Urgent Appeal Case
Document ID :
AHRC-UAC-045-2009
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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.