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PAKISTAN: Love marriage greeted by the torture of a family; one girl is abducted by a Punjab MP

May 19, 2009

ASIAN HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION – URGENT APPEALS PROGRAMME

Urgent Appeal Case: AHRC-UAC-051-2009


20 May 2009
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PAKISTAN: Love marriage greeted by the torture of a family; one girl is abducted by a Punjab MP

ISSUES: Torture; abduction; illegal detention; disappearance
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Dear friends,

The Asian Human Rights Commission has received information that six members of a family, including three women and one young girl, were arrested on the instructions of a member of the Punjab provincial assembly (and Nawaz Sharif’s PML-N) in retaliation for a love marriage. All have been tortured severely by police in custody, with one man unable to walk. A seventh member of the family, a sixteen-year-old girl, has not been seen or heard of since her arrest, when she was sent away in a car with the parliamentarian. The AHRC believes she is in danger of being raped. Two men and one woman remain in Adiala Jail, Rawalpindi.

CASE DETAILS: (As related by the victims and local NGOs)

Miss Kulsoom Baloch, 25, belongs to a wealthy industrial family in Islamabad, which owns cotton mills and has ties to parliament. Her cousin Mr. Iftekhar Ahmed Baloch is a member of the Punjab assembly (MPA) and is a parliamentary secretary. The AHRC has been informed that Khulsoom’s family were enraged by her decision to marry Mr. Fazal Abbas, 29, who is from a less wealthy family. The pair were married in Sarghodha--Abbas’ home city 400km away--in a civil court on March 22, 2009.

On April 25 a First Information Report (FIR: a document of complaint) was filed against Abbas at the Airport Police Station in Rawalpindi (Punjab province) by Kulsoom’s brother, Mr Mehmood Ur Rehman. It charged Abbas with the girl’s abduction and rape, and the theft of her jewelry and cash.

Early the next morning Baloch, the MPA, with Mehmood Ur Rehman and Kulsoom’s brother-in-law Mr. Nasir Khan Baloch, along with Mr. Basheer, an assistant sub inspector (ASI) and other police officers, raided the house where Kulsoom was staying. She was beaten severely by each member of the raiding party and asked for the address of her husband’s office. Neighbors intervened and Kulsoom managed to escape.

The same group of men then visited the house of her in-laws in Iqbal colony, Sargodha. They forcefully entered the home and badly beat the women and girls there, asking again for the address of Abbas’ office. After some time, officers and the MPA arrived at the house with Abbas, who was reportedly bruised and bleeding.

They then forced Abbas and his sisters, Mrs Riffat Rani (wife of Shafiq Dogar); Miss Nadia, 19, who is a national badminton champion; Miss Shazia Riaz, 16; and Miss Nazia, 12, into three private cars. Shazia Riaz was loaded into a car with Iftekhar Ahmed Baloch, and has not been seen or heard from since.

At Airport Police Station, Rawalpindi, 400 km away, our reports allege that the three women and Fazal were badly and systematically beaten by Station House Officer (SHO) Mr. Choudhry Safdar and Assistant Sub-Inspector, Mr. Basheer. Basheer reportedly told Nadia that if she were to become his ‘friend’--suggesting some kind of sex act--he would give her certain concessions. The women’s clothing was torn, their hair was pulled and they were thrown against walls. The officers continually asked them where their daughter-in-law Kulsoom was hiding.

Baloch, the MPA, visited the station twice during that period, telling the women that unless they could lead the police to Kulsoom, he would never release Shazia from his personal custody.

After three or four days the women were produced before Mr. Azmat Ullah, a civil judge in Rawalpindi for remand and were charged with aiding the abduction of Kulsoom when she married their brother. Remand was granted, and the judge ignored the girls’ claims that they had been severely tortured. Nadia also tried telling the judge that since she was the national badminton champion he should consider the pride of the nation; he reportedly laughed at her.

In the meantime, on April 28, officers at Brana Police Station, Jhang, Punjab arrested Mr. Shafiq Dogar, the husband of Fazal’s elder sister, and charged him with stealing. The case was filed the next day. This police station lies in the electoral constituency of Iftekhar Ahmed Baloch, the MPA. On May 3 Dogar was taken by ASI Basheer of Rawalpindi and two of Kulsoom’s brothers, Mehmood ur Rehaman and Saif ur Rehman to the Airport Police Station, where he was beaten so badly he lost the use of his legs. He believes that they are broken, but has been given no medical care. On May 12 Dogar was produced in a wheel chair before the same civil judge, Mr. Azmat Ullah, who showed the same indifference to his injuries. He was released on bail for charges of theft, but remanded further on a new charge of aiding Kulsoom’s abduction.

After Dogar’s arrest on the 28th his wife was released from custody. Nadia and Nazia were released on bail on May 6, but when their mother, Mrs. Nasrin Akhtar, 50, collected them at Adiala jail in Rawalpindi, she was arrested. She was taken to the Airport Police Station and beaten by the same SHO and ASI, and bears the torture marks on her back and hands. She is currently in Adiala jail on the orders of civil judge Azmat Ullah.

The family have filed a case regarding the illegal arrest and torture, however the continuous arrest of family members and threats from the Baloch family have sent them into hiding across Pakistan, and they are unable to pursue their case.

SUGGESTED ACTION:

Please write to the relevant authorities demanding the immediate release of two men and one woman from Adiala Jail, and swift action against the officers responsible at Airport Police Station for the illegal arrests and torture. Please demand the immediate recovery of sixteen-year-old Shazia from private captivity, and the charging of her abductor, Iftekhar Ahmed Baloch. Please also demand that the Punjab provincial government take legal action against Baloch, MPA for the abuse of power. Please note that the Asian Human Rights Commission has already sent a letter to the UN Special Rapporteurs on torture and illegal detention, asking for their intervention.

To support this appeal please click here:

SAMPLE LETTER:

Dear _______

PAKISTAN: Love marriage greeted by the torture of a family; one girl is abducted by a Punjab MP

Names of the victims:
1. Miss Kulsoom, 25, wife of Fazal Abbas: beaten and threatened by police, currently in hiding
2. Mrs. Nasreen Akhtar, 50, mother of Fazal Abbas: tortured and detained in Adiala Jail, Rawalpindi
3. Mrs. Riffat Rani, wife of Mr. Shafiq Dogar: illegally arrested and tortured, now in hiding
4. Mr. Shafiq Dogar: has lost the use of his legs through torture, detained in Adiala Jail, Rawalpindi
5. Miss Nadia, 19, sister of Fazal Abbas and national badminton champion: illegally arrested, tortured, molested and now in hiding
6. Miss Shazia, 16, sister of Fazal Abbas: illegally arrested, beaten and abducted by MPA Iftekhar Ahmed Khan Baloch with the consent of the police
7. Miss Nazia, 12, sister of Fazal Abbas: illegally arrested, tortured, and now in hiding
8. Mr. Fazal Abbas, husband of Miss Kulsoom: illegally arrested, tortured, and detained in Adiala Jail, Rawalpindi
All resident of: House number 268, block ‘Y’, Iqbal Colony, Sargodha, Punjab province

Names of the perpetrators:
1. Mr. Iftekhar Ahmed Khan Baloch, Member of the Punjab Assembly, son of Haji Ahmed Khan, House number 557 S, Defence housing authority, Lahore Cantonment, Punjab province
And:
2. Mr. Mehmood ur Rehman, brother of Kulsoom
3. Mr. Saif ur Rehman, brother of Kulsoom,
4. Mr. Nasir Khan Baloch, brother in law of Kulsoom
All three resident of: House number, 204, street 21, block ‘C’, PWD housing society, Islamabad
And
5. Mr. Choudhry Safdar, Station house officer (SHO), Airport police station, Rawalpindi, Punjab province
6. Mr. Basheer, Assistant Sub Inspector (ASI), Airport police station, Rawalpindi, Punjab province
7. Mr. Azmat Ullah, civil judge, Rawalpindi

Places of incidents:
Iqbal colony, Sargodha, Punjab province
Jhang city, Jhang, Punjab province
Airport Police Station, Rawalpindi, Punjab province 

Date of incidents:
26 April 2009
28 April 2009

I am extremely disturbed to hear of the criminal harm done to one family by officers at Airport Police Station, Rawalpindi, along with one member of the Punjab Assembly and his relatives. According to the information I have received, six members of a family, including three women and a young girl, were arrested on the instructions of MPA Iftekhar Ahmed Khan Baloch in retaliation to a love marriage. All have been severely tortured by police in custody, with one man unable to walk. A seventh member of the family, a sixteen-year-old girl, has not been seen or heard of since her arrest, when Baloch took her away in a car. The AHRC believes she is in danger of being raped. Two men and one woman remains in Adiala Jail, Rawalpindi, the others are in hiding and unable to pursue the case of torture and illegal detainment that they have lodged.

According to the reports I have been given, Miss Kulsoom Baloch, 25 married Mr. Fazal Abbas, 29, who is from a less wealthy family, in Sarghodha--Abbas’ home city--in a civil court on March 22, 2009.

On April 25 a First Information Report (FIR: a document of complaint) was filed against Abbas at the Airport Police Station in Rawalpindi (Punjab province) by Kulsoom’s brother, Mr Mehmood Ur Rehman, charging Abbas with the girl’s abduction and rape, and the theft of her jewelry and cash.

Early the next morning Baloch, the MPA, with Mehmood Ur Rehman and Kulsoom’s brother-in-law Mr. Nasir Khan Baloch, along with Mr. Basheer, an assistant sub inspector (ASI) and other police officers, raided the house where Kulsoom was staying. She was beaten severely by each member of the raiding party and asked for the address of her husband’s office. Neighbors intervened and Kulsoom managed to escape.

The same group of men then visited the house of her in-laws in Iqbal colony, Sargodha, forcefully entered the home and badly beat the women and girls there, asking again for the address of Abbas’ office. After some time, officers and the MPA arrived at the house with Abbas, who was reportedly bruised and bleeding.

They then forced Abbas and his sisters, Mrs Riffat Rani (wife of Shafiq Dogar); Miss Nadia, 19, who is a national badminton champion; Miss Shazia Riaz, 16; and Miss Nazia, 12, into three private cars. Shazia Riaz was loaded into a car with Iftekhar Ahmed Baloch and has not been seen or heard from since.

At Airport Police Station, Rawalpindi, 400 km away, the reports allege that the three women and Fazal were severely and systematically beaten by Station House Officer (SHO) Mr. Choudhry Safdar and Assistant Sub-Inspector, Mr. Basheer. Basheer reportedly told Nadia that if she were to become his ‘friend’--suggesting some kind of sex act--he would give her certain concessions. The women’s clothing was torn, their hair was pulled and they were thrown against walls. The officers continually asked them where their daughter-in-law Kulsoom was hiding. Baloch, the MPA,also visited the station twice during that period, telling the women that unless they could lead the police to Kulsoom, he would never release Shazia from his personal custody.

After three or four days the women were produced before Mr. Azmat Ullah, a civil judge in Rawalpindi for remand and were charged with aiding the abduction of Kulsoom when she married their brother. Remand was granted, and the judge ignored the girls’ claims that they had been severely tortured. Nadia also tried telling the judge that since she was the national badminton champion he should consider the pride of the nation; he reportedly laughed at her.

In the meantime, on April 28, officers at Brana Police Station, Jhang, Punjab arrested Mr. Shafiq Dogar, the husband of Fazal’s elder sister, and charged him with stealing. The case was filed the next day. This police station lies in the electoral constituency of Iftekhar Ahmed Baloch, the MPA. On May 3 Dogar was taken by ASI Basheer of Rawalpindi and two of Kulsoom’s brothers, Mehmood ur Rehman and Saif ur Rehman to the Airport Police Station, where he was beaten so badly he lost the use of his legs. He believes that they are broken, but has been given no medical care. On May 12 Dogar was produced in a wheel chair before the same civil judge, Mr. Azmat Ullah, who showed the same indifference to his injuries. He was released on bail for charges of theft, but remanded further on a new charge of aiding Kulsoom’s abduction.

After Dogar’s arrest on the 28th his wife was released from custody. Nadia and Nazia were released on bail on May 6, but when their mother, Mrs. Nasrin Akhtar, 50, collected them at Adiala jail in Rawalpindi, she was arrested. She was taken to the Airport Police Station and beaten by the same SHO and ASI, and bears the torture marks on her back and hands. She is currently in Adiala jail on the orders of civil judge Azmat Ullah.

The family have filed a case regarding the illegal arrest and torture but the continuous arrest of family members and threats from the Baloch family have sent them into hiding across Pakistan, and they are unable to pursue their case.

I urge that you immediately intervene into this horrific display of police brutality. That senior police officers can confidently direct and participate in abductions, illegal arrests, arbitrary violence and torture in custody, should be a matter of deep shame to those who operate the system they work within. They must be fired and charged for their crimes.

As well as signing the UN Convention Against Torture in 2008, the Pakistan Penal Code itself is built to protect civilians from the greedy violence of the power hungry; be they parliamentarians, police officers or civilians. The rights enshrined in the constitution include the right to life and liberty, Article 9, the right for detainees to be produced before the court within 24 hours of arrest, Article 10 sub article 2, and the right to dignity and the inviolable privacy of home, 14, sub section (1). Article 14 (2) declares that no person in Pakistan shall be subjected to torture for the purpose of extracting evidence. I suggest that this information be made available in police stations in Pakistan, where it appears that knowledge of the constitution and of basic criminal procedure is lacking. This information should also be provided to those in the civil court of Rawalpindi, where judges such as Mr. Azmat Ullah, seem to operate regardless of the law and at the behest of politicians, with little or no care for broken legs or assaulted women in his court. I suggest that this judge be investigated and disbarred.

Nasreen Akhtar, Fazal Abbas, Shafiq Dogar must be instantly released from Adiala Jail and given the appropriate medical care for the torture sustained in prison. The civilians and parliamentary member responsible for their ordeal must be swiftly charged and tried. I demand that the Punjab provincial government take legal action against MPA Iftekhar Ahmed Khan Baloch for the abuse of his power, and the mockery he has made of his seat. Sixteen-year-old Shazia Abbas must be recovered unharmed from private captivity. All victims must be given protection, compensation and access to justice.

I look forward to hearing of your action in this matter.

Yours sincerely,
[fullname]
[country]



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PLEASE SEND YOUR LETTERS TO:
1. 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

2. 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

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

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

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

6. Dr. Faqir Hussain
Registrar
Supreme Court of Pakistan
Lahore
PAKISTAN

7. Mr. Salman Taseer
Governor of Punjab
Governor House
Mall Road, Lahore
PAKISTAN
Fax: +92 42 9200023
E-mail: governor.sectt@punjab.gov.pk 

8. Secretary of Law and Parliamentary affairs
Government of Punjab
Punjab Secretariat
Ravi Road
Lahore
PAKISTAN
E-mail: law@punjab.gov.pk 

9. Home secretary
Punjab Secretariat
Lahore
PAKISTAN
E-mail: home@punjab.gov.pk 

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



Document Type :
Urgent Appeal Case
Document ID :
AHRC-UAC-051-2009
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.