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PAKISTAN: A parliamentarian arranges the arrest and torture of a man's mother and other relatives in response to a love marriage

September 16, 2009

ASIAN HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION – URGENT APPEALS PROGRAMME

Urgent Appeal Case: AHRC-UAC-120-2009



17 September 2009
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PAKISTAN: A parliamentarian arranges the arrest and torture of a man's mother and other relatives in response to a love marriage

ISSUES: Illegal detention; torture; administration of justice
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Dear friends,

The Asian Human Rights Commission has received information about a case in which six close relatives of a man have been arrested, tortured and falsely charged in response to his love marriage to a higher caste woman. The woman's family (which includes powerful Punjab assembly member Iftekhar Baloch) is alleged to be behind their arrest and abuse. Baloch is notorious for committing human rights violations in the area; he featured in an AHRC urgent appeal earlier this year accused of arranging and directing police torture in another case of love marriage yet remains unchallenged. No legitimate evidence against the detainees has been produced and the groom's mother currently stands charged, ludicrously, with rape. The couple is in hiding, under the threat of death.

CASE DETAILS:

According to reports from the Star Welfare Association, a local NGO, Ms. Akhteri Bibi married Mr. Mohammad Ashraf by choice in June 2008. Since she was meant to have married a cousin, the ceremony took place without her family knowing, but the marriage was endorsed at the Lahore High Court later that month. Ashraf is not from the same tribe as Akhteri and his family is not nearly as wealthy.

However the bride and her former fiancé, Mr. Ijaz Baloch, are the cousins of Mr. Iftekhar Baloch, a member of the PML-N, the ruling provincial party. The latter was recently behind the arrest and extensive torture of six others after another of his female cousins married a less wealthy man; he also abducted and allegedly raped the groom's 16-year-old sister (see UAC-051-2009 and below). Ijaz Baloch works at his cousin's office.

Six months after this latest marriage, Akhteri Bibi's family found out about it, and shortly after, on 18 December Massan police officers (Jhang disctrict) arrested and detained Ashraf's mother, Mrs Allah Wasai, his father, Mr. Punnu Khan, his brothers Mr. Mirza Punnu Khan, Mr. Ramzan and his two uncles, Mr. Sher Syed and Mr. Muhammad Khan, without charge. The couple escaped from the city and have taken shelter in the north where the police network is weaker.

After twelve days of illegal detention and alleged torture in a bid to find the couple, the Massan police filed cases of theft and trespassing (FIR of 345/08) against the mother, her husband, brothers and sons, plus the groom and another of his uncles in absentia. The complainant was the bride's former fiancee, Ijaz Baloch and the charge sheet read that the eight had stormed his house, beaten his newlywed wife and stolen valuables. With it, the police were able to get 15 further days of remand from the local civil court, and the detainees were again severely abused.

Police then reportedly amended the FIR. It now claims that Ijaz Baloch's wife, Mrs. Rehana, was also raped during the raid and it still clumsily features all the names of the accused, thus charging the mother with the rape too.

We are told that the Jhang additional session judge has been under pressure from Iftekhar Baloch to keep renewing the detention orders, despite there being no evidence against the victims. So far only Ashraf's mother has been released on bail; the rest are reportedly being held in Jhang Central Jail, and have been told that they won't be set free until the persecuted couple return.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:

Mr. Iftekhar Baloch is the provincial leader of the PML-N party and is head of the powerful Baloch tribe in the central and southern parts of Punjab. He already extensively abused his powers and broke the law this April when he arranged for the in-laws of his cousin Khulsoom to be arrested and severely tortured; the groom and one of his relatives was particularly brutalized, including being raped. We have reported a twenty-day timeline of the abuse of one of these victims, Mr Shafiq Dogar. The groom's 16-year-old sister Shazia was witnessed being taken away in Baloch's car and was kept in private captivity for 20 days, during which she was also allegedly raped (see the original appeal, UAC-051-2009; STM-116-2009, The life of a 16-year-old girl is in danger after her abduction by a member of the assembly; or STM-122-2009, a Chilling Tale of Police Torture).

Though an AHRC Urgent Appeal notified the Chief Justice of the Lahore High Court, who then ordered the release of the groom's relatives and various FIRs to be filed, the legal process has not been taken any further. Had it been, Akhteri, Ashraf and his relatives would likely not have been subject to police-led torture and trauma, and Baloch's previous victims would be on a route to redress, rather than being impoverished and in hiding, as they are now. This entrenched, deepening corruption in the police force and in parliament continues to damage and destroy the lives of normal Pakistanis, and make a mockery of their legal system, and in turn, their country.

SUGGESTED ACTION:

Please write letters to the authorities below urging them to release the family of Mohammad Ashraf, compensate them appropriately and charge those accused with their illegal arrest and torture, including Mr. Iftekhar Baloch. Please ask for protection to be provided for the couple, so they can return home in safety.

The AHRC has written to the UN Special Rapporteurs on torture, violence against women and the independence of judges and lawyers, as well as the Working Group on arbitrary detention, asking for their intervention.

To support this appeal please click here:

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SAMPLE LETTTER:

Dear [salutation],

Re: PAKISTAN: A parliamentarian arranges the arrest and torture of a man's mother and other relatives in response to a love marriage

Names of the victims:
1. Ms. Akhteri Bibi, 25; the bride.
2. Mr. Mohammad Ashraf, 27; the groom; son of Punu Khan.
3. Mrs Allah Wasai; mother of Mohammad Asharaf.
4. Mr. Punnu Khan; son of Shera and father of the groom.
5. Mr. Mirza Punnu Khan; son of Punnu and brother of the groom.
6. Mr. Ramzan; son of Punnu and brother of the groom.
7. Mr. Sher Syed; son of Shera and paternal uncle of the groom.
8. Mr. Muhammad Khan; son of Shera and paternal uncle of the groom.
All resident of Chak Balochan, Massan police station, Jhang district, Punjab.

Names of the perpetrators:
1. Mr. Mohammad Ijaz Baloch; son of Syed Baloch; resident of Chak Balochan, Massan police station, Jhang district, Punjab.
2. Mr. Iftekhar Baloch, Member of Punjab provincial Assembly; resident of Shah Jewna, Jhang district, Punjab.
3. Station Head officer (SHO); Massan Police station, Jhang district, Punjab.

Place of incident: Massan Police station and Jhang Central Jail, Jhang district, Punjab
Date of incident: 18 December 2008 to present

I am extremely disturbed to hear about a case in which six close relatives of a man have been arrested, tortured and falsely charged without evidence, in response to his love marriage to a higher caste woman in Punjab. The woman's family (which includes powerful Punjab assembly member Iftekhar Baloch) is alleged to be behind their arrest and abuse. The couple is in hiding.

After twelve days of illegal detention and alleged torture by the Massan police, cases of theft and trespassing were filed against the groom's mother, her husband, brothers and sons, plus the groom and another of his uncles in absentia, all named above. The complainant was the bride's former spurned fiancee, Ijaz Baloch and the charge sheet read that the six had stormed his house, beaten his newlywed wife and stolen valuables. I am told that police then reportedly amended the FIR. It now claims that Ijaz Baloch's wife, Mrs. Rehana, was also raped during the raid and it still clumsily features all the names of the accused, thus charging the mother with the rape too.

I am told that the Massan police and the Jhang additional session judge are bending under pressure from Iftekhar Baloch to keep renewing the detention orders, and abusing the detainees. No evidence has been produced against the victims, and so far only Ashraf's mother has been released on bail. The rest have been told that they will stay in Jhang prison until the persecuted couple return. I am told that the six victims showed evidence of torture during their first 12-day illegal detention to the judge in the Jhang civil court, and were ignored.

Baloch, is notorious for committing human rights violations in the area – he featured in an previous urgent appeal by the Asian Human Rights Commission earlier this year accused of arranging and directing police torture in another case of love marriage, and abducting and raping the groom's 16 year old sister among other allegations – yet he remains unchallenged and at large. Though an Urgent Appeal helped the intervention of the Chief Justice of the Lahore High Court, who ordered the release of the groom's relatives and various FIRs to be filed, the legal process has not been taken further.

This sends out a very clear message about the value and strength of the law in Pakistan: it seems it can be trodden upon by anyone with power and wealth.

Had Iftekhar Baloch and his hold over the region's police officers and judiciary been thoroughly investigated and dealt with earlier this year Akhteri, Ashraf and his relatives would likely not have been subject to police-led torture and trauma, and Baloch's previous victims would be on a route to redress, rather than being impoverished and in hiding, as they are now.

I, therefore, urge upon you to secure the safe and swift release of the five men still imprisoned and the immediate protection of the couple, currently in hiding from both police, relatives and religious fundamentalists. Those directly and indirectly responsible for their torture and illegal detention must be thoroughly investigated and taken before the law, and compensation must be arranged for the victims.
Iftekhar Baloch must be immediately removed from his position during this investigation, and the ties between him, his fellow parliamentarians and the law enforcement officers in the region thoroughly investigated.

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: secretary@cabinet.gov.pk

2. 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. 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: sarfaraz_yousuf@yahoo.com

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

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

7. Mr. Salman Taseer
Governor of Punjab
Governor House
Mall Road
Lahore
PAKISTAN

8. Dr. Faqir Hussain
Registrar
Supreme Court of Pakistan
Constitution Avenue
Islamabad
PAKISTAN
Fax: + 92 51 9213452
E-mail: mail@supremecourt.gov.pk
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Thank you.
Urgent Appeals Programme
Asian Human Rights Commission (ua@ahrc.asia)

Document Type :
Urgent Appeal Case
Document ID :
AHRC-UAC-120-2009
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.