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PAKISTAN: Police severely beat members of a Christian family after accusing a man of urinating on the Quran

September 18, 2009

ASIAN HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION – URGENT APPEALS PROGRAMME

Urgent Appeal Case: AHRC-UAC-123-2009

 

 

18 September 2009
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PAKISTAN: Police severely beat members of a Christian family after accusing a man of urinating on the Quran

ISSUES: Minorities; torture; police abuse
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Dear friends,

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information that four members of a Christian family were severely beaten by the police after their arrest on false charges of blasphemy. Police reportedly tortured them over a two-day period to try to extract forced confessions, releasing them only after being paid a substantial bribe. The family home was also ransacked by a mob, allegedly led by members of a banned Islamic organization, yet no arrests have been made for the crime. The family has been forced to flee the area.

CASE DETAILS:

According to information collected from the victims and various NGO and media sources the house of 65-year-old Mr. Lawrence was attacked by a crowd of around 300 persons armed with stones and wooden sticks at around midnight on September 11. Mr Lawrence is a barber and lives in a Christian Colony in Ghaziabad.

Eyewitnesses report that the attack was led by Muslim leaders from Sipah-e-Sahaba, an Islamic organization banned by the Pakistani government for its militant, sectarian nature. The mob leaders accused Mr. Lawrence of desecrating the Holy Quran.

Their charges were related to an incident two nights before, when the man had relieved himself on his rooftop. Splashes of urine had reportedly somehow made their way considerably distance into an adjacent neighbour's room and made contact with a Quran and other religious papers. These allegations were taken by the Muslim neighbour, Mr. Zubair Bihari, to mosque leaders, and a meeting was called. At the meeting it was confirmed that the allegations were impossible, yet Mr. Lawrence apologized nonetheless. He agreed to pay Kuffara – a kind of religious compensation.

However the mob violence followed and when the police arrived they chose to beat and arrest Mr Lawrence's nephew, Mr. Shakeel and his brother Mr. Johnson, while asking for the whereabouts of Mr Lawrence. The men were allegedly forced into the police van on the order of the station house officer (SHO) of Pakistan Bazar Ghaziabad police station and were taken to the house of Lawrence's son in law, Mr. Suleman, where the police arrested him and his younger brother.

All four were taken to the police station where they were severely beaten on the orders of the SHO. They were told to reveal the whereabouts of Mr. Lawrence and to confess to desecrating the Quran, and were forced to take the police to different places in search of the elderly man, who was finally found and arrested.

We are informed that while the four men have been released after paying Rs 50,000 in bribe money, Mr. Lawrence was detained in a small room near the police station in inhumane conditions. He was only released after the town mayor (Nazim) and office bearers of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM, a ruling partner of the Zardari government) managed to arrange it with the help of high police officials. They all maintain that there was no incident of blasphemy.

Mr. Lawrence has fled the city with his family but other Christians from the area remain extremely concerned about their own security, and are worried that unless the instigators of the attack are brought before the law, further violence against Christians could occur again soon.

Targeted attacks against religious minorities continue to be brought to the attention of the AHRC, with much of the brutality carried out by police officers. Yet the government of Pakistan continues to avoid taking effective action to better protect these minorities. Radical religious groups still enjoy the protection of the police and are rarely taken before the law. The government is urged to respect its citizens’ rights to freedom of thought, conscience and religion which are legally enshrined in Article 18 of the International Convenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) to which Pakistan is a signatory.

SUGGESTED ACTION:

Please write to the concerned authorities urging them to make sincere and effective progress in the legal protection of religious minority communities in Pakistan, and the implementation of existing laws. Please call for the arrest of the officers involved in the torture of Mr. Lawrence and his family and see that appropriate compensation is arranged.

Please be aware that the AHRC is also sending a letter to the United Nations Independent Expert on Minority Issues, requesting intervention in this case.

To support this appeal please click here:

 

 

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SAMPLE LETTER:

Dear __________,

PAKISTAN: Police severely beat members of a Christian family after accusing a man of urinating on the Quran

Names of victims:
1. Mr. Lawrence, 65; resident of Gali No. 10, Christian Colony, Ghaziabad, Orangi No. 11 ½,
Orangi Town, Karachi, Sindh province.
2. Mr. Shakeel, 17; nephew of Lawrence; resident of Gali No. 10, Christian Colony, Ghaziabad, Orangi No. 11 ½, Orangi Town, Karachi, Sindh province.
3. Mr. Johnson; brother of Lawrence; resident of Gali No. 10, Christian Colony, Ghaziabad, Orangi No. 11 ½, Orangi Town, Karachi, Sindh province.

Names of perpetrators:
1. Mr. Fayaz, Station House Officer (SHO); Pakistan Bazar police station,
Ghaziabad, Orangi town, Karachi, Sindh province.
2. Mr. Noami, Sipah-eSahaba member; resident of Ghaziabad, Orangi No. 11 ½,
Orangi Town, Karachi, Sindh province.
3. Mr. Mohammad Asghar, Sipah-eSahaba member; resident of Ghaziabad, Orangi No. 11 ½,
Orangi Town, Karachi, Sindh province.
4. Mr. Bilal, Sipah-eSahaba member; resident of Ghaziabad, Orangi No. 11 ½, Orangi Town, Karachi, Sindh province.

Place of Incident: Christian Colony, Orangi town, Karachi, Sindh and Pakistan Bazar Ghaziabad police station.
Date of Incident: September 11, 2009.

I am writing to convey my deep shock on learning about another incident of violence and fabricated charges against Christians – largely perpetrated by police officers – in Karachi, Pakistan's largest commercial and industrial city.

On September 11 a 65-year-old Christian was charged with desecrating the Quran. The charge was ludicrous – it was alleged that he had urinated on the roof of his house one evening and that the urine had somehow traveled into an adjacent property and splashed a Quran – the area's religious leaders agreed that the charges were baseless, and arranged a settlement.

At around midnight on September 11, a mob of 250 to 300 persons reportedly led by three persons from Sipah-e-Sahaba gathered outside Mr. Lawrence’s house and attacked it with stones. The Pakistan Bazar police chose not to investigation, but to instead subject four of the man's relatives to severe custodial beatings, so that they would confess to blasphemy charges and lead them to Mr Lawrence. This was all reportedly done under the orders of the Station Head Officers. We are told that Mr Lawrence was eventually found, and illegally detained, while the other four men paid Rs 50,000 to be released. Mr. Lawrence himself was rescued by the town mayor (Nazim) and office bearers of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement, who managed to arrange it with the help of high police officials. They all maintain that there was no incident of blasphemy.

Targeted attacks against religious minorities continue to be brought to my attention, with much of the brutality carried out by police officers. Yet the government of Pakistan continues to avoid taking effective action to better protect these minorities. Radical religious groups still appear to enjoy the protection of the police and are rarely taken before the law.

I urge you once again to ensure that the blasphemy laws are repealed and that protection is provided for the inhabitants of the Christian colony in Ghaziabad, Karachi. Those alleged to have instigated religious violence must be investigated, and the victims of the violence and illegal detainment must be compensated. Please also ensure that appropriate legal action is taken against the SHO of Pakistan Bazar police station for the utter abuse of his position.


Yours sincerely,

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PLEASE SEND YOUR LETTERS TO:

1. Mr. Syed Yousaf Raza Gilani
Prime minister of Pakistan
Prime Minister House
Islamabad
PAKISTAN
Fax: + 92 51 9221596

2. Syed Qaim Ali Shah
Chief Minister House
Karachi, Sindh Province
PAKISTAN
Fax: +92 21 920 2000
E-mail: pppsindh@yahoo.com

3. Mr. Muhammad Ayaz Soomro
Minister for Law, Parliamantry Affairs & Criminal Prosecution Service
Sindh Assembly Building,
Court road, Karachi, Sindh province
PAKISTAN
Fax: +92 21 9211982
E-mail: secy.law@sindh.gov.pk

4. Chief Justice of Sindh High Court
High Court Building
Saddar, Karachi
Sindh Province
PAKISTAN
Fax: +92 21 9213220
E-mail: info@sindhhighcourt.gov.pk

5. Ms. Nadia Gabol
Minister for Human Rights
Government of Sindh,
Pakistan secretariat, Barrack 92,
Karachi, Sindh Province
PAKISTAN
Fax: +92 21 9207044
Tel: +92 21 9207043
E-mail: lukshmil@yahoo.com

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
Sindh Province,
Police Head office, I. I. Chundrigar road
Karachi, Sindh Province
PAKISTAN
Fax: +92 21 9212051
E-mail: ppo.sindh@sindhpolice.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-123-2009
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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.