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PAKISTAN: Threat of death of a young couple under the name of honour killing

June 30, 2008

[NOTICE: The AHRC has developed this automatic letter-sending system using the "button" below. However, in this appeal, we could not include e-mail addresses of some of the Pakistan authorities. We encourage you to send your appeal letters via fax or post to those people. Fax numbers and postal addresses of the Pakistan authorities are attached below with this appeal. Thank you.]

ASIAN HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION - URGENT APPEALS PROGRAMME

Urgent Appeal Case: AHRC-UAC-144-2008

30 June 2008
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PAKISTAN: Threat of death of a young couple under the name of honour killing

ISSUES: Honour killing; murder; judicial system; threats; impunity
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Dear friends,

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information that a young couple has been threatened with death because they married without the permission of their parents. Powerful persons of the tribe in question, with the support of police authorities have killed a prominent journalist and injured the younger brother of the bride groom who were hiding the couple. The police have not arrested any of the killers, even after three months. The alleged murderers, who were mentioned in the First Information Report (FIR), are roaming around freely. The couple is hiding in different places but is in serious danger as the tribal people are following them.

CASE DETAILS:

Mr. Mohammad Ibrahim, 26 years, and Ms. Zainab, 22 years, were legally married in Balochistan province on April 9, 2004, after returning from Jordan where they were born. The father of Ms. Zainab, Mr. Imdad Hussain Sealrho, was against the marriage of his daughter as he wanted to marry her to an old man for the settlement of some old dispute. However, Ms. Zainab was in love with Mr. Ibrahim and wanted to marry him. Mr. Imdad Hussain Sealrho is also the head of the Sealrho tribe. This tribe has a strong hold in Shahdad Kot, Sindh province and Hub Chowki in Balochistan province. The couple ran away from Jordan to Pakistan and were legally married in a court at Quetta, the capital of Balochistan province. After discovering that his daughter had married someone of her own choice, Mr. Imdad Hussain Sealrho, the father of Ms. Zainab, lodged a police case and filed a petition against Mr. Ibrahim that he had abducted his daughter and forced her to marry him. The Balochistan High Court on April 17, 2004, on the first hearing, dismissed the case as the couple was present there and they had produced copies of the court marriage. The tribal people were present and they threatened to take revenge upon Mr. Ibrahim. However, the couple managed to escape from there. After the court's decision, the elders of the Sealrho tribe decided in a Jirga, an illegal private court, to declare the girl as Kari and the boy as Karo. Kari and Karo is an old tribal tradition meaning that they could be subject to honour killing.

The couple, after knowing that they had been declared as Karo and Kari, left the country to settle in Malaysia, but having financial problems they came back again in 2006 to Pakistan. The couple again found it difficult to stay in Pakistan as the tribal armed persons were tracking them down. Ibrahim and Zainab once again tried to settle in Malaysia but again failed and had to return. As the news of their return to Pakistan was known to the family of Ms. Zainab, the tribe started to search any place where the couple might take shelter. The father of the girl found that the couple was staying at Hub Chowki, district Lasbella, Balochistan province, at the residence of Ibrahim's brother, Mr. Mohammad Ishaq, and a local journalist, Mr. Khadim Hussain Shaikh, staff reporter of Channel 5 television and the daily Khabrain, who were providing protection for the couple. On April 14, 2008, when journalist Khadim Hussain and Mohammad Alam were travelling in a car, assailants stopped the car and opened fire on the occupants. Mr. Khadim Hussain was shot dead on the spot but Mr. Mohammad Alam survived. The police station of Hub Chowki tried to avoid entering the First Information Report (FIR) but because it was the murder of a journalist the police filed a case of attack by unknown persons. When Mr. Mohammad Alam, brother of Ibrahim, regained consciousness, he named the 11 persons who were involved in the bloody attack. However the police have not yet arrested any of the accused persons who are present in the Hub area.

The couple has left the area and are taking shelter in different cities of the country. Whenever their presence is discovered by the tribal elders they attack the house or hotels where they take refuge. The provincial governments of Sindh and Balochistan are not providing protection for them and allow their lives to be put at the mercy of the tribal custom of murdering in the name of honour killings.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:

The custom of Karo Kari is an old traditional way of killing young women and men in the tribal and feudal based areas of Balochistan and Sindh provinces and in some border areas of Punjab province. It is reported that about 40 to 60 women are killed every year because of Kari. Generally, in land distribution disputes, the women of the tribal areas are made victims of Karo Kari. This is a kind of honour killing in which a woman is labeled as if she was having an illicit relationship with a man. Through the tribal court, the Jirga, women are murdered by relatives mainly, brother, father or husband. No case is instituted against the killer and police, under the influence of tribal leaders, usually do not file the case as murder. On the other hand, a man who is accused of having an illicit relationship with a woman, is generally fined to hand over the young girl from his family to the attacker or has to be killed for non- compliance of the order of the tribal court.

The different courts in Pakistan, including the Supreme Court and the Sindh High Court, have declared the Jirga courts as illegal and unconstitutional. Nonetheless, it is still a common practice in the feudal and tribal based areas. The honour killing of women is the favourite subject of the Jirgas who see punishing women as the best way to preserve Islamic society.

SUGGESTED ACTION:
Please write a letter to the authorities concerned. Urge them to provide protection for the couple who married of their own choice and demand that the government arrest the perpetrators who killed the journalist and injured the brother of the bridegroom. Also demand that action be taken against those who are not following the court order but threatening to kill the couple through the illegal court, the Jirga.

Please be informed that the AHRC has written a separate letter to the UN Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary execution calling for an immediate action in this case.

To support this appeal, please click here:

SAMPLE LETTER:

Dear _______,

PAKISTAN: Threat of death against a young couple under name of honour killing

Name of victims:
1. Mr. Mohammad Ibrahim; son of Mr. Mohammad Alam Sealrho; resident of Pathra 1, Sakram road, Hub Chowki, district Lasbella, Balochistan province; permanent address of Mohalla Shahiabad, near shahi Masjid, Frontier colony 3, SITE Town, Karachi-Sindh province
2. Ms. Zainab wife of Mr. Mohammad Ibrahim; resident of Pathra 1, Sakram road, Hub Chowki, district Lasbella, Balochistan province
3. Mr. Mohammad Ishaq; son of Mr. Mohammad Alam; resident of Pathra 1, Sakram road, Hub Chowki, district Lasbella, Balochistan province
Name of alleged perpetrators:Mr. Imdad Hussain Sealrho, chief of the Sealrho tribe and father of the bride, Ms. Zainab
Name of attackers mentioned in FIR number 66/2008 of Hub Chowki Police Station:
1. Ali Dost, son of Khuda Buksh
2. Hamal, son of Wahid Buksh
3. Zahid, son of Isa
4. Imdad Hussain, son of Misri Khan
5. Mehrab, son of Suhrab
6. Hussain, son of Imdad Hussain
7. Ghulam Qadir, son of Zafar Khan Sealrho
8. Sikander, son of Zafar Khan Sealrho
9. Mohammad Rafiq, son of Koral Khan
10. Mumtaz, son of Misri Khan
11. Yar Mohammad, son of Allah Buksh
12. Damir, son of Mehrab
(All are resident s of Pathra 1, Sakram road, Hub Chowki, district Lasbella, Balochistan province and Sealrho village, Shehdad Kot, Sindh province)
13. Station Head Office (SHO) of Hub Chowki police station, Distict Lasbella, Balochistan-Pakistan

I am deeply shocked to know that a young couple is threatened to be killed by powerful people on the charges that they married of their own choice. The powerful people of the tribe in question, with the support of police authorities have killed one prominent journalist and injured the younger brother of the bridegroom who were hiding the couple. Police have not yet arrested any killer after three months of the incident of murder. The alleged murderers, who were mentioned in the first information report (FIR), are free and were not apprehended. The couple is hiding in different places but no place is safe as tribal people follow them where ever they go. The government should take immediate notice of threats of assassination to young couples. Otherwise a couple will be made victims simply because of their choice in marriage.

As I know it, the details of the case are that Mr. Mohammad Ibrahim, 26 years, and Ms. Zainab, 22 years, were officially married in Balochistan province on April 09, 2004, after returning from Jordan where they were born .The father of Ms. Zainab, Mr. Imdad Hussain Sealrho, was against the choice of marriage of his daughter as he wanted to marry her daughter to an old man to settle some old dispute. Ms. Zainab was in love with Mr. Ibrahim and wanted to marry him. Mr. Imdad Hussain Sealrho is also head of the Sealrho tribe. This tribe has a strong hold in Shahdad Kot, Sindh province and Hub Chowki in Balochistan province.?The couple ran away from Jordan to Pakistan and had a court marriage at Quetta, the capital of Balochistan province. After knowing that his daughter had married of her own choice, Mr. Imdad Hussain Sealrho, father of Ms. Zainab, lodged a police case and filed a petition against Mr. Ibrahim. He alleged that he had abducted his daughter and forced her to marry him.The Balochistan High Court on April 17, 2004, on the first hearing, dismissed the case as the couple was present there and they had produced copies of the court marriage. The tribe people were present there and they threatened to take revenge on Mr. Ibrahim but the couple managed to escape.?After the court's decision, the elders of the Sealrho tribe decided in a Jirga, an illegal private court, to declare the girl as Kari and the boy as Karo. The Kari and Karo is an old tribal tradition for honour killing.

The couple, after knowing that they had been declared as Karo and Kari, left the country to settle in Malaysia, but having financial problems they could not stay settled there and came back again in 2006 to Pakistan. But the couple again found difficulties to staying as the tribal armed persons were chasing them. Ibrahim and Zainab then again went to Malaysia and were not able to stay further and returned.?As the news of their return to Pakistan was known to the family of Ms. Zainab, the tribe started to search every place where the couple can take shelter. The father of the girl found that couple was staying at Hub Chowki, district Lasbella, Balochistan province, at the residence of Ibrahim's brother, Mr. Mohammad Ishaq, and one local journalist, Mr. Khadim Hussain Shaikh, staff reporter of Channel 5 television and daily Khabrain,?who were providing?protection for the couple. On April 14, 2008, when journalist Khadim Hussain and Mohammad Alam were traveling in a car, the assailants stopped the car and opened fire on the occupants. Mr. Khadim Hussain was shot dead on the spot and Mr. Mohammad Alam survived with bullet holes to his body. The police station of Hub Chowki tried not to enter the First Information Report (FIR) but because it was the murder of a journalist the police filed a case of attack by unknown persons.

When Mr. Mohammad Alam, brother of Ibrahim,regained consciousness , he named the 11 persons who were involved in the bloody attack but police have not yet arrested any accused persons in the Hub area.

The couple has left the area taking shelter in different cities of the country. When ever their presence is known to tribal elders they attack the house or hotels where they have taken refuge. The provincial governments of Sindh and Balochistan are not providing protection for them and have put their lives at the mercy of the tribal custom of murder in the name of honour killings.
I hope your kind intervention in this case will save this couple and help them to survive like any  ?other ordinary citizen of Pakistan. We request that you arrest the perpetrators and bring them before the law of the country for the killing of a journalist and an attack on innocent citizens. I also hope that your good offices will take action against the usage of Jirga courts which do not have any legal basis under the constitution of Pakistan. If Jirgas are allowed to continue, then no woman or girl will have the freedom to follow their own choice. Finally, I again request you to provide full protection for the victims.

Yours sincerely,

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PLEASE SEND YOUR LETTERS TO:

1. General Pervez Musharraf
President
President's Secretariat
Islamabad
PAKISTAN
Fax: +92 51 922 1422, 4768/ 920 1893 or 1835
E-mail: (please see-> http://www.presidentofpakistan.gov.pk/WTPresidentMessage.aspx)

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
?lt;br />3. Mr. Farooq Naik
Minister of Law, Justice and Human Rights
S Block Pakistan Secretariat
Islamabad
PAKISTAN
Fax: +92 51 920 2628
E-mail: minister@molaw.gov.pk

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

5. Nawab Aslam Raisani
Chief Minister of Balochistan
Chief Minister House, Quette,
PAKISTAN
Fax: +92 81 920 2240

6. Dr. Ishrat-ul-Ebad Khan
Governor of Sindh province
Karachi
PAKISTAN
Fax: +92 21 920 5043
Tel: +92 21 920 1201

7. Syed Qaim Ali Shah
Chief Minister House
Karachi
PAKISTAN
Fax: +92 21 920 2000

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

Thank you.

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

Document Type :
Urgent Appeal Case
Document ID :
AHRC-UAC-144-2008
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.