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PAKISTAN: A university vice chancellor is abducted; authorities prevent an official investigation

November 25, 2009

ASIAN HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION - URGENT APPEALS PROGRAMME

Urgent Appeal: AHRC-UAC-161-2009



25 November 2009
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PAKISTAN: A university vice chancellor is abducted; authorities prevent an official investigation

ISSUES: Disappearance; politics; administration of justice
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Dear friends,

The Asian Human Rights Commission has learned that twenty days after the abduction of a high profile scientist in the North West Frontier Province (NWFP), no official investigation has been held into his disappearance. Political agents in the federally administered tribal area have told the man's family not to lodge a criminal complaint, and his abduction is not being dealt with within the law. The area is under tight military control and no insurgents have claimed responsibility for the crime or issued demands. A government enquiry is immediately necessary and if the professor has been arrested his safety must be accounted for, his case made available for legal scrutiny, and those responsible for the events must be held accountable.

CASE DETAILS:

According to information we have received from the victim's family, Dr. Lutfullah Kakakhel was kidnapped on 6 November 2009 along with his driver and another employee. Dr. Kakakhel is the Vice-Chancellor of the Kohat University of Sciences and Technology (KUST) and former advisor to the NWFP governor.

On the day of his abduction the professor was traveling from Peshawar through Darra Adam Khel, a known militant stronghold, at around 6pm. The car was near a graveyard, a madrassa and an Islamic machinery school when it was stopped by seven armed men, who took the passengers' cell phones. Ten other people reportedly joined the armed group and demanded to know the identity of the professor. He and the two men were driven away in their car by the armed men shortly after, though the two employees were released 30 minutes later along the road. The whereabouts of Dr. Kakakhel remain unknown.

The family wanted to register a case with the police, but have been repeatedly advised not to by both the area's federal government's representative (the political agent of Orakzai) and the governor of the NWFP. Both have claimed that efforts are being made to find the doctor outside of the legal mechanism. No progress has been seen by the family and the political interference in the complaints procedure is illegal. The family must be allowed to exercise their right to file a case of disappearance through the courts and the authorities must be seen to be doing their utmost to locate the doctor and secure his safe release from detention, according to the law.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:

The area from which the Vice Chancellor was abducted has recently undergone severe military operations; many of its buildings have been demolished by artillery, soldiers patrol the streets and security checkpoints are frequent. Two months ago the government and army agencies announced that Darra Adam Khel had been cleared of militants.

Dr. Kakakhel is a renowned professor who has helped establish universities of science and technology across the province, particularly during his former role as advisor to the provincial government. Students and professors from various universities have held numerous protests against the clear lack of official action being taken in the case.

SUGGESTED ACTION:

Please write to the authorities below demanding that a lawful investigation be immediately launched into the professor's abduction, and urging his safe recovery.

The AHRC has written a separate letter to the Chairperson of the UN Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances.

To support this appear please click here:

SAMPLE LETTER:

Dear ___________,

Re: PAKISTAN: A university vice chancellor is abducted; authorities prevent an official investigation

Name of the victim: Dr. Lutfullah Kakakhel, Vice Chancellor, Kohat University of Science and Technology, 4- Shaheen Towm, House # 5, P.O. Tehkal Bala, Peshawar, North West Frontier Province (NWFP).

Date of incident: November 6, 2009
Place of incident: Darra Adam Khel, NWFP

I am writing to voice my deep concern regarding the lack of open investigation into the abduction and disappearance of Dr. Lutfullah Kakakhel, Vice Chancellor of the Kohat University of Science and Technology. I am told that Dr. Kakakhel was abducted on November 6, 2009 and that no case has been lodged regarding his disappearance.

I am shocked to hear that the NWFP authorities have not taken decisive action to search for him, or investigated the area from which he was abducted, though they claim that the perpetrators are unidentifiable. The area, Darra Adam Khel, remains under the tight control of security forces since operations there two months ago.

Furthermore I am told that the area's federal government's representative and the governor of the NWFP have both advised the family not to register a case with the police. Both have claimed that efforts are being made to locate the doctor outside of the law.

I consider the response of the authorities, and the political interference with the legal process highly questionable. Please intervene to bring this case into the open and to launch a lawful investigation that will ensure the safe recovery of Dr. Lutfullah Kakakhel, and criminal sanctions against those responsible for his abduction.

Yours sincerely,

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PLEASE SEND YOUR LETTERS TO:

1. Mr. Asif Ali Zardari
President
President's Secretariat
Islamabad
PAKISTAN
Fax: +92 51 9922 1422, 4768/ 9920 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 9922 1596
Tel: +92 51 9920 6111

3. Mr. Rehman Malik
Minister of Interior
Room No. 404, 4th Floor, R Block,
Pak Secretariat
Islamabad
PAKISTAN
Fax: +92 51 920 2624
Tel: +92 51 9921 2026
E-mail: minister@interior.gov.pk

4. Minister of Law, Justice and Human Rights
S Block Pakistan Secretariat
Islamabad -PAKISTAN
Fax: +92 51 9920 2628
E-mail: minister@molaw.gov.pk or naelaw786@hotmail.com

5. Mr. Amir Haider Khan
Chief Minister
Government of North West Frontier Province
Peshawar –PAKISTAN
FAX: +92-91-9210707

6. Mr. Basheer Ahmed Bilor
Senior minister
Government of North West Frontier Province
Peshawar
Pakistan
Fax: +92 91 921 2533
______________________

Thank you.

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

Document Type :
Urgent Appeal Case
Document ID :
AHRC-UAC-161-2009
Countries :
Issues :
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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.