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PAKISTAN: Death sentence of a man without legal representation; execution scheduled for Wednesday morning

October 5, 2008

ASIAN HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION - URGENT APPEALS PROGRAMME

Urgent Appeal Case: AHRC-UAC-221-2008

5 October 2008
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PAKISTAN: Death sentence of a man without legal representation; execution scheduled for Wednesday morning

ISSUES: Death penalty; access to lawyer; administration of justice; rule of law
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Dear friends,

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received an appeal about the impending execution of a man which is scheduled to be carried out on October 8. The 'red warrant' has been issued after the final appeal for commutation was rejected by the President of Pakistan. His final meeting with his daughters will be held on October 7 at Adiala Jail, Rawalpindi, the twin city of Islamabad, the capital of Pakistan. He was unable to afford a lawyer and it is believed that the case was heard in a biased manner. His wife died during the court proceeding because of blood cancer.

CASE DETAILS:

According to the information received, Mr. Zulfiqar Ali was arrested on April 14, 1998, on the charge of murder and was kept since then in the Adiala prison, Rawalpindi, Punjab province. Mr. Zulfiqar was the sole bread earner of the family and after his arrest his wife took on casual work as a house maid. The family could not hire any lawyer because of severe poverty. During the entire period of his captivity (10 years) neither the government nor the courts have provided him any assistance to him to fight his case. Subsequently he alone fought his case. Zulfiqar is a poor man who cannot speak English which is the court language so he was already at a disadvantage. His wife, who was suffering from blood cancer died in 2006 and the little money the family had were spent for her treatment. Mr. Zulfiqar has two daughters namely, Ms, Noor Fatima, age 11 years and Fiza Ali, age 10 years, after his execution the girls will be orphaned and have no one to look after them. 

Mr. Asif Ali Zardari, the president of Pakistan has rejected the appeal from family of the victim to commute the death sentence in the third week of the September and a red warrant to execute him was issued on September 29. The daughters of the victim appealed to the media and human rights organizations to help them.

If Mr. Zulfiqar Ali is executed, he would be the fifth execution after the decision of the cabinet to commute death sentences in to life imprisonment. (Please refer to AHRC-STM-202-2008) and he will be executed two day before the International Day Against Death Penalty. The president has the authority under Article 245 of the constitution to commute the death sentence.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:

The federal cabinet decided on July 2, 2008 to commute the death sentence but due to pressure from Muslim fundamentalists and Suo Moto action from Chief Justice, Mr. Abdul Hameed Dogar, appointed by former president General Musharraf during the state of emergency. However, Mr. Asif Ali Zardari, President of Pakistan has also announced that death sentences will be commuted in his first press conference after taking the oath of president ship. The prime minister also announced on June 21, 2008, that death sentences will be commuted to life imprisonment but he has failed to issue the notification. 

In Pakistan more than 7,300 persons have been on death row for many years, among them are 42 women and two children. The several prisoners facing death sentences in the Adiala prison, Rawalpindi has also appealed to Mr. Asif Zardari, after becoming president of Pakistan, to commute the death sentence. (Please see AHRC-STM-221-2008)

The former prime minister and founder of ruling party, Mr. Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto, also commuted the death sentence during his government but was nevertheless hanged by the then military rulers. The wife of the president Asif Zardari and former prime minister, Ms. Benazir Bhutto has pledged several times to abolish the death sentences. 

SUGGESTED ACTION:
Please write the letter to the given below authorities demanding them to commute the death sentence to life imprisonment and cancel the red warrant of Mr. Zulfiqar Ali who is going to be executed on October 8. Please also urge the government to provide assistance to the girls of victims who facing hard ship after death of their mother.

Please be informed that the AHRC has also written to the UN Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, arbitrary, or summary execution calling for his intervention in this case.

To support this appeal, please click here:

SAMPLE LETTER:

Dear ___________,

PAKISTAN: Death sentence of a man without legal representation; execution scheduled for Wednesday morning

Name of person: Mr. Zulfiqar Ali son of Rasheed Ali Khan, Death Cell, Adiala Prison, Rawalpindi-PAKISTAN

I am very shocked to learn that Mr. Zulfiqar Ali son of Rasheed Ali Khan will be executed by hanging on October 8, 2008. He was never been provided any legal assistance during his whole court proceedings of 10 years. It is very disturbing that a man who is virtually illiterate and without any knowledge of the law has fought his legal battle by himself because he was too poor to hire a lawyer.

Mr. Zulfiqar's wife was died due to cancer in 2006. His two minor girls namely Ms, Noor Fatima, age 11 years and Fiza Ali, age 10 years, are surviving on their own as they do not have parents to look after them.

It is also very shocking that the ruling party who was very much against the death penalty during Musharraf's rule have allowed five executions within the past three months. More appalling is the fact the president, who made campaign speeches about the death penalty has has rejected the appeal of commutation of Mr. Zulfiqars' death sentence. 

It is disgraceful that the government, having taken action to commute the death penalty has given in to pressure from Muslim fundamentalists and the Suo Moto action from Chief Justice Mr. Abdul Hameed Dogar, who was appointed by former president General Musharraf during the state of emergency. 

I beg you to commute the death sentence of Mr. Zulfiqar Ali, who has already served ten years in the prison and allow him to provide a good life for his daughters who could not survive after the death of their father. 

I also appeal you to commute the death sentences of more than 7,300 prisoners who are in death row since many years.

Yours sincerely,

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PLEASE SEND YOUR LETTERS TO:

1. Mr. Asif Ali Zardari
President of Pakistan
President's Secretariat
Islamabad
PAKISTAN
Fax: +92 51 922 1422, 4768/ 920 1893 or 1835

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

3. Mr. Rehman Malik 
Advisor for Ministry of Interior
Room No. 404, 4th Floor, R Block,
Pak Secretariat
Islamabad
PAKISTAN
Fax: +92 51 920 2624
Tel: +92 51 921 2026
E-mail: minister@interior.gov.pk

4. 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 or naelaw786@hotmail.com
 
5. Mr. Mian Shahbaz Sharif
Chief Minister of Punjab
H-180 Model Town, Lahore
PAKISTAN
Fax: +92 42 5881383
 
6. Minister of Law Government of Punjab
Punjab Secretariat
Ravi Road
Lahore
PAKISTAN
E-mail: law@punjab.gov.pk
 
7. Chief Secretary of Government of Punjab
Punjab Secretariat
Lahore
PAKISTAN
Fax: +92 42 7324489
E-mail: chiefsecy@punjab.gov.pk

Thank you.

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

Document Type :
Urgent Appeal Case
Document ID :
AHRC-UAC-221-2008
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.