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PAKISTAN: A father and a son are missing after arrest

November 1, 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 them. 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-245-2008

1 November 2008
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PAKISTAN: A father and a son are missing after arrest

ISSUES: Arbitrary arrest and detention; right to liberty and security; illegal detention; impunity
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Dear Friends,

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information that two family members have been missing after the police arrested them on 11 October 2008. The police have released the 12-year-old son who was also taken with the two and initially acknowledged their arrest. However, they are now denying the arrest and detention.

CASE DETAILS:

According to the information received, dozens of police officers in uniform and plain clothes arrested Mr. Mohammad Sharif (55) and his two sons, Master Mohammad Zeeshan (18) and Master Mohammad Hamza (12) from their house at 4:30am on October 11, 2008 and took them to Layyah city Police Station.

The police released Hamza at about one hour later a passing message through him that his father and brother would return home the next day as they wanted to make a minor enquiry from them. In the afternoon on same day, the police claimed that both of them were arrested on charges for promoting religious fundamentalism but no written materials were provided.

Mr. Qamar Shirazi, a brother of Mr. Mohammad Sharif and an activist of Labour Party of Pakistan, identified the police officers as Mr. Malik Mohammed Asharaf, station head officer (SHO) Layyah city police station, Mr. Sakandar Hayat, SHO Hyderabad police station district Bhakar and Mr. Fida Hussain, Assistant Sub Inspector (ASI) as well as in charge of central intelligence department (CID) of police, Layyah. According to Qamar, these police officers told him not to worry about the arrestees. However, in the morning of 12 October, the officers denied that Sharif and Zeeshan were in their custody and alleged that some religious groups might have abducted them.

On October 18, Malik Mohammed Asharaf, the SHO asked Qamar to come to the police station where he stated in front of several people that the two were cleared from the allegations of terrorism and would be released the next day from a Lahore intelligence center, which is 500 kilometers from the Layyah city. However, they had not come back. Meanwhile, Qamar also met high police officers of the district including District Police Officer (DPO) who again assured him that both would be released very soon after completion of the investigation. In the meanwhile a petition of habeas corpus was filed in the Lahore high court against the arrest by police and their denial.

On October 27, however, all those officers denied that the father and his son were under police custody. The relatives of the arrestees have been informed that the father and his son were taken away from police by the state intelligence agencies to the Lahore fort, which has been known to the public as torture camp in Punjab province. On October 31, police have replied to the Lahore High court that the missing persons are not in their custody.

Several traders and jewelers and their organizations have petitioned to a number of police stations and administrations claiming that Sharif and his son have nothing to do with the militant organizations and have been known to everyone in the city as they are jewelers. They also held demonstration and rallies demanding their release.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:

The forced disappearances of political opponents by the state intelligence services continues in spite of newly elected government's claims that the issue will be solved it comes into power. However, since the formation of the new government no serious moves have been initiated to address the issue. On the contrary, the state intelligence agencies are operating freely with the knowledge of government. Since the formation of the new government about 56 persons, including the latest missing case of father and son, are missing after their arrests, mostly, from the southern province of Balochistan where military operations continue. Some religious groups claim that more than 23 persons, mostly the young and students are missing after arrest.

The AHRC has also issued a statement that Pakistan army is running is at least 52 torture and detention centres throughout the country where the people are kept in incommunicado for several months and torture severely and so many killed or disabled for life. The authorities have done nothing to investigate these cells. Every cantonment area has at least one torture cell which is directly run by the state intelligence agency. The government must demand that the illegal detention and torture centres be shut down and instigate enquiries. (Please refer to AHRC-STM-158-2008)

SUGGESTED ACTION:

Please write letters to the authorities listed below urging them to investigate the whereabouts of the arrestees.

To support this appeal, please click here:

SAMPLE LETTER:

Dear _________,

PAKISTAN: A father and a son are missing after their arrest

Name of victims:
1. Mr. Mohammad Sharif, 55, Jeweler by profession
2. Master Mohammad Zeeshan, 18, son of Mr. Mohammad Sharif, student of Bachelor of Science from Punjab University
(Both are residing at Raees Jeweler, Lali nal road, Layyah city, Layyah district Punjab province)
Name of alleged perpetrators:
1. Mr. Malik Mohammed Asharaf, station head officer (SHO), Layyah city police station, Layyah, Punjab province
2. Mr. Sakandar Hayat, SHO Hyderabad police station district Bhakar, Bhakar, Punjab province
3. Mr. Fida Hussain, Assistant Sub Inspector (ASI), In charge of central intelligence department (CID) of police, Layyah district, Punjab province
Place of incident: victims' house
Date of incident: at 4:30am on 11 October 2008

I am writing to express my deep concern regarding whereabouts of a father and his son have not been revealed since their arrest by the Layyah and Bahakar police at 4:30am on October 11, 2008.

According to the information received, dozens of police officers led by Mr. Malik Mohammed Asharaf, Station Head Officer (SHO) of Layyah city Police Station, Mr. Sakandar Hayat, SHO Hyderabad Police Station, Bhakar district and Mr. Fida Hussain, Assistant Sub Inspector (ASI) as well as in charge of central intelligence department (CID) of police, Layyah came in uniform and plain clothes arrested Mr. Homammad Sharif and his two sons, Master Mohammad Zeeshan and Master Mohammad Hamza from the house at 4:30am on October 11 and took them to Layyah city Police Station where they release Hamza at about one hour later passing message that his father and brother would reach home nest day as they wanted to have some minor enquiry.

I am informed that in the afternoon on same day, the police claimed that the father and his son were arrested on charges for promoting religious fundamentalism and contacted to Mr. Qamar, the brother of Sharif with saying not to worry about the arrestees and in particular the SHO Layyah city Police Station asked him to come to the police station where he told in front of several people that the two were cleared from the allegations of terrorism and would be released on next day from a Lahore intelligence centre, which is 500 kilometers away from the Layyah city.

However, all those officers have denied that the two were under police custody on October 27 and the police who attended to the petition from the family have claimed before the Lahore High Court on October 30 that they neither have arrested nor kept them. Meanwhile, the relatives of the arrestees alleged that the two were taken away by the state intelligence agencies to the Lahore fort in Punjab province.

I thus, urge you to ensure that an impartial investigation in conducted into the police involvement into the arrest and subsequent disappearance of Sharif and his son Zeeshan. I am gravely concern over the police's action of exonerating themselves from any responsibility to the victim's arrest and disappearance.

The policemen involved must be investigated to answer the allegations against them; and that the concerned authorities must exhaust all means to locate the victims. The victims' family should also be properly informed of the action they have taken, if there is any.

Yours sincerely,

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PLEASE SEND YOUR LETTERS TO:

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

2. Mr. Syed Yousaf Raza Gillani
Prime minister
Prime Minister House, Islamabad,
PAKISTAN
Fax: 92-51-9221596
Tel: +92-51-9206111
E-mail: webmaster@infopak.gov.pk or infominister@pak.gov.pk

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. Mr. Rehman Malik
Advisor on Minister of Interior
Room No. 404, 4th Floor, R Block,
Pak Secretariat
Islamabad
PAKISTAN
Fax: +92 51 9202624
Tel: +92 51 9212026
E-mail: minister@interior.gov.pk

5. Mr. Salman Taseer
Governor of Punjab
Governor House
Mall Road, Lahore
PAKISTAN
Fax: +92 42 9200023
E-mail: governor.sectt@punjab.gov.pk

6. Mr. Mian Shahbaz Sharif
Chief Minister of Punjab
H-180 Model Town, Lahore
PAKISTAN
Fax: +92 42 5881383
 
7. Minister of Law Government of Punjab
Punjab Secretariat
Ravi Road
Lahore
PAKISTAN
E-mail: law@punjab.gov.pk
 
8. Chief Secretary of Government of Punjab
Punjab Secretariat
Lahore
PAKISTAN
Fax: +92 42 7324489
E-mail: chiefsecy@punjab.gov.pk
 
9. Home secretary
Punjab Secretariat
Lahore
PAKISTAN
Fax: +92 42 9211732
E-mail: home@punjab.gov.pk
 
10. Mr. Shakat Javed
Inspector-General of Police/Provincial Police Officer of
Punjab province, Lahore
PAKISTAN
E-mail: info@punjabpolice.gov.pk

Thank you.

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

Document Type :
Urgent Appeal Case
Document ID :
AHRC-UAC-245-2008
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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.