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PAKISTAN: Eight women and their children taken as hostages by police are at risk of torture and sexual harassment

December 2, 2008

ASIAN HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION - URGENT APPEALS PROGRAMME

Urgent Appeal Case: AHRC-UAC-258-2008



2 December 2008
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PAKISTAN: Eight women and their children taken as hostages by police are at risk of torture and sexual harassment

ISSUES: Torture; ill-treatment; arbitrary arrest and detention; rule of law
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Dear friends,

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) strongly condemns the arbitrary arrest and detention of eight women and their children as hostages by police, in order to secure one man from the same family who was allegedly involved in abduction of a government official on November 24. Police have so far refused to disclose their whereabouts. From the past experience, there are high possibilities for the police to torture or sexually harass them.

CASE DETAILS:

According to the information received, police from four districts of Sindh province arrested eight women along with their children on the suspicion that a young man from the same family was reportedly involved in the abduction of a district health officer. The whereabouts of four minors who ran away during the police raid is unknown.

Deputy Inspector General of Police, Hyderabad, Sindh province refused to provide information about them. One of the relatives said that police are demanding the surrender of the suspected dacoit in exchange for the women along with their children. The relatives also claimed that four children were also missing after they ran away during the police raid.

On November 28, Mr. Ghulam Nabi Menon, the District Police Officer (DPO) said that the police do not want to disclose the whereabouts of the women and children, or details of the charges under which they are being held in police custody.

The AHRC has reported this case as a statement (AHRC-STM-303-2008), but no action has yet been taken.

BACKGROUND INFORMATION:

Dr. Abdul Jalil Bachani, Executive District Officer of the Health Ministry, was abducted by a group of dacoits on November 23 from the jurisdiction of Hotri police station, Hyderabad, while he was proceeding to his new duties at Tando Allah Yar, Sindh.

The dacoits were chased by the police and there was an encounter at Nawab Shah, 200 kilometers from Hyderabad. One dacoit was killed and during the encounter police officers saw one young person, Haji Wakil, 18, among the dacoits. The police were unable to capture the dacoits and all but one, who was killed, fled the scene.

On November 24, at night, police from four districts, Hyderabad, Jam Shoro, Tando Allah Yar and Nawab Shah, raided the houses at Haji Khair Mohammad Khokhar village, Tando Allah yar, in 17 police-heavy vehicles and started arresting women with their children. The police officers informed them that owing to the arrests of the girls and young women, the dacoit will be forced to surrender to the police. The police also brought six trucks along and confiscated 30 buffalos and goats. The officers also searched the houses and took gold ornaments and crockery.

Dr. Abdul Jalil Bachani is the brother of one Mr. Sattar Bachani, a provincial leader of the Pakistan People's Party, the ruling party of which he was also a former minister. It is reported that for this reason, the provincial government is under pressure from the government to recover the abductees.

SUGGESTED ACTION:
Please write a letter to government authorities listed below, urging them to release all the women and children who were taken by Sindh police and made hostages in order to secure the arrest of one suspected dacoit.

Please be informed that the AHRC has also sent a separate letter to the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention and Special Rapporteur on the Question of Torture calling for intervention in this matter.

To support this appeal, please click here:

SAMPLE LETTER:

Dear ________,

PAKISTAN: Eight women and their children taken as hostages by police are at risk of torture and sexual harassment

Names of victims:
1. Imam Zadi (63), mother of Mr. Hadi Bux, student of third year of IT of Sindh University, Jam Shoro,
2. Miss Lateefan (21), unmarried
3. Ms. Shamima (28), along with her eight month child
4. Ms. Allah Wasai (24), along with her 14-month-old baby
5. Husna (28), wife of Wazir Ali along with her 6 year-old girl
6. Huwa (28) along with her 12-months-old baby
7. Miss Sadori (20), unmarried
8. Miss Mir Zadi (22), unmarried
Four children missing: (Police allegedly took them when they raided the village)
1. Master Abdul Malik (8)
2. Master Abdul Quddus (6) sons of Mr. Mohammad Hassan
3. Master Mohammad Aslam (12)
4. Master Abdul Khalid sons of Mohammad Hussain
(All are residents Khair Mohammad Khokhar Goth (village) Tando Allah Yar, Sindh province)
Names of police officers in charge of:
1. Mr. Sana Ullah Abbasi, Deputy Inspector General of Police, Hyderabad Range,
Sindh Province
2. Mr. Ghulam Nabi Memon, District Police Officer, Hyderabad District Sindh province
3. District Police Officer, Nawab Shah, Sindh province
Date of incident: 24 November 2008

I am writing to express my deep concern regarding the arbitrary arrest and detention of 12 persons as hostages by police.

According to the information received, police from four districts of Sindh province arbitrarily arrested eight women and four children on November 24 for the reason that one young man from the same family was allegedly involved in the abduction of Dr. Abdul Jalil Bachani, Executive District Officer of the Health Ministry.

After the arrest, however, the police have not disclosed their whereabouts. According to one relative, the police demanded the surrender of the suspect in the abduction of Dr. Abdul Jalil Bachani, in exchange for the women along with their children. Four minors who ran away have also gone missing after the police raided the village. According to eye-witnesses, the police took them.

I urge you to immediately bring all of the arrestees to court so that everyone is secured. I also urge you to ensure their access to a lawyer and that they are not subjected to ill-treatment or torture by police during their detention. I further urge you to look into this case so that the police who arbitrarily arrested and detained without court order are properly prosecuted and punished.

It is the duty of the judiciary to decide whether or not to arrest or detain a person, but not the police. In this regards, I finally urge you to take the necessary steps to secure their release, as a matter of priority, in order for them not to be ill-treated or tortured by police.

I hope you will take needful action in this regard and make sure the urgent release of the women before they are maltreated by police.

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 of Pakistan
Prime Minister House
Islamabad
PAKISTAN
Fax: +92 51 9221596
Tel: +92 51 9206111
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. Dr. Ishrat-ul-Ebad Khan
Governor of Sindh province
Karachi, Sindh Province
PAKISTAN
Fax: +92 21 920 5043
Tel: +92 21 920 1201
E-mail: governor@governorsindh.gov.pk

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

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

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

8. Secretary
(Criminal Prosecution) SGA &CD Department
Government of Sindh
Sindh Secretariat,
Karachi, Sindh Province
PAKISTAN
Tel: +92 21 9213327-6
Fax: +92 21 9213873
E-mail: secy.cpsd@sindh.gov.pk

9. Dr. Zulfiqar Ali Mirza
Minister for Home
Government of Sindh
Barrack 79, Pakistan Secretariate
Near MPA hostel
Karachi, Sindh Province
PAKISTAN
Fax: +92 21 9204456
Tel: +92 21 9201920-1
E-mail: secy.home@sindh.gov.pk

Thank you.

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

Document Type :
Urgent Appeal Case
Document ID :
AHRC-UAC-258-2008
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.