Home / News / Urgent Appeals / UPDATE (Pakistan): An elderly man rescued by court order from a 34-year captivity has been locked up again, with the knowledge of local police

UPDATE (Pakistan): An elderly man rescued by court order from a 34-year captivity has been locked up again, with the knowledge of local police

September 30, 2009

ASIAN HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION - URGENT APPEALS PROGRAMME

Urgent Appeal Update: AHRC-UAU-028-2009



30 September 2009

[RE: UAC-037-2009 PAKISTAN: A person has been held in chains for 34 years in a private jail as authorities have ignored his detention].
---------------------------------------------------------------------

PAKISTAN: An elderly man rescued by court order from a 34-year captivity has been locked up again, with the knowledge of local police

ISSUES: Illegal detention; impunity; rule of law
----------------------------------------------------------------------

Dear friends,

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received updated information regarding the relief of a 75-year-old man who was illegally chained in a room for almost 34 years by relatives, with the knowledge of local police. Though the man was released under the orders of the Supreme Court and declared mentally sound, we have heard that he was quickly detained again, and that local police are protecting the perpetrators. The man's health is deteriorating and he was forbidden from participating in Eid, an important religious festival for Muslims.

UPDATED INFORMATION:

After we issued UAC-037-2009 in April about the captivity of 75-year-old Mr. Mohammad Moosa Indharh, we learned that a three member team from Islamabad visited his captors to investigate the case, explaining that they had been sent by the Supreme Court. Although they interviewed Moosa, he was allegedly frightened by the attention and mistrusted the visitors, and said that he was fine in captivity.

On 2 May Deputy District Officer (DDO) Revenue, Mr. Hamza Shafqat visited the house and freed Moosa on the instructions of the Sindh government. We are told that he became personally involved in helping Moosa's rehabilitation, but was soon transferred from Pannu Aqil cantonment, possibly as a result of this.

In the meantime Mr. Khadin Hussain Tunio, the Session and district Judge of Ghotki district, Sindh province, started an inquiry on the orders of the Supreme Court, and ordered the local Station Head Officer Mr. Badr Uddin Bhutto to produce Mr. Moosa in court. On June 23 it was officially ordered that he be released from the custody of the relatives who had chained him. Since the perpetrators and certain police officers had claimed that Moosa was mentally unstable and a danger to the community, the judge questioned the man in detail and proclaimed him sound of mind and of no threat. The judge then ordered that he be sent for treatment at the Central Military Hospital (CMH) at the Pannu Aqil cantonment. The session judge also sent the report to the Supreme Court.

However none of these instructions were properly followed and four months on Moosa remains imprisoned, having been taken to the CMH just twice in June and July. Although Mr. Sharjeel, the town police officer (TPO) had been transferred as a mild (and inadequate) punishment for not acting on Moosa's case, we heard that he has been transferred back to the station. Moosa is still captive in a small room, is not allowed visitors and was not pemitted to celebrate Eid. We hear that his health is deteriorating and that he is not being given adequate food or medicine.

__________________________

SUGGESTED ACTION:

Please write to the following officials urging their intervention into this case.

A letter has been written to the UN Working Group on arbitrary detention calling for their intervention into this matter.

To support this appeal please click here:

SAMPLE LETTER:

Dear ___________,

PAKISTAN: An elderly man rescued by court order from a 34-year captivity has been locked up again, with the knowledge of local police

Name of victim:
Mr. Mohammad Moosa Indher, 75; detained at Indhar Mohalla, Inayat village (opposite Irrigation Banglows), Panoo Aqil Tehsil, Sindh
Name of alleged perpetrators:
1. Mr. Sharjeel, District Police Officer; Sukkur, Sindh.
2. Mr. Noorul Haq, Indhar Mohalla, Inayat village, Panoo Aqil Tehsil, Sindh province
3. Mr. Nisar Ahmed Indher, Indhar Mohalla, Inayat village, Panoo Aqil Tehsil, Sindh province
4. Mr. Badr Uddin Bhutto, Station House Officer (SHO), Pannu Aqil police station, Pannu Aqil sub district, Sindh

Place of incident;
Indhar Mohalla, Inayat village (Opposite Irrigation Banglows), Panoo Aqil Tehsil, Sindh.
Date of incident: 2 May 2009 onward

I am writing to express my concerns about the continued illegal and arbitrary detention of Mr. Mohammad Moosa Indher after 34 years of captivity in the house of relatives, much of it in chains. The local police appear to be complicit with the crime despite orders for the man's release from the Sindh government, the Supreme Court and the Session Court of Ghotki district.

I appreciate the efforts that were made by the courts and the government once the crime was brought to their attention. However I find it disturbing that since then, none of these authorities have been able to ensure his release. Indeed, it appears that the perpetrators are flouting the law without regard for the authorities above and I am concerned that no one, even police officials thought to be involved, were charged with the crime.

On June 23 it was officially ordered that Moosa be released from the private illegal custody of the relatives who had chained him. Since the perpetrators and certain police officers had claimed that Moosa was mentally unstable and a danger to the community, the judge questioned the man in detail and proclaimed him sound of mind and of no threat. The judge then ordered that he be sent for treatment at the Central Military Hospital (CMH) at the Pannu Aqil cantonment and sent the report to the Supreme Court.

However four months on Moosa remains imprisoned, having been taken to the CMH just twice in June and July. Although Mr. Sharjeel, the town police officer (TPO) had been transferred as a mild punishment for not acting on Moosa's case, I hear that he was transferred back to the station. Moosa is still captive in a small room, is not allowed visitors and was not permitted to celebrate Eid and I am told that his health is deteriorating and that he is not being given adequate food or medicine.

I therefore, urge you to assure the release, medical treatment, compensation and safety of Mr. Moosa, and to make sure that all previous and new orders given by the courts are carried out. Those who disregarded them must be brought before the law. I also demand the arrest of the perpetrators for running a private jail at home, contrary to the law of the land. Severe damage is done to a rule of law when no actions are taken to deter vigilante crime.

Yours sincerely,

----------------

PLEASE SEND YOUR LETTERS TO:

1. Syed Qaim Ali Shah
Chief Minister
Karachi, Sindh Province
PAKISTAN
Fax: +92 21 920 2000

2. Mr.Syed Mumtaz Alam Gillani
Federal Minister for Human Rights
Ministry of Human Rights
Old US Aid building
Ata Turk Avenue
G-5, Islamabad
PAKISTAN
Fax: +9251-9204108
Email: sarfaraz_yousuf@yahoo.com

3. Mr. Muhammad Ayaz Soomro
Minister for Law, Parliamantry Affairs & Criminal Prosecution Service
Sindh Assembly Building,
Court road, Karachi, Sindh province
PAKISTAN
Fax: +92 21 9211982
E-mail: secy.law@sindh.gov.pk

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

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

6. Dr. Faqir Hussain
Registrar
Supreme Court of Pakistan
Constitution Avenue, Islamabad
PAKISTAN
Fax: + 92 51 9213452
E-mail: mail@supremecourt.gov.pk

7. Inspector General of Police
Sindh Province,
Police Head office, I. I. Chundrigar road
Karachi, Sindh Province
PAKISTAN
Fax: +92 21 9212051
E-mail: ppo.sindh@sindhpolice.gov.pk

----------------------------------
Thank you.

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

Document Type :
Urgent Appeal Update
Document ID :
AHRC-UAU-028-2009
Countries :
Issues :
Document Actions
Share |
Subscribe to our Mailing List
Follow AHRC
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.