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PAKISTAN: Fears for whereabouts of disappeared political leader in Pakistan

April 21, 2006

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ASIAN HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION - URGENT APPEALS PROGRAMME

Urgent Appeal

21 April 2006
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UA-132-2006: PAKISTAN: Fears for whereabouts of disappeared political leader in Pakistan

PAKISTAN: Forced disappearance; military/police misconduct; collapse of rule of law
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Dear friends,

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) writes to inform you of the disappearance of Dr. Safdar Sarki, a nationalist and political leader in Pakistan. On 24 February 2006, Dr. Sarki was picked up by the Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) from his apartment in Gulistan e Jauhar Karachi between 1 and 2pm. Witnesses saw Dr. Sarki driven away in a police van and noticed he was being escorted by the DSP. Dr. Sakir’s driver, Mr. Munir Sarki who was present at the time of Dr. Sarki’s arrest also saw Dr. Sarki being taken away in the police van. Dr. Sarki has not been seen since.

Dr. Sarki was the general secretary of the Sindhi Nationalist Party, “Jeay Sind Quami Mahaz” and also a member of the Sindhi World Congress. He did his MBBS from Pakistan. He arrived in Karachi one year ago and started his political career. Prior to that he had been living in America for 14 years, having been granted a green card there. His wife and children are still residing in America. His wife held a press conference and disclosed information she had about her husband’s arrest. She noted that she holds grave fear for her husband and believes he may have been killed. Through a lawyer Dr. Sarki’s family has hired in Pakistan, the driver and witness, Mr. Munir Ahmed Sarki has filed a constitutional petition against Dr. Sarki’s arrest by the police. The petition number is 256/2006.

On 19 April 2006, during the hearing into Dr. Sarki’s whereabouts, a division bench of the Sindh High Court sought comments from the ministry of defence in a petition challenging the alleged detention of Dr. Sarki. Earlier, the federal government standing counsel, Ziauddin Nasir, informed the bench that according to information obtained by him, the alleged detainee had been neither arrested nor kept in custody by any agency functioning under the Karachi based Corps 5 of the Pakistan Army. Mr. Nassir produced a letter addressed to him by Assistance Judge Advocate-General, Sarwar Khan, stating that the police had nothing to do with the matter and had not arrested Dr. Sarki.

Advocates for Dr. Sarki, Mr. Noor Uddin Sarki and Mr. Khalique Junego said that the government is denying the arrest and detention of Dr. Sarki and the involvement of the DSP. However, they insist that Dr. Sarki was initially picked up by the DSP and subsequently handed to military agents. The affidavit in denial of Dr. Sarki’s arrest had been submitted by Superintendent of Police, Mr. Aslam Choudry even though the arrest was made by the DSP. This was naturally deemed unacceptable.

According to the petitioner counsel, Dr. Sarki was kept in confinement by the Inter-Services Intelligence at Naiper Barracks. There was no specific denial of this statement even in the Corps 5 letter produced by the federal attorney. The petitioner counsel believes that following his arrest by the police and his subsequent detention by the military and/or Inter-Services Intelligence, Dr. Sarki was killed.

The bench, which consisted of Justices Sarmad Jalal Osmany and Gulzar Ahmed, asked the federal attorney to contact the ministry of defence, under which all military agencies work, and submit a statement on its behalf by May 5, the next date of hearing.

SUGGESTED ACTION:
Please write a letter to the relevant authorities asking them to exhaust all means to have the whereabouts of Dr. Sarki revealed. An investigation must establish what took place in this case from February 24 and onwards.

Suggested letter:

Dear _________,

PAKISTAN: Fears for whereabouts of disappeared political leader in Pakistan

Name of disappeared victim: Dr. Safdar Sarki, resident of E-97 Nauman Avenue, Gulistan e Jauhar, Karachi
Name of alleged perpetrators: The police and military
Date of incident: 24 February 2006
Place of incident: Dr. Sarki was last seen being arrested and taken from his residence

I have recently learned of the disappearance of political leader, Dr. Safdar Sarki in Pakistan. I am aware that on 24 February 2006, witnesses saw Dr. Sarki being arrested at his residence by the Deputy Superintendent of Police and driven away. Dr. Sarki’s driver, Mr. Munir Sarki also saw Dr. Sarki being arrested and taken away in the police van and has since filed a constitutional petition against Dr. Sarki’s arrest (petition number:  256/2006).

However, despite the witnesses in this case and the fact that Dr. Sarki’s whereabouts have remained unknown since February 24, the authorities in Pakistan are denying any involvement in his disappearance and have in fact stated in court that they never issued his arrest in the first instance. In a hearing before the Sindh High Court, the federal government standing counsel, Ziauddin Nasir, informed the bench that according to information obtained by him, Dr. Sarki had neither been arrested nor kept in custody by any agency functioning under the Karachi based Corps 5 of the Pakistan Army. Likewise, all district police officers signed an affidavit swearing that Dr. Sarki had not been arrested.

The petitioner counsel, however, maintains that Dr. Sarki was initially picked up by the police and subsequently handed to military agencies. They also believe that since that time, Dr. Sarki may have been killed.

The federal attorney has now been asked to contact the ministry of defence, under which all military agencies work, and submit a statement on its behalf by May 5, the next date of hearing.

As Dr. Sarki’s whereabouts still remain unknown, it is essential that an investigation is launched into this matter immediately. Given that persons witnessed Dr. Sarki being arrested by the police and taken from his residence, the police must be further questioned as to their role in his disappearance. The military must likewise be expected to further explain their part in Dr. Sarki’s disappearance.

Yours sincerely,


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PLEASE SEND YOUR LETTERS TO:

1. General Pervez Musharraf
President
President’s Secretariat
Islamabad
PAKISTAN
Fax: +92 51 922 1422, 4768/ 920 1893 or 1835
Email: CE@pak.gov.pk 

2. Mr. Muhammad Wasi Zafar
Minister of Law, Justice and Human Rights
S Block,
Pakistan Secretariat,
Islamabad,
PAKISTAN
Fax: +92 51 920 2628
E-Mail: minister@molaw.gov.pk

3. Mr. Justice Iftekhar Choudhry
Chief Justice of Pakistan
Supreme Court building
Islam abad
PAKISTAN
Fax: + 92 51 9213452

4. Mr. Justice Sabih Uddin
Chief Justice of Sindh High Court
High Court Building
Saddar
Karachi
PAKISTAN
Fax: +92-21-9213220
Email: info@sindhhighcourt.gov.pk

5. Mr. Ishrat-ul- Ibad Khan
Governor
Government of Sindh
Governor House Karachi
PAKISTAN
Tel: + 92 21 920 1201
Email: governor@governorsindh.gov.pk

6. Dr. Arbab Abdul Rahim
Chief Minister of Sindh
Chief Minister House
Karachi
PAKISTAN
Fax 92 21 9202000

7. Mrs. Saira Karim
Joint Secretary for Law, Justice and Human Rights
Islamabad
PAKISTAN
Tel: + 92 51 920 2819
Fax: + 92 51 920 3119


Thank you.

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

Document Type :
Urgent Appeal Case
Document ID :
UA-132-2006
Countries :
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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.