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PAKISTAN: A young man beaten to death by the Khosar police in Islamabad

October 24, 2005

URGENT ACTION URGENT ACTION URGENT ACTION

ASIAN HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION – URGENT APPEALS PROGRAM

Urgent Appeal

25 October 2005
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UA-186-2005: PAKISTAN: A young man beaten to death by the Khosar police in Islamabad

PAKISTAN: Torture; Custodial killing; Rule of law
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Dear friends,

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information from the Peace Worldwide, a human rights organization in Islamabad, Pakistan regarding an extrajudicial killing of a young man by the Khosar police.

According to the information we have received, Mr. Amjad Masih (25), who was accused of the theft, was tortured to death by the Khosar police in front of his sister on around 22 October 2005. Four responsible officers were arrested with murder charges on October 23 after the outraged local villagers of the France Colony shouted for justice outside the Khosar Police Station. This is ¤± good development that the perpetrators were arrested, however the AHRC worries that they will escape from punishment in the end as happened in many previous cases in Pakistan.

It is also reported that the victim's sister and her husband were arbitrarily arrested by the Khosar police without charges and illegally kept in the police custody for two days. During the police custody, the victim's sister was allegedly molested and her husband was pressured to bribe Rs 70,000 (about USD 1,553) for their release. However, so far there has been no information forthcoming as to whether any action has been taken against the responsible officers regarding illegal arrest and requesting the bribes.

Under these circumstances, the AHRC urge your immediate intervention in this matter. Please urge the Pakistani authorities to investigate this case thoroughly and bring responsible officers before the court. Please also urge them to take action against the officer in charge of the Khosar Police Station who neglected command responsibility to supervise the lower-ranking officers.

Urgent Appeals Desk
Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC)
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DETAILED INFORMATION:

Name of the victim: Mr. Amjad Masih, 25 years old, resident of France Colony, Islamabad, Pakistan, Christian  
Alleged perpetrators (all are attached to the Khosar Police Station):
1. Sub Inspector Tahseen Ahmed
2. Assistant Sub Inspector Shamas
3. Head Constable Zulfiqar
4. Police Constable Abdul Sattar
Date of the incident: around 22 October 2005
Place of the incident: Khosar Police Station in Islamabad

Amjad Masih is a 25-year old Christian young man and lives in France Colony, which is the Biggest Colony out of ten Christian colonies in Islamabad, Pakistan. He was accused of involving in a theft case which was registered at the Khosar Police Station on 18 October 2005 (Case No.: FIR No. 264). He was later turned over to the Khosar police investigation team by his father Bashir Masih.

Around October 22, Sub Inspector Tahseen Ahmed, Assistant Sub Inspector Shamas, Head Constable Zulfiqar and Constable Abdul Sattar brutally tortured Amjad. At that time, Amjad's sister Nasreen was present at the police station. She said that the police assaulted her brother like an animal in front of her. When she requested them to stop assaulting her brother, Sub Inspector Tehseen kicked her and beat her with a wooden rod. Finally, Amjad fall unconscious due to brutal torture. The police took him to the hospital where he was declared dead.

Hearing of the custodial killing and illegal detention, residents of the France Colony burnt tyres outside the Khosar Police Station. Senior Superintendent of Police Sikander Hayat arrived at the scene and ordered the police to register a murder case against the four police officers under Section 302 of the Pakistan Panel Code. Consequently, at night of October 22, these four policemen were arrested with murder charges.

It is also reported that the victim's sister Nasreen had been arbitrarily arrested by the Khosar together with her husband Markaz Masih on around October 20, even though they were not wanted in any case. They were allegedly treated badly by the police. Nasreen claimed that she had been kept in a male police lock-up for one day and then taken to a deserted house in an undisclosed location where she had been molested by the police officers. Her husband Markaz Masih also reported to a local media that the Khosar police requested Rs 70,000 (about USD 1,553) to release him and his wife. They were released soon after Amjad's death.   

While welcoming the arrest of the alleged perpetrators, the AHRC is gravely concerned that the perpetrators would escape from punishment and the case would be hush up in the end as being seen in many other cases in Pakistan. In particular, in many cases, the police have deliberately ignored to take serious action in cases where the Christian minority members are the victims.      

The AHRC therefore strongly urges the Pakistan authorities to inquire into this case thoroughly and prosecute those responsible according to the law. The Officer in charge of the Khosar Police Station must also be charged for his omission to supervise the lower-ranking officers. Police torture and extra judicial killings should not be treated as isolated incidents caused only by a few lower-ranking officers, but as by-products of a system that deliberately neglects command responsibility.

SUGGESTED ACTION:
Please send an appeal letter to the persons below and express your concern about this serious case.

Sample letter:

Dear _____________,

Re: PAKISTAN: A young man beaten to death by the Khosar police in station in Islamabad

Name of the victim: Mr. Amjad Masih, 25 years old, resident of France Colony, Islamabad, Pakistan, Christian  
Alleged perpetrators (all are attached to the Khosar Police Station):
1. Sub Inspector Tahseen Ahmed
2. Assistant Sub Inspector Shamas
3. Head Constable Zulfiqar
4. Police Constable Abdul Sattar
Date of the incident: around 22 October 2005
Place of the incident: Khosar Police Station in Islamabad

I am shocked to learn of yet another case of extra judicial killings in Pakistan police stations.

According to the information I have received, 25-year-old Amjad Masih, who was allegedly accused of theft, was tortured to death by the four officers of the Khosar Police Station around 22 October 2005. The victim's sister Nasreen, a key witness of the killing, reported that the officers beat her brother like animal in front of her despite her repeated pledge to stop it. 

I was also informed that Nasreen and her husband were arbitrarily arrested by the Khosar police without any charges and kept in the police custody for two days. During that time, the police allegedly molested Nasreen and requested her husband Markaz Masih to give Rs 70,000 (about USD 1,553) to release him and his wife. The couple was released soon after Amjad's death.   

While welcoming the arrest of the alleged perpetrators, I am concerned that the perpetrators will escape from punishment in the end as being seen in many other cases in Pakistan. I therefore, strongly urge you to order an immediate and proper investigation into this case and prosecute responsible officers by law. I also urge you to take appropriate action to compensate the victim's family. A thorough investigation into the arbitrary arrest of the victim's sisters and her husband and requesting bribe should be conducted so that responsible officers are brought to justice.  

Lastly, I urge you to take action against the officer in charge of the Khosar Police Station for his omission to supervise the lower-ranking officers. Extra judicial killings at the police station are by-products of a system that deliberately neglects command responsibility. Such conduct will continue if the Government does not enforce command responsibility within the country's policing system.

Yours sincerely,


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SEND A LETTE TO:

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

2. Mrs Saira Karim
Joint Secretary for Law, Justice and Human Rights
Islamabad
PAKISTAN
Tel: + 92 51 9202819
Fax: + 92 51 9203119

3. Aftab Ahmed Khan Sherpao
Minister of the Interior
#404, 4/F., R Block,
Pak Secretariat
Islamabad
PAKISTAN
Tel: +92 51 9212026
Fax: +92 51 9202624

4. Dr. Muhammad Shoaib Suddle
Deputy General (BPR&D)
National Police Bureau
Old Navel Headquarter,
Islamabad
PAKISTAN
Tel: +92 51 9202963

5. Prof. Manfred Nowak
Special Rapporteur on the Question of Torture
Attn: Mr. Safir Syed
C/o OHCHR-UNOG
1211 Geneva 10
SWITZERLAND
Tel: +41 22 917 9230
Fax: +41 22 917 9016 (general)
E-mail: ssyed@ohchr.org

6. Mr. Philip Alston
Special Rapporteur on Extra-judicial, Summary, or Arbitrary Executions
Atten: Lydie Ventre
Room 3-016
c/o OHCHR-UNOG
1211 Geneva 10
SWITZERLAND
Tel: +41 22 917 9155
Fax: +41 22 917 9006 (general)
Email: urgent-action@ohchr.org


Thank you.

Urgent Appeals Programme
Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC)
Document Type :
Urgent Appeal Case
Document ID :
UA-186-2005
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.