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PAKISTAN: Under-trial prisoner killed following fabricated blasphemy charges having been laid against him

June 21, 2006

URGENT ACTION URGENT ACTION URGENT ACTION URGENT ACTION

ASIAN HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION - URGENT APPEALS PROGRAMME

Urgent Appeal

21 June 2006
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UA-196-2006: PAKISTAN: Under-trial prisoner killed following fabricated blasphemy charges having been laid against him

PAKISTAN: Murder; corruption; fabricated charges
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Dear friends,

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has learned of the stabbing death of an under-trial prisoner in Muzzafar Garh, Pakistan. The prisoner, in police custody at the time of his death, had been charged with blasphemy following an accusation made by a seminary and government official. No person has yet been charged for this crime and the police, it would seem, are doing their utmost to protect the suspects.

The under-trial prisoner, Mr. Abdul Sattar Gopang was stabbed on 16 June 2006 while in the premises of the District and Session Court of Muzzafargarh. This it is alleged was carried out by five interns of seminary, Mr. Maulana Abdul Rasheed. The five attackers continued to stab the prisoner until they were certain of his death. Two policemen who tried to overpower the attackers were injured. Despite there being hundreds of policemen present at the time, none were able to capture the culprits. It was only with the intervention of bystanders that two of the attackers were captured and handed over to the police.

Mr. Gopang was a contractor of Octroi (toll tax) and worked as a collector for the union council in Jatoi town, Muzzafar Garh. Mr. Rasheed, in charge of the seminary and the office bearer of Alami Majlis Tauhafuz-e-Khatme-e Nabuwat had not been paying his toll tax and had verbally threatened Mr. Gopang when asked to do so. On March 13 Mr. Rasheed again refused to pay the toll tax and immediately went to the police and filed a case of blasphemy against Mr. Gopang. However, there was no basis to this accusation and Mr. Rasheed knew that Mr. Gopang would be released in a matter of days. He therefore began telling local men that they would go to heaven if they killed this man for having committed blasphemy.

Mr. Gopang’s killing is the second incident of its kind in southern Punjab province in Pakistan in the past week. On June 15 a 60-year-old retired school teacher named Mohammad Sadiq was killed by a large group of people allegedly for having committed blasphemy.

The AHRC is deeply alarmed at the continual abuse of the Blasphemy Laws (295-B, 295-C, 298-B, 298-C) present in the Constitution of Pakistan against innocent individuals. This is happening largely because of the ready acceptance of blasphemy-related accusations. These acts are continually being carried out and illustrate an utter disrespect for people, their rights and their fundamental freedoms. Intervention is therefore essential so that this grave crime can be brought to an end.

The above are only two examples of how the blasphemy law has been abused for fundamentally malicious purposes by the clerics and the seminaries with the connivance of the police. Owing to the nexus between area clerics and the police together with the government’s policies of promoting religious sentiments, the police are being overly receptive to the accusations made by religious persons, despite knowing that they may have no merit. The clerics’ corrupt and fraudulent conduct demonstrates their freedom to manipulate situations and people for the benefit of them and them only.

SUGGESTED ACTION:

Please write to the relevant authorities listed below condemning the killing of Mr. Gopang. Please also highlight that fabricated charges as laid against Mr. Gopang and the misuse of power by seminaries such as Mr. Rasheed are a common occurrence in Pakistan and must be stopped.

Automated email letters can be sent by the AHRC Urgent Appeals on-line support system. To support this appeal please refer to http://www.ahrchk.net/support.php?ua=UA-196-2006. For those contacts without an email address, we ask that you still write a letter and post or fax this. If you have any problems or questions using this system, please feel free to contact us at ua@ahrchk.org.

Suggested letter:

Dear ___________,

PAKISTAN: Under-trial prisoner killed following fabricated blasphemy charges having been laid against him

I write to condemn the heinous killing of a man who had had fabricated blasphemy charges laid against him following an accusation made by a seminary and government official. No person has yet been charged for this crime and the police, it would seem, are doing their utmost to protect the suspects.

The under-trial prisoner, Mr. Abdul Sattar Gopang was stabbed repeatedly on 16 June 2006 while in the premises of the District and Session Court of Muzzafargarh. This it is alleged was carried out by five interns of seminary, Mr. Maulana Abdul Rasheed. Despite there being hundreds of policemen present at the time, none were able to capture the culprits. It was only with the intervention of bystanders that two of the attackers were captured and handed over to the police.

Mr. Gopang was a contractor of Octroi (toll tax) and worked as a collector for the union council in Jatoi town, Muzzafar Garh. Mr. Rasheed, in charge of the seminary and the office bearer of Alami Majlis Tauhafuz-e-Khatme-e Nabuwat had not been paying his toll tax and had verbally threatened Mr. Gopang when asked to do so. On March 13 Mr. Rasheed again refused to pay the toll tax and immediately went to the police and filed a case of blasphemy against Mr. Gopang.

However, there was no basis to this accusation and Mr. Rasheed knew that Mr. Gopang would be released in a matter of days. He therefore began telling local men that they would go to heaven if they killed this man for having committed blasphemy.

I am aware that Mr. Gopang’s killing is the second incident of its kind in southern Punjab province in Pakistan in the past week. On June 15 a 60-year-old retired school teacher named Mohammad Sadiq was killed by a large group of people allegedly for having committed blasphemy.

I am deeply concerned at the continual abuse of the Blasphemy Laws (295-B, 295-C, 298-B, 298-C) present in the Constitution of Pakistan against innocent individuals. This is happening largely because of the ready acceptance of blasphemy-related accusations. These acts are continually being carried out and illustrate an utter disrespect for people, their rights and their fundamental freedoms. Intervention is therefore essential so that the misuse of this law can be brought to an end.

The above are only two examples of how the blasphemy law has been abused for fundamentally malicious purposes by the clerics and the seminaries with the connivance of the police. Owing to the nexus between area clerics and the police together with the government’s policies of promoting religious sentiments, the police are being overly receptive to the accusations made by religious persons, despite knowing that they may have no merit. The clerics’ corrupt and fraudulent conduct demonstrates their freedom to manipulate situations and people for the benefit of them and them only.

This situation is unacceptable and I trust that you will intervene to help rectify this. An investigation should be conducted into Mr. Gopang’s death and all persons who were involved in it must be brought before a court of law to answer to the allegations made against them. Sentencing should follow for those found guilty of having committed crimes.

The fabricated charges laid against Mr. Gopang and the misuse of power by seminaries such as Mr. Rasheed are a common occurrence in Pakistan and must be stopped. I trust that the Government of Pakistan will acknowledge this reality and intervene accordingly.

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: (please see - http://www.presidentofpakistan.gov.pk/WTPresidentMessage.aspx)

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
Islamabad
PAKISTAN
Fax: + 92 51 9213452

4. Lt. General Khalid Maqbool
Governor of Punjab
Governor House
Mall Road, Lahore, Punjab
PAKISTAN
Email: governor.sectt@punjab.gov.pk

5. Choudhry Pervez Ihhahi
Chief Minister Punjab
Chief Minister House
Lahore
PAKISTAN

6. Mr. Salman Siddique
Governor House
Mall Road
Lahore
PAKISTAN
Fax 92 42 732 4481
Email: chiefsecy@punjab.gov.pk

7. Home Secretary
Government of Punjab
Punjab Secretariat
Ravi Road
Lahore
PAKISTAN
Email: home@punjab.gov.pk

8. Secretary of Law and Parliamentary Government of Punjab
Punjab Secretariat
Ravi Road
Lahore
PAKISTAN
Email: law@punjab.gov.pk

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

10. Prof. Philip Alston
Special Rapporteur on Extra-judicial, Summary, or Arbitrary Executions
Attn: Lydie Ventre
Room 3-016
OHCHR-UNOG
1211 Geneva 10
SWITZERLAND
Tel: +41 22 917 9155
Fax: +41 22 917 9006 (ATTN: SPECIAL RAPPORTEUR EXECUTIONS)
Email: lventre@ohchr.org / urgent-action@ohchr.org

Thank you.

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

Document Type :
Urgent Appeal Case
Document ID :
UA-196-2006
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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.