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PAKISTAN: Desecration and destruction of churches and Christian property after blasphemy allegations at Sangla Hills, Pakistan

November 21, 2005

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ASIAN HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION – URGENT APPEALS PROGRAMME

Urgent Appeal

21 November 2005
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UA-214-2005: PAKISTAN: Desecration and destruction of churches and Christian property after blasphemy allegations at Sangla Hills, Pakistan

PAKISTAN: Destruction, intimidation, rule of law
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Dear friends,

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information regarding the destruction of Christian churches and schools by people enraged at the alleged blasphemy of the Holy Quran. 

According to the information we have received, on 12 November 2005, a mob attacked three Churches, a Sister's Convent, a Christian school building and a Pastor's house.  The mob vandalised and destroyed properties in Sangla Hills for over an hour.  Christian families living in the Sangla Hills were forced to leave their homes the night before due to the threats and intimidation from locals living in the area. 

It is also reported that the person alleged to have desecrated the Holy Quran is currently missing and the press have reported that his brother was arrested and detained a day before the mob attack.  Intervention from the police or an investigation into the allegations has still not been carried out.  The Christian community still live in fear of further retaliations. 

Under these circumstances, the AHRC urges your immediate intervention in this matter. It is the responsibility of the Pakistani government to ensure that religious minorities are protected against intimidation and threats.  Thus, please ask the Pakistani government to introduce legislation that will ensure that religious minorities will be protected and treated fairly.  A step towards achieving this would be to repeal the discriminatory laws against ethnic minorities.  Furthermore, please ask the Pakistani authorities to investigate this case thoroughly and bring responsible offenders to justice and to compensate the Christian community all the property damage as a result of the mob attack.

Urgent Appeals Programme
Asian Human Rights Commission
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DETAILED INFORMATION:

Name of the victims: The Christian community in Sangla Hills, Pakistan
Alleged perpetrators: A mob consisting of one to two thousand persons
Date of the incident: 12 November 2005
Place of the incident: Sangla Hills in Pakistan

On 12 November 2005 at about 10.30 in the morning a mob attacked and destroyed three churches (Catholic, Salvation Army and United Presbyterian), a Sister's Convent, St Anthony's School building, a girl's hostel and a Pastor's house in Sangla Hills, Pakistan.  The mob estimated to have been between one and two thousand persons strong, stayed in the area of Sagla Hills for over an hour and caused massive destruction to properties. 

There is evidence that the attacks seemed planned and organised as the attackers were brought to the site in buses according to several eyewitnesses.  450 Christian families living in Sangla Hills were forced to leave their homes and evacuate the area the night before due to the severe intimidation and threats they received from the locals.  They only dared to return after the mob had left.  Two houses belonging to the relatives of the person accused of desecrating the Holy Quran were ransacked. 

The incident took place after an alleged desecration of the Holy Quran on November 11, by one Yousaf Masih who allegedly threw a burning matchstick into the Quran Mahal situated in the Sangla Hill stadium, which subsequently caught fire.  This resulted in some copies of the Holy Quran being burnt to ashes. Yousaf Masih is currently missing and according to press reports, his brother Salim Masih was detained a day before.  To date, an investigation into the allegations has still not taken place.  According to initial information and a newspaper report from  DAWN, the allegations of desecration of the Holy Quran were motivated.  The accusations were made as a result of settling a dispute regarding gambling debts between the accusers and the accused, and had nothing to do with the alleged desecration of the Holy Quaran.

The SHO Saddar was duly informed about the tension and a request for protection was made by Fr. Samson Dilawar, the local Catholic priest of Sangla Hills, at least 12 hours before the incident.
Apparently, police have arrested 80 people for taking part in the rioting.  Hindu, Sikh and Muslim leaders have joined church leaders in condemning the outbreak of violence.  Recently a protest was held by the Christian Lawyers Association Pakistan (CLAP) for solidarity with the Sangla Hill Christian community.  The lawyers raised slogans against fundamentalist and biased attitudes of the law enforcement agencies towards Christians, against the Blasphemy law and other discriminatory laws in Pakistan.  They demanded that the government must guarantee the protection of properties and lives of Christians in Pakistan.  They said that if the Christians of Pakistan are not provided with security by the government according to the Pakistani Constitution then they would contact the International Court of Justice. 

In the wake of the earthquake tragedy in Pakistan, when people are trying to participate in relief activities, including many Christian organisations that are working with dedication, such action by the mob antagonises the situation for the people of Pakistan.  This situation calls for serious action on the part of everybody concerned with the well being of the country. 

SUGGESTED ACTION:

Please send an appeal letter to the President of Pakistan and other government officials below asking for immediate action to protect the vulnerable religious minorities in Pakistan.

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Sample letter:

Dear General Musharraf

PAKISTAN: Desecration and destruction of churches and Christian property after blasphemy allegations at Sangla Hills, Pakistan

Name of the victims: The Christian community in Sangla Hills, Pakistan
Alleged perpetrators: A mob consisting of one to two thousand persons
Date of the incident: 12 November 2005
Place of the incident: Sangla Hills in Pakistan
 
I am writing to voice my concern and dismay at the information I have received regarding the desecration and destruction of churches and Christian property in the area of Sangla Hills.  According to the information, on 12 November 2005, a mob estimated about one to two thousand person strong attacked numerous Christian properties after hearing about the alleged desecration of the Holy Quran by a Christian.  Such an attack caused the damage of three Churches, a Sister's Convent, St. Anthony's School, a girl's hostel and a Pastor's house. 

There is evidence that the attacks seemed planned and organised as the attackers were brought to the site in buses according to several eyewitnesses.  450 Christian families living in Sangla Hills were forced to leave their homes and evacuate the area the night before due to the severe intimidation and threats they received from the locals.  They have only dared to come back after the mob had left.  Two houses belonging to the relatives of the person accused of desecrating the Holy Quran were ransacked. 

The incident took place after an alleged desecration of the Holy Quran on November 11, by one Yousaf Masih who allegedly threw a burning matchstick into the Quran Mahal situated in the Sangla Hill stadium, which subsequently caught fire.  This resulted in some copies of the Holy Quran being burnt to ashes. Yousaf Masih is currently missing and according to press reports, his brother Salim Masih was detained a day before.  At the moment, an investigation into the allegations still has not taken place.

According to initial information the allegations of desecration of the Holy Quran were motivated.  The accusations were made as a result of settling a dispute regarding gambling debts between the accusers and the accused, and had nothing to do with the alleged desecration of the Holy Quaran.

Whilst welcoming the arrest of some 80 of the alleged perpetrators, what concerns me more is the safety of the religious minorities such as the Christians in Pakistan.  This case demonstrates that the laws in Pakistan are not sufficient enough to afford proper protection to them.  There needs to be more stringent rules for law enforcement officials to follow since one questions the impartiality of the police who seem to have been negligent in this case. They have failed to prevent or quell the mob from destroying the Christian property.  The first step the government can take to attain religious equality among the peoples of Pakistan would be to repeal the blasphemy laws since they are the main source and tool for creating social, sectarian and inter-religious disharmony in the country.  The government should also take affirmative steps to educate the masses about tolerance and peace, for example by removing religious biases in the syllabus and media policy and repealing the discriminatory laws.  Finally, I ask that a full and speedy investigation is initiated into the allegations of desecration of the Holy Quran and into the mob who destroyed the Christian property. 

I look forward to your intervention in this matter.
 
Yours sincerely,

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SEND A LETTER TO:

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

SEND COPIES TO:

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

2. 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

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

4. Ms. Asma Jahangir
Special Rapporteur on freedom of religion or belief
c/o Office Of the High Commissioner for Human Rights
United Nations at Geneva
8-14 ave de la Paix
1211 Geneva 10
Switzerland
Fax: (+41 22) 917 9006
E-mail: freedomofreligion@ohchr.org
or to: urgent-action@ohchr.org (please include in the subject box: Special Rapporteur on freedom of religion or belief)

Thank you.

Urgent Appeals Programme
Asian Human Rights Commission

Document Type :
Urgent Appeal Case
Document ID :
UA-214-2005
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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.