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PAKISTAN: Journalist shot and injured by unknown persons and then arbitrarily arrested on charges of kidnapping

July 28, 2006

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ASIAN HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION - URGENT APPEALS PROGRAMME

Urgent Appeal

28 July 2006
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UA-255-2006: PAKISTAN: Journalist shot and injured by unknown persons and then arbitrarily arrested on charges of kidnapping

PAKISTAN: Arbitrary arrest and detention; threat and intimidation; misuse of power; collapse of rule of law
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Dear friends,

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) writes to inform you that the police in Pakistan arrested a journalist from his hospital bed, where he was receiving treatment for bullet shot wounds. The police arrested the journalist without the permission of the hospital and took him to the Ghotki Sarhad police station where they charged him in relation to a kidnapping case. The kidnapping case has been open since 1998, and the journalist’s name was never mentioned during investigations into it. The journalist remains in a serious condition yet is receiving no medicines while detained at the Sukkur Jail.

Mr. Naveed Ahmed, a local staff reporter for the Daily Koshish, the Sindhi language newspaper, was shot and injured in Razi Dero city of Gumbat sub-district by four unknown persons riding on two motorcycles on 19 July 2006. While in Gumbat hospital being treated for the gunshot wounds, on July 22 Mr. Naveed was arrested by the Sarhad police. The police did not ask permission for Mr. Naveed’s early release and took him into their custody regardless. Fellow journalists, who were present at the time of arrest, tried to resist the action. However, as there were approximately 12 police officers present, the journalists were unable to stop the police who dragged Mr. Naveed out of the hospital, put him in a van and drove 60 kilometres to the Sarhad police station.

Upon arriving at the police station, Mr. Naveed was implicated in a kidnapping case, which had been open since 1998. After being detained at the police station for a day, in which time he was denied any medical assistance, Mr. Naveed was then produced before the Judicial Magistrate and then sent to Sukkur Jail, which is a further 30 kilometres away. The Jail authorities provided some basic medical supplies from the jail dispensary but would not allow Mr. Naveed to be transferred to a hospital. His situation remains very serious as he has lost a great deal of blood and needs to be treated for this.

The man who registered the case of kidnapping in 1998, Mr. Nazeer Millan says that he never mentioned Mr. Naveed’s name. He also says that the police have done little to pursue his case in the time that it has been pending, and yet suddenly they have made this arrest and are taking action. The journalists’ union of the district believes that this is the method used by the police, whereby they ensure that pending cases remain open and then implicate innocent persons in these, when it is to their benefit.

Additional information:

Mr. Naveed is a vocal and prominent journalist in the district and has repeatedly reported on police atrocities against poor people in Sindh province. He has also reported several cases of financial corruption by local authorities, particularly about the Shah Lateef University Khairpur Campus. Through such reporting 20 cases of corruption have been registered. The provincial government and district authorities, including the police were put in a difficult position due to Mr. Naveed’s reporting.

In Sindh Province journalists are continuously under immense pressure from the government, its ministers and local authorities. On 6 June 2006 Mr. Sarmad of Sindh television was beaten and seriously injured and his office was ransacked by men associated with provincial minister, Shrab Sarki and former federal minister, Bijarani. Mr. Paryal Dayo of the Daily Kawish was also shot and injured by the police head constable in Sukkur. Mr. Mukesh Rupeta and Mr. Sanjay Kumar of Geo television channel were arrested in March 2006 from Jackobabad district and kept in a military torture cell for three months for making a documentary on the Shehbaz Airport which is being used by US war planes. Mr. Muneer Sangi, a local journalist in Sanghar, was killed by the men of provincial minister Mr. Unar in June 2006.

SUGGESTED ACTION:

Please send letters of concern to the authorities listed below urging them to ensure that an investigation is conducted into Mr. Naveed’s arrest. If it is found that he has no connection with the said kidnapping, then the charges should be withdrawn at once. Further, Mr. Naveed must receive the medical attention that he requires with no further delay.

In addition, please ask the authorities to take action against the misuse of power by persons against media representatives in the region. 

To support this appeal, please click: 

Suggested letter:

Dear _____________,

PAKISTAN: Journalist shot and injured by unknown persons and then arbitrarily arrested on charges of kidnapping

Name of victim: Mr. Naveed Ahmed, reporter for the Daily Koshish at Ghotki, residing in Khairpur Mirs, Sindh.
Name of alleged perpetrators:
1. Station House Officer of Sarhad Police Station, Ghotki district
2. District Police Officer of Ghotki district
Date of arbitrary arrest: 22 July 2006
Victim being held at: Sukkur Jail

I write to you in regards to the shooting and arbitrary arrest of a journalist in Pakistan. Mr. Naveed Ahmed, a local staff reporter for the Daily Koshish, the Sindhi language newspaper, was shot and injured in Razi Dero city of Gumbat sub-district by four unknown persons riding on two motorcycles on 19 July 2006. While in Gumbat hospital being treated for the gunshot wounds, on July 22 Mr. Naveed was arrested by the Sarhad police. The police did not ask permission for Mr. Naveed’s early release and took him into their custody regardless. Fellow journalists, who were present at the time of arrest, tried to resist the action. However, as there were approximately 12 police officers present, the journalists were unable to stop the police who dragged Mr. Naveed out of the hospital, put him in a van and drove 60 kilometres to the Sarhad police station.

Upon arriving at the police station, Mr. Naveed was implicated in a kidnapping case, which had been open since 1998. After being detained at the police station for a day, in which time he was denied any medical assistance, Mr. Naveed was then produced before the Judicial Magistrate and then sent to Sukkur Jail, which is a further 30 kilometres away. The Jail authorities provided some basic medical supplies from the jail dispensary but would not allow Mr. Naveed to be transferred to a hospital. His situation remains very serious as he has lost a great deal of blood and needs to be treated for this.

The man who registered the case of kidnapping in 1998, Mr. Nazeer Millan says that he never mentioned Mr. Naveed’s name. He also says that the police have done little to pursue his case in the time that it has been pending, and yet suddenly they have made this arrest and are taking action. The journalists’ union of the district believes that this is the method used by the police, whereby they ensure that pending cases remain open and then implicate innocent persons in these, when it is to their benefit.

In light of the apparent misuse of power by the police and owing to Mr. Naveed’s serious medical condition, I ask that you intervene in this matter at once. I urge you to ensure that an investigation is conducted into Mr. Naveed’s arrest. If it is found that he has no connection with the said kidnapping, then the charges should be withdrawn immediately and he should be released. Further, Mr. Naveed must receive the medical attention that he requires with no further delay.

In addition, I ask you to use your authority to take action against the misuse of power by persons against media representatives in the region. Journalists must be free to report on matters affecting the people of the country, without fear of attack by persons in authority.

Yours sincerely,
____________________________

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. Ashfaq Gondal
Principal Information Officer to President of Pakistan
President Secretariat
Islamabad
PAKISTAN
Fax: + 92 51 927 008

3. 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

4. Mr. Justice Iftekhar Choudhry
Chief Justice of Pakistan
Supreme Court building
Islamabad
PAKISTAN
Fax: + 92 51 921 3452

5. Mr. Justice Sabih Uddin
Chief Justice of Sindh High Court
High Court Building
Saddar
Karachi
PAKISTAN
Fax: +92 21 921 3220
Email: info@sindhhighcourt.gov.pk

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

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

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

9. Mr. Ambeyi Ligabo
Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression
Attn: J Deriviero
OHCHR-UNOG
1211 Geneva 10
SWITZERLAND
Tel: +41 22 917 9177
Fax: +41 22 917 9006 (ATTN: SPECIAL RAPPORTEUR FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION)

10. Ms Leila Zerrougui
Chairperson
Working Group on Arbitrary Detention
OHCHR-UNOG
1211 Geneva 10
SWITZERLAND
Fax: +41 22 917 9006 (ATTENTION: WORKING GROUP ARBITRARY DETENTION)

Thank you.

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

Document Type :
Urgent Appeal Case
Document ID :
UA-255-2006
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.