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PAKISTAN: Higher police officers have impunity in the torture case of a French researcher

October 25, 2007

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ASIAN HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION – URGENT APPEALS PROGRAMME

Urgent Appeal

25 October 2007
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UA-306-2007: PAKISTAN: Higher police officers have impunity in the torture case of a French researcher

PAKISTAN: Torture; impunity; threats; violence against women; no rule of law
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Dear friends,

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has been informed from Pakistan Women's Lawyer's Association that the police in Pakistan have been involved in beating, torturing and threatening a French researcher on 20 September 2007 and have not been charged. While no action has been taken against them, the police officials threaten local journalists and a local English language teacher, not to cover the story.

CASE DETAILS:

According to the information received, Ms. Florence Nightingale, a French researcher, came to Pakistan earlier this year to write a book on Buddhism and Sufism. She went to several shrines of Muslim Sufis Saints, to gather information on "Buddhism in China and India and Sufism in Pakistan"

On 15 September 2007, Ms. Florence (49), (who changed her name to Ms Faride Boriyak during her visits to several shrines of Muslim Sufis in Turkey), arrived at Thatta district in Sindh province. She hoped to visit and collect information about a prominent Muslim Sufi Abdullah Shah Ghazi Sahabi, who came to Sindh province in the sixth century to spread the teachings of Islam. However, she was refused permission to stay in any official lodges of the government in the district, so instead stayed at the shrine of Abdullah Shah Sahabi, where late at night Thatta police asked her to vacate the shrine. The police had difficulty in communicating with Ms. Florence and so asked Mr. Wazir Querashi, an English language teacher, to translate. Ultimately, the police were unable to find a solution to the problem, and so Ms. Florence stayed at Mr. Wazir's house for one night. On September 17, she stayed at the shrine, where Ramadan rituals and dances were taking place.

Early on the morning of September 18, she found her bag was missing, containing her research work along with her passport and other traveling documents. Later that day, she went to the Thatta police station to lodge a police report of the missing papers and bag, but the police totally refused to register her complaint.

On September 20, news appeared in the Daily Dawn about the police's attitude against the French scholar. The next day, September 21, staff from the French consulate went to the Thatta police station and asked police officers to register the case, after having been made to wait almost six hours to register the case.

On following day, September 22, she went to follow up her police complaint with Mr. Wazir, but the police asked her to leave, to which she refused, until the First Information Report (FIR) had been filed. In the meantime Mr. Shoukat Ali Shahani, Superintendent of Police (SP), started using abusive language against her for informing the French Consulate. In the height of his anger, he started slapping her face. He then took out his boot and beat her continuously until other individuals including journalists and a female member of the Sindh Assembly intervened and stopped him. She was severely injured and fainted. Ms. Florence was then taken to a private hospital, as the police stopped the staff of the local government hospital from providing her with medical help.

When details of the case emerged, the media covered the incident and the locals demonstrated against the police. However, Mr. Shoukat Shah, the Deputy Inspector General (DIG), one of the highest police officers of the province, came to support the police officers of the district. He threatened Mr. Wazir Querashi and Ms. Florence to stop drawing attention to the case in the media, threatening that they would be kidnapped. After some days DIG and SP handed over an amount equivalent to USD 1,000 to Ms. Florence, instructing her to leave the district otherwise.

The English language teacher, Mr. Wazir Querashi, has received numerous threats from the police. Several times, a group of individuals, dressed in plain clothes, have raided and searched his house. On October 15, he gave an application to the District Police Officer (DPO) about raids and threats from these individuals, but no action has been taken.

SUGGESTED ACTION:
Please write letters to the following authorities showing your concern about the police brutality against the French researcher, Ms. Florence, who was beaten and tortured in the police station. Please also demand that stern action should be taken against the high police officials of the district who are involved in the incident.

To support this appeal, please click here:

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Suggested letter:

Dear __________,

PAKISTAN: Higher police officers have impunity in the torture case of a French researcher

Name of victims:
1. Ms Florence Nightingale alias Farida Boryak, 49
2. Mr.Wazir Querashi, an English language teacher, resident of Betana Mohala, ward no.4, Thatta city, union council no.2, Sindh- Pakistan
Name of alleged perpetrators:
1. Mr. Shoukat Ali Shahani, Superintendent of Police (SP) from Thatta police station, Thatta District, Sindh- Pakistan
2. Shoukat Ali Shah, Deputy Inspector of Police (DIG) from Thatta police station, Thatta District, Sindh-Pakistan
Date of incident: 20 September 2007
Place of incident: Thatta police station, Thatta District, Sindh-Pakistan

I am writing to voice my deep concern regarding the involvement of the police at Thatta police station in beating, torturing and threatening a French researcher on 20 September 2007.  No legal or disciplinary action has been taken against them, and yet the police officials continue to threaten local journalists and a local translator, not to cover the story.

Ms. Florence Nightingale, a French researcher, came to Pakistan earlier this year to write a book on Buddhism and Sufism. On September 17, she stayed at the shrine of Abdullah Shah Sahabi, where Ramadan rituals and dances were taking place. Early on the morning of September 18, she found her bag was missing, containing her research work along with her passport and other traveling documents. Later that day, she went to the Thatta police station to lodge a police report of the missing papers and bag, but the police totally refused to register her complaint.

On September 20, news appeared in the Daily Dawn about the police's attitude against the French scholar. The next day staff from the French consulate went to the Thatta police station and forced police officers to register the case, after having been made to wait almost six hours to register the case. The next day she went to follow up her police complaint with Mr. Wazir, but the police asked her to leave, to which she refused, until the First Information Report (FIR) had been filed. In the meantime Mr. Shoukat Ali Shahani, Superintendent of Police (SP), started using abusive language against her for informing the French Consulate. In the height of his anger, he started slapping her face. He then took out his boot and beat her continuously until other individuals including journalists and a female member of the Sindh Assembly intervened and stopped him. She was severely injured and fainted. Ms. Florence was then taken to a private hospital, as the police stopped the staff of the local government hospital from providing her with medical help.

When details of the case emerged, the media covered the incident and the locals demonstrated against the police. However, Mr. Shoukat Shah, the Deputy Inspector General (DIG), one of the highest police officers of the province, came to support the police officers of the district. He threatened Mr. Wazir Querashi and Ms. Florence to stop drawing attention to the case in the media, threatening that they would be kidnapped. After some days DIG and SP handed over an amount equivalent to USD 1,000 to Ms. Florence, instructing her to leave the district otherwise.

The English language teacher, Mr. Wazir Querashi, has received numerous threats from the police. Several times, a group of individuals, dressed in plain clothes, have raided and searched his house. On October 15, he gave an application to the District Police Officer (DPO) about raids and threats from these individuals, but no action has been taken.

I am gravely concerned by the assault on Ms. Florence and threat to the journalist as well as Mr. Wazir Querashi by the police including the Deputy Inspector General. Therefore, I urge you to start investigation without delay. The investigation has to include all the circumstances including denial of receiving complaint, beating and assault, involvement of DIG and further threats to the victims as well as the journalists. The perpetrators, mentioned above, must be brought before the law and given sufficient punishment by impartial investigation without any interference from higher authorities. As far as the higher police officer has been involved in this case, I urge you to ensure that other independent unit be established to handle this case. Ms. Florence should be afforded adequate treatment for her injuries caused by the police and be granted adequate reparation. Threats or harassment against other local journalists and Mr. Wazir Querashi have been investigated as well.

I look forward to your prompt action in this case.

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

4. Dr. Ishrat UL Ibad
Governor of Sindh province
Karachi
PAKISTAN
Tel: + 92 21 920 1201

5. Dr. Arbab Abdul Rahim
Chief Minister of Sindh
Chief Minister House
Karachi
PAKISTAN

6. Chief Secretary
Government of Sindh
Chief Secretariat,
Karachi, Sindh province,
PAKISTAN
Email: cs.sindh@sindh.gov.pk 

7. Secretary
(Criminal Prosecution) SGA &CD Department
Government of Sindh
Sindh Secretariat,
Karachi, Sindh Province
PAKISTAN
Email: secy.cpsd@sindh.gov.pk

8. Dr. Faqir Hussain
Registrar
Supreme Court of Pakistan
Supreme Court Building
Islamabad
PAKISTAN
Tel: +92-51-9213770
E-mail: registrar@supremecourt.gov.pk

9. H.E. Ambassador Regis de Belenet
Embassy of France in Pakistan
Diplomatic Enclave G5
GPO Box 1068
Islamabad
PAKISTAN
Tel: +92 51 227 8730/1/2
Fax: +92 51 282 2538/ 282 5389
Email: ambafra@isb.comsats.net.pk

10. Prof. Manfred Nowak
Special Rapporteur on the Question of Torture
c/o OHCHR-UNOG
1211 Geneva 10
SWITZERLAND
Tel: +41 22 917 9230
Fax: +41 22 917 9016 (ATTN: SPECIAL RAPPORTEUR TORTURE)

11.  Ms. Yakin Erturk
Special Rapporteur on Violence against Women
Room 3-042
OHCHR-UNOG
1211 Geneva 10
SWITZERLAND
Tel: +41 22 917 9615
Fax: +41 22 917 9006 (ATTN: SPECIAL RAPPORTEUR VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN)

Thank you.

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

Document Type :
Urgent Appeal Case
Document ID :
UA-306-2007
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.