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PAKISTAN: A honor killing victim's family suffers from the police inaction

April 24, 2004

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ASIAN HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION - URGENT APPEALS PROGRAM

24 April 2004
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UA-44-2004: PAKISTAN: A honor killing victim's family suffers from the police inaction

PAKISTAN: Illegal arrest and torture; Police inaction; Rule of law
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Dear friends,

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received the information that the family of honor killing victim is suffering from the police inaction. According to the information received, Ms. Wazeeran(50) was killed by her husband's three nephews Zaheer (25), Qaaim-u-ddin (24), and Mohammad Salih (24) at her house in Rohrri Town, Sukkur District, Sindh Province on 7 March 2004. The victim's brother has lodged a complaint to the Rohrri Police Station at the same day however no serious action has yet been taken by the police to investigate this case. It is reported that the police have not attempted to arrest the perpetrators at all. Moreover, the police did not provide any protection to the victim's family even though they are constantly receiving the threat from the perpetrators to withdraw the complaint against them.

More seriously, the perpetrators fabricated false allegation of committing adultery (honor killing) against the victim because it assisted them to be set free easily from the crime by the tribal court and the court of law as well. Please send a letter to the Government of Pakistan and request them to inquiry into this matter and provide the protection to the victim's family immediately.

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

Name of the Victim: Ms. Wazeeran(50), of Mahar caste, married with three children, elected as counselor in Taluka (sub-division) Council Rohri
Alleged perpetrators: 1) Zaheer (25), son of Sher Dil, 2) Qaaim-u-ddin (24), son of Jurial, 3) Mohammad Salih (24), son of Bhoral, all of Mahar caste and reside in Rustam Village, nephews of the victim's husband
Complainant: Hakim Ali alias Imam Bux, son of Dhani Bux, the victim's brother
Witnesses: 1) Sadaruddin, the victim's son, 2) Ali Asghar, son of Moula Bux, of Mahar caste, the complainant's son-in-law
Date of Incident: At around 5:30 am on 7 March 2004
Case reported on: At around 6:30 am on 7 March 2004 at Rohrri Police Station
Place of Incident Sanjrani Street, Berri Chouk, Rohrri Town, Sukkur District, Sindh Province

Case details:

On 7 March 2004 at about 5:30 am, three nephews (Zaheer, Qaaim-u-ddin and Mohammad Salih) killed their 50-year-old aunt, Ms Wazeeran. After the incident, the victim's brother Mr. Hakim Ali lodged the First Information Report (FIR- Case No. 21/04 302,114,34/337Hii PCC) at Rohrri Police Station in Sukkur District. In the FIR, the alleged reason of murder was stated the property matter.

According to the victim's brother, his sister Wazeeran lived with her husband Nawab in Sanjrani Street, Rohrri town. She has another house in her hometown, Rustam village, Shikarpur District. Some time back, Zaheer and his family offered Wazeeran to sell her house in Rustam Village to them but she refused to do it. On 6 March 2004, in the afternoon, the victim's brother and his son-in-law Ali Asghar came to Rohrri Town to visit Wazeeran. At the time of sunset, Zaheer Ahmed, Mohammad Salih and Bhooral came to Wazeeran's house. Her husband Nawab was not at home at that time because he used to work in a dairy farm owned by a person named Sayed Zulfiqar. The three nephews again offered Wazeeran to sell her house in Rustam Village to them that she refused again. Then they asked her that they would stay there the night. Then those three were sleeping in a separate room and Wazeeran and her son Sadaruddin and Ali Asghar were sleeping in the corridor.

At around 5:30 am of the next morning (7 March 2004), the victim's brother Hakim Ali got up to go to toilet. When he came back, he saw that Zaheer Ahmed, Mohammad Salih and Bhooral came into the corridor holding pistols in their hands. Zaheer woke Wazeeran up and asked her whether she would sell her house to him or not. At that time, the victim's son and Ali Asghar got up due to the noise. When Wazeeran said no, Mohammad Salih told the others to kill her. Zaheer then fired on Wazeeran that hit her right cheek. Qaaim-u-ddin too fired on her right shoulder and the victim fell down on the bed. After that the three offenders fled the sight firing randomly so the witnesses could not catch them. When they (witnesses) came to see Ms Wazeeran, they found she already died. The victim's brother told his son-in-law and the victim's son to stay at the house and went to the Rohrri Police Station to report the incident.

According to the victim's husband Mr. Nawab who was reached by a human rights group on 19 April 2004, the offenders fabricated false allegation of committing adultery (honor killing) against the victim that would assist them to be set free easily from the crime by the tribal court as well as the court of law. He further told the group that the offenders were constantly threatening the his family and pressuring him to withdraw the complaint against them. He also said that Zaheer's father Sherdil was a police head constable in Sukkur District therefore the police have taken no serious action to investigate this matter. According to him, the police have not attempted to arrest the offenders at all.

Wazeeran was a political activist who had a long political career. At the time of her death, she was elected as a counselor representing the ladies in Union Council Rohrri according to the President of Pakistan's progamme of "Devolution of Power" to the district level. Due to this fact, a resolution was moved in Sukkur District Council to arrest the perpetrators but it did not earn any positive results.

The practice of honour killings continues to occur with alarming frequency in Pakistan, mainly in Sindh Province. In many cases, 'honor killing' is used as a tool to fulfill the people's personal revenges, because such cases are usually managed by the trial court so-called "Jirga" which provide maximum shelter to the killers. In some cases, inversely the victim's families have to bear heavy compensations. Therefore, mostly killers protect themselves with the shield of "honor killings". In terms of the above case, the offenders have adopted this traditional strategy to protect themselves even though the allegation on Wazeeran is baseless.

SUGGESTED ACTION:
Please send a letter, fax or email to the addresses below and express your concern about this serious case.

1. General Pervez Musharraf
President
Pervez Musharraf, Pakistan Secretariat,
Islamabad
PAKISTAN
Fax: +92 51 922 4768 / 920 1893 or 1835

2.Hon. Mr. Ishrat-ul-Ibad Khan
Governor
State government of Sindh
Governor House Karachi
Sindh province
PAKISTAN
Tel: +92 21 9201201-3
E-mail: governor@governorsindh.gov.pk

3. Mr. Sayed Kamal Shah
Provincial Police Officer, Sindh Police
Central Police Office
Karachi, Sindh Province
PAKISTAN
Tel: +92 21 9212626-7
Fax: +92 21 9212051

4. Mr. Rahoo Khan Brohi
Regional Police Officer
Sukkur Region
Airport Road Sukkur
Sindh Province
PAKISTAN
Tel: +92 71 30547, 30248
Fax: +92 71 31824

5. Syed Sultan Shah
Joint Secretary for Law, Justice and Human Rights
Islamabad
PAKISTAN
Tel: + 92 51 920 3464
Fax: + 92 51 9203119

6. Ms. Yakin Erturk
Special Rapporteur on Violence against Women
c/o Ms Christina Saunders
Room 3-042, OHCHR-UNOG, Palais Wilson,
8-14 Avenue de la Paix,
1211 Geneva 10
SWITZERLAND
Fax: +41 22 917 9006 / 917 9022
Email: csaunders@ohchr.org

7. Mr. Arif Hanif,
District Police Officer of Shikarpur District
Police Head Quarters, Shikarpur District
Sindh Province
PAKISTAN
Tel: +92-761-515077 / 512309

Sample letter:

Re: The honor killing victim's family suffers from the police inaction

Name of the Victim: Ms. Wazeeran(50), of Mahar caste, married with three children, elected as counselor in Taluka (sub-division) Council Rohri
Alleged perpetrators: 1) Zaheer (25), son of Sher Dil, 2) Qaaim-u-ddin (24), son of Jurial, 3) Mohammad Salih (24), son of Bhoral, all of Mahar caste and reside in Rustam Village, nephews of the victim's husband
Date of Incident: At around 5:30 am on 7 March 2004
Place of Incident: Sanjrani Street, Berri Chouk, Rohrri Town, Sukkur District, Sindh Province

I am deeply concerned by the killing of Ms. Wazeeran by the three nephews of her husband, Zaheer, Qaaim-u-ddin, and Mohammad Salih on 7 March 2004.

Even though the victim's brother has lodged a complaint to the Rohrri Police Station, no serious action has yet been taken by the police to investigate this case and the police have not attempted to arrest the perpetrators at all. More seriously, even though the real reason of the murder is the property matter, the perpetrators fabricated false allegation of committing adultery (honor killing) against the victim because it assisted them to be set free easily from the crime by the tribal court and the court of law as well. Moreover, the victim's family is constantly receiving the threat from the perpetrators but the police did not provide any protection to them.

The honor killings in Pakistan is beyond belief. In September 2003, it was reported by a human rights organization in Pakistan that there were at least 637 honor killing cases in Pakistan in the first eight months of 2003. Referring these figures were based on newspaper reports, the actual number of honor killings is definitely much higher than the reported cases. In many cases, 'honor killing' is used as a tool to fulfill the people's personal revenges, because such cases are usually managed by the trial court so-called "Jirga" which provide impunity or very light punishment to the killers.

Even though the situation is very serious as described above, the Government of Pakistan has failed to abolish the practice of honor killings and lack of consistent positive action by Pakistani law enforcement agencies facilitate this inhuman practice. How many lives of Pakistani women have to be taken in the name of "tradition" until the Pakistani government starts to take genuine steps and strong action to stop this ongoing and brutal custom?

I strongly urge you to order a through and speedy investigation into this case and bring the three above perpetrators to justice as soon as possible. The protection should be provided to the victim's family while the inquiry is going on. I also urge the Government of Pakistan to take strong measures to stop tribal courts and ensure that the victims get fair trials and justice. For this purpose, the Pakistani government's judicial system should provide speedy justice to the victims, especially in honor killing cases.

The Article 2(e) of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), clearly states that the state government should "take all appropriate measures, including legislation, to modify or abolish existing laws, regulations, customs and practices which constitute discrimination against women". I request the Pakistani Government to respect the CEDAW and take all possible measures to abolish the custom of honour killings and creating legal provisions to prohibit it.

Thank you for your attention into this matter.



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Thank you.

Urgent Appeals Programme
Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC)

Document Type :
Urgent Appeal Case
Document ID :
UA-44-2004
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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.