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KASHMIR: Pakistani police assault peaceful demonstrators

October 14, 2002

URGENT ACTION URGENT ACTION URGENT ACTION URGENT ACTION URGENT ACTION
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ASIAN HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION - URGENT APPEALS PROGRAM
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15 October 2002
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UA-48-2002: Pakistani police assault peaceful demonstrators in Kashmir
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KASHMIR: Basic human rights denied; freedom of expression, freedom of peaceful assembly; arbitrary arrest and detention
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On September 30, 2002, police clashed with protestors peacefully demonstrating against the Mangla Dam extension in Mirpur, a city in the Pakistani controlled area of Kashmir. The police attacked the demonstrators with batons and tear gas, arresting 13 people and injuring others. Mr. Najeeb Asfar, a member of the Association of British Kashmiris, reported that following the incident, most of Mirpur City was put under curfew.
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The demonstration was arranged to protest the displacement of 90,000-100,000 people in the Mirpur District by the building of the dam. An anti-dam extension committee had previously rejected the government's compensation plan proposal for the people affected on grounds that the compensation was insufficient. The protest was to coincide with Pakistani President General Pervez Musharraf's visit to the area to lay the foundation stone for the dam extension. This was a peaceful protest and protesters were un-armed civilians.
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AHRC stresses that such brutality should to go unaddressed. Such use of violence should come to an end immediately. People in Kashmir have a legitimate right to peaceful protest. Denial of such right is a violation of basic human right of Kashmiri people and contravene Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) and other human rights covenants.
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Therefore, in light of this event, we urge you to write a letter to General Musharraf regarding the police's actions and the displacement of so many Kashmiri people.
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BACKGROUND INFORMATION:
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The first military dictator of Pakistan, Gen. Ayyub Khan forcibly constructed this dam on the disputed territory of Jammu Kashmir in 1960-67 and some 10 thousand families out of those who were evicted and displaced are still displaced after the lapse of 40 years. Now, some 90,000-100,000 people are going to be evicted and displaced again this time whose rehabilitation is not being thought of and arranged before upraising and extension work is taken up. Moreover, the said dam is being constructed on the disputed territory, which is quite un-constitutional, illegal and immoral. Hence the demands of Jammu Kashmir National Awami Party (JKNAP), Jammu Kashmir National Students Federation (JKNSF), Anti-dam extension committee and All Parties National Alliance (APNA) are
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1. Pakistan doesn¡¯t have any right to encroach upon the disputed territory of Jammu Kashmir. Hence it should not go for upraising/extending Mangla Dam, which would be unconstitutional, illegal and immoral on the part of Pakistan.
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2. However, if it is inevitable from human point of view, then Pakistan should fulfill the following conditions as prerequisite:
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i) It should give reasonable royalties (for using water and generating electricity out of this source) to the POK Govt. (a puppet one, of course).
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ii) Provide electricity to the people of POK at cheap rates as is being given to the people of tribal areas.
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iii) Start upraising and extension of the dam after constructing reasonable colonies with roads, hospitals, schools and other civic facilities for the displaced persons in the vicinity of the displaced persons in the vicinity of the dam.
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But the military junta of Pakistan have absolutely ignored all appeals and requests and announced inauguration of the said project unilaterally on 30th Sep, 2002. Consequently, JKNAP and JKNSF alongwith Anti Dam Committee announced a protest march on 30th Sep. 2002.
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The local police provoked clashes by use of tear-gas to stop the peaceful marchers. Mirpur City was under curfew that day, the police used tear gas to disperse the crowd. The Para Military was called in. Injured people were being taken into the local hospital. Raja Ali Zaman, Secretary General of JKNAP who was leading the anti dam extension movement in Pakistani occupied Kashmir was injured and also arrested amongst 13 other people. There has been a large scaled protest in all the towns of POK against the forcible upraising of Mangla dam. The detainees of 30th Sep. are still behind bars.
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The anti extension movement within Kashmir is rapidly growing and so far all Kashmiri political parties have endorsed their opposition to the extension and support the anti extension campaign. All Kashmiri groups except the top leadership of the ruling Muslim Conference in POK had announced protests activities to show their opposition to the extension. It seems that clashes between the anti extension forces and the Pakistani Army and local Kashmiri authorities were going to become inevitable.
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SUGGESTED ACTION
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Please write to Gen. Pervez Musharraf, President of Pakistan, to stop the upraising of Mangla Dam and release the detainees of 30th September. Also send copy of your letter to Kofi Annan, secretary-general of the United Nations and high commissioner for human right. A sample letter follows.
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SAMPLE LETTER
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Dear
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Re: Violence and Tension in Pakistani Occupied Kashmir (POK) due to upraising of Mangla Dam.
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I am writing to express my deep concern about the recent escalating violence and arrests in POK due to upraising of Mangla Dam which will displace thousands of people. This project will displace thousands of innocent and poor people. It is also illegal, as the State of Jammu Kashmir is a disputed territory, whose future will be determined through a plebiscite according to UN Security Council resolutions.
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We call upon you to take all necessary measures to step back from the proposed extension of Mangla Dam and release all the detainees, who were arrested under maintenance of public order law-MPO on 30th of September 2002 in Mirpur city of POK.and to let calmer reason to prevail over the emotions that are now running at a feverish pitch; for if Pakistan goes to extend Mangla Dam, there will be no winner, only potentially thousands of innocent people who will lose their homes.
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We also call upon you to bring to an end such violence use of force on peaceful demonstrators, take effective and genuine disciplinary an criminal action against the police officers who have given orders for such attack on civilians and the officers who have taken part in this violent action, apologize to the victims of this violent action and reassure that such action will not be repeated and bear the medical costs incurred by the victims due to beatings by the police.
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I trust that you will prompt action to resolve the present tense and violent situation.
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Thank you for your kind attention to this important issue that affects the lives of literally thousands of innocent people.
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Sincerely yours,
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SEND LETTERS TO:
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General Pervez Musharraf
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President of Islamic Republic of Pakistan
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Prime Minister House, Islamabad,
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PAKISTAN
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Fax: +92 051 920-1893/1835 or 4632
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E-mail: CE@pak.gov.pk
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Salutation: Dear Gen. Musharraf
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SEND A COPY TO:
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Mr. Kofi Annan
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Secretary-General
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United Nations Room S-3800
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New York NY 10017
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U.S.A.
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Fax: +1 212 963 4879/2155
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E-mail: ecu@un.org
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Document Type :
Urgent Appeal Case
Document ID :
UA-48-2002
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.