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PAKISTAN: Member of Christian minority community killed

May 17, 2004

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ASIAN HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION - URGENT APPEALS PROGRAM

18 May 2004
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UA-49-2004: PAKISTAN: Member of Christian minority community killed

PAKISTAN: Right to life; Freedom of religion; Threats to family; Police inaction
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Dear friends,

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has learned that Irfan Khokhar, the information coordinator of Peace Worldwide, a Christian organisation based in Islamabad, Pakistan, was murdered by three men on the night of Feb. 7, 2004. Since his death, the family of the victim have been intimidated by Hafiz Atta ur Rehman, who is believed to be the primary suspect responsible for the killing. Moreover, staff members of Peace Worldwide have received threats both before and after Khokhar's murder. Although the police have arrested one suspect, Hafiz Atta and the other suspect are still at large.

This death appears to be part of a continuing pattern of intimidation and violence directed at minority religious communities in the country. AHRC thus asks its network to respond to this case in order to alleviate the violent discrimination being experienced by religious communities in Pakistan and to ensure that justice is rendered in this case.


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

Name of the Victim: Irfan Khokhar, 33

Alleged Perpetrators: Hafiz Atta ur Rehman, Meherban Khan and Safdar Ali

Witnesses: Boota Masih Khokhar, 59, Irfan Khokhar's father
Date of Incident: Abduction at about 7:00 p.m. on Feb. 7, 2004; death at about 3:00 a.m. on Feb. 8
Case Reported on: Feb. 8, 2004, at 2:30 p.m. at the Taxila police station district office in Rawalpindi, Pakistan

Place of Incident: Jamila Abad near the Taxila police station

CASE DETAILS

Irfan Khokhar, 33, was the information coordinator for three years for Peace Worldwide, a Christian organisation in Islamabad, Pakistan. He was with his parents on the night of Feb. 7, 2004, when three men arrived at their home at about 7:00 p.m. and asked Irfan's 59-year-old father, Boota Masih Khokhar, if they could speak with Irfan for several minutes. When Irfan did not return for several hours, Irfan's father called Hector Aleem, the chairman of Peace Worldwide, who arrived at the home of Irfan's father at about midnight. Throughout the night, Aleem and three other staff members of the organisation looked for Irfan but could not find him.

At 8:00 a.m. on Feb. 8, the police came to the home of Irfan's father and said that his son's dead body had been found in the flat of Hafiz Atta ur Rehman in Jamila Abad near the Taxila police station district office in Rawalpindi. Hafiz Atta's neighbours said that at about 3:00 a.m. they heard gunshots, but they were afraid to leave their homes and investigate, they said.

Although Irfan's father, Boota Masih Khokhar, attempted to register the case with the police at the Taxila police station at 2:30 p.m. on Feb. 8 in the presence of Aleem and the other three Peace Worldwide staff members, the police registered the case themselves. The police subsequently arrested Meherban Khan, but the other two suspects -- Hafiz Atta and Safdar Ali -- are still at large.

Meanwhile, Irfan's family and Aleem have received threats from Hafiz Atta. These threats include telephone calls to Irfan's family in which Hafiz Atta has said that he will kidnap Irfan's sister Samina unless the case is withdrawn against him. Samina was also followed by a man in Islamabad who approached her and showed her a gun, warning her that she would be killed like Irfan if the case is not dropped.

Aleem also reports threatening telephone calls to his home since the attack on Irfan. He also says that there were attempts on his life on March 3, 2003, in his home and on Jan. 8, 2001, in his office.

SUGGESTED ACTION


Please send a letter, fax or e-mail to the addresses below and express your concern about this case. Please ask for a thorough police investigation and protection for the family of Irfan Khokhar and the staff members of Peace Worldwide. In addition, the country's political leaders must take steps to guarantee the safety of Pakistan's religious minorities.


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

2. Mr. Faisal Saleh Hyat
Interior Minister of Pakistan
Fax: +92 51 920 2624

3. Hon. Mr. Khalid Maqbool
Governor
State Government of Punjab
Telephone: +92 42 920 0016
Fax: +92 42 920 0052
E-mail: governor.sectt@punjab.gov.pk

4. Mr. Sahadat Ullah Khan
Inspector General of Punjab Police
Telephone: +92 42 921 0062
Fax: +92 42 921 0028, 921 0064

 

SAMPLE LETTER

Re: Murder of Irfan Khokhar

Name of the Victim: Irfan Khokhar, 33

Alleged Perpetrators: Hafiz Atta ur Rehman, Meherban Khan and Safdar Ali

Witnesses: Boota Masih Khokhar, 59, Irfan Khokhar's father
Date of Incident: Abduction at about 7:00 p.m. on Feb. 7, 2004; death at about 3:00 a.m. on Feb. 8
Case Reported on: Feb. 8, 2004, at 2:30 p.m. at the Taxila police station district office in Rawalpindi, Pakistan

Place of Incident: Jamila Abad near the Taxila police station

I am concerned that religious minorities in Pakistan continue to face discrimination, harassment and even death. The most recent case that has been brought to my attention is the murder of Irfan Khokhar, the information coordinator of Peace Worldwide, a Christian organisation based in Islamabad, on the night of Feb. 7, 2004, after his abduction.

Although one suspect in the case has been arrested, Meherban Khan, I am concerned that the suspected main perpetrator of the crime, Hafiz Atta ur Rehman, in whose flat the body was found, remains at large as well as another suspect, Safdar Ali. I ask that you ensure a thorough police investigation into this murder and protection for the family members of the victim as well as his colleagues at Peace Worldwide, all of whom have been threatened if the case is not withdrawn.

It is incumbent upon the government at all levels in Pakistan to ensure the safety of the country's religious minorities and to guarantee their religious freedom as stipulated in Pakistan's Constitution. I ask that all political leaders in the country as well as Pakistan's law enforcement agencies take immediate steps to protect all religious minorities in Pakistan.

Thank you for your attention to this important matter.



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Thank you.

Urgent Appeals Programme
Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC)

Document Type :
Urgent Appeal Case
Document ID :
UA-49-2004
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.