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PAKISTAN: A man was disappeared after being severely tortured at the Westridge Police Station

October 7, 2003

URGENT ACTION URGENT ACTION URGENT ACTION URGENT ACTION

ASIAN HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION - URGENT APPEALS PROGRAM

7 October 2003

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UA-61-2003: PAKISTAN: A man was disappeared after being severely tortured at the Westridge Police Station

PAKISTAN: Torture; Custodial death
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Dear friends,

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received the information that Zafar Iqbal, who had been in police custody in connection with a house robbery attempt, has allegedly been tortured to death by the police officers from the Westridge Police Station in Rawalpindi Division. The victim¡¦s body was not yet found. Your urgent action is required to correct this matter.

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

On 30 September 2003, three robbers entered the house of Dr. Rauf on Iqbal Road. One of the robbers, identified as Zafar Iqbal, was overpowered by the family members and neighbors, and handed over to the Westridge Police Station. The other two accomplices however, have escaped.

Since Zafar was handed over to the Station House Officer (SHO) of the Westridge Police Station on September 30, neither was there any First Information Report (FIR) registered against him, nor was he produced before the court. The police claimed that they released Zafar. However, the people believe that he died in police custody after being tortured and his body thrown somewhere.

The Superintendent of the Police (SP), Inayatullah Farooqi, who was identified as a complainant in the FIR lodged against the policemen, said he could not find Zafar Iqbal during his inspection of the police station. He said there was no record of the arrest of the accused in the police station and the SHO concerned also failed to give a satisfactory reply regarding the whereabouts of the man.

Mr. Israr Ahmed, the Deputy Inspector General (DIG) of Rawalpindi Division, had ordered registration of a murder case against the responsible police officers. The FIR No. 454 said: "It is suspected that the body of the man has been vanished after he was killed." The SHO Westridge police station, Waqar Azeem, and two constable, Abbas, and Naeem, were taken into custody and an FIR registered on charges of abduction and hiding a person under the pretext of killing him. However, AHRC is concerned that this case will also become another failed story of the police¡¦s inaction. The Pakistan government started police reform project "Access to Justice Program" in 2001 funded by the World Bank, but so far the project seems to be failing to reach its objectives.

Two similar cases, in which two suspects were killed in police custody, occurred last month in the same division. However, the police failed to conduct a thorough investigation and bring the perpetrators to justice. The alleged perpetrators have not yet been punished. AHRC will send you updated information on this case soon.

SUGGESTED ACTION:
Please write a letter or email to the addresses below and express your concern over this serious case. A sample letter is attached.

1. General Pervez Musharraf
President
Pervez Musharraf, Pakistan Secretariat, Islamabad
PAKISTAN
Fax: +92 51 922 4768/ 920 1893 or 1835
Email: CE@pak.gov.pk

2. Mr. Moinuddin Haider
Minister of Interior
Faisal Saleh Hayat, Ministry of Interior,
Block R, Federal Secretariat, Islamabad
PAKISTAN
Fax: 92-51-9202624
Email: minister@interior.gov.pk or secretary@interior.gov

3. Mr. Chaudhary Pervez Elahi
Chief Minister of Punjap State
30-C, Ch. Zahur Elahi Road,
Gulberg-II, Lahore
Punjab State
PAKISTAN
Tel: +92 42 9200016 / 9200093

4. Zaman Khan
Complaint Cell
National Human Rights Commission of Pakistan
Aiwan-i-Jahmoor, 107-Tipu Block
New Garden Town,
Lahore-54600,
PAKISTAN
Telephone: +92 42 583-8341, 586-4994
Fax: +92 42 588-3582
E-mail: zaman@hrcp-web

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

6. Home Secretary
Government of Punjab
Tel: +92 42 9211734 or 9211735
Fax: +92 42 9211732

7. Mr. Theo C. van Boven
Special Rapporteur on the Question of Torture
OHCHR-UNOG
8-14 Avenue de la Paix
1211 Geneva 10
SWITZERLAND
Fax: +41 22 917 9016
E-mail: secrt.hchr@unog.ch

Sample letter:

Dear

Re: A man was disappeared after being severely tortured at the Westridge Police Station in Rawalpindi, Punjab

Name of the victim: Zafar Iqbal
Perpetrators: The SHO Westridge police station, Waqar Azeem, and two constable, Abbas, and Naeem from the Westridge Police Station
Date of incident: 30 September 2003

I am very concerned by reports that Zafar Iqbal was allegedly tortured to death, after being arrested on the charge of robbery at the Westridege Police Station. His body has not yet been found.

On 30 September 2003, after he attempted to rob the house of Dr. Rauf on Iqbal Road, Zafar Iqbal was captured and handed over to the Westridge Police Station. Since then, he was disappeared and neither was there any First Information Report (FIR) registered against him nor was he produced before the court. The case against the perpetrators was registered on 6 September 2003. Even though the police registered the case against the perpetrators, the police inaction continues. Two similar cases, in which two suspects were killed in police custody, occurred last month in the same division. However, the police failed to conduct a thorough investigation and bring the perpetrators to justice. The alleged perpetrators have not yet been punished.

I urge you to order a fair and impartial investigation of this case and to take all possible effort to find the whereabouts of the victim¡¦s body. I also urge you to bring the perpetrators before the court and punish them as soon as possible. I further urge the government of Pakistan to sign and ratify the Convention Against Torture and declare torture as a 'crime.'

Sincerely yours


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Thank you.

Kim Soo A
Urgent Appeals Programme
Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC)

Document Type :
Urgent Appeal Case
Document ID :
UA-61-2003
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.