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PAKISTAN: Honor killing takes lives of 19-year-old girl and 30-year-old man

July 12, 2004

URGENT ACTION URGENT ACTION URGENT ACTION URGENT ACTION

ASIAN HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION - URGENT APPEALS PROGRAM

13 July 2004
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UA-85-2004: PAKISTAN: Honor killing takes lives of 19-year-old girl and 30-year-old man

PAKISTAN: Honor killing; Violence against women; Rule of law
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Dear friends

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) is gravely concerned by another "honor killing" case reported from Shikarpur district, Sindh Province, Pakistan. Even though AHRC has issued several honor killing cases, the state government of Sindh province as well as the government of Pakistan have not taken any serious action to abolish this brutal practice.

According to the information received, on 22 June 2004, Ms. Reshman (19) and Mr. Abdul Shakoor (30) were killed by Mr. Mukhtiar Ahmed (Ms. Reshman's brother) and an unknown man on the pretext of "honor killing" in Munaabad Village, Garhi Yaseen Town, Shikarpur District, Sindh Province. The accused alleged that the two victims were having illicit sexual relations, which was denied by Mr. Abdul Shakoor's family. The perpetrators proclaimed that they killed them to maintain the honor of their family. More seriously, although a first information report (FIR) was filed at Jamalpur Police Station, none of the perpetrators have been arrested yet and the villagers are supporting them.

Your urgent action is required to pressure the local authorities for the quick arrest of the perpetrators and a thorough investigation of the case. Please also call for the government of Pakistan, especially the state government of Sindh to take strong action to eliminate honor killings.

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

Name of Victims:
1) Ms. Reshman, 19 years old, daughter of Rajib Ali, of Junejo tribe, unmarried
2) Mr. Abdul Shakoor, 30 years old, son of Umaid Ali, of Junejo tribe, married, farmer
Alleged perpetrators:
1) Mr. Mukhtiar Ahmed, son of Rajib Ali, of Junejo tribe, brother of Ms. Reshman
2) Unknown (the complainant stated that he would be able to recognize this perpetrator on seeing him again)
Complainant: Mr. Deedar Husain, son of Umaid Ali, of Junejo tribe, brother of Mr. Abdul Shakoor
Witnesses:
1) Mr. Sadoro, son of Sobhal, of Junejo tribe, maternal cousin of Mr. Abdul Shakoor
2) Mr. Nazeer Ahmed, son of Ghulam Ghulam Hayder, of Junejo tribe, paternal cousin of Mr. Abdul Shakoor
Date of incident: 22 June 2004, 6:00 p.m.
Case reported on: 22 June 2004, 7:00 p.m. at Jamalpur Police Station, Shikarpur District
Place of Incident: Munaabad Village, Garhi Yaseen Town, Shikarpur District, Sindh Province Pakistan

Case Details:

On June 2004, Ms. Reshman (19) and Mr. Abdul Shakoor (30) were brutally killed by Mr. Mukhtiar Ahmed (Ms. Reshman's brother) and an unknown man on the pretext of "honor killing" in Munaabad Village, Garhi Yaseen Town, Shikarpur District, Sindh Province.

According to Mr. Deedar Husain (Mr. Abdul Shakoor's brother and complainant), on 22 June 2004, he and his two cousins Sadoro and Nazeer Ahmed were in the village street. At about 6:00 p.m. his brother Mr. Abdul Shakoor was returning from the village shop after purchasing some commodities for his family. When Mr. Deedar Husain saw his brother, who was at a little distance from him and his two cousins, he also saw that Mr. Mukhtiar Ahmed approached his brother along with an unknown man. Mr. Mukhtiar Ahmed had a single barreled gun in his hand and his companion had an automatic pistol. When they reached Mr. Abdul Shakoor, Mr. Mukhtiar Ahmed started to verbally abuse him and accused him of having illicit sexual relations with his sister Ms. Reshman. After that, Mr. Mukhtiar Ahmed started to fire at Mr. Abdul Shakoor. The victim's brother and his two cousins stepped forward to stop him but the unknown man pointed his pistol towards them and ordered them to stay aside. Mr. Abdul Shakoor fell on the street bleeding and died. The victim's brother saw that Mr. Abdul Shakoor had three injuries on his back and the left side of his neck.

Mr. Mukhtiar Ahmed and his companion then left the place and went to Ms. Reshman's house which is located in the same street. At that time, she was in the bathroom. They also killed her with their guns and proclaimed that they killed both victims to maintain the honor of their family. Then they fled away. Mr. Deedar Husain and his two cousins Sadoro and Nazeer Ahmed, who followed the two perpetrators saw Ms. Reshman's body lying in the bathroom and she had seven injuries; three on the left side of her neck, two under the right breast, one across her right arm and one on the right side of her back. Mr. Deedar Husain asked his cousins to stay at the bodies of the two victims while he went to the Jamalpur Police Station to report the incident. At around 7:00 p.m. the First Information Report (FIR- Case no. No. 5/04 Section 302, 504 PPC) was lodged by Mr. Deedar Husain at the police station. He stated that the deceased were constantly fired upon even after being dead.

Mr. Abdul Shakoor's family claims that the allegation about him and Ms. Reshman is baseless. They said that both of victims have not been seen together in any objectionable conditions and there is no evidence to prove their illicit relations. According to the family, they had quarrels with the family of the accused several times and they (the accused) did not want to live with them in the same street and same village. However, according to our source, most of the villagers think that Mr. Mukhtiar Ahmed killed his sister and Mr. Abdul Shakoor in order to maintain his family's honor and hence they are at the side of the accused. The family of the accused is not willing to unravel any facts of the incident and nobody among Ms. Reshman's family members went to lodge a FIR about the incident. Therefore, Mr. Deedar Husain lodged a collective FIR regarding the murder of the two victims at the Jamalpur police Station.

After the case was registered, the sub-Inspector Qamaruddin Mazari, sub-House Officer (SHO) of Jamalpur Police station refused to say anything about the reasons for the murders. He only mentioned that the case was handed over to the investigation team of the police station and thenceforth the case would be produced before Civil judge & judicial Magistrate of Lakhi Ghulam Shah Town in Shikarpur District. The two accused have not been arrested until now.

The practice of honour killings continues to occur with alarming frequency in Pakistan, mainly in Sindh Province. Honor killings often occur on the pretext of maintaining honor. The male relatives who commit the murders are rarely prosecuted in traditional communities. It appears that any action, real or fabricated, if deemed by the family as compromising their honor, may be considered a valid reason to commit murder. While illegal according to national laws and inconsistent with Islamic doctrine in both the Koran and Sharia, the lack of consistent positive action by Pakistani law enforcement agencies and the seemingly commonplace belief in the practice of honor killings, facilitate this inhuman practice.

AHRC requires the local authorities to conduct a thorough investigation into this murder. We also ask you to send a letter or make a phone call to the Regional Police Officer (RPD), Sukkur and officer of the DPO Investigation Department - Shikarpur District and demand speedy and thorough investigation of this case. The contact information of these officers is given below.

SUGGESTED ACTION:
Please send a letter, fax or email to the addresses below and demand the local authorities to arrest the perpetrators quickly and conduct thorough investigation in this case.

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

2.Hon. Mr. Ishrat-ul-Ibad Khan
Governor of Sindh State Government
Governor House
Karachi
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
PAKISTAN
Tel: +92 21 9212626-7
Fax: +92 21 9212051

4. Mr. Rahoo Khan Brohi
Regional Police Officer
Sukkur Region
Airport Road Sukkur
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. Mr. Khameeso Khan Memon
District Police Officer (DPO) - Shikarpur District
Attn. Mr. Fida Hussain Mastoi
District Police Officer (DPO) Investigation - Shikarpur District
Police Head Quarters
Shikarpur
PAKISTAN
Tel: +92 761 515077, 512309
Fax: +92 761 512369

7. Ms. Yakin Erturk
Special Rapporteur on Violence against Women
OHCHR-UNOG
Palais Wilson, 8-14 Avenue de la Paix,
1211 Geneva 10
SWITZERLAND
Fax: +41 22 917 9022

Sample letter:

Dear ________________

Re: PAKISTAN: Honor killing takes lives of 19-year-old girl and 30-year-old man

Name of Victims: 1) Ms. Reshman (19), daughter of Rajib Ali, of Junejo tribe, unmarried 2) Mr. Abdul Shakoor (30), son of Umaid Ali, of Junejo tribe, married, farmer
Alleged perpetrators:
1) Mr. Mukhtiar Ahmed, son of Rajib Ali, of Junejo tribe, brother of Ms. Reshman
2) Unknown (He can be recognized by the witnesses)
Complainant: Mr. Deedar Husain, brother of Mr. Abdul Shakoor
Witnesses: 1) Mr. Sadoro, son of Sobhal, of Junejo tribe, maternal cousin of Mr. Abdul Shakoor
2) Mr. Nazeer Ahmed, son of Ghulam Ghulam Hayder, of Junejo tribe, paternal cousin of Mr. Abdul Shakoor
Date of incident: 22 June 2004, 6:00 p.m.
Case reported on: 22 June 2004, 7:00 p.m. at Jamalpur Police Station, Shikarpur District
Place of Incident: Munaabad Village, Garhi Yaseen Town, Shikarpur District, Sindh Province

I have learned of another honor killing that happened in Shikarpur District, Sindh Province, Pakistan. According to the information I have received, on 22 June 2004, Ms. Reshman (19) and Mr. Abdul Shakoor (30) were brutally killed by Mr. Mukhtiar Ahmed (Ms. Reshman's brother) and an unknown man on the pretext of "honor killing" in Munaabad Village, Garhi Yaseen Town, Shikarpur District, Sindh Province. The accused alleged that the two victims were having illicit sexual relations, which was denied by Mr. Abdul Shakoor's family. The perpetrators proclaimed that they killed them to maintain the honor of their family. More seriously, although a first information report (FIR) was filed at Jamalpur Police Station, none of the perpetrators have been arrested yet and the villagers are supporting the act of the perpetrators.

Although honour killings are illegal according to national laws and inconsistent with Islamic doctrine in both the Koran and Sharia, the government of Pakistan has failed to eliminate honor killings due to the lack of consistent positive action by Pakistani law enforcement agencies. How many women have to be sacrificed until the Government takes genuine action to abolish the practice of honor killing? The practice of honor killings must end, and the silence that perpetrates the practice must be broken.

Therefore, I strongly urge you to conduct a thorough and speedy investigation in this case and bring the perpetrators to justice as soon as possible. I also request the government of Pakistan to clearly declare honor killing as a crime and create legal provision to prohibit it. Also, tribal courts (jirga) should be prohibited and fair trials should be ensured in court.

Thank you for your attention.



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Thank you.

Urgent Appeals Programme
Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC)

Document Type :
Urgent Appeal Case
Document ID :
UA-85-2004
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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.