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PAKISTAN: A brother killed his sister on the pretext of honor killing

August 4, 2004

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ASIAN HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION - URGENT APPEALS PROGRAM

5 August 2004
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UA-98-2004: PAKISTAN: A brother killed his sister on the pretext of honor killing

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

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received another case of honor killing from Shikarpur district, Sindh province, Pakistan. According to the information received, on 14 July 2004, Ms. Sabhai (40) was shot dead by her younger brother Aashiq Ali (32) alias Babu in front of her son at the bus stop near Bhaya canal, Karan village, Shiarpur district. According to the victim’s son, his uncle blamed his mother for having illicit relations with a man named Mumtaz who is their distant relative. However, he maintained that his mother was innocent and his uncle imposed the fake allegation on her. It was also reported that Aashiq Ali was allegedly spurred by his friends to kill his sister because she was a shame to his family.

Even though the victim’s son made a complaint at the Karan police station about the incident, no raid or serious action has taken by the police. The perpetrator has not been arrested, either. A local NGO reported that a tribal jirga, which is prohibited by law, might be held to settle the case.

AHRC call for your strong support in this case. Please send a letter to the local authorities for the quick arrest of the perpetrator and a thorough investigation of the case. Please also urge them to prohibit any settling of the matter in a tribal jirga. AHRC further requests you to call for the government of Pakistan, especially the Sindh state government to take strong action to eliminate honor killings.

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

Name of the victim: Ms. Sabhai (40), wife of Bashan Ali, of Bhayo tribe
Alleged perpetrator: Aashiq Ali alias Babu (32), son of Karim Dad and the victim’s younger brother, of Bhayo tribe, resides in Gabrani Bhayo village, Shikarpur district
Name of complainant: Asghar Ali (23), the victim’s son, of Bhayo tribe, resides in Gabrani Bhayo village, Shikarpur district
Name of witnesses: 1) Muhammad Ibrahim, son of Arbab Bhayo, 2) Hazoor Bux, son of Jamaluddin Bhayo, both of them reside in Gabrani Bhayo village, Shikarpur district
Date of incident: 14 July 2004 at about 11:00 a.m. 
Case reported on: 14 July 2004 at about 12:00 p.m. (noon) at Karan Police Station
Place of Incident: Bus stop near Bhaya canal, Karan village, Shiarpur district
 
Account of incident:
 
On 14 July 2004 at about 11:00 a.m. Aashiq Ali (32) alias Babu killed his sister Ms. Sabhai (40) at the bus stop near Bhaya canal, Karan village, Shiarpur district on the pretext of honor killings. Ms. Sabhai was on the way back home in Gabrani Bhayo village along with her son Asghar Ali (23) after they visited relatives in Karachi. After the incident, the victim’s son immediately lodged a First Investigation Report (FIR no. 9/2004 Section 302 PPC) at Karan police station in Shikarpur district.

In FIR, Asghar Ali stated that he and his mother went to Karachi to visit their relatives. On returning to home at Gabrani Bhayo village, when they got off the bus near Bhaya canal, he saw his uncle Aashiq Ali was approaching them holding a T.T. pistol in his hand. Aashiq Ali started to verbally abuse his sister and alleged her of having illicit sexual relations with a person named Mumtaz who lives in Karachi. Mumtaz is a distant relative of Ms. Sabhai. After finishing his words, he fired at Ms. Sabhai several times until she fell to the ground. When Asghar Ali cried loudly after seeing this, Muhammad Ibrahim and Hazoor Bux, who were near the spot, ran to the place to find out what happened. Then Aashiq Ali fled the place quickly. Asghar Ali and two witnesses did not follow Aashiq Ali because they were afraid of being shot by Aashiq Ali. They saw that bullets hit the victim’s chest and she soon died. Asghar Ali asked the two persons to stay with his mother’s body and went to the Karan police station to report the incident.
 
According to the information we have received, Ms. Sabhai used to live in Karachi for some time while her husband was in Gabrani Bhayo village. Her house in Karachi was located in the same street where Mumtaz, her distant relative, lives and her brother (the accused) developed a baseless suspicion that his sister must have had illicit relations with Mumtaz because she was living alone in Karachi separating from her husband. Even though Ms. Sabhai moved to Gahrani Bhayo later, her brother did not stop this kind of thinking. Moreover, his friends allegedly spurred him to kill his sister saying that her sister was a shame to his family. However, the victim’s son maintained that his mother was innocent and his uncle imposed the fake allegation on her.

Another source said that another motive of the killing is that Aashiq Ali wanted to extract a good amount of money as compensation from Mumtaz who is wealthy. In many cases of honor killings, the decisions of such cases are taken by the landlords (tribal court jirga) rather than by the courts of law. In their decisions they impose heavy fines to the male who was accused of having illicit relations with the woman.

No search or serious action has been taken by the police regarding the case and the perpetrator has not been arrested.  

The hard and fast rules to observe in honor killings molded by the so-called feudal society are that any one can kill his close female relative out of anger, if he sees her with anybody in objectionable conditions. 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.

SUGGESTED ACTION:
Please send a letter, fax or an email to the following addresses and express your concern about this serious case. Please urge the local authorities to arrest the perpetrator quickly and prohibit possible jirga regarding this matter.

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

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

3. Syed Sultan Shah
Joint Secretary for Law, Justice and Human Rights
<\?xml:namespace prefix = st1 />Islamabad
PAKISTAN
Tel: + 92 51 920 3464
Fax: + 92 51 9203119

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

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

6. Mr. Khameeso Khan Memon
District Police Officer, Shikarpur
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: A brother killed his sister on the pretext of honor killing

Name of the victim: Ms. Sabhai (40), wife of Bashan Ali, of Bhayo tribe
Alleged perpetrator: Aashiq Ali alias Babu (32), son of Karim Dad and the victim’s younger brother, of Bhayo tribe, resides in Gabrani Bhayo village, Shikarpur district
Name of complainant: Asghar Ali (23), the victim’s son
Date of incident: 14 July 2004 at about 11:00 a.m. 
Case reported on: 14 July 2004 at about 12:00 p.m. (noon) at Karan Police Station
Place of Incident: Bus stop near Bhaya canal, Karan village, Shiarpur district

I am shocked to know another case of honor killing happened in Shikarpur district, Sindh province, Pakistan. Ms. Sabhai was shot dead by her younger brother Aashiq Ali at a bus stop near Bhaya canal, Karan village, Shiarpur district on 14 July 2004.

The circumstances surrounding the victim’s death seems typical of honor killings. Her brother killed the victim, accusing her of having engaged in illicit relations with one of their distant relatives without any crucial evidence. His friends allegedly spurred him to kill his sister, saying that her sister was a shame to his family. Also, there is allegation that the perpetrator is pressuring the relative to pay a heavy compensation and this would risk of being settled in a tribal jirga, which is prohibited by law.  However, no search or serious action has been taken by the police to arrest the perpetrator and investigate this incident.

I am sad to learn that the government of Pakistan has failed to take genuine action to eliminate honor killings even though they are illegal according to national laws and inconsistent with Islamic doctrine in both the Koran and Sharia. 

In addition, Article 2(e) of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), which the government of Parkistan is a state party, clearly mentioned that the state government should undertake all appropriate means without delay to eliminate discrimination against women by any person, organization or enterprise. Article 2(f) of CEDAW further mentions 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 strongly urge you to order conduct an immediate and thorough inquiry into this case and bring the perpetrator, who still is free, to justice at the very quickest. I also urge you to prohibit a tribal jirga and to handle the case in accordance with the law. Again, I strongly urge the government of Pakistan to fulfill its international obligation and implement CEDAW on a domestic level to abolish the practice of honor killing.

I look for your intervention in this matter.

Truly yours,


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Thank you.

Urgent Appeals Programme
Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC)

Document Type :
Urgent Appeal Case
Document ID :
UA-98-2004
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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.