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UPDATE (Pakistan): Prominent lawyer disappears; eight others charged with high treason, tortured in detention

November 13, 2007

[NOTICE: The AHRC has developed a new automatic letter-sending system using the "button" below. However, in this appeal, we could not include e-mail addresses. We encourage you to send your appeal letters via fax or post to those people. Fax numbers and postal addresses of the  authorities are attached below with this appeal. Thank you.]

UPDATE ON URGENT APPEAL UPDATE ON URGENT APPEAL UPDATE ON URGENT APPEAL

ASIAN HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION – URGENT APPEALS PROGRAMME

Update on Urgent Appeal

13 November 2007

[RE: UP-149-2007: PAKISTAN: New ordinances deprive press freedom; journalists systematically attacked; UG-008-2007: PAKISTAN: State sanctioned attack on justices, lawyers and activists challenging the emergency]
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UP-150-2007: PAKISTAN: Prominent lawyer disappears; eight others charged with high treason, tortured in detention

PAKISTAN: State of emergency; enforced disappearance; torture; arbitrary arrest and detention; absence of rule of law
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Dear friends,

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has been informed regarding the disappearance of a leading lawyer and former vice president of the Pakistan Bar Council. He was last seen taken by intelligence agents on November 5 to an unknown place from Adiala Jail where he was detained. Eight other lawyers, including two women, have also been charged with high treason. Those in jail have been brutally beaten, deprived of sleep, medical attention and visits by their families, amongst other things. One of them, former president of the Supreme Court bar association, had to be taken to hospital for treatment after he started urinating traces of blood due to brutal beatings.

CASE DETAILS:

According to the information received, Mr. Ali Ahmed Kurd, former vice president of the Pakistan Bar Council (PBC), the supreme body of lawyers, has been missing after he was taken away by intelligence agents of the Inter Services Intelligence (I.S.I.) on November 5 from the notorious Adiala Jail where he was detained following his arrest on November 3. They took him away to an unknown place and his whereabouts remain unknown at present. Mr. Kurd was beaten severely while detained in a police lock up following his arrest.

At the time that Mr. Iftekhar Choudhry, Chief Justice of Pakistan, was suspended by General Musharraf on 9 March 2007, Mr. Kurd was the vice president of the PBC. He was among the top leadership of the legal community who through their struggle, succeeded in the restoration of the Chief Justice. He was known for his fiery speeches against the army and General Musharraf. He was arrested for charges of high treason.

Mr. Munir A. Malik, former President of the Supreme Court bar association, was also arrested on November 3. He was kept first in Adiala Jail, Rawalpindi and then two days later shifted to Attock Jail in the north western frontier province. He had fainted while inside the jail after he was severely beaten. He was shifted to a government hospital in Attock City after he started urinating traces of blood due to beatings. Despite his condition, he was prevented from seeing his family members. He was booked under sedition charges. He was also one of the key leaders during the movement to restore the chief justice.

Mr. Jawed Iqbal Burqi, a prominent lawyer in Karachi, was also arrested from his residence in Nazimabad on November 4. He was detained in the Nazimabad Police Station for two days and later transferred to the Central Jail, Karachi on November 6.  Mr. Burqi has since been undergoing regular medication for the injuries he sustained during a stampede, when the suicide bomb attack took place on Ms. Benazir Bhutto's caravan in Karachi on October 18. However, he was not allowed to carry medicines with him and was denied medical care. Despite the seriousness of his condition, the jail authorities gave him no assistance; instead, they cruelly suggested that he should seek medicines from the chief justice of Pakistan.

Mr. Imdad Awan, president of the Sukkur high court bar association, was also arrested on November 4 after having a protest meeting with the lawyers. He was tortured and was not allowed to have medicines for his diabetes and high blood pressure. He was also deprived of sleep.

Mr. Hasil Nizenjo, chief of the Balochistan National Party and Mr. Yousaf Masti Khan, chief of the National Workers Party, were also arrested on November 6 from the Karachi press club. They were booked under high treason charges. At the time of their arrest they were holding a meeting with journalists inside the press club.

Mr. Abrar Hassan, president of the Sindh high court bar association, and retired Justice Rasheed Razvi are also denied medication for high blood pressure and diabetes. They are not even allowed to meet with other persons in the jail.

Two female lawyers, Ms. Noor Naz Agha and Ms. Jameela Manzoor, were also arrested on November 3 and 5 respectively. Ms. Agha was a leading lawyer in Karachi. She was tortured by the police and later shifted to the Karachi prison. She was kept under incommunicado detention and was deprived of sleep by putting on a powerful light bulb on in her detention cell overnight. Meanwhile, Ms. Manzoor was arrested after a protest meeting in Lahore. She was charged with high treason. She was the first female lawyer in the country to be arrested on charges of high treason.

Please also see previous appeals and statements regarding the current situation in Pakistan:

UP-149-2007: New ordinances deprive press freedom; journalists systematically attacked

UG-008-2007: State sanctioned attack on justices, lawyers and activists challenging the emergency

AS-263-2007: EMERGENCY - Election announcement nothing more than a vague diversionary tactic

AS-261-2007: EMERGENCY - Purpose of courts is to scrutinise other parts of government, not serve as rubber stamps for petty dictators

AS-259-2007: EMERGENCY - "Arrest" without criminal procedure and functioning courts is abduction

For the latest news on Pakistan, please visit http://pakistan.ahrchk.net.

SUGGESTED ACTION:
Please write letters to the concerned authorities and UN agencies below requesting for their prompt intervention to locate the disappeared lawyer. They must also ensure that persons in detention are afforded with adequate medical attention and their families allowed visits to ensure their welfare. Please also urge them to use their authority to ensure the immediate lifting of the state of emergency and unconditional release of detainees.

To support this appeal, please click here:

Sample letter:

Dear __________,

PAKISTAN: Prominent lawyer disappears; eight others charged with high treason, tortured in detention

Name of disappeared lawyer:
1. Mr. Ali Ahmed Kurd, former vice president of the Pakistan Bar Council (PBC), the supreme body of lawyers. He was last seen on November 5, while being taken away by agents attached to the Inter Services Intelligence (I.S.I.) from Adiala Jail where he was detained
Name of lawyers and justice arrested and charged with high treason:
1. Mr. Munir A. Malik, former President of Supreme Court bar association, arrested on November 3
2. Mr. Jawed Iqbal Burqi, a prominent lawyer in Karachi, arrested on November 4, presently in Central Jail, Karachi
3. Mr. Imdad Awan, president of Sukkur high court bar association, arrested on November 4
4. Mr. Hasil Nizenjo, chief of the Blochistan National Party, arrested on November 6
5. Mr. Yousaf Masti Khan, chief of the National Workers Party, arrested on November 6
6. Mr. Abrar Hassan, president of Sindh high court bar association
7. Retired Justice Rasheed Razvi
8. Ms. Noor Naz Agha, a leading lawyer in Karachi, arrested on November 3, presently in Karachi prison
9. Ms. Jameela Manzoor, arrested on November 5

I am writing to express my grave concern regarding the disappearance of a lawyer, arrest and arbitrary filing of charges and denial of medical attentions to the lawyers and justice whose names are mentioned above.

I have learned that Mr. Ali Ahmed Kurd's whereabouts could no longer be located when intelligence agents took him away from his detention center on November 5. Following his arrest on November 3, he had been brutally tortured inside a police lockup.

Other lawyers and one justice have also been routinely and brutally tortured while in detention. Mr. Malik had to be taken to a hospital after he started urinating traces of blood due to severe beatings. Ms. Agha has been kept under incommunicado detention and deprived of sleep when the officers taking her into custody placed a powerful light bulb inside her detention cell overnight.

I am also gravely concerned by the condition of detainees who require urgent and regular medical attention. Mr. Burqi was prevented from carrying his medication to treat his injuries. He has been undergoing medication for the injuries he has sustained from a stampede during the October 18 bomb blast. Three others, Mr. Awan, Mr. Hassan and Justice Razvi, were also denied of their regular medication for their diabetes and high blood pressure.

I am deeply concerned by these systematic attacks against the lawyers and justice who are challenging the imposition of the state of emergency. It is unacceptable that these persons have been arrested, detained and charged without due process on the pretext of emergency rule. I therefore urge you to use your authority and demand for the immediate release of these persons and other detainees arrested in recent times. As you are aware, the emergency rule has effectively left victims of state-sanctioned violence no legal remedies.

However, to deny these persons their fundamental right to life by continuously denying them with their regular medication is completely unacceptable. I urge you to put pressure on the Pakistani government demanding for the immediate lifting of the state of emergency and restore the civilian institution. They must also ensure the welfare of arrested persons in their custody. Those who require regular medication and medical attention must be afforded with such. Failure to ensure their welfare and threatening their right to life is to be condemned.

Furthermore, the government must also produce the disappeared lawyer, Mr. Kurd, whose whereabouts remain unknown. The government must ensure that each of the arrested and detained persons is fully accounted for and that their families are allowed access to their places of detention.

I am deeply concerned that despite a huge number of persons who have so far been arrested, detained and charged, details regarding their present condition and their places of detention remains negligible. I have learned that the security forces have routinely been denying the detainees relatives and families access. I am gravely concerned that preventing visits to detainees would increase the risk of them being tortured in custody. I urge you ensure that the government allows the victim's families free access to their loved ones to ascertain their present condition.

I trust that you will take prompt action on this serious matter.

Yours sincerely,

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PLEASE SEND YOUR LETTERS TO:

1. General Pervez Musharraf
President
President's Secretariat
Islamabad
PAKISTAN
Fax: +92 51 922 1422, 4768/ 920 1893 or 1835
E-mail: (please see-> http://www.presidentofpakistan.gov.pk/WTPresidentMessage.aspx)

2. Mr. Hamid Sarfaraz
Minister of Law, Justice and Human Rights
S Block Pakistan Secretariat
Islamabad
PAKISTAN
Fax: +92 51 920 2628
E-Mail: minister@molaw.gov.pk

3. Mr. Aftab Ahmed Khan Sherpao
Federal Minister of Interior
Room#404, 4th Floor, R Block,
Pak Secretariat
Islamabad
PAKISTAN
Tel: + 92 51 9212026
Fax: + 92 51 9202624
Email: minister@interior.gov.pk

4. Ms. Leila Zerrougui
Chairperson
Working Group on arbitrary detention
OHCHR-UNOG
1211 Geneva 10
SWITZERLAND
Fax: +41 22 917 9006 (ATTENTION: WORKING GROUP ARBITRARY DETENTION)

5. Prof. Manfred Nowak
Special Rapporteur on the Question of Torture
C/o OHCHR-UNOG
1211 Geneva 10
SWITZERLAND
Tel: +41 22 917 9230
Fax: +41 22 917 9016 (ATTN: SPECIAL RAPPORTEUR TORTURE)

6. Mr. Leandro Despouy
Special Rapporteur on the independence of judges and lawyers
Room: 3-060
C/o OHCHR-UNOG
1211 Geneva 10
SWITZERLAND
Tel: +41 22 917 9160
Fax: +41 22 917 9006 (ATTN: SPECIAL RAPPORTEUR INDEPENDENCE JUDGES & LAWYERS)

Thank you.

Urgent Appeals Programme
Asian Human Rights Commission (ua@ahrchk.org)

Document Type :
Urgent Appeal Update
Document ID :
UP-150-2007
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.