New information
PAK 001 / 1107 / OBS 136.1
Pakistan
November 8, 2007
The Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders, a joint
programme of the World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT) and the
International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH), has received new
information and requests your urgent intervention in the following
situation in *Pakistan*.
New information:
The Observatory has been informed by the Human Rights Commission of
Pakistan (HRCP) about the release on bail of its staff and council
members. Yet, the repression goes on against the civil society, in
particular lawyers and judges.
According to the information received, on November 6, 2007, the 55
members of the HRCP office in Lahore who had been arrested on November 4
(See background information) were released on bail at 7.30 pm by the
order of Home Secretary. Yet, they are still facing charges under the
Maintenance of the Public Order Ordinance and sections 146, 147 and 148
of the Penal Code.
In addition, Ms. Asma Jahangir, HRCP Chairperson, human rights lawyer
and United Nations Special Rapporteur on freedom of religion or belief,
remains under house arrest under a 90 days preventive detention order
(SO (IS-I)3 - 24 / 200), issued by the Home Department of the Government
of Punjab on November 3, 2007. Likewise, a 90-day detention order also
remains in place against Ms. Hina Jilani, Special Representative of
the United Nations Secretary General for Human Rights Defenders,
currently overseas. The Observatory fears that Ms. Jilani will be
arrested when she returns to Pakistan.
Furthermore, it has been reported that hundreds of lawyers and judges of
superior courts are currently under arrest and would have been tortured
while in detention, including Mr. Muneer A Malik, former President of
the Supreme Court Bar Association and leader of the lawyers’ movement,
currently detained at the Attack Fort under the custody of the military
intelligence ; Mr. Aitzaz Ahsan, President of the Supreme Court Bar,
and currently kept in Adiayala jail in solitary confinement, Mr. Tariq
Mahmood, former President of the Supreme Court Bar Association, first
detained in the Adiala jail and who was reportedly shifted to an unknown
place; and Mr. Ali Ahmed Kurd, former Vice Chair of the Pakistan Bar
Council, in the custody of military intelligence and being kept at an
undisclosed place.
The Observatory expresses its deepest concern regarding these arbitrary
detentions and forced disappearances, as they seem to merely aim at
sanctioning the mentioned defenders’ human rights activities and
strongly condemns these serious violations of international human rights
law.
The Observatory further recalls that, as member of the Human Rights
Council, Pakistan is committed to “uphold the highest standards of
promotion and protection of human rights” [1], and therefore urges the Pakistani
authorities put an end to any kind of harassment against all human
rights defenders in Pakistan.
Background information:
In a context where the President Musharraf has imposed a state of
emergency in Pakistan, suspended the constitution, dismissed the Chief
Justice and arrested leading lawyers, Ms. Asma Jahangir was put under
house arrest on November 3, 2007, under a 90 days preventive detention
order (SO (IS-I)3 – 24 / 200), issued by the Home Department of the
Government of Punjab and reportedly to prevent her making “inflammatory
speeches”.
In addition, a house arrest warrant for a period of 90 days has been
issued against Ms. Hina Jilani, who is expected to be detained by the
police when she returns from overseas.
On November 4, 2007, the police raided the office of the Human Rights
Commission of Pakistan situated at Tipu Block, New Garden Town in Lahore
and arrested 55 of its members [2], who
were at the time gathering at a joint action committee to discuss the
situation after the imposition of the state of emergency. Charged with
holding “illegal assembly” and interfering with public officers under
the Criminal Procedure Code, they were taken into preventive detention
under Maintenance of Public Order Ordinance and remanded to the Kot
Lakhpat Jail Lahore. Messrs. Syed Igbal Haider and I. A. Rehman,
respectively HRCP Secretary General and Executive Director, were also
among those arrested and were then placed under house arrest.
On November 5, 2007, Messrs. Igbal Haider and I. A. Rehman, along with
the other HRCP members who had been arrested on the day before, appeared
before a judge and were sent to the Kot Lakhpat Jail Lahore till the
next hearing, on November 6, 2007.
Actions requested :
Please write to the authorities of Pakistan urging them to :
i. Guarantee in all circumstances the physical and
psychological integrity of Mr. Muneer A Malik, Mr. Aitzaz Ahsan, Mr.
Tariq Mahmood, Mr. Ali Ahmed Kurd, Ms. Asma Jahangir, Ms. Hina Jilani,
should she return to Pakistan, all HRCP members as well as of lawyers
and magistrates currently detained or under house arrest;
*ii. Take prompt action in order to locate Mr. Tariq
Mahmood and Mr. Ali Ahmed Kurd, make public their whereabouts, and
ensure their immediate release;
iii. Put an end to the house arrest of Ms. Asma
Jahangir and release immediately and unconditionally Mr. Muneer A Malik
and Mr. Aitzaz Ahsan, as well as all other defenders who are currently
detained, since their detention is arbitrary as it merely aims at
sanctioning their human rights activities;
iv. Cancel the warrant of arrest issued against Ms. Hina
Jilani as it seems to merely aim at sanctioning her human rights
activities;
v. Conduct an immediate, independent and impartial
investigation into the above-mentioned allegations of torture in order
to identify those responsible, bring them to justice and sentence them
according to the law;
vi. Put an end to all acts of harassment, including at
the judicial level, against all human rights defenders in Pakistan;
vii. Conform with the provisions of the UN Declaration on
Human Rights Defenders, adopted by the General Assembly of the United
Nations on December 9, 1998, especially its article 1, which states that
“everyone has the right, individually and in association with others, to
promote and to strive for the protection and realisation of human rights
and fundamental freedoms at the national and international levels” and
article 6, which states that “everyone has the right, individually and
in association with others: to know, seek, obtain, receive and hold
information about all human rights and fundamental freedoms (...),
freely to publish, impart or disseminate to others views, information
and knowledge on all human rights and fundamental freedoms and to study,
discuss, form and hold opinions on the observance (...) of all human
rights and fundamental freedoms and, through these and other appropriate
means, to draw public attention to those matters”.
viii. Ensure in all circumstances respect for human rights
and fundamental freedoms in accordance with international human rights
standards and international instruments ratified by Pakistan.
Addresses:
General Pervez Musharraf, President, Pakistan Secretariat,
Islamabad, PAKISTAN, Fax: +92 51 922 4768/ 920 1893 / 1835 / +92 51
9221422; E-mail: via website:
http://www.presidentofpakistan.gov.pk/WTPresidentMessage.aspx
Mr. Aftab Ahmed Khan Sherpao, Minister for the Interior,
Ministry for the Interior, Room 404, 4th Floor, Block R, Federal
Secretariat, Islamabad, Pakistan, Fax: +92 51 9202624, E-mail:
minister interior.gov.pk /
secretary interior.gov
Mr. Zahid Hamid, Minister of Law, Justice and Human Rights,
Room 305, S-Block, Pakistan Secretariat, Islamabad, Pakistan, Fax: +92
51 9202628 / +92 51 9201631, E-Mail: minister molaw.gov.pk
Mian Kurshid Mahmud Kasuri, Minister of Foreign Affairs,
Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Islamabad, PAKISTAN, Tel: +92 51 92 10 335,
Fax: +92 51 920 7600
Ghulam Safdar, Joint Secretary for Law, Justice and Human
Rights, Islamabad, PAKISTAN, Tel: +92 51 921 1278, Fax: +92 51 920 1631
Ambassador Masood Khan, Permanent Mission of Pakistan to the
United Nations in Geneva, Rue de Moillebeau 56, Case postale 434, 1211
Geneva 19, Switzerland, E-mail: mission.pakistan ties.itu.int, Fax: +41
22 734 80 85
Embassy of Pakistan to the EU in Brussels, 57 avenue Delleur,
1170 Watermael-Boitsfort, Belgium, Fax: + 32 2 675 83 84 / +32 2 675
8394
Geneva-Paris, November 8, 2007
Kindly inform us of any action undertaken quoting the code of this
appeal in your reply.
The Observatory, a FIDH and OMCT venture, is dedicated to the protection
of Human Rights Defenders and aims to offer them concrete support in
their time of need. The Observatory was the winner of the 1998 Human
Rights Prize of the French Republic.
To contact the Observatory, call the emergency line:
E-mail: Appeals fidh-omct.org
Tel and fax FIDH + 33 (0) 1 43 55 20 11 / +33 1 43 55 18 80
Tel and fax OMCT + 41 (0) 22 809 49 39 / + 41 22 809 49 29
[1] <mhtml:mid://00000090/#_ftnref1 See OP 9 of General Assembly
reslution A/RES/60/251.
[2] mhtml:mid://00000090/#_ftnref2
These 55 human rights activists (31
male and 24 female) included Ms. *Shahtaj Qazalbash*, Mr. *Mehboob
Khan*, Mr. *Nadeem Anthony*, Ms. *Saleema Hashmi*, Ms. *Rubina Saigol*,
Ms. *Samina Rehman*, Brig. *Rao Abid Hameed*, Mr. *Faisal Akhtar*, Mr.
*Waseem Majeed Malik*, Mr. *Irfan Barket*, Dr. *Naseem Ali*, Dr.
*Khurram Iftikhar*, Dr. *Yousaf Yaseen*, Mr. *Irshad Choudhry*, *Imran
Qureshi*, *Shams Mahmood*, *Zaffar ul Hassan*, *Khalid Mehmood*, *Bilal
Hassan Minto*, *Muhammad Bashir*, *Ali Cheema*, *Shahid Hafeez*, *Syed
Mozam Ali Shah*, *Mansoor Ali Shah*, *Shahzeb Masood*, *Javed Amin*,
*Suleman Akram*, *Muhammad Bilal Sabir*, *Shahid Amin*, *Khawaja Amjad
Hussain*, *Mahmood Ahmed*, *Rahim ul Haq*, *Ashtar Ausaf Ali*, *Alia
Ali*, *Samia Ali*, *Azhra Irshad*, *Jona Anderyas*, *Ayra Anderyas*,
*Zeba*, *Neelam Hussain*, *Gulnar*, *Sonobar*, *Sadaf Chughtai*,
*Nasreen Shah*, *Shaista Parvaiz Malik*, *Iram Sharif*, *Amina Sharif*,
*Taina Sabah ud Din*, *Tamkant Karim*, *Lala Raukh*, *Huma Shah*,
*Nasreen Shah*, *Samia Ameen Khawaja*