Pakistan must ensure justice to Dr. Aafia; probe her children’s disappearance: HRCP

Press Release, August 12

 

Lahore: The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan urges the government of Pakistan to fulfil its duty of ensuring that Dr. Aafia Siddiqui receives full justice, necessary facilities and immediate medical attention. HRCP demands an official investigation into Dr. Siddiqui’s, and her children’s, disappearance and details of their detention - from the point of being picked up in 2003 till the present. HRCP also emphasises that Dr. Siddiqui should not be repatriated to Pakistan against her wishes and be given the full opportunity to contest her case in the US. The fear is that once she has been repatriated to Pakistan she will be pressurised by the intelligence agencies to maintain silence and she will not be able to secure justice. Though it may be a relief that she has been traced there is no information about Dr. Siddiqui’s children. The government must also disclose the whereabouts of her children.

 

The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan has been following the case of disappearance of Dr. Aafia Siddiqui and her three children since early 2003. The information collected by HRCP at that particular time was that in March 2003 Dr. Siddiqui, along with her three children, left her mother’s house in a taxi on her way to the Karachi airport and was picked up by an intelligence agency. What she was accused of when picked up has not been made public. Strangely, the only charge against her is an alleged assault against her captors while in custody.

 

A statement was issued expressing concern on this most heinous violation of human rights and HRCP demanded an explanation from the government. The parents of Dr. Siddiqui were also contacted, who were under sever threat of the intelligence agencies and warned not to speak either to the press or any human rights organization. At one point office bearers of the HRCP contacted the family of Dr. Siddiqui and arranged to meet but at the last minute they expressed their “inability” to see the office bearers despite the fact that the meeting was arranged at their request. Since then HRCP representatives have been in touch with the family and filed a constitutional petition in the Supreme Court which is still pending. The petition was heard on the 8th of March 2007 and at several subsequent hearings the government expressed their ignorance of the whereabouts of Dr. Siddiqui and her children.

 

HRCP is convinced that Dr. Siddiqui and her three children were picked up from Karachi as is evident from the initial reports and urges the government to now play a positive role in insuring that she gets full justice, fair trial as well as compensation from the government of United States for the mistreatment meted out to her. HRCP appreciates that the Pakistan mission has sought consular access to her yet these belated efforts can only be compensated if the Pakistan government is able to intervene in the courts in the US and submit an honest investigation report

 

HRCP will remain in touch with the legal team defending Dr. Siddiqui and will make all efforts to submit its own reports through her lawyers.

 

The violation of the rights of Dr. Siddiqui and her children, and countless other missing persons, is squarely the responsibility of the government of Pakistan. There is enough evidence indicating that she was initially picked up by the intelligence agencies in Pakistan and therefore it is not only the government of the United States but also the government of Pakistan that must be made accountable for this crime.

 

HRCP fears that the fate of Dr. Siddiqui will be the same as hundreds of others who have disappeared, been tortured and rendered to third countries without following the legal process. Regrettably petitions of hundreds of people in almost similar circumstances are pending in the courts of Pakistan and not in one single case has full justice been delivered. No one has received compensation neither have the perpetrators been brought to justice.

 

Asma Jahangir
Chairperson

Dr. Afia - recent posts and HRCP action

Current information on Dr. Afia Siddiqui

 

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HRCP Press Conference with Dr. Afia’s Sister Dr Fauzia Siddiqui

Dawn ( Aug 2008 ) Aafia’s sister rejects US charges

Daily Times ( Aug 2008 ) Dr Aafia was detained, tortured for 5 years: sister

Dawn Opinion ( Nov 2006 ) Where have they vanished?

 

Cross Postings

Teeth Maestro

( Aug 2008 )

-  Dr. Afia - Tortured & Terrorised for five years, but on trial for Assaulting an Officer

 

- FBI admits to kidnapping Dr. Afia Siddiqui, to Afghanistan

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BBC

( Aug 2008 )

-‘Al-Qaeda’ woman appears in court

- Mystery of Siddiqui disappearance

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[FBI Wanted Report, hunting for Dr. Afia]

HRCP urges justice for Dr. Afia and others

Press release, 5 August 2008

 

Lahore: With the US finally admitting custody of Dr. Afia Siddiqi, one of the most brutal cases of suppression of individual freedom has become to unravel, the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan said in a statement on Tuesday.

 

The commission said: Public pressure has at last compelled the United States to admit that Dr. Afia is in their custody.

 

While the Pakistani government has belatedly begun to admit that it had some responsibility towards Dr. Afia, it has a lot of explaining to do as to who had been detaining her and where since she was picked up from Karachi in 2003 along with her three children.

 

To say that she had been taken into custody only on July 21, 2008 is a blatant lie, as transparently ugly as any falsehood can be. The insinuation, that she had been hiding herself since 2003, is a travesty of truth, an affront to people’s commonsense.

 

Dr. Afia’s case is a reminder of the grave injustice done to God knows how many Pakistanis in US detention facilities in Bagram in Afghanistan, Guantanamo Bay in Cuba and elsewhere, who have been listed as missing.

 

While reminding the government of Pakistan of its duty to trace all people who are reported to be involuntarily disappeared, HRCP calls upon all civil society elements and human rights organizations to make a concerted effort for the release of all missing persons and to ensure that Dr. Afia gets justice, that has long been denied to her and that in a manner no civilized people can condone.

 

Iqbal Haider

Co-chairperson

HRCP urges holistic approach to combating militants

Press Release, 3 June 2008

 

Lahore: The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan warns the government to come up with a holistic strategy and a sane policy in combating militants. The bomb blast in Islamabad, ostensibly targeting the Danish embassy, blowing up of a CD shop and a girls school in Mardan, all in a single day should put those in authority on full alert. Militancy is spreading and recruitment is in full swing. According to credible reports received by HRCP, the militants are being handled with kid gloves while the security forces are regularly using excessive force against non-combatants.

 

Election results of 2008 make it abundantly clear that the militants have very little support amongst the local population. In the former Malakand Division, where militants have kept the local people hostage, the polls returned candidates that were not affiliated to religious extremism.

 

There is also disturbing information that the militants enjoy patronage of those who are in the decision making of running the so-called “war on terror”. HRCP calls upon political leadership to take the lead in expressing unqualified outrage against acts of terrorism as such acts only harm the economic, political and social growth of Pakistan and its citizens. Pakistan cannot afford to isolate herself from the international community but the activity of the militants and the smugness of the establishment will alienate a number of friendly countries. It will have a devastating effect on the country’s economy and political standing. All sections of Pakistani society must act with sobriety and denounce all those supportive of Taliban style groups operating within the country.

 

Asma Jahangir, Chairperson

Human rights have suffered in Pakistan

Press Release, March 13

Lahore: The situation of human rights and of human rights defenders in Pakistan has seriously deteriorated over the past year, according to the Paris-based International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH).

FIDH said this in a communiqué following a recent fact-finding mission in Pakistan in collaboration with the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (Feb 24-Mar 3) to assess the situation of human rights and of human rights defenders in the country.

FIDH said that among the most flagrant human rights violations that the mission documented were “enforced “disappearances”, generalised attacks against civilian population during popular gatherings, or during military operations, repression of movements seeking recognition of their identity, in particular in Balochistan, deterioration of the condition of women, discrimination against religious minorities, restrictions to the freedom of the media, persecution, summary and arbitrary arrests of human rights defenders”.

FIDH faulted US interference in Pakistan for the deterioration. “Many of those attacks are committed under the guise of the fight against terrorism, with the active support of the United States. The interference of this foreign power in Pakistan contributes in a significant way to the deterioration of human rights in the region.”

The mission called for an immediate release of the Supreme Court Chief Justice and his family; reinstatement of deposed judges; respect for the physical and psychological integrity of all Pakistani human rights defenders; and respect for the independence of the judiciary.

The mission called upon the political parties emerging as significant players after the February 18 elections to work for the rule of law in Pakistan, through human rights protection, non-discrimination, notably based on gender or the religion and freedom of expression.

Iqbal Haider

Secretary-General

Govt’s failure on security worries HRCP

 

Press release, March 11

LAHORE: The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) has expressed alarm at the government’s inability to guarantee security of life to the people in the face of almost daily explosions even in cities teeming with personnel of a multitude of security agencies.

In a statement issued after two suicide car blasts in Lahore on Tuesday morning, the commission said: the security agencies are consistently failing in fulfilling their primary responsibility of ensuring the safety of lives and property of the citizens.

The State’s role is clearly more than that of a news agency. At a time when the citizens are extremely worried about their security following explosions on a daily basis, the government has nothing comforting to offer. It is disappointing to once again hear government statements merely on whether the explosion was a suicide bomb or not. Official statements about a random number of suicide bombers entering different cities are hardly reassuring.

Such statements do little more than increase a sitting-duck feeling among the common person. The current spate of explosions comes less than a month after the caretaker interior ministry claimed the government had broken the back of terrorists. Any effective plan to counter such unfortunate attacks in the future remains invisible. What the people would now like to hear is how the government plans to counter increasing bomb blasts in the country. The people would also like to see the security agencies concentrate their resources on ensuring security for the people instead of beating up peaceful protesters, detaining judges and resorting to “disappearances”.

Iqbal Haider

Secretary General

Lahore blast: HRCP calls Govt. to account

Press release, March 5

Lahore: The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) has called upon the administration to demonstrate some capacity to protect lives against terrorist attacks instead of merely announcing alert or red alert after each explosion or suicide bombing.

In a statement issued here today HRCP said:

The terrorist attack inside the Navy War College in Lahore on Tuesday was not more serious than the recent incidents in Swat and Darra Adamkhel, in which nearly 100 people perished, but the fact that the site was pretty close to the Governor House and the Provincial Assembly chambers and the students at the college included officers from friendly nations, lent it special significance. As usual the authorities announced a red alert across the country. Such gestures are becoming increasingly meaningless as the terrorists are evidently enjoying freedom of the land. The administration must now admit its failure to deal with the menace of terrorism. The people have a right to know what has been done to trace terrorists’ training camps, the routes used for supply of explosives, and the sources of funds used in these operations. On the eve of the general election the official spokespersons, who apparently cannot agree among themselves, announced violence-free polling as, according to them, the terrorists had all been rounded up. Was the respite limited to the election day? What is the authorities’ version of the cause of the latest spurt in murderous attacks? Are the militants trying to extend the life of the regime voted out on February 18 or do they want to damn the new government before it takes charge? It is time the all-wise circular-writers in government addressed the alarm and despondency these unanswered questions are causing to the people all over the country.

 

Iqbal Haider

Secretary-General

The People have Spoken

Press Release, February 19, 2008

Lahore: The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan applauds the people of Pakistan who overcame several obstacles and despite pre-poll rigging gave a clear verdict in favour of democratic governance. Regrettably, this opportunity was not available to the electorate in Balochistan. Boycott of worthy political leadership from contesting the elections and their call for staying away from the polls; have not reflected a genuine will of the people of Balochistan to the 2008 polls. This will pose a challenge to the federal parliament as well as the future provincial government of the Province.

The people of Pakistan have placed a monumental responsibility on the winning political parties to ensure that the democratic transition takes place. In addition, there are expectations from the new Parliament to restore the deposed judiciary, improve law and order and to solve the economic crisis. The new government will also be expected to find imaginative ways of combating terrorism, without putting the lives of non-combatants in danger. This will require policies and actions built through consensus. Unilateral and rash decisions of the past have not curbed the rise of ‘talibanisation’ but added to the miseries of the people. A large number of people have been displaced, lost their lives and been regularly exposed to violence.

Pakistan’s civil society, too, must continue to play their role and maintain closer interaction with political parties.

HRCP would also like to express its gratitude to all foreign observers, who traveled to Pakistan to monitor our elections. Despite, the threat of violence, these observers came to ensure that the true voice of the people of Pakistan could be heard. The message is clear: rule by the military can no longer be tolerated, whether in the name of combating terror or in the garb of delivering a transition to democracy.

 

Asma Jahangir

Chairperson

NYTimes: Picture of Secret Detentions Emerges in Pakistan

Article published in The New York Times titled Picture of Secret Detentions Emerges in Pakistan. By CARLOTTA GALL, Published: December 19, 2007

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan — Pakistan’s military and intelligence agencies, apparently trying to avoid acknowledging an elaborate secret detention system, have quietly set free nearly 100 men suspected of links to terrorism, few of whom were charged, human rights groups and lawyers here say.

Those released, they say, are some of the nearly 500 Pakistanis presumed to have disappeared into the hands of the Pakistani intelligence agencies cooperating with Washington’s fight against terrorism since 2001.

No official reason has been given for the releases, but as pressure has mounted to bring the cases into the courts, the government has decided to jettison some suspects and spare itself the embarrassment of having to reveal that people have been held on flimsy evidence in the secret system, its opponents say.

Interviews with lawyers and human rights officials here, a review of cases by The New York Times and court records made available by the lawyers show how scraps of information have accumulated over recent months into a body of evidence of the detention system.

In one case, a suspect tied to, but not charged with the 2002 killing of Daniel Pearl, the American journalist, was dumped on a garbage heap, so thin and ill he died 20 days later. He, like one other detainee, was arrested in South Africa several years ago and released in Pakistan this year.

The Pakistani government denies detaining people illegally and says that many of the missing are actually in regular jails on criminal charges, while other cases have been fabricated.

In at least two instances, detainees were handed over to the United States without any legal extradition proceedings, Pakistani lawyers and human rights groups say. American officials here and in Washington refused to comment on the cases.

“They are releasing them because these cases are being made public,” said Shaukat Aziz Siddiqui, a lawyer working at the Supreme Court who has taken many cases of the missing. “They want to avoid the publicity.”

In addition, human rights groups and lawyers here contend, the government has swept up at least 4,000 other Pakistanis, most of them Baluchi and Sindhi nationalists seeking ethnic or regional autonomy who have nothing to do with the United States campaign against terrorism.

Human rights groups and lawyers describe the disappearances as one of the grimmest aspects of Pervez Musharraf’s presidency, and one that shows no sign of slowing.

Under previous governments, “there were one or two cases, but not the systematic disappearances by the intelligence agencies under Musharraf,” said Iqbal Haider, secretary general of the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan, an independent nonprofit organization.

HRCP Interns 2006 - First 2 Reports Released

 

We have decided to publish, in the form of monographs, studies and reports prepared by interns during their stay with us. Two such studies have just been issued as monographs

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1. Jon Sherman, Columbia Law School, HRCP Intern 2006 - ‘Trying Terrorism, Protecting Rights: Counter Terrorism and Human Rights in Pakistan’s Criminal Justice System since 9/11’

2. Emilie Paquin-Holmested, McGill University, HRCP Intern 2006 - ‘Juvenile Justice In Pakistan’

A copy is available at each Chapter Office. Anyone wishing to secure a copy may kindly contact the chapter offices and get requisite copies on payment of photocopy charges.

The offices will issue copies to members, non-members and research scholars similarly on payment of cost.

Excerpts of the reports can be found on the HRCP Interns 2006 link and soon on the HRCP website