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 strongly condemns Rangers brutality on PTCL workers

Press Release, July 16, 2008

 

Karachi: In a statement issued to the press, Iqbal Haider, the Co-Chairperson of Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) strongly condemned Rangers brutality on a peaceful demonstration of the workers of PTCL, protesting against the Unified Pay Scale Scheme (UPS), outside the PTCL Headquarters, Islamabad on July 15, 2008.   

 

HRCP would like to know that under what law, the peaceful demonstrators were beaten up, baton charged, and tear-gassed.  HRCP would also like to remind the Government of Pakistan that peaceful demonstrations and raising voice for the rights, are fundamental human rights.

 

HRCP was shocked to note that instead of sympathizing and helping the working class, listening to their grievances, the administration decided to attack on the peaceful demonstrators.  HRCP was further pained when the elected Federal Government added insult to the injury by stating that Government would not allow the protesting labourers to take law in their hands.  Federal Government has totally ignored and forgotten that to protest, is an alienable fundamental right of every citizen.  To deprive them with this right and to use force to prevent them from protesting, is an inhuman act and is not only a shameful violation of the Constitution but also an abuse of authority in an oppressive manner.

 

Mr. Haider called upon the Government that instead of baton charging and tear-gassing, or preventing them from protesting for their demand, the Government should make every effort for acceptance of the demands of the workers of PTCL.

 

HRCP also demanded to take strict disciplinary action against all the concerned officials who are responsible for the lathi charge, tear gassing and injuring the peaceful demonstrators of PTCL.

Iqbal Haider, Secretary General

 

Edhi records dumping of an average of 30 babies a month - DT

A news report in Daily Times, about the work of EDHI welfare foundation, reveals shocking data that  states that on an average 30 babies are dumped in the garbage each month in Pakistan.

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Daily Times: 30 babies dumped in the garbage each month

By Irfan Aligi

 

KARACHI: The Edhi Welfare Trust (EWT) has collected an astonishing 17,000 living infants over 38 years from ‘katchra kundis’ (garbage dumps) of which 98 percent are girls and only two percent are boys. The number of dead babies found at these dumps over the same time period is fourfold, 68,000, while on average, 30 infants are rescued each month by the EWT from all over Pakistan, informed Abdul Sattar Edhi, renowned human rights activist and Chief Trustee of the EWT, while talking to Daily Times.

 

The most discarded babies are found in Karachi with Nazimabad, North Karachi and Baldia Town being the most popular sites for this gross disrespect of life, he noted, adding that it is obvious that people discard a girl infant as they cannot afford to raise her with low prospects of employment. What is even more bewildering, he said, is that some parents choose to cut the throat of their new born.

 

An astounding number of infants are found with their throats slit or who have been smothered to death, he noted. “No crime can surpass this act of brutality and inhumanity. People do not fear Allah when they kill a defenseless and innocent infant like a wild animal.

 

“I have always appealed to people who give birth to girls, whether illegitimate or legitimate, and do not want to keep them due to poverty, to drop their unwanted child in the cradle placed outside the main gate of EWT in Kharadar, but we still find discarded babies, alive and dead, everywhere,” he regretted. “Allah has ordained in the Holy Quran to not kill infants for fear of a lack of food because it is He who provides food to all creatures, but unfortunately, I know some clerics who say that it is okay to kill such infants,” remarked Edhi.

 

A positive is that the number of couples willing to adopt infants from the EWT is growing. The adopting couples are monitored for five years, to check the fostering conditions of an adopted child. Thankfully, hundreds of adopted infants are now serving the country after becoming doctors, engineers, teachers and scientists, noted Edhi.

 

Faisal Edhi, Edhi Welfare Trust Trustee, told Daily Times that despite all the modernization and the commotion about civil and human rights these day, the fate of a lot of newborn girls is the same as it was as was 1,500 years ago when in Arabia, newborn girls were buried alive because of poverty or the dishonour they brought the family. He also thanked the Pakistanis who continue to support the EWT in their noble mission of saving innocent lives and giving them a future.

HRCP condemns harassments of human rights defenders

Press Release, June 20, 2008

 

Karachi: In a statement issued to the press, Iqbal Haider, Co-Chairperson of the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan strongly condemns the harassment and victimization of human rights defenders, for raising voice against bonded labour. 

 

Mr. Haider said that it was shocking that the main accused reportedly involved in the crime of bonded labour and kidnapping, arrested under the court order has been released after the dismissal of the independent judiciary of the superior court.  Now not only that he has been released but he has the audacity to harass, and victimized human rights activist like Mr. Akhter Baloch by reportedly filing a criminal case of defamation in a district and session court of Sanghar. It is also learnt that the court has issued warrant of arrest of Mr. Akhter Baloch in a baseless and mala fide case. Akhter Baloch is a member of HRCP and has been actively pursuing the cases of bonded labourers, in particular for recovery of the bonded family of Munno Bheel.

 

Mr. Haider has called upon the authorities, to give due protection to the bona fide member and activist of HRCP, and to prevent misuse of the due process of the law and ensure that no human rights activist is harassed and victimized by the violators of the human rights and the law.

 

Iqbal Haider, Co-Chairperson

HRCP delegation met with the Chief Minister of Sindh

HRCP delegation met with the Chief Minister of Sindh

 

HRCP has been holding consultations on human rights issues confronting the country. With a new democratically elected government in power, HRCP believes it is time to share concerns and proposals with political leaders.

 

Therefore, a delegation of the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan headed by Iqbal Haider, Co-Chairperson HRCP, comprising of Uzma Noorani, Asad Iqbal Butt, Sindh Council Members of HRCP, and Ejaz Ahsan, Program Coordinator, HRCP had a meeting with Mr. Syed Qaim Ali Shah, Chief Minister of Sindh at CM House on June 5, 2008.

 

HRCP delegation shared a copy of policy statement of HRCP on critical issues of human rights, for the consideration and support of PPP leadership . This policy statement was adopted by the General Body at HRCP’s Annual General Meeting held recently.

 

CM promised moving necessary resolutions and bill for legislation wherever required, for expeditious implementation of the recommendations of HRCP on human rights issues.

 

HRCP also expressed concern over marrying off 15 under-age girls to settle tribal dispute through a jirga held in Chach village, Kashmore-Kandhkot and demanded that the provincial government take immediate action against all those responsible for the illegal and inhuman decisions and ensure immediate release of the minor girls.

 

Iqbal Haider also presented the recently published, Annual Report of HRCP “State of Human Rights in 2007″ to the CM.

 

Policy Statement of HRCP

Speech of Muneer Malik, former president of Pakistan Supreme Court Bar Association at the award ceremony at South Korea

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE, AHRC-ANM-006-2008
June 2, 2008

An Announcement by the Asian Human Rights Commission

 

ASIA: Speech of the Mr. Muneer Malik, former president of Pakistan Supreme Court Bar Association at the award ceremony at Gwangju at South Korea

 

We wish to share with you the following speech of Mr. Muneer Malik, delivered on his acceptance of the Gwangju Prize for Human Rights. He received the human rights award on May 18, 2008 on the occasion of the 518 International Solidarity Program, held in commemoration of the great people’s movement in Gwangju, South Korea against the military dictatorship and for democracy.

 

Valedictory Speech of Munir Malik

HRCP demands release of Baloch human rights activists

Press Release, May 29, 2008

 

Karachi: In a joint statement issued to the press, Iqbal Haider, Co-Chairperson, Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) and Ghazi Salahuddin, the Vice Chairperson of HRCP Sindh Chapter, expressed concern over the abduction / arrest of two Baloch leaders and human rights activists namely Wahab Baloch, the president of the Baloch Rights Council and Ghulam Muhammad Baloch, who had come to the HRCP office on Abdullah Haroon Road, Karachi yesterday, the 28th of May 2008, to discuss the human rights problems and issues including the plight of the missing persons.  HRCP is distressed to learn that when they left the HRCP office at about 5:30 pm, they were abducted / arrested by law enforcement agency personnel. 

 

HRCP immediately made every effort to know the whereabouts of the two Baloch leaders but in vain.  This morning on making inquiries HRCP discovered that:  

 

Wahab Baloch, the president of the Baloch Rights Council and a well known human rights activist is still missing.  HRCP is deeply concerned about his enforced disappearance and the condition under which he may be held. 

 

Ghulam Mohammad Baloch, the president of Balochistan National Movement (BNM):  the police has admitted that he is in custody at PS Frere and an FIR has been registered against him for allegedly a provocative speech outside the Karachi Press Club. He was earlier picked and made to disappear on 03.12.2006 for about a year and was released in September 2007. 

 

HRCP believes that this amounts to outright harassment and victimization of the Baloch leaders and human rights defenders.  There is no lawful reason or justification for arresting the two leaders, implicating Ghulam Muhammad Blaoch in a false case and charges and abducting a very well known human rights activist, Mr. Wahab Baloch.  

 

HRCP strongly condemns this harassment of the Baloch activists and demands immediate release of Wahab Baloch and Ghulam Muhammad Baloch.

 

Iqbal Haider, Co-Chairperson

Ghazi Salahuddin, Vice Chairperson, Sindh Chapter

 

HRCP condemns fresh attacks on rights

Press release, May 12

 

Lahore: While condemning the restrictions on the Geo TV and denial of licence to its English channel as the opening of a new front against the media and the restrictions on lawyers in Karachi as reneging on pledges to the people, HRCP has warned the government that such tactics will aggravate the national crisis and add to the people’s frustration. In a statement issued here today, HRCP Chairperson Asma Jahangir and Co-chairperson Iqbal Haider have said:

 

The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan unequivocally condemns the reported directive to the Geo TV to refrain from reporting or discussing certain developments and Pemra’s refusal to grant licence to its English channel. Regardless of the source of these restrictions they constitute an assault on media freedom that cannot be allowed to go unchallenged. That the judiciary should start wielding the hatchet against the media bodes ill for both and we hope reason will prevail before the situation worsens.

 

As if the opening of a new front against the media were not enough, the government has deemed it appropriate to observe the anniversary of the May 12, 2007 carnage in Karachi with use of force to prevent a peaceful demonstration by lawyers in that city. The incident amounts to reneging on democratic sounding pledges made to the people only a few weeks ago. It seems necessary to warn the authorities responsible for reviving authoritarian tactics that attacks on the people’s most fundamental liberties will boomerang on them. The times demand earnest endeavours to alleviate the plight of the people. The country cannot afford any continuation of the dictatorial policies that have brought the nation to the present pass.

 

 

Iqbal Haider Co-Chairperson

Asma Jahangir Co-Chairperson