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• The News reporter tortured, humiliated after abduction

  Sep 4th 2010

  By: admin

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  Umer Cheema, reporter of  The News Investigation Cell was tortured and humiliated during 6-hour captivity after abduction by unidentified men from Islamabad on Saturday.

  Giving account of the events of abduction and torture following his release, Umer Cheema said he was picked up by some unknown men in police uniforms from Islamabad Sector I-8 when he was returning home early in the morning at Sehri time and taken to an unknown place at 45 to 50 minutes drive.

  He said he was heading home in his car after meeting with friends. When he reached Sector I-8, a Land Cruiser blocked his way and pulled over in front of his car while a white Toyota came and parked right behind.

  “A few unknown men wearing uniforms of Elite Force came up to me, saying I crushed a man at Zero Point and drove off and then these men forcibly took me along with them,” Umer Cheema said.

  He said the men covered his face and took him to a building at 45 to 50 minutes drive.

  “I was held in illegal captivity for 6 hours during which I was continuously tortured and humiliated in nude. They stripped me out of my clothes, hanged me upside down and shaved off my head and moustaches,” the senior reporter of the country’s leading English daily recounted.

  Umer Cheema quoted the captors as saying: “Do you intend to have Martial Law imposed in the country by publishing anti-government reports?”

  He said the captors warned: “Stop writing against the government, if you cannot bear this torture and that Ansar Abbasi will be next target if I failed to stop.” They were also aware of my arriving in Gujranwala, Umer Cheema added.

  Source: http://www.thenews.com.pk/latest-news/764.htm

  

  Education and Violence, Human Rights

  humilation of journalist, right of expression, torture on a journalist

• President’s twisted logic

  Aug 29th 2010

  By: admin

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  IN an interview with Time, President Zardari gave his reaction to the bad press he was getting on account of his handling of the floods. He seemed quite thick-skinned to the criticism, as he tried to make jokes of the fact that he had not done enough to tackle the calamity. Even more disconcerting were his comments in which he pointed out that multiple crises would act as a deterrent against military intervention.
  It appears that the idea being communicated is that since a crisis can prevent the army from taking over the reins of government, it must be something good for the country. It is unfortunate that the floods are being thought of as a blessing in disguise, meant to be a bulwark against martial law. And it would be outrageous if the government was resting with the idea that these unprecedented floods would further strengthen its rule, however corrupt and inefficient.
  The reality however given our chequered history is quite contrary and shows that it has been invariably bad governance, leadership vacuum and corruption that have invited the military to stage a coup. The President’s twisted logic is not going to help the situation and would further tarnish his image. A stable democracy needs political and economic stability and not crises that the President thinks can ward off coups. It is high time that the PPP bigwigs got their act together and channelled their energies towards rescue, relief and rehabilitation work. In this point in time, given the tremendous job that the armed forces are performing in the affected areas, many people are all praise for them, but at the same time many are getting carried away by emotions and calling for them to step in. The President denounced such quarters as a coterie of opportunists who are loath to see democracy prevail, but concurrently, he must not forget that his government’s shortcoming in terms of relief work would, at the end of the day, pose a serious threat to democracy.

  Source:  http://www.nation.com.pk/pakistan-news-newspaper-daily-english-online/Opinions/Editorials/26-Aug-2010/Presidents-twisted-logic

  

  Corruption and Fraud, Role of Politicians in Pakistan

  Asif Ali Zardari

• Aid confusion & politics

  Aug 29th 2010

  By: admin

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  THE government still continues to be confused over the flood crisis and meanwhile people continue to suffer as there is no one to ensure that no one is discriminated against in the provision of relief, especially the minorities. As for the whole issue of assistance, confusion prevails there also. On the one hand, the President is still urging foreign donors to release funds quickly for flood relief; on the other hand, the Prime Minister is declaring that money was simply flowing in and the government was getting an overwhelming response from the international community. What exactly is the leadership up to? Most observers, including the UN, have been critical of the lacklustre international response to the flood, so one really has to wonder where Mr Gilani is seeing the “overwhelming international response”. Again, contrary to most international comments, including by the UN, regarding the “image deficit” of Pakistan and the lack of credibility of its government, the Prime Minister has refused to concede that there may well be a credibility issue with his government.
  Unfortunately, simply by refusing to concede to ground realities will not alter them. After all, if the international community was responding fast, the President would not have needed to make an appeal to the Pakistan-accredited Envoys – whom the Foreign Office had already appealed to and taken around for an aerial view of the flood-hit areas a while back. Instead the government should actively seek to rectify the causes of the trust deficit but that is not happening at all. The whole botch up of the “clean” commission is simply one reflection of the corruption malaise that seems endemic within the government. The other issue that is equally disturbing is the manner in which some aid pledges have been made but are yet to materialise. For instance, USAID has made its pledges directly to the government of Pakistan rather than through the UN because it seeks to see that the aid is used for a “righteous” cause and presently that seems to be to push the Pakistan Army into a full-scale operation in North Waziristan. Another concern relating to USAID’s pledges is that the people associated with the disbursement had already come under criticism for their Afghan aid packages because these were linked to lucrative contracts awarded to notorious private security companies like Blackwater. Then there is also the fact that USAID packages come with rigid conditionalities (NWA Op in our case), and standard USAID practice is that no more than twenty percent of the pledges materialise till these have been met.

  Source:  http://www.nation.com.pk/pakistan-news-newspaper-daily-english-online/Opinions/Editorials/28-Aug-2010/Aid-confusion–politics

  

  Floods in Pakistan

  use of flood aid

• Anatomy of brutality

  Aug 26th 2010

  By: admin

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  The brutal killing of two young brothers by a mob in Sialkot while some policemen watched the incident without any sign of disapproval has exposed serious flaws in the working of law-enforcement agencies and public views on crime and punishment that cannot be ignored.

  There is some consolation in the fact that this ghastly affair has sent shock waves across the country. Similar incidents have occurred in the past but none of them made the people so angry as this one. The difference has surely been made by the live TV coverage of the incident. But the basic issue is: will all the parties concerned derive the correct lessons from the outrage? One may assume that the people wish to receive guarantees that incidents like this will not recur. But such assurances cannot be offered unless the factors contributing to the conduct of the culprits are identified.

  The primary culprits are the beasts in human garb who pounced upon the victims and beat them with lathis with such force and venom that the boys’ limbs were broken and they were drained of blood. Then these brutes played a leading role in exhibiting the dead bodies of their victims and hoisting them on a scaffold in medieval style.

  They could do all this because the theory of instant and private justice has gained wide acceptance in Pakistan. There has been so much talk of the inefficiency and ineffectiveness of the investigation and prosecution agencies and the fall in conviction rate that reliance on legal remedies is considered, by a large section of society, as a sheer waste of time and resources. The defence of the jirgas/panchayats as vehicles of criminal justice has tended to legitimise informal tribunals. Finally, the failure of the state and society both to condemn and stop killings in the name of belief has converted a large number of immature minds to the concept of private retribution.

  Since these factors have influenced the psyche of many people besides the goons of Sialkot the danger of similar incidents taking place in other parts of the country cannot be ruled out.

  The second culprit in the dock is the police. The reason the policemen present at the scene looked on with ill-concealed delight while the two victims were being clubbed to death and did not intervene is not far to seek. No serious effort has been made to persuade the police force to give up extra-legal killings as a preferred way to deal with criminals, suspects or personal rivals. Every year scores of people are killed in so-called encounters and most of the perpetrators of these murders go scot-free. There have been instances of policemen killing persons in their custody because they thought they were enjoined to do so by their faith.

  Further, police officers themselves started the practice of putting the bodies of their victims on an open truck and driving through the town and being garlanded for this feat. Thus, when they find the community following a precedent set by them they consider their tactics vindicated and their licence to kill renewed.

  On this charge the senior police officers in the city also stand indicted. The grisly affair continued for quite some time. If the senior police officers did not come to know of it they deserve to be penalised for presiding over an inefficient system, and if they did not act in spite of learning about the enormous crime they are liable to punishment for not knowing their job. In any case their attitude too stems from their belief in instant and private justice.

  The third accused party is the public that saw the young men being tortured, joined the procession of the corpses, and clapped when the lifeless frames were strung upside down. They are perhaps bigger culprits than the lathi-wielding rogues and the policemen on the watch because their callousness emboldened the former and disarmed the latter.

  Their attitude confirms the view that Pakistani society has been brutalised over the past few decades to the extent of losing not only respect for the human person but also all sense of right and wrong. The Sialkot outrage has again presented a microcosmic image of the insane violence that is eating into the vitals of Pakistani society. Unless coordinated efforts are made to stem the rot, and these efforts may be required over a considerably long period, this affliction could prove fatal for our society.

  It has been noticed that the public attitude towards extra-legal killing is determined by the perception of the victim’s guilt or innocence. If the first reports, however reliable or unreliable, say the victim was innocent he does receive some sympathy. If the victim is branded a criminal, and often this is done by the police, he is believed to have met with a just end.

  That this attitude is wrong is obvious. Even the worst criminal is to be presumed innocent until proved guilty. Unfortunately, the state has been contributing to violence against suspects by consistently upholding the theory of retributive, as against reformative, justice. Moreover, the further Pakistan moves from the secular imperatives of governance the greater the chances of Sialkot-like incidents recurring will become.

  The primary responsibility for demolishing the cult of violence of course lies with the state. But a state whose writ is based solely on its capacity for violence cannot rear a peaceful society. The repeated spells of authoritarian rule have obliterated whatever tradition or capacity for civilised life we had and the need to restructure the state on the principles of peace and justice can hardly be exaggerated.

  The task of de-brutalisation of Pakistan cannot succeed, cannot begin, until the main pillars of civil society — political parties, trade unions, the media, human rights and social activists — start playing their vanguard role. They must move beyond politician-bashing all the time. They need to ask themselves how many of them felt hurt when a poor worker was killed in the name of belief, or protested when a police officer offered reward for anyone who killed a ‘dacoit’? How many have the courage to denounce the killing of couples by militants on suspicion of immoral behaviour?

  The dictum that silence in the face of injustice amounts to connivance has been turned into a meaningless cliché. The stark reality is that the whole nation is responsible for each act of injustice or cruelty that affects any member of the much-scattered Pakistan family and each citizen has to do something to ensure that peace and justice are restored.

  Source: http://dawn.com.pk/wps/wcm/connect/dawn-content-library/dawn/the-newspaper/columnists/i-a-rehman-anatomy-of-brutality-680 written by By I.A. Rehman on  Thursday, 26 Aug, 2010

  

  Law and Order

  Sialkot incident analysis

• Thousands of persons remain missing amid government inaction

  Aug 26th 2010

  By: admin

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  The Asian Legal Resource Centre (ALRC) welcomes the ongoing work of the Advisory Committee concerning the issue of missing persons. The ALRC has on numerous occasions informed the Human Rights Council (HRC) of the large number of missing persons in Pakistan. The country is beset by grave and widespread human rights violations by various State-agencies and institutions, notably by the notorious Inter Services Intelligence (ISI) and the military. Thousands of persons are missing as the result of forced disappearances committed all across
  the country, in particular in conflict-affected areas, such as Balochistan province. Furthermore, as Pakistan is firmly lodged at the front lines of international conflicts such as those affecting Afghanistan and security operations under the United States’ so-called war on terror, many persons are also missing in relation to these international phenomena, adding further complexity to an already difficult domestic problem.

  The ALRC welcomes the recent General Comment on the Right to the Truth in Relation to Enforced Disappearances issued by the Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances (WGEID).1 The right to the truth is a key component of all efforts to address human rights violations, and has particular relevance concerning the issues of forced disappearances and missing persons. The scale of the problem of missing persons in Pakistan and the overwhelming lack of information about the fate of these persons, let alone any credible investigations or accountability, means that a key first step that needs to be taken by the Pakistani authorities is to fulfil the right to the truth for missing persons. This comprises the right to know about the progress and results of an investigation, the fate or the whereabouts of the disappeared persons, the circumstances of the disappearances, and the identity of the perpetrator(s).

  The Working Group recalls that States have an obligation to investigate cases of enforced disappearance and let any interested person know the concrete steps taken to clarify the fate and whereabouts of the disappeared persons, and has stated that “the right of the relatives to know the truth of the fate and whereabouts of the disappeared persons is an absolute right, not subject to any limitation or derogation…” and that “…No legitimate aim, or exceptional circumstances, may be invoked by the State to restrict this right.”2 In Pakistan’s case, while the country ranks amongst the world’s worst perpetrators of forced disappearance as a result of domestic and international conflicts, the government is not taking any credible steps to address any facets of this grave problem.

  The exact number of missing persons and victims of forced disappearance are difficult to independently verify, notably due to difficulties in access and security considerations and many parts of the country. However, different estimates by nationalist groups, fundamentalist religious organizations and different human rights organizations, claim that as many as 8000 cases of missing persons have been reported since the start of the war on terror from different parts of the country. In Balochistan province alone, over 4000 persons are reportedly missing and disappearances continue to be perpetrated, notably by paramilitary forces. In Pakistan-controlled Kashmir, Azad Kashmir, numerous disappearances are also reportedly being committed,
  notably by the state intelligence agencies, which arrest and disappear persons who refuse to join the “Jihad” against Indian-held Kashmir.

  Since the outset of the war on terror, the Khaiber Pakhtoon Kha province, formally known as North West Frontier Province (NWFP), has been the scene of heightened disappearances, including those conducted
  in connivance with foreign forces; around 1000 persons belonging to fundamentalist religious groups are missing or dead. In Sindh province, over 100 Sindhi nationalists are thought to have been arrested, and remain disappeared but are believed to be being held in military torture cells. In Punjab, most disappeared persons reportedly belong to religious militant groups. The phenomenon of disappearances and missing persons is multi-faceted, but is accompanied by a lack of effective, credible actions by the authorities and impunity across the board.

  There are hundreds of complaints concerning missing persons before the higher courts, including the Supreme Court of Pakistan, concerning in particular cases of persons that have allegedly been abducted by
  state intelligence agencies – notably the ISI and military intelligence agencies – and are though to be being held in various torture cells for many months, accused of working against Pakistan, with the Indian state intelligence agencies, or involvement in banned militant groups. The intelligence agencies effectively conduct these acts above the law and beyond the jurisdiction of the courts, which are toothless in inquiring about the fate of missing persons or other actions of these agencies. The relatives of missing persons frequently believe that the state intelligence agencies are behind the disappearances of their loved ones, and this is often confirmed by
  re-surfaced disappeared persons. Many have testified in court that they were tortured in various torture cells run by the state intelligence agencies, but the courts have consistently shown their inability to hold those responsible accountable.

  The government formed a judicial commission to probe cases of disappearances, which comprises one judge from the Supreme Court as its head and two retired high court judges. It began working in June 2010, with a mandate to operate for three months, but it has only been considering 17 cases of disappearances, despite the large number of cases reported in the country. One reason for this is that the commission requires that the families of the missing persons provide it with a First Information Report (FIR) before it considers the case.
  However, the police typically refuse to file FIRs concerning human rights violations such as disappearances, even though the Supreme Court has issued a ruling obliging the police to do so. Furthermore, the judicial commission has reportedly never requested explanations from the State intelligence agencies concerning allegations of disappearances, and is therefore ineffectual.

  The ALRC has documented a range of cases and situations concerning missing persons, brief descriptions of some of which are presented below in order to illustrate this multi-facetted problem:

  Disappearances in Pakistani-held Kashmir: Reports indicate that dozens of people are missing after their arrest by the intelligence agencies operating in Pakistani-held Kashmir – Azad Kashmir. Persons are arrested and disappeared if they refuse to join or try to leave the forces engaged in the “Jihad” inside Indian-held Kashmir or
  don’t provide information to the intelligence agencies about the movements of people across the border control line. A significant number of cases point to the ISI’s involvement in these disappearances:

  For example, family members of Altaf, Qadeer, Qasim and Mushtaq, residents of a refugee camp at Solna area, Kotli, who were disappeared in late 2009 after their arrest by Pakistan’s security forces, were reportedly told by the local ISI office that they were being held by the ISI and would be released soon. They remain missing to date.

  Jehangir, son of Sabir and a resident of Charhoi, Kotli sub district, was arrested by intelligence officers in March 2009, and remains missing.

  Amjad, son of Mohammad Khan, resident of Leepa tehsil, Muzafarabad district, was a soldier in the Pakistan army but was arrested in September 2009 by the ISI and remains missing. It is alleged that he was working in favour of families of disappeared persons.

  Mohammad Aslam, son of Jan Mohammad, resident of Cherhoi, Kotli sub district, was arrested in July 2009, allegedly by the ISI, and has been missing since then.

  Akram, son of Abdullah, resident of Khoi Ratta, Kotli district, who previously provided information from Indian-occupied Kashmir to the Pakistani security forces, has been missing for seven months after he
  stopped volunteering information.

  Masood, resident of Khoi Ratta, Kotli district, who had previously fought as a Mujahid, has been missing since May 2009 after his arrest by plain-clothed ISI personnel.

  Mr. Kabir Hasan Shah, resident of Sandok, Neelum district, was disappeared in October 2009, allegedly by the ISI, and subjected to torture for three months by the ISI for using their telephone lines, before being released in the second week of January 2010.

  Mr. Naveed Ahmed Khan was arrested and disappeared in November 2009, allegedly by the ISI, having been accused of taking photos of Jihadi training camps in Pallandi, Sudhanti district. He was held and interrogated by the ISI for over two months before being released on January 19, 2010 for lack of evidence.3

  A Pakistani soldier, Mr. Mohammad Iqbal Awan, was arrested and disappeared for five years and repeatedly subjected to torture by the ISI on false charges of working for the Indian intelligence agencies’ Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) in Pakistani-held Kashmir. He lost his teeth, his spine was fractured, his legs were
  burnt, his head was seriously injured and he now can’t walk without assistance. He was cleared of all charges in a court martial at the Kharian cantonment, Punjab province.4

  Disappearances in Balochistan province: As previously mentioned, thousands of disappearances are alleged to have been carried out in Balochistan province, within the context of the internal conflict between governmental armed forces and Balochi nationalist armed forces.

  Of particular note is the disappearance of over 168 children and 148 women, according to NGO Voice for Baloch Missing Persons (VBMP). They are reportedly been disappeared by the Pakistani intelligence agencies for interrogation over alleged links to Balochi separatists and militant groups. The Provincial Interior Ministry of Balochistan issued a list of 992 missing persons on December 10, 2009, as part of reconciliation efforts by the federal government. The Chief Minister of Balochistan province, Sardar Aslam Raisani, said on January 13, 2010, that there were 999 people officially missing in Balochistan missing, only four of whom have been recovered to date.

  Mr. Zakir Majeed, a student leader, was allegedly abducted by state intelligence agents on June 8, 2009 from Mastung, near Quetta. Majeed is the senior vice chairperson of the Baloch Student Organization, Azad. Allegedly as the result of international intervention, the National Crisis Management Cell (NCMC) claimed to have released him. The government of Balochistan claims he was released on January 22, 2010, but his family claims he still has not returned home.5

  Mr. Murad Khan Marri was re-surfaced after having been disappeared for eight months by the Pakistan Frontier Corp (FC). The FC claim they only arrested Mr. Marri on March 27, 2010, although it is believed he was in fact disappeared in June 2009. They have allegedly re-surfaced him in order to claim the Rs. 3 Million (USD 36,585) reward for his arrest. The government of Balochistan has however, refused to pay the reward and a wrangle has ensued between the two.6

  The government is failing to take appropriate actions concerning the many cases of disappearance across the country, even concerning the disappearance of high-profile persons, such as Dr. Lutfullal Kakakhel,
  a well-known scientist and university vice chancellor, who were abducted on November 6, 2009 and who remains missing.7

  The Asian Legal Resource Centre urges the government of Pakistan to begin taking all necessary measures to guarantee the right to the truth for the relatives and representatives concerning the fate of all missing persons. Beyond this, the government, judiciary and judicial commission on disappearances need to ensure that justice is served concerning these cases of grave violations of human rights, by ensuring effective, impartial investigations and prosecutions of cases; appropriate punishment of those responsible; and adequate
  reparation for the victims and/or their families. The government of Pakistan can provide a clear signal of its intention to take necessary action concerning this widespread problem by ratifying the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance criminalize disappearance in its domestic legislation and implement the law to the full. The government of Pakistan is also urged to cooperate fully with the Human Rights Council and its expert mechanisms, notably by issuing a standing invitation to the Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances to conduct a country visit.

  Source:  RELEASE  by  AHRC, August 27, 2010 , Fifteenth session, Agenda Item 4

  A written statement submitted by the Asian Legal Resource Centre (ALRC), a non-governmental organisation with general consultative status.
  1
  http://www2.ohchr.org/english/issues/disappear/docs/GC-right_to_the_truth.pdf

  2 http://www2.ohchr.org/english/issues/disappear/docs/PR_GCRTT.doc

  3 http://www.ahrchk.net/statements/mainfile.php/2010statements/2380/

  4 http://www.ahrchk.net/statements/mainfile.php/2010statements/2668/

  5 http://www.ahrchk.net/ua/mainfile.php/2009/3175/

  6 http://www.ahrchk.net/statements/mainfile.php/2010statements/2504/
  ,

  http://www.ahrchk.net/ua/mainfile.php/2010/3407/

  7 http://www.ahrchk.net/ua/mainfile.php/2009/3323/

  

  Corruption and Fraud, Education and Violence, Floods in Pakistan, Human Rights

  AHRC
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