ASIAN HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION: URGENT APPEAL
1 February
2007
----------------------------------------------------------------
UA-033-2007: PAKISTAN: Four women allegedly murdered
and one man injured by relatives on the pretext of honor
killing
PAKISTAN: Honor killing; violence against women; Rule of law
----------------------------------------------------------------
[NOTICE: The AHRC have developed a new automatic letter-sending system using the "button" below. However, in this appeal, we only could include e-mail addresses of a few of the Pakistan authorities in this case. We encourage you to send your appeal letters via fax or post to those people. Fax numbers and postal addresses of the Pakistan authorities are attached below with this appeal. Thank you.]
Dear friends,
The Asian Human Rights Commission is deeply concerned to learn of another brutal "honor killing" case reported yet again from the Shikarpur district in the Sindh Province of Pakistan on 29 November 2006. Four women of the same family were killed and one man, also of the same family, was injured by the hands of relatives in the so-called name of honor. The incident took place just fourteen days after the Government of Pakistan enacted the Women's Protection Bill in order to provide relief and protection to women against the misuse and abuse of laws against premarital and extramarital sex. The incident was immediately reported to the local police but no arrest was made so far. Even though AHRC has repeatedly issued several honor killing cases, the Sindh provincial government as well as the Government of Pakistan has not taken any serious action to abolish this brutal practice. Your urgent action is required to have the case rightly brought before the Anti-Terrorism Court and to pressure the local authorities to conduct a thorough investigation of the case as well as to quickly arrest the perpetrators. Please also call for the government of Pakistan, especially the state government of Sindh to take strong and decisive action to eliminate honor killings once and for all.
CASE DETAILS:
The AHRC was informed by the Human Rights Education Forum (HREF), a local human rights organization in Sindh province, that four women of the same family were brutally killed by nine relatives on the pretext of honor killings on 29 November 2006. The four killed women are Ms. Sahzadi (35), the wife of Mr. Muhammad Ramzan, Ms. Safia (22), the wife of Mr. Bashir Ahmed, Ms. Naseema (30), the wife of Gul Bahar and daughter of Mr. Shafi Muhammad and Ms. Naseema (27), the daughter of Ayob (unmarried). The man wounded is Mr. Manthar (25). All of them are of Mahar tribe and siblings each other residing Abdu village, Lakhi Ghulam Shah town, Shikarpur district, Sindh Province, Pakistan.
The fact-finding team of the HREF discovered that the real number of perpetrators is fifteen; the remaining six persons, unnamed here and elsewhere, are so influential within the community that the complainant, the villagers, and the police alike dare not openly point them out.
According to Mr. Gul Bahar, the husband of Ms. Naseema and brother of all the other victims, on the morning of 29 November 2006, his sister Ms. Safia came to his home on a usual visit to see her parents. All the victims and the witnesses including Mr. Gul Bahar were thereby together in the home having breakfast.
At around 9:00am, suddenly armed men including Mr. Shafi Muhammad, the father of Ms. Naseema, Mr. Bashir Ahmed, the husband of Ms. Safia, Mr. Ghulam Qadir, the cousin of the victims, and relatives of the victims namely Mr. Hazoor Bux, Mr. Nazeer Ahmed, Mr. Dadoo Pandhi, Mr. Javed, Mr. Ali Hassan and Mr. Noor Hassan broke into the house and began abusing the women victims, accusing them of having had illicit relations with the persons from the adjacent Village Noro. The alleged perpetrators claimed that the victims have brought shame to not only family members but the whole community. Then they instructed Mr. Gul Bahar to kill the victims as they belong to his family. Mr. Gul Bahar refused and pleaded on behalf of his wife and his sisters, whereupon the alleged perpetrators became infuriated and began abusing him.
Thereafter, Mr. Bashir Ahmed together with Ghulam Qadir fired upon his wife Ms. Safia, both with single barrel guns, and she fell to the ground. Mr. Hazoor Bux and Mr. Nazeer Ahmed also fired upon their relative Ms. Sahzadi, who is mother of eight children, with single barrel guns, and she fell to the ground. Mr. Javed and Mr. Ali Hassan, one with a single barrel and one with a double barrel gun, fired upon their relative Ms. Naseema (unmarried), who fell to the ground. Mr. Dadoo Pandhi also fired upon Mr. Gul Bahar's wife Ms. Naseema with his gun.
Seeing his three sisters and one sister-in-law quavering on the ground, Mr. Gul Bahar's brother Mr. Manthar moved to fight the alleged perpetrators, whereupon Mr. Noor Hassan fired upon him with an automatic rifle; Manthar also fell to the ground.
All of the alleged perpetrators then departed the scene, firing indiscriminately. Meanwhile, the sounds of bullets drew the villagers to the house, but none could prevent the perpetrators who held weapons in their hands. After the perpetrators fled, Mr. Gul Bahar and the villagers saw that Ms. Sahzadi incurred injuries on her stomach, left hand, right breast, right side of her back, and skull so that her brain was spilling out; Ms. Safia incurred injuries on her right breast; Ms. Naseema incurred injuries on her backbone and left cheek; another Ms. Naseema (unmarried) incurred injuries on the left side of her stomach, left breast, left cheek, left hand and left arm muscles. All were bleeding profusely and died. Mr. Gul Bahar also saw that his brother Mr. Manthar incurred juries on his right leg.
According to the fact-finding investigation carried out by the HREF, the victims were innocent and had not been involved in illicit sexual relations with anybody. However, according to Mr. Gul Bahar, a month before the killings, the women victims had gone to the adjacent city of Sukkur to shop; there, a Sub Inspector of the same tribe, named Mr. Masood Rasool Mahar, allegedly arrested and snapped pornographic photographs of them. Afterward, the said Sub Inspector allegedly blackmailed Mr. Shafi Muhammad, one of the perpetrators, with these photographs. It is reported that Mr. Shafi Muhammad hence told the father of the women victims to kill them, but the latter had refused to do so. On the morning of 29 November 2006, Mr. Shafi Muhammad found an opportunity to kill the women because most of the males of the family were out of home. Mr. Shafi Muhammad told the media and the HREF staff that he and his accomplices had to prevent the honor of their family from collapsing.
At around 11:30am on the same day, Mr. Gul Bahar appeared before the Station House Officer (SHO) of the Chak police station and lodged the First Information Report (FIR) No.39/06 against the alleged perpetrators under sections 302, 324, 148 & 149 of Pakistan Penal Code (PPC). The father of four of the victims told the HREF that they had nominated 16 persons in the FIR but the police shortened the list to only 8 persons. Ironically the main suspect Mr. Shafi Muhammad was not mentioned in the FIR. No arrest has been made thus far.
The case is to be brought before the Court of First Civil Judge and Judicial Magistrate of the Shikarpur District, but the HREF and other civil society organizations are pushing to have it heard at the Anti-Terrorism Court (ATC), which will rule judiciously in favor of the victims and their family. To this effect, the HREF has mobilized NGOs to protest against this brutal honour killings on the International Human Rights Day on 10 December 2006. Still, greater international pressure is needed.
ADDITIOANL COMMENTS:
Though the Government of Pakistan has passed the Women's Protection Ordinance 2006, which may prove as a strong mechanism to tackle this case, there still exist some technical deficiencies, which may profit the perpetrators. For example, there is a provision for a compromise between the concerned parties in the current ordinance under which cases may be dropped, if parties reach compromise. The same situation occurred under the Qisas and Diyat Ordinance in which cases were dropped due to so-called compromise, often unwillingly agreed upon by the complainant due to feudal pressures. This is why the civil society organizations are rallying to have the case brought before the Anti-Terrorism Court (ATC).
The practice of honour killings continues to occur with alarming frequency in Pakistan, mainly in Sindh Province. Honor killings often occur on the pretext of maintaining honor. The male relatives who commit the murders are rarely prosecuted in traditional communities. It appears that any action, real or fabricated, if deemed by the family as compromising their honor, may be considered a valid reason to commit murder. While illegal according to national laws and inconsistent with Islamic doctrine in both the Koran and Sharia, the lack of consistent positive action by Pakistani law enforcement agencies and the seemingly commonplace belief in the practice of honor killings, facilitate this inhuman practice.
The AHRC requires the local authorities to conduct a thorough investigation into this murder. We ask you to send a letter or make a phone call to the Regional Police Officer (RPD), Sukkur and officer of the DPO Investigation Department - Shikarpur District and demand speedy and thorough investigation of this case. The contact information of these officers is given below. AHRC also requests the above case to be taken before the Anti-Terrorism Court (ATC). Please support us in making this request.
SUGGESTED ACTION:
Please send a letter, fax
or email to following addresses and express your concern about this serious
case. Demand speedy and thorough investigation and quick arrest of the
perpetrators.
To support this appeal, please click:
http://www.ahrchk.net/ua/support.php?ua=UA-033-2007
Sample letter:
Dear __________,
PAKISTAN: Four women allegedly murdered and one man injured by relatives on the pretext of honor killing
Name of Victims:
1) Ms.
Sahzadi (35), wife of Muhammad Ramzan, of Mahar tribe, 8 children
2) Ms.
Safia (22), wife of Bashir, of Mahar tribe, 3 children,
3) Ms. Naseema (30),
wife of Gul Bahar, of Mahar tribe, 4 children, daughter of the accused No.
1
4) Ms. Naseema (27), daughter of Ayob, of Mahar tribe, unmarried
5) Mr.
Manthar (25), son of Ayob, of Mahar tribe, unmarried (WOUNDED)
Victims No. 1,
2, 4, and 5 are siblings. All are residents of Abdu village, Lakhi Ghulam Shah
town, Shikarpur district, Sindh Province, Pakistan
Alleged
Perpetrators identified:
1) Mr. Shafi Muhammad, of Mahar tribe,
father of Victim No. 3 and maternal uncle of Victims No. 1, 2, 4 and 5, main
culprit, although not nominated in the FIR (First Information Report), guilty of
the crime according to The HERF fact-finding investigation
2) Mr. Noor
Hassan, son of Mor
3) Mr. Bashir, son of Shafi Muhammad, husband of the
Victim No. 2
4) Mr. Ghulam Qadir, son of Soomar, cousin of the victims
5)
Mr. Hazoor Bux, son of Shahzado, relative of the victims
6) Mr. Nazeer Ahmed,
son of Mulan Qasim, relative of the victims
7) Mr. Dadoo Pandhi, son of Mulan
Qasim, relative of the victims
8) Mr. Javed son of Rano, relative of the
victim
9) Mr. Ali Hassan son of Khair Muhammad, relative of the
victims
All are of the Mahar tribe and residents of Abdu village, Lakhi
Ghulam Shah town, Shikarpur district, Sindh Province, Pakistan.
Complainant: Mr. Gul Bahar, son of Mhammad Ayoob, of Mahar
tribe, husband of Victim No. 3 and brother of victims No.1, 2, 4 and 5
Eye witnesses:
1) Mr. Mumtaz Ali, son of Muhammad
Ayob
2) Mr. Manthar Ali (Victim No. 5, WOUNDED), son of Mohammad Ayob
Mahar,
Both of Mahar tribe, and brothers of the complainant and victims (No.
1, 2, 4, and 5)
Date of Incident: Around 9:00am on 29
November 2006
Case Reported on: 29 November 2006, 11:30 am at Chak police
station (refer to: FIR no. 39/06 u/s 302, 324, 148 & 149 of
PPC)
Place of Incident: Complainant's house in Abdu
village, Lakhi Ghulam Shah town, Shikarpur district, Sindh Province, Pakistan
I have learned of yet another honor killing that happened yet again in the Shkarpur District, Sindh Province, Pakistan.
According to the information I received, at around 9:00am on 29 November 2006, just fourteen days after the Government of Pakistan enacted the Women's Protection Bill in order to provide relief and protection to women against the misuse and abuse of laws against premarital and extramarital sex, sixteen men, eight of whose names appear in the First Information Report (FIR) at the Chak police station, broke into the home of Mr. Gul Bahar and family in Abdu village, resulting in four cases of murder and one case of injury.
I was also informed that allegedly led by Mr. Shafi Muhammad, who is the father of one victim and uncle of the remaining four and whose name is among those kept safe from the FIR, these intruders accused the four women victims of having had illicit relations with persons from the adjacent Village Noro. The alleged perpetrators claimed that the victims have brought shame to not only family members but the whole community. Then they instructed Mr. Mr. Gul Bahar, the complainant, to kill the victims as they belong to his family. When the complainant refused and pleaded on behalf of his wife and his sisters, the alleged perpetrators became infuriated and began abusing the complainant.
Thereafter, Mr. Bashir Ahmed (Perpetrator No. 3), together with Mr. Ghulam Qadir (Perpetrator No. 4), fired upon his wife Ms. Safia (Victim No. 2); Mr. Hazoor Bux (Perpetrator No. 5) and Mr. Nazeer Ahmed (Perpetrator No. 6), fired upon their relative Ms. Sahzadi (Victim No. 1), mother of eight children; Mr. Javed (Perpetrator No. 8) and Mr. Ali Hassan (Perpetrator No. 9) fired upon their relative Ms. Naseema (Victim No. 4); Mr. Dadoo Pandhi (Perpetrator No. 7), fired upon the complainant's wife Ms. Naseema (Victim No.3). All four of these women bled profusely and died. Seeing his three sisters and one sister-in-law quavering on the ground, the complainant's brother Mr. Manthar (Victim No. 5) moved to fight the alleged perpetrators, whereupon Mr. Noor Hassan (perpetrator No. 2) fired upon him, injuring his right leg.
I was also informed by a local human rights group that that there is no concrete evidence to prove that the victims had been involved in illicit sexual relations with anybody. According to the complainant, a month before the killings, the women victims had gone to the adjacent city of Sukkur where a Sub-Inspector of the same tribe, named Mr. Masood Rasool Mahar, arrested and snapped pornographic photographs of them. Afterward, this Sub Inspector allegedly blackmailed Mr. Shafi Muhammad (perpetrator No. 1) with these photographs. I was also informed that Mr. Shafi Muhammad hence told the father of the women victims to kill them, but the latter had refused to do so, prior to these brutal killings.
Honor killings are illegal according to national laws and inconsistent with Islamic doctrine in both the Koran and Sharia. Moreover, the Women's Protection Bill, newly passed by the Government of Pakistan on 15 November 2006, with the aim to stop the persecution of women and the denial of their basic human rights and freedoms, particularly on the basis of false accusation of premarital or extramarital sex, expressly states: "Whoever brings or levels or gives evidence of false charge of fornication against any person, shall be punished with imprisonment for a term which may extend to five years and shall also be liable to fine not exceeding ten thousand rupees" (Act XLV of 1860, Section 496C). The Government of Pakistan must not neglect to hastily and appropriately address the perpetrators' direct challenge to their new legislation. The murder of the above women and injury of the man should be thoroughly investigated and perpetrators justly prosecuted under law.
The Women's Protection Bill also states: "Whoever kidnaps, or abducts any person in order that such person may be subjected, or may be so disposed of as to be put in danger of being subjected, to the unnatural lust of any person, or knowing it to be likely that such person will be so subjected or disposed of, shall be punished with death or rigorous imprisonment for a term which may extend to twenty-five years, and shall also be liable to fine" (Act XLV of 1860, Section 367A). Sub-Inspector Mr. Masood Rasool Mahar, who allegedly arrested and took pornographic photographs of the women victims, should also be investigated and prosecuted under law, if found guilty before the court.
The Government of Pakistan has declared honor killings illegal and yet they continue in alarming number, particularly in the Shikarpur district of the Sindh Province, due to the lack of consistent positive action by Pakistani law enforcement agencies. How many women have to be sacrificed until the Government takes genuine action to abolish the practice of honor killing?
I strongly urge you to conduct a speedy and thorough investigation of this case and to bring the perpetrators to justice before the law. Furthermore, I request that the case be brought before the Anti-Terrorism Court in order to ensure a just trial, one that is not weighed against the victims. The practice of honor killings must end, and the silence that perpetuates the practice must be broken.
Thank you for your attention.
-------------------------
PLEASE SEND YOUR LETTER 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. Muhammad Wasi Zafar
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. Justice Sabih Uddin
Chief Justice of Sindh High
Court
High Court Building
Saddar
Karachi
PAKISTAN
Fax:
+92-21-9213220
Email: info@sindhhighcourt.gov.pk
4. Mr. Ishrat-ul-Ibad Khan
Governor
Government of Sindh
Governor House
Karachi
PAKISTAN
Tel: +92 21 9201201-3
5. Mr. Jahangeer Mirza
Provincial Police Officer- Sindh
Police
Central Police Office
Karachi
Sindh province
PAKISTAN
Tel: +92 21 9212626-7
Fax: +92 21 9212051
6. Mr. Muhammad Bachal Sangri
Regional Police Officer
Sukkur Region
Airport Road Sukkur
Sindh province
PAKISTAN
Tel:
+92 71 30547, 30248
Fax: +92 71 31824
7. Joint Secretary for Law, Justice and Human Rights
Islamabad
PAKISTAN
Tel: + 92 51 920 3464
Fax: + 92 51
9203119
8. Mr. Mazhar Nawaz Shaikh
District Police Officer- Shikarpur
Police Head Quarters Shikarpur
Sindh province
PAKISTAN
Tel:
+92-761-515077, 512309
Fax 92-761-512369
9. Ms. Yakin Erturk
Special Rapporteur on Violence against
Women
Room 3-042
c/o OHCHR-UNOG
1211 Geneva 10
SWITZERLAND
Tel:
+41 22 917 9615
Fax: +41 22 917 9006 (ATTN: SPECIAL RAPPORTEUR VIOLENCE
AGAINST WOMEN)
Thank You
Urgent Appeals Programme
Asian Human Rights Commission