[NOTICE: The AHRC has developed this automatic letter-sending system using the “button” below. We also encourage you to send your appeal letters via fax or post to the Pakistan authorities. Their fax numbers and postal addresses are attached below with this appeal. Thank you.]
Dear friends,
The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information that a 75-year-old man has been detained and chained since 1975 for undisclosed reasons. The Sindh administration knows all about his (thus far) 34 years of detention but conspicuously ignored the whole issue of his detention and left him at the mercy of his captors. As of the month of November 2008, his health condition has greatly deteriorated, and he has been only provided with one meal a day since his story of captivity came into the news.
CASE DETAILS:
Mr. Mohammad Moosa Indher, the victim, is kept in a small room at Indhar Mohalla, Inayat village, which is opposite the Irrigation Banglows of Panoo Aqil Tehsil, in the district of Sukkur in Sindh province. He is kept for the whole day without toilet facilities and cannot move more than in a two feet radius, as the chain is only two feet long and fastened to an iron hook in the corner of his cell. He is forced to urinate and excrete in the same 8 x 9 feet cell. The cell in which he is locked is the second he has been in the last two years, and before that he was locked in a small room of 6 x 6 feet in the seminary called Khanqahe Haley Jee, in Panoo Aqil, since 1975. In those days his captors were Mr. Ghulam Ullah, son of Bdula Samad, who was in charge of the seminary, along with other people at the seminary. Mr. Abdul Samad was the religious personality of the area but after his death his disciples ran the seminary. Moosa Indher was once released in 1981 for one month and then again kept in private captivity. He is unmarried and his elder brother, Mr. Essa Indher, has been missing since 1977 and it is assumed that he was murdered by unknown person. His body was never found.
The television channel KTN has made a documentary on this subject, which was broadcasted on November 12, 2008. The Daily Kawish and other newspapers reported the story on November 13 but the provincial government has not taken any notice of this man. They still have not, even though six months have passed since the news report.
The district administration visited his place and met with him, but never acted to deal with the perpetrators who have kept him in private jail for 34 years. Besides the local administration, Mr. Khursheed Shah, the federal minister for overseas Pakistanis; Mr. Nasir Hussain Shah, the Nazim (mayor) of Sukkur district; Mr. Islamuddin Shaiekh, member of senate; Mr. Saifullah Dharejo, Sindh provincial Minister on Revenues; and Mr. Shah Nawaz Khan, Town Nazim (mayor), know the whole case of illegal and arbitrary detention of Mr. Moosa Indher, as these people are elected from the same constituency and have sent their representatives to visit him after the documentary was broadcasted.
Mr. Sharjeel, a district police officer, visited his place of detention along with other high officials of district Sukkur, Sindh province. He has announced that his administration will take full care of Mr. Mohammad Moosa Indher and release him within couple of days, but still he is in the private jail of Mr. Noorul Haq and Nisar Ahmed Indher. His legs are badly injured by the iron chains. The AHRC contacted Mr. Sharjeel to know about the details of detention of Moosa Indher and he refused to talk with us. Whenever AHRC tried to contact him he shut off his mobile phone and was never available at his office phone numbers. Moosa Indher’s captors, Mr. Noorul Haq and Nisar, claim that he is mentally unbalanced man and that they do not want him to create problems for others.
The cause of his detention in the private house is still not ascertained, as his captors say that he has mental problems – whereas according to a close friend, who used to provide him food, Mr. Moosa was a religious man who belongs to another sect of Islam. Apparently this conflict arises from tension about of affiliation with different sects of Islam.
SUGGESTED ACTION:
Please write to the concerned authorities urging them to release Mr. Moosa Indher immediately and take action against the officials who know about his 34 year-and-ongoing detention, and also against the elected representatives from Sukkur district, Sindh province, who are not helping him get released from the private jail. Please also urge for him to be provided with proper medical treatment and compensation for his ordeals.
Please be informed that the AHRC has also sent a separate letter to the UN Special Rapporteur on the question of torture calling for intervention in this matter.
To support this case, please click here: SEND APPEAL LETTER
SAMPLE LETTER
Dear _________,
PAKISTAN: A person is chained still chained after 34 years in a private jail and authorities ignore his detention
Name of victim: Mr. Mohammad Moosa Indher, 75 year; detained at Indhar Mohalla, Inayat village, Opposite Irrigation Banglows, Panoo Aqil Tehsil, Sindh province, PAKISTAN
Name of alleged perpetrators:
1. Mr. Sharjeel, District Police Officer, Sukkur, Sindh Province, PAKISTAN
2. Mr. Noorul Haq, Indhar Mohalla, Inayat village, Opposite Irrigation Banglows, Panoo Aqil Tehsil, Sindh province, PAKISTAN
3. Mr. Nisar Ahmed Indher, Indhar Mohalla, Inayat village, Opposite Irrigation Banglows, Panoo Aqil Tehsil, Sindh province, PAKISTAN
I am shocked to learn that a man of 75 years has detained in a private jail since 1975 and denied of his of freedom. It is even more shocking that the elected representatives of the area and local administration know about the detention of Mr. Mohammad Moosa Indher, the victim, and even visited him, but have done nothing to provide him relief.
Mr. Mohammad Moosa Indher, the victim, is being kept in a small room at Irrigation Banglows, Panoo Aqil town (near the cantonment area) in the district of Sukkur, Sindh province. He has to go the whole day without the use of toilet facilities and he can not move more than a two feet radius in the room, as the chain is only two feet long and fastened with a iron hook in the corner of his cell. He was only given food two times a day but after the story broke, this has reduced and he has only received one meal a day. He is forced to urinate and excrete in the same 8 x 9 feet cell
The cell in which he is locked is the second one in two years. Before this he was locked in a small room of 6 x 6 feet in the seminary called as Khanqahe Haley Jee, Panoo Aqil, since 1975. In those days his captors were Mr. Ghulam Ullah son of Bdula Samad, who was in charge of the seminary, along with other people at the seminary. Mr. Abdul Samad was the religious personality of the area but since his death his disciples run the seminary. Moosa Indher was once released in 1981 for one month and then again kept in private captivity. He is unmarried and his elder brother, Mr. Essa Indher, has also been missing since 1977 and it is assumed that he was murdered by unknown person. His body was never found.
Mr. Sharjeel, the district police officer, visited his place of detention along with other high officials of the district Sukkur, Sindh province, and announced that his administration will take full care of Mr. Mohammad Moosa Indher and release him within couple of days. However, till now Mr. Mohammad Moosa Indher is still in the private jail of Mr. Noorul Haq and Nisar Ahmed Indher. His legs are badly injured by the iron chain.
I am also very shocked to learn that besides the local administration, Mr. Khursheed Shah, the federal minister for overseas Pakistanis; Mr. Nasir Hussain Shah, the Nazim (mayor) of Sukkur district; Mr. Islamuddin Shaiekh, member of senate; Mr. Saifullah Dharejo, Sindh provincial Minister on Revenues; and Mr. Shah Nawaz Khan, Town Nazim (mayor), know the whole case of illegal and arbitrary detention of Mr. Moosa Indher, as these people are elected from the same constituency and they have sent their representatives to visit him after a documentary was released by a private channel, the KTN, on November 12, 2008 – but all of them avoided providing him freedom.
I condemn indifferent attitude of the government and law enforcement agencies towards the detention of a man for more than three decades. This is a demonstration of government’s lack of concern about the rule of law, the individual’s right to freedom of movement, and illegal detention. It is also very condemnable that after knowing about the whole situation the government and the elected representatives from the constituency have not even bothered to get him admitted in hospital and arrest the perpetrators, and in fact did not even make arrangements for his release from the private detention. I am sorry to say that this apathy from the government is yet another demonstration that government is under pressure from the militant and powerful religious groups, and that if the group is touched then it will create a nuance for the elected officials.
I hope that you will order the release of Mr. Mohammad Moosa Indher immediately and provide him medical treatment. The government should also arrest the perpetrators for keeping a man for more than 34 years and he should be compensated for his ordeals of the total period. I hope that the government will perform its prime duty to protect the life of each and every citizen and take strong actions against the private jails.
Yours sincerely,
—-
PLEASE SEND YOUR LETTERS TO:
1. Mr. Syed Yousaf Raza Gillani
Prime minister of Pakistan
Prime Minister House
Islamabad
PAKISTAN
Fax: + 92 51 9221596
E-mail: webmaster@infopak.gov.pk
2. Syed Qaim Ali Shah
Chief Minister House
Karachi, Sindh Province
PAKISTAN
Fax: +92 21 920 2000
E-mail: pppsindh@yahoo.com
3. Mr. Muhammad Ayaz Soomro
Minister for Law, Parliamantry Affairs & Criminal Prosecution Service
Sindh Assembly Building,
Court road, Karachi, Sindh province
PAKISTAN
Fax: +92 21 9211982
E-mail: secy.law@sindh.gov.pk
4. Chief Justice of Sindh High Court
High Court Building
Saddar, Karachi
Sindh Province
PAKISTAN
Fax: +92 21 9213220
E-mail: info@sindhhighcourt.gov.pk
5. Ms. Nadia Gabol
Minister for Human Rights
Government of Sindh,
Pakistan secretariat, Barrack 92,
Karachi, Sindh Province
PAKISTAN
Fax: +92 21 9207044
Tel: +92 21 9207043
E-mail: lukshmil@yahoo.com
6. Dr. Faqir Hussain
Registrar
Supreme Court of Pakistan
Constitution Avenue, Islamabad
PAKISTAN
Fax: + 92 51 9213452
E-mail: mail@supremecourt.gov.pk
7. Inspector General of Police
Sindh Province,
Police Head office, I. I. Chundrigar road
Karachi, Sindh Province
PAKISTAN
Fax: +92 21 9212051
E-mail: ppo.sindh@sindhpolice.gov.pk
Thank you.
Urgent Appeals Programme
Asian Human Rights Commission (ua@ahrc.asia)
