Dear friends,
A journalist has been implicated in a fabricated case of murder by persons from the ruling party. The journalist was assisting a rape victim (a 14-year-old girl) and her family in the enquiry and providing legal assistance. He was the person who reported the case and lodged the First Information Report (FIR) against the perpetrators. The perpetrators are now forcing the victim and her parents, including some neighbors to withdraw the case or otherwise vacate the village in which they live. In the latest event the henchmen of a former federal minister attacked the village injuring many women and children. Most of the villagers have shifted to different places because there is no protection by the police. The water supply to the victim’s village was disconnected as the canal passing through the village has been taken over by the henchmen of the feudal lord.
UPDATED INFORMATION:
A 14 year-old girl was gang raped by armed men to punish her father for identifying them in a case of theft at his house. When the girl was being raped police in the vicinity heard her cries from a distance but did nothing to stop the assault because they knew that the rapists were armed. The assault continued until dawn when villagers arrived with weapons and attacked the rapists. None of the attackers have been arrested and a protest over the incident is continuing. The local NGOs report that many of the accused persons have been seen fraternizing with the police. The father of the rape victim, Shabbir, lodged a report with the Johi police station in which he identified the accused persons by name. They are the same people who attacked his house and stole valuable items. Please see Urgent Appeal Case: AHRC-UAC-064-2010
A full year has passed but no proper enquiry has been initiated into the gang rape and it was later discovered that police officials were involved in covering up the case. With the involvement of the local tribal chief of the Jamali clan, Mr. Dattal Jamali and his brother Rafiq Jamali, the former federal minister and member of the national assembly from the ruling party, the PML-Q and the local police officials are pressuring the victim and her family members including the villagers of Bachal Goth (village) to withdraw the case. The local police, in spite of instructions from the high officials of the district police and a regional police officer, have arrested only three out of the eight accused persons. They presented such a weak case that all three persons were released on bail within three months of their arrest. In the meantime, the other accused persons are continuously threatening the victims.
On June 15, the accused persons with some other persons attacked Bachal Goth village with firearms and beat and injured many persons including women and children, forcing them to vacate the village. During the attack a 16-year-old boy, Hanif Laghari, who was a member of the attacking party, was killed by the gun fire. As the villagers did not return fire and in fact, had no weapons the persons responsible for the boy’s death can only have been the accused. The police booked eight persons in the murder of the boy who, it is now known, was abducted by the attackers from a nearby town and was forced to take part in the attack. The parents of the boy tried to file a case of abduction against the attackers but the police refused to file case and instead filed a case of murder against Mr. Akbar Laghari, a prominent journalist of the district working for a daily newspaper and a television channel. The elder brother of the journalist and the younger brother of the rape victim and a cousin brother were also arrested by the Johi police station on the charges of murdering Hanif.
More than two dozen persons kept the village under siege for three days during which the villagers were threatened and beaten to withdraw the case of gang rape. They were not allowed to go outside of their houses. On the instructions of the Regional Police Officer (RPO) the police vacated the siege but the attackers have been returning in the night and threatening the women that they would also be raped.
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SUGGESTED ACTION:
Please write the letters to the authorities for taking immediate action against the perpetrators and the local police who are forcing the gang raped victim and other persons from Bachal Goth to withdraw the case of rape. Please urge the authorities to hold inquiry in the case of misuse of power and use of force by the powerful people and police of the Johi sub district and immediately with draw the cases of murder against the villagers and Akbar Laghari the prominent journalist.
The AHRC writes a separate letter to the UN Special Rapporteur on the Question of Torture calling for his intervention into this matter.
To support this case, please click here: SEND APPEAL LETTER
SAMPLE LETTER
Dear ___________,
PAKISTAN: A journalist was booked in a false case of murder for protecting a rape victim
Name of victim:
1. Mr. Akbar Laghari,
Coresspondent of Daily Kawish and Kawish Television Network, Johi, district Dadu, Sinsh province
2. Mr. Rustam Laghari,
Bachal Goth, Johi, District Dadu, Sindh Province
3. Mr. Adam Laghari,
Bachal Goth, Johi, District Dadu, Sindh Province
4. Mr. Usman Laghari,
Bachal Goth, Johi, District Dadu, Sindh Province
5. Mohammad Hanif Laghari,
Bachal Goth, Johi, District Dadu, Sindh Province
Names of alleged perpetrators:
1. Mr. Basheer Mallah,
Former station house officer of Johi police station,
District Dadu, Sindh province
2. Mr. Dattal Jamali,
Chief of Jamali tribe in Dadu district, Sindh province
3. Mr. Laiq Laghari, henchmen of Jamali tribe,
Johi, district Dadu, Sindh province
Date of incident: June 15, 2011
Place of incident: Goth Bachal, Johi, District Dadu, Sindh province
I am writing to voice my deep concern regarding the implication of a journalist, Mr. Akbar Laghari of Daily Kawish and correspondent of the Kawish television channel, in a fabricated case of the murder of a young boy.
Prior to this Mr. Laghari was involved in assisting a 14-year-old girl who was gang raped by the henchmen of the chieftain of the Jamali tribe in Dadu district. The rapists have been enjoying the protection of the officers from the Johi police station, Dadu, since May 2010 and since then no progress was seen in the investigation of the case. None of the main perpetrators of the gang rape have been brought before the law. Please see; Urgent Appeal Case: AHRC-UAC-064-2010. Instead, the police and perpetrators started harassing the villagers including the prominent journalist, Mr. Akbar Laghari. The police finally implicated Mr. Laghari in a fabricated case of murder.
I am informed that a full year has passed but no proper enquiry has been initiated in the gang rape and it was later proved that police officials were involved in covering up the case. With the involvement of the local tribal chief of the Jamali clan, Mr. Dattal Jamali and his brother Rafiq Jamali, the former federal minister and member of the national assembly from the ruling party, the PML-Q and the local police officials are pressuring the victim and her family members including the villagers of Bachal Goth (village) to withdraw the case. The local police, in spite of instructions from the high officials of the district police and a regional police officer, have arrested only three out of the eight accused persons. They presented such a weak case that all three persons were released on bail within three months of their arrest. In the meantime, the other accused persons are continuously threatening the victims.
It is with deep shock that I have learned that on June 15, the accused persons with some other persons attacked the Bachal Goth village with fire arms and beat and injured many persons including women and children, forcing them to vacate the village. During the attack a 16-year-old boy, Hanif Laghari, who was a member of the attacking party, was killed by the gun fire. As the villagers did not return fire and in fact, had no weapons the persons responsible for the boy’s death can only have been the accused. The police booked eight persons in the murder of the boy who, it is now known, was abducted by the attackers from a nearby town and was forced to take part in the attack. The parents of the boy tried to file a case of abduction against the attackers but the police refused to file case and instead filed a case of murder against Mr. Akbar Laghari, a prominent journalist of the district working for a daily newspaper and a television channel. The elder brother of the journalist and the younger brother of the rape victim and a cousin brother were also arrested by the Johi police station on the charges of murdering Hanif.
Further to their hooliganism on the innocent villager about two dozen persons kept siege of the village for three days during which villagers were threatened and beaten to withdraw the case of gang rape and villagers were not allowed to go outside their houses. On the instruction of the Regional Police Officer (RPO) the police vacated the siege but the attackers are returning in the night and threatening the women that they would also be raped.
I urge you immediately to withdraw the case of murder against the journalist, Mr. Akbar Laghari, and also the other persons of the Bachal Goth village. An inquiry against the local police and tribal leader of the Johi town for besieging the village must be conducted. I also urge that the perpetrators, who were accused of gang rape in the FIR, must be arrested and the gang rape victim compensated for her ordeal.
I look forward to your prompt response and action in this case.
Yours sincerely,
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PLEASE SEND YOUR LETTERS TO:
Mr. Asif Ali Zardari
President of Pakistan
President’s Secretariat
Islamabad
PAKISTAN
Tel: +92 51 9204801/9214171
Fax: +92 51 9207458
Email: publicmail@president.gov.pk
2. Mr. Syed Yousaf Raza Gilani
Prime Minister of Pakistan
Prime Minister House
Islamabad
PAKISTAN
Fax: + 92 51 9221596
E-mail: secretary@cabinet.gov.pk
3. Syed Qaim Ali Shah
Chief Minister
Karachi, Sindh Province
PAKISTAN
Fax: +92 21 920 2000
E-mail: pppsindh@yahoo.com
4. Federal Minister for Human Rights
Ministry of Human Rights
Old US Aid building
Ata Turk Avenue
G-5, Islamabad
PAKISTAN
Fax: +9251-9204108
Email: sarfaraz_yousuf@yahoo.com
5. 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
6. Chief Justice of Sindh High Court
High Court Building
Saddar, Karachi
Sindh Province
PAKISTAN
Fax: +92 21 9213220
E-mail: info@sindhhighcourt.gov.pk
7. 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
8. Dr. Faqir Hussain
Registrar
Supreme Court of Pakistan
Constitution Avenue, Islamabad
PAKISTAN
Fax: + 92 51 9213452
E-mail: mail@supremecourt.gov.pk
9. Inspector General of Police
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)
