Dear friends,
The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information that police officers have been exonerated (by their own internal inquiry) from charges of killing a young Christian, who was tortured to death while being kept in illegal detention. After the killing, in a bid to fool the Christian community, senior police officials announced that all police officers involved in the matter, including the Station Head Officer (SHO), had been arrested and suspended, and that an inquiry would be conducted. However, the officers were never arrested and, after an internal inquiry, all of the perpetrators were exonerated from the charges of torture and death in police custody.
A member of the Punjab assembly, Mr. Asghar Munda (who is from the ruling party) urged the police to release a Muslim man who allegedly abducted a Muslim girl, telling the police to punish someone from the Christian community instead.
Senior police officers are continuously intimidating the family members of the victim, telling them to withdraw the charges against the police. The senior officers have threatened that, if charges are not withdrawn, the family will face severe consequences.
The police officers demonstrated their hate against Christians during the boy’s illegal detention. They said that such young people need exemplary punishment when they dare to have friendships with Muslim girls.
CASE NARRATIVE: (Information received from Center for Legal Aid Assistance and Settlement, Forum for Minorities)
Adnan Masih, 18 years old, a resident of Sharaqpur Sharif District Sheikhupura, Punjab province, was tortured to death in police custody after ten days of illegal imprisonment. Adnan, son of Mr. Riaz Masih (a retired headmaster), was working in the electrical services shop of Mr. Muhammad Imran as an assistant.
Adnan Masih was taken into custody at the Sharaqpur Sharif police station, on 2 June 2013, in connection with the case of a young Muslim woman who had gone missing. The police had also rounded up local Muslim youths to question them over the matter, but they were all released.
Adnan insisted that he knew nothing of the woman in question; she had apparently had an affair with a Muslim man, Imran, the owner of the shop where Adnan was working, and left her husband, but her parents claimed that she had been kidnapped.
Officers obtained call records from Adnan and the woman’s network providers. They found no record of any communication between them. They did, however, discover calls between the woman and three young Muslim men from the area. The Muslims were summoned to the police station but later set free, seemingly after the payment of a bribe. Officers then tried to force Adnan to confess to being involved in the woman’s disappearance, allegedly subjecting him to severe torture: they beat him on the head with an iron rod, cut him with a sharp knife, broke his legs and pulled the nails out of his fingers and toes. After six days of torture, when Adnan was almost dead, his neck was broken. The Christian’s body was hung up in the bathroom. Police claimed that he had committed suicide. He died on 10 June 2013.
Over 4,000 local Christians blocked the road in protest, demanding justice and the arrest of those responsible for his death.
The Center for Legal Aid Assistance and Settlement (CLAAS) team succeeded in persuading senior officers to register a First Information Report (FIR), which launches a criminal investigation in Pakistan, against three officers.
On 30 May 2013, Ms. Nusrat Bibi claimed that Adnan Masih abducted her daughter Ms. Saima, who had married another man, Mr. Mohsin, four months before. Adnan denied having a relationship with her daughter and disclosed her daughter’s love affair with Mr. Imran, the man who owned the shop where Adnan worked as a mechanic.
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:
On 10 June, First Information Report (FIR) number 332/13 was lodged against the Masih family in relation to the kidnapping of the girl. It was lodged against seven people including Mr. Riaz Masih (Adnan’s father), Ms. Kaniz Bibi (Adnan’s mother), Mr. Billo Mashi (brother), Ms. Naila (sister), Mr. Barkat Masih (uncle), Mr. Arshad Soroya (cousin) and Mr. Zaheer Barber (cousin).
Police approached Adnan Masih’s family during their investigations in to this case. On 2 June, Mr. Barkat Masih, who is well known person from the Christian community in the area and works as a community resource person, went to Station House Officer (SHO) Mr. Riaz-U-Din with Riaz Masih and Adnan Masih to talk with the police and to prove that Adnan is innocent. When they went to Sharaqpur police station, the SHO told them to leave Adnan for few days, saying they would conduct a normal and non-violent investigation into the kidnapping allegations. Riaz and Barkat agreed. They left Adnan in the custody of SHO for the promised normal investigation.
SHO Riaz-u-Din kept the Christian boy in detention and tortured him for two to three days. Riaz Masih requested police to release his son but SHO Riaz-u-Din demanded money and took Rs. 20,000 (US $: 200) as a bribe. When he saw that there was no claim provable against the Masih boy, he transferred the inquiry duty to Assistant Sub Inspector (ASI) Mr. Waryam Ali, who tortured the boy on the demand of the girl’s father and uncle. Waryam took rupees Rs. 17,000 (US $: 170) from the family of the victim.
On 9 June, Member Of Parliament Assembly (MPA) Mr. Ali Asghar Munda of political party Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) visited Sharaqpur police station and he called Muhammad Imran (owner of the electronic shop) to come to the police station. He ordered the police to recover the missing Muslim girl and, at the same time, he gave a guarantee for Imran and declared him innocent. Mr. Asghar is elected from his area as MPA because of Muslim majority votes, so he is supporting the Muslims of the area. That seems to be why he supported Imran and gave his guarantee. A few boys were also arrested and released after investigation, but police officials didn’t allow Mr. Adnan to go home as the police were planning to make Adnan Masih an example for the whole Christian community. Their stated aim was to make sure no other Christian boy should dare to fall in love with a Muslim girl.
On the morning of 10 June, Adnan’s aunt went to the police station to see her nephew and to give him breakfast. She was shocked to see Adnan severely injured. He was unable to walk and barely able to talk. Adnan told his aunt that approximately four to six police officers tortured and abused him through the whole night. They severely tortured him by fixing jacks (an implement used to spread his legs), using iron rods, pulling his nails out and breaking his teeth. He was in severe pain. Police officials treated him in an inhuman way and abused him. While torturing him, they demanded to know why he started his love liaison with a Muslim girl, how dare a Christian boy have an affair with a Muslim girl, and they would teach him a lesson so no Christian boy would have the courage to have a love affair with a Muslim girl in the future. During torture they also abused him by saying that the police are faithful and have a holy Quran, what did he have? Today they would make him an example for his dirty Christianity.
During torture they tried to force him to change his faith. If he did so they would release him; otherwise, they would kill him. On learning this, Adnan’s aunt went home in shock and shared the incident with his immediate family, who rushed to the police station. Riaz Masih and Asher Masih went to police station to see Adnan but police refused to let them see him.
On the evening of 10 June, police informed the family about Adnan’s murder, claiming that it was a suicide. The victim’s family was aware of the severe torture in police detention, which was clearly the cause of his death. Police announced his death and said that he had committed suicide in the washroom of the police station. This was to hide the fact that the police broke his neck and hanged him in the washroom. To hide their sin, they declared that the boy had committed suicide.
There was no FIR lodged by the family of the girl until June 10. Before the custodial death of Adnan Masih, a FIR was lodged against the Masih family members. After the death of the boy, the Masih family lodged FIR number 149, 302,147 at Sharaqpur police station against the Station House Officer (SHO) Riaz-u-din, Assiastant Sub Inspector (ASI) Waryam Ali, Sub Inspector (SI) Mr. Shahbaz, Mr. Tariq (the girl’s father) and Imran (her uncle). Both FIRS were lodged on the same day and the girl is still missing.
Adnan’s autopsy was conducted by the Government of Punjab’s Health Department. The report showed that Adnan had severe injuries on his face, severe injuries on his neck and a split in his chin due to torture. His nails were removed from his hands and he had injuries on his thighs, bottom and arms. He had been bleeding from his mouth. The injuries showed severe torture but the police didn’t take any action against the murder of this Christian boy.
On 2 July 2013, the perpetrators, along with a large mob consisting of around 100 people, entered the house of Riaz Masih and told them to withdraw the case and forgive the police officials. They warned Mr. Masih that the SHO and other police would be released on bail – in the future, they warned, “You will be here and we will be here”. In essence, they were warning him that, if he did not give up the FIR, they would create trouble for them if they stayed in the area. The police have the power to do whatever they want.
SUGGESTED ACTION:
Please write a letter to the following authorities, calling on them to initiate a judicial inquiry into the murder of this Christian boy in police detention. Please also urge them to prosecute the high-ranking police officials from Sharaqpur police station for killing this person by torture in police custody. The government must also ensure the security and safety of the victim’s family members, who are receiving threats on their lives from the perpetrators, as well as provide compensation to the family.
The AHRC is writing a separate letter to the UN Special Rapporteur on torture and extra judicial killing, calling for her intervention into this matter
To support this case, please click here: SEND APPEAL LETTER
SAMPLE LETTER
Dear ___________,
PAKISTAN: Police officials accused of killing a young Christian exonerated by internal inquiry
Name of victim:
Mr. Adnan Masih, son of Riaz Masih and resident of Mohalla Nabi Pura, Sharqpur Sharif District Sheikhupura, Punjab province
Name of perpetrators:
1. Mr. Riaz –u-Din Station House Officer (SHO), Sharaqpur Sharif Police Station, Sheikhupura district, Punjab province
2. Mr. Shahbaz Sub Inspector (SI) Sharaqpur Sharif Police Station, Sheikhupura district, Punjab Province
3. Mr. Waryam Ali Assistant Sub Inspector (ASI), Sharaqpur Sharif Police Station, Sheikhupura district, Punjab Province
4. Mr. Tariq son of Mr.Nawab (Father), Sharaqpur Sharif, Sheikhupura district Punjab Province
5. Mr. Imran, Sharaqpur Sharif, Sheikhupura distict Punjab Province
6. District Police Officer (DPO), Sheikhupura district, Punjab Province
Date of incident: 2-10 June 2013
Place of incident: Sharaqpur Sharif police station, Sheikhupura District, Punjab Province-Pakistan.
I am writing to voice my deep concern regarding the extra judicial killing of a young Christian by torture in the custody of Sharaqpur Sharif police station. The victim was tortured to death purely on the basis of hate against the Christian community.
I am appalled about the impunity provided to police officials, exonerating them from the case of torture and murder that took place in the presence of several persons. During torture they forced him to change his faith, saying that, if he did so, they would release him. Otherwise they would kill him.
It is also shocking to me that police officers – including the District Police Officer (DPO), the highest-ranking police officer of the district – are trying to force the parents of the victim to withdraw the case against the concerned police officers by sending a Muslim mob to their house and coercing them to withdraw the FIR.
I received information that Adnan Masih, 18 years old, a resident of Sharaqpur Sharif District Sheikhupura, Punjab province, was tortured to death in police custody after ten days of illegal imprisonment. Adnan Masih, son of Mr. Riaz Masih (a retired headmaster), was working in the electrical services shop of Mr. Muhammad Imran as an assistant. Adnan had six siblings.
Adnan Masih was taken into custody by the Sharaqpur Sharif police station on 2 June in connection with the case of a young Muslim woman who had gone missing. The police had also rounded up local Muslim youths to question them over the matter, but they were all released.
Adnan insisted that he knew nothing of the woman in question; she had apparently had an affair with a Muslim man, Imran, the owner of the electrical shop where Adnan was working, and left her husband, but her parents claimed that she had been kidnapped.
Officers obtained Adnan and the woman’s call records from their respective network providers. They found no record of any communication between them. They did, however, discover calls between the woman and three young Muslim men from the area. The Muslims were summoned to the police station but later set free, seemingly after the payment of a bribe. Officers then tried to force Adnan to confess to being involved in the woman’s disappearance, allegedly subjecting him to severe torture: they beat him on the head with an iron rod, cut him with a sharp knife, broke his legs and pulled the nails out of his fingers and toes. After six days of torture, when Adnan was almost dead, his neck was broken. The Christian’s body was hung up in the bathroom. Police claimed that he had committed suicide. He died on June 10.
Over 4,000 local Christians blocked the road in protest, demanding justice and the arrest of those responsible for his death.
The Center for Legal Aid Assistance and Settlement (CLAAS) team succeeded in persuading senior officers to register a First Information Report (FIR), which launches a criminal investigation in Pakistan, against three officers.
On 30 May, Ms. Nusrat Bibi claimed that Adnan Masih abducted her daughter Ms. Saima, who had married another man, Mr. Mohsin, four months before. Adnan denied having a relationship with her daughter and disclosed her daughter’s love affair with Mr. Imran, the man who owned the shop where Adnan worked as a mechanic.
Police approached Adnan Masih’s family during their investigations in to this case. On 2 June, Mr. Barkat Masih, who is well known person from the Christian community in the area and works as a community resource person, went to Station House Officer (SHO) Mr. Riaz-U-Din with Riaz Masih and Adnan Masih to talk with the police and to prove that Adnan is innocent. When they went to Sharaqpur police station, the SHO told them to leave Adnan for few days, saying they would conduct a normal and non-violent investigation into the kidnapping allegations. Riaz and Barkat agreed. They left Adnan in the custody of SHO for the promised normal investigation.
SHO Riaz-u-Din kept the Christian boy in detention and tortured him for two to three days. Riaz Masih requested police to release his son but SHO Riaz-u-Din demanded money and took Rs. 20,000 (US $: 200) as a bribe. When he saw that there was no claim provable against the Masih boy, he transferred the inquiry duty to Assistant Sub Inspector (ASI) Mr. Waryam Ali, who tortured the boy on the demand of the girl’s father and uncle. Waryam took rupees Rs. 17,000 (US $: 170) from the family of the victim.
The actions of Member Of Parliament Assembly (MPA) Mr. Ali Asghar Munda from the political party Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) on June 9th when he visited Sharaqpur police station trouble me greatly. He called Muhammad Imran (owner of the electronic shop) to come to the police station. He ordered the police to recover the missing Muslim girl and, at the same time, he gave a guarantee for Imran and declared him innocent. Mr. Asghar is elected from his area as MPA because of Muslim majority votes, so he is supporting the Muslims of the area. That seems to be why he supported Imran and gave his guarantee. A few boys were also arrested and released after investigation, but police officials didn’t allow Adnan to go home as the police were planning to make Adnan Masih an example for the whole Christian community. Their stated aim was to make sure no other Christian boy should dare to fall in love with a Muslim girl. In this community, many Muslim girls have relationships with Christian boys and the number of relationships is increasing day by day.
On the morning of 10 June, Adnan’s aunt went to the police station to see her nephew and to give him breakfast. She was shocked to see Adnan severely injured. He was unable to walk and barely able to talk. Adnan told his aunt that approximately four to six police officers tortured and abused him through the whole night. They severely tortured him by fixing jacks (an implement used to spread his legs), using iron rods, pulling his nails out and breaking his teeth. He was in severe pain. Police officials treated him in an inhuman way and abused him. While torturing him, they demanded to know why he started his love liaison with a Muslim girl, how dare a Christian boy have an affair with a Muslim girl, and they would teach him a lesson so no Christian boy would have the courage to have a love affair with a Muslim girl in the future. During torture they also abused him by saying that the police are faithful and have a holy Quran, what did he have? Today they would make him an example for his dirty Christianity.
I am saddened that during torture they tried to force him to change his faith. If he did so they would release him; otherwise, they would kill him. On learning this, Adnan’s aunt went home in shock and shared the incident with his immediate family, who rushed to the police station. Riaz Masih and Asher Masih went to police station to see Adnan but police refused to let them see him.
On the evening of 10 June, police informed the family about Adnan’s murder, claiming that it was a suicide. The victim’s family was aware of the severe torture in police detention, which was clearly the cause of his death. Police announced his death and said that he had committed suicide in the washroom of the police station. This was to hide the fact that the police broke his neck and hanged him in the washroom. To hide their sin, they declared that the boy had committed suicide.
There was no FIR lodged by the family of the girl until June 10. Before the custodial death of Adnan Masih, a FIR was lodged against the Masih family members. After the death of the boy, the Masih family lodged FIR number 149, 302,147 at Sharaqpur police station against the Station House Officer (SHO) Riaz-u-din, Assiastant Sub Inspector (ASI) Waryam Ali, Sub Inspector (SI) Mr. Shahbaz, Mr. Tariq (the girl’s father) and Imran (her uncle). Both FIRS were lodged on the same day and the girl is still missing.
Adnan’s autopsy was conducted by the Government of Punjab’s Health Department. The report showed that Adnan had severe injuries on his face, severe injuries on his neck and a split in his chin due to torture. His nails were removed from his hands and he had injuries on his thighs, bottom and arms. He had been bleeding from his mouth. The injuries showed severe torture but the police didn’t take any action against the murder of this Christian boy.
On 2 July 2013, the perpetrators, along with a large mob consisting of around 100 people, entered the house of Riaz Masih and told them to withdraw the case and forgive the police officials. They warned Mr. Masih that the SHO and other police would be released on bail – in the future, they warned, “You will be here and we will be here”. In essence, they were warning him that, if he did not give up the FIR, they would create trouble for them if they stayed in the area. The police have the power to do whatever they want.
I urge upon you to initiate a judicial inquiry into the murder of this Christian boy, who was tortured to death while being kept in illegal detention. Please prosecute the high-ranking police officials from Sharaqpur police station for killing this person by torture in police custody. The government must also ensure the security and safety of the victim’s family members, who are receiving threats on their lives from the perpetrators, as well as provide compensation to the family.
Yours sincerely,
—————-
PLEASE SEND YOUR LETTERS TO:
1. 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. Mian Nawaz Sharif
Prime Minister
Prime Minister House
Islamabad
PAKISTAN
Fax: +92 51 922 1596
Tel: +92 51 920 6111
E-mail: secretary@cabinet.gov.pk or pspm@pmsectt.gov.pk
3. Federal Minister
Ministry of Law, Justice and Human Rights
Old US Aid building
Ata Turk Avenue
G-5, Islamabad
PAKISTAN
Fax: +92 51 9204108
Email: sarfraz_yousuf@yahoo.com
4. Mr. Makhdoom Ahmed Mehmood
Governor of Punjab
Governor House
Mall Road
Lahore, Punjab
PAKISTAN
Fax: +92 42 99203044
Email: governor.sectt@punjab.gov.pk
5. Mr. Justice Umar Ata Bandial
Chief Justice of Punjab Province
Lahore High Court
Shahra-e-Quaid-e-Azam, Lahore
PAKISTAN
Tel: +92 42 99212951-66
Fax: +92 42 99212279
Email: webmasterlhc@lhc.gov.pk
6. Mr. Shahbaz Sharif
Chief Minister
Government of Punjab
Province
Chief Minister
Secretariat
5-Club Road
GOR-I, Lahore, Punjab
PAKISTAN
Fax: +92 42 99205065
Email: cmcomplaintcell@cmpunjab.gov.pk
7. Dr. Faqir Hussain
Registrar
Supreme Court of Pakistan
Constitution Avenue, Islamabad
PAKISTAN
Fax: +92 51 9213452
Email: mail@supremecourt.gov.pk
8. Mr. Rana Sana Ullah Khan
Minister of Law
Government of Punjab
Punjab Secretariat
Ravi Road
Lahore, Punjab
PAKISTAN
Fax: +92 42 99212004
E-mail: law@punjab.gov.pk
9. Inspector-General of Police of Punjab
Police Head Office
Lahore, Punjab province
PAKISTAN
Fax: +92 42 9921006
Thank you.
Urgent Appeals Programme
Asian Human Rights Commission (ua@ahrc.asia)
