PAKISTAN: Torture of two men after being falsely charged under blasphemy law 

Dear friends,

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information about the severe torture of two men by the Saddar police in Faisalabad district, Punjab province, Pakistan on 10 September 2006. The victims have been reportedly charged with a false blasphemy case after the police failed to present concrete evidence of an alleged theft case against them. In Pakistan, charging a person with the blasphemy laws is the easiest way to book any minority person. We also received information that the families of the victims fled their homes due to the brutal attack by local Muslims and that the lives of the victims are in danger due to constant threats by the other inmates in the jail. We call for your immediate intervention into this case to ensure the safety of the victims.

On 31 August 2006, a doctor named Mr. Arshad Mehmood Khan hired Shahid Masih’s brother Mr. Farooq Masih to whitewash his clinic, which is located at Chak no. 208, Abid Shaheed road, Madina town, Faisalabad, Punjab province, Pakistan. The doctor later complained to Farooq that his younger brother Shahid stole some medicines from his clinic.  However he could not provide sufficient evidence to prove this.

Dr. Arshad went to the Saddar police station in Faisalabad on September 1 and attempted to register a theft case against Shahid and a Muslim watchman Mr. Mohammad Ghaffar, which police refused to accept due to lack of evidence. After several attempts, Dr. Arshad, on the advice of Saddar police, finally lodged a false case against the two men under sections 295 (B) and 308 of Pakistan Penal Code (PPC), known as the blasphemy law. In Pakistan, this is the easiest way to book any religious minority person.

On September 10, Dr. Arshad lodged a written complaint based a fabricated story to the Saddar police. In the complaint, he stated that when he came to his clinic on September 10, he found a volume of a book Tafseer Ibn-a- Qasser, which interpreted different verses of holly book Quran, was missing and only found its burnt cover. He also stated that he caught Mr. Mohammad Ghaffar, who confessed that he and Shahid burnt the pages.” The Saddar police registered this false case under sections 295-B/ 308 of PPC (reference number: FIR No. 1537/06).

After that, Mr. Rana Umer Daraz, the then Station Head Officer (SHO) of the Saddar police, Mr. Zafar Iqbal, Assistant Sub Inspector (ASI), Police Constable No. 2980 Mr. Abdul Raoof, PC No. 4133 Mr. Mohammad Hayat and PC No. 2903 Mr. Munir Ahmed arrested Shahid and Mohammad Ghaffar on the same day and severely tortured them.

Meanwhile, after learning of the story which was fabricated by Dr. Arshad and the Saddar police, furious people in the area, who were from different mosques, attacked the houses of Shahid and Mohammad Ghaffar and the families of the both accused had to flee their homes.

This case is in complete violation of the laws of Pakistan. According to Section 196 of the Criminal Procedure Code of Pakistan, a blasphemy case can be registered only after the competent authority or a judicial magistrate reviews the case. In addition, there is no eyewitness to this case which is required under sections 38, 39, 40, and 43 of the Law of Evidence.

The AHRC fears that there is a great possibility that the both falsely accused may be killed in prison as all the prisoners are threatening to take revenge on them for insulting the Quran. Besides this, their families also have been receiving death threats constantly from local clerics.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:

Despite an outcry for abolishing blasphemy laws, which seriously violate fundamental rights of people, from inside and outside of the country, the Pakistan government has yet to take any genuine steps to do so. Meanwhile, many citizens are being arrested, prosecuted and even killed under this draconian law.

The following are examples of some of the recent cases that illustrates how people suffer from the blasphemy laws.

1. On 30 September 2006, a 40-year-old Christian named Mr. Bashir Masih was killed in Bhawal Pur District Jail in a suspicious manner. He was sentenced to death by the district session court Punjab province under blasphemy laws only because he kept the Quran in his house.

2. On 25 September 2006, Mr. Shahbaz alias Kaka was sentenced to life imprisonment by a session court of Faisalabad, Punjab province under blasphemy laws. His appeal case is pending in the high court. He is currently detained in Faisalabad Jail, where he has been severely beaten several times by his inmates. His family is scared that he will be killed in prison.

3. A Muslim mob set ablaze a Hindu temple of Hindu and destroyed the houses of Hindu residents, following a baseless allegation of the desecration of the Holy Quran by Yousaf Masih (60) in June 2005 at Nowshera district, North West Frontier province.

4. On 19 February 2006, a mob attacked St. Mary’s Church, St. Xavier’s Church and St. Mary’s School at Sukkar, Sindh province. The attacks resulted from an abuse of blasphemy laws as Mr. Irfan, a Muslim convert, allegedly tried to implicate his Christian father-in-law, Mr. Saleem, in burning a copy of Holy Quran. After the investigation, Mr. Irfan later confessed that he fabricated the story against his father-in-law.

Here are some other blasphemy cases that we have issued urgent appeals for:

UA-196-2006: PAKISTAN: Under-trial prisoner killed following fabricated blasphemy charges having been laid against him
UA-214-2005: PAKISTAN: Desecration and destruction of churches and Christian property after blasphemy allegations at Sangla Hills, Pakistan
UP-148-2005: PAKISTAN: Tensions continue to simmer in alleged blasphemy case at Sangla Hills, Pakistan
UA-56-2004: PAKISTAN: A suspect in a blasphemy case died after being attacked by a policeman with a brick cutter

SUGGESTED ACTION:
Please write a letter to following authorities and urge their urgent intervention into this case. Please also urge the Pakistan government to abolish blasphemy laws without further delay.

 

 

 

 

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