Representatives of several human rights organizations in Pakistan have visited the hospitals where hundreds of victims of the October 18 are being treated. The bomb blasts occurred during the welcoming procession of Benazir Bhutto, Chairperson of Pakistan Peoples’ Party (PPP). One of the purposes of the visit by the human rights groups was to prepare a report highlighting the poor conditions of the injured persons and the negligent attitude of the government agencies and the ruling Party’s leadership towards the victims and their medical care.
One hundred and forty three persons were killed and more than 500 persons injured, many of them are now permanently disabled due to the loss of limbs. Many of them received head injuries. The AHRC wishes to share the report of the visits of the civil society organizations. The report is compiled by Ms. Uzma Noorani, chief of the Women’s Action Forum (WAF) and the team consisted of representatives of the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan, Aurat Foundation, Rotary Club of Karachi Sunset Millennium and Pakistan India People Forum. The report, as received, is reproduced below:
October 18 and 19
The team first visited the Jinnah medical and Post Graduate Hospital, run by the federal government, where most of the injured and dead bodies are brought on October 18. According to the report several patients were alone without any attendant. Some patients were being wheeled in from the operation theatre. The team went around distributing juices and biscuits and enquiring about there well being and assessing their needs. They were dazed and depressed but there resolve to serve the party and their leader was strong. They complained that the doctors had not visited them and they were not being provided medicines. Some said that the only medical treatment being given were pain killers. One patient was crying and said that his relatives had visited but now they have left as they had to bury two people from his village who were killed in the blast. Many said that they were wearing torn and tattered clothes as this was all they had when they came to Karachi, the largest city of Pakistan for the rally. They also visited the ICU where doctors attending to the more serious injured with head injuries. One person with long hair tied in a knot on his head and beard was lying unconscious with several pellets lodged in his brain. No one knew him nor was there any identification. Doctors felt that he would not survive the night. Patients informed us that they had been visited by local office bearer of the PPP.
The team realized that many of the patients had come from far distances, some from more than 1000 kilo meters and all of them were from very poor background and as such it was important that there should be some financial help to them meet their immediate needs. Members of the team donated some cash and Rotary Club pledged a substantial amount.
October 20
The team visited Liaquat National Hospital, close to the place of incident of blasts and this hospital is also authorized to handle the situation of accidents. The Hospital staff was very helpful and cooperative and guided us to the victims of the blast in Neuro, Ortho, Thoracic and ICU. As compared to the previous day the team saw that almost all victims had relatives or friends around them. There was also a delegation of PPP visiting the patients and distributing juices and biscuits. Also as compared to the previous day the patients seemed more satisfied with the medical care from doctors and staff. They felt this was a result of the visit by various party leaders. They were very pleased to meet us and moved by our concern. Today we not only gave them juice packets we also gave most of them Rs 500 each. The team also made a note of which city they had come from, their profession and the nature of their injury. A detailed list of patients with names and the above details is available with the team. Out of the 35 victims the team met 26 were from Karachi which included 2 police officers, 4 were from interior Sindh and 5 were from Punjab. Most of the injuries were broken legs, broken arms and perforations in different parts of the body due to pellet injuries. One policeman, an ASI from Gadap Thana, had broken bones and suffered loss of hearing. His friends said that no senior police officer had visited him or enquired about his condition. Nasir from Sukkur was an interesting character. He had injuries on his knee and wore a colourful embroidered red cap which he claimed would heal him (barkat ki topi). A picture of Benazir was pasted near his bedside.
About 20 of the patients were young boys between the ages of 18 to 25 years, 10 were around 25 to 35 and 4 or 5 were around 40+. They seemed in high spirits and all seemed to know someone who had been killed but were very proud of this sacrifice. This seemed to disprove the comment heard so often that the crowds had been brought to the rally. Zahir Abbas a young man who hailed from Gilgit very proudly pointed to his uniform and cap of Janisarane Benazir and felt that wearing this uniform was an honour bestowed upon him. The patient next to him, Navaid Yusuf, had no smile on his face and wore a very depressed look. He claimed to be a dentist in Saddar, Karachi. Probably an assistant to some quack. He will not be pulling any teeth for sometime as his arm was fractured.
In the ICU three patients; two were in very critical state and were not conscious/awake. Adil (17 years) a resident of Karachi an electrician by profession had perforation in his stomach and both legs were broken and full of perforations.
October 21
The team again visit to Jinnah Hospital. Ward 17 looked cheerful and was crowded with relatives and friends and party workers. Benazirs’ visit earlier in the day had done wonders for their spirit. Jeay Bhutto slogans and victory signs were flashed all around. Some who were more critical were quiet. A family who had come from Lahore was very critical of the party and said that party officials were just visiting them but not providing any other assistance. They complained that proper medical care was not being provided. Sanaullah Balouch from Baldia Town had sustained head injuries with pellets lodged in his brain. Doctors were reluctant to operate on him. He also had chest and leg injuries. A tailor by profession he had lost two of his cousins, Nabi Bakhsh and Saddam Hussain, and another was lying in critical condition. His cousin who spoke fluent English, took the team to the seriously ill patients. One of these was a young kid, Sajjad who was an orphan. He lay still with tears rolling down his eyes. His maternal uncle stood by his bedside. He informed that Sajjad was the eldest and worked in a garage to help support his younger brothers and sisters. The doctor in the ward said that Sajjad was paralyzed neck down as there were pellets lodged in his spine. Another patient whom the team had seen in its earlier visit was still unconscious but his condition had stabilized somewhat and the doctor were waiting to see how much brain damage he had suffered after his condition improved. Akbar Hussain a young student from Siachen, a very remote mountainous area of north Pakistan, some 4000 kilometers from Karachi and borders India, which had suffered chest and shoulder injuries. His friend told that 1000 young boys had come from Siachen with the PPP president Jafer Ali who had returned to Islamabad. They were very upset that they did not know many people in Karachi and they had no idea how they would go back. They also did not know whom to turn to for resolving their problems. They informed that 16 boys from Siachen had been injured and four had died. He took the team to meet two brothers injured in the blast. Rustam Ali, a B.Comm student had lost all his teeth and his jaw was injured and he could not speak. His brother, Mohammad Haneef a young Matric student, had sustained multiple perforations in his stomach and leg. He found it difficult to breathe and talk. The boys from Siachen said they were glad to be of service to PPP and Benazir as Zulfikar Ali Bhutto had set them free from Raja Rule and set up schools in their area. The Thoracic ward where team met Haneef had about 13 patients. This ward bore a very depressing look. Most patients with pellet injuries to their chest and stomach were in pain and moved with difficulty. Some had fever. Zahid Ghulam Rasool a 17 year old from Sherpao Basti Karachi belonged to a family of 6 brothers. His mother said that he had slipped out of the house without informing anyone. They had looked all night for him and finally found him at 10 am the next morning. Sameeullah from Dera Ismail Khan, a driver in a company, had not succeded in contacting his family. He had lost his cell phone which had all the phone numbers of his relatives. He had a badly perforated intestine.
The team had by now covered the entire ward except ward 14. As the team approached this ward the members of the team saw a big crowd and heard cheers of Jeay Bhutto. Sahil, a skinny man from Lasbela, city of Balochistan province, gave a big grin as he sat surrounded by his family. Then he sat up in bed and started moving his upper torso and singing jeay Bhutto Benazir. He had a steel rod sticking out of his right leg. This ward had a lot of “Benazir Janesars” and security guards. The mood was cheerful and it seemed that most of these patients were receiving a larger amount of attention and financial assistance from the PPP.
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The report was prepared soon after the bloody incident but the reports, which are still coming through media, are depicting more dark pictures of the conditions of victims and still government’s cold response.
Furthermore, the AHRC is deeply concerned about the conditions in the hospitals which is being totally ignored by the authorities. After bomb blasts became a daily feature the government, it appears, has not concerned itself with increasing facilities in hospitals to deal with the emergency situations. It is due to this indifferent attitude of the government towards providing health facilities and enhancing the conditions of the hospitals, that more people have died because of not having quick treatment. In the incident of October 18 blasts more than 30 injured victims died in different hospitals because of the non availability of emergency facilities.
The Asian Human Rights Commission urges upon the government of General Musharraf to accept its responsibilities for the provision of medical care of all the injured persons of October 18 blasts, including compensation and their rehabilitation according to the domestic laws and international norms. M. Benzir Bhutto and her party, PPP, should also work for the rehabilitation of victims of blasts and pressurize the government to start some plan on this particular issue. The PPP has a moral obligation and the Government has a legal obligation to help the families financially if they have lost a member.
