We are writing to you today to express our outrage at the total failure of the authorities in Pakistan to investigate, prosecute, try and punish the perpetrators of the brutal revenge killing of a social activist’s son in Karachi two years ago.
On 8 November 2004, Faraz Ahmed Naveed, a 21-year-old philosophy student at the University of Karachi, was abducted from the FM 103 building. His tortured and mutilated body was found at its boundary wall on November 10.
At Jinnah Post Graduate Hospital the doctor refused to perform an autopsy, apparently under duress from the perpetrators or their associates. After waiting outside in the hot sun for three hours, the young man’s parents were forced to take the body away for funeral rites, without a post mortem as required by law.
Faraz Ahmed was murdered and denied his legal right to a post mortem because his father, Abdul Baseer Naveed, was leading local people to make their voices heard over the Lyari Expressway project, which had the backing of your government.
It is a terrible indictment upon your government that the family of a person who was simply organising people to express their basic rights was made a target of such inhuman revenge.
It is an even greater indictment that in the two years since the young man’s murder, and despite repeated calls from many quarters, there has been no effective investigation.
No forensic examinations of either the crime scene or the victim’s clothes and other belongings are known to have ever been conducted. Investigating officers who have sought to make some progress have been transferred before submitting their reports.
Other parts of the state apparatus have also utterly failed.
The judicial magistrate in the locality of Ferozabad Police Station has apparently never exercised his authority to order that the police bring the case before him.
Meanwhile, in December 2004, the advisor on health to the Chief Minister of Sindh ordered the doctor who refused to conduct the autopsy be suspended from service. After one week, the order was revoked and the doctor transferred to Shikarpur. Some six months later, he had his old job back.
We are forced to conclude from the above, and in view of our own experiences throughout Asia, that the inaction in this case is not simply a matter of ineptitude but rather is due to deliberate obstruction of justice.
The death of this one young man is of immense importance to us as human rights defenders from throughout Asia. In him, we see so many more young victims of the systemic impunity and gross neglect and abuse of human rights in your country, and in others.
In his case, we see the failure of all institutions that should protect and uphold the basic rights of the individual: the police, the hospitals, the courts, and the administration. Through his story, we hear the voices of others crying out against the collapse of the rule of law in your country, as well as across our region.
On the second anniversary of the murder of Faraz Ahmed, we demand that you act. Your government has an obligation to answer the basic question: who killed Faraz Ahmed? Your government has an obligation to hold those persons accountable. For two years you have failed. Enough is enough.
Your obligations now are to:
1. Remove the current investigating officer, and assign one senior, credible police officer to the case full time until it is solved.
2. Assign investigators from outside of Sindh to participate in inquiries and monitor progress.
3. Ensure that forensic experts are assigned to examine what remaining material evidence exists.
4. Return all the belongings of the victim, which were taken by the police, to the family.
5. Investigate all related incidents, including assaults on the victim’s younger brother and mother after the killing, and allegations that his friends were tortured in order to concoct a bogus story of suicide.
6. Order that the report on the non-performance of a post mortem be issued without delay.
7. Reopen disciplinary inquiries into all government staff implicated in the alleged cover-up, including doctors and administrative officials.
8. Initiate investigations into the alleged obstruction of the case by senior police officials, including the Deputy Inspector General-Investigation of Sindh.
9. Guarantee full protection for witnesses.
10. Compensate the family of the victim in accordance with international standards.
11. Report publicly on all progress at regular intervals.
Be assured that we are taking the case of Fazal Ahmed back to our respective countries and will continue to campaign from throughout Asia until our demands are met.
Yours sincerely,
1. Basil Fernando, Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC), Hong Kong
2. Abdul Baseer Naveed, Father of Fazal Ahmed Naveed
3. Bijo Francis, Asian Legal Resource Centre (ALRC), Hong Kong
4. Bruce Van Voorhis, Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC), Hong Kong
5. Chitral Perera, Janasansadaya, Sri Lanka
6. D K Balakrishnan (Rev.), Human rights defender, Sri Lanka
7. George Sigamoney (Fr.), Setik, Kandy, Sri Lanka
8. Indria Fernida, Commission for Disappearances & Victims of Violence (KontraS), Indonesia
9. Jayanthi Dandeniya, Families of the Disappeared, Sri Lanka
10. Jin Ju, Human rights defender, Korea
11. John Sloan, Asian Legal Resource Centre (ALRC), Hong Kong
12. Kayoko Sanao, Human rights defender, Japan
13. Kim Soo A, Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC), Hong Kong
14. Kirity Roy, Manabadhikar Suraksha Mancha (Masum), West Bengal, India
15. Lenin Raghuvanshi (Dr.), People’s Vigilance Committee on Human Rights (PVCHR), Uttar Pradesh, India
16. Lao Mong Hay (Dr.), Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC), Hong Kong
17. Mak Kee Yan, Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC), Hong Kong
18. Md. Ashrafuzzaman, Human rights defender, Bangladesh
19. Michael Anthony, Asian Legal Resource Centre (ALRC), Hong Kong
20. Nandana Manatunga (Fr.), Home for Victims of Torture (HVT), Kandy, Sri Lanka
21. Naveenchandran, Human rights defender, Kerala, India
22. Nick Cheesman, Asian Legal Resource Centre (ALRC), Hong Kong
23. Norman Voss, Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC), Hong Kong
24. Philip Dissanayake, Right to Life, Sri Lanka
25. Philip Setunga (Dr.), Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC), Hong Kong
26. Reid Fernando (Fr.), People Against Torture (PAT), Sri Lanka
27. Samith de Silva, Asian Legal Resource Centre (ALRC), Hong Kong
28. Sarada Taing, Human rights defender, Cambodia
29. Sasanka Sekhar Dev, Manabadhikar Suraksha Mancha (Masum), West Bengal, India
30. Shalini Peiris, Human rights defender, Sri Lanka
31. Shiv Prasad Singh, People’s Vigilance Committee on Human Rights (PVCHR), Uttar Pradesh, India
32. Taufik Basari, Legal Aid Foundation (LBH), Jakarta, Indonesia
33. W R Sanjeewa, Centre for Rule of Law, Sri Lanka
34. Wong Kai Shing, Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC), Hong Kong
View open letter with signatures
