PAKISTAN: A mentally retarded minor is arrested on the charges of blasphemy; her mother and sister remain missing after their arrest 

Dear friends,

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information that a minor Christian girl, Miss Ramsha, 11, was arrested on the charges of blasphemy when she burned some copies of newspapers which were collected from the garbage. The Muslim population of the slum area attacked her house and beat her mother and sister and also burned some houses of Christians. The police arrested the mother and her two daughters and immediately sent Ramsha to Adiala prison illegally as according to law minors below the age of 15 years cannot be sent to prison or detained in police lockup. After her arrest police took the custody of her mother and sister and their whereabouts are unknown. Police say that both mother and daughter are in the protective custody because of the apprehension of their killing by the Muslim activists. However, the Christian community suspect that they were handed over the Muslim activists and that their lives may be in serious danger.

The Christian population has already vacated the area. The Christians living in other slum areas are also scared and demanded protection from the authorities but no action has been taken.

CASE NARRATIVE:

Miss Ramsha, 11, mentally retarded, daughter of Misraf Masih, was residing at Hameera abadi, sector G-8, Islamabad with a sizeable number of Christians, and was collecting used papers from the garbage for night cooking as there is no gas connections and poor people depend on burning wood. When, after sunset she was burning the copies of newspapers, collected from the garbage, a Muslim lady entered her house and started shouting that Ramsha is burning the papers from holy Quran. At that time her elder sister, Mashal, 14, was at home and her father and mother were out for their work. At this moment both sisters told the Muslim crowd, which was gathered after listening the shouting from Muslim lady, that the papers were from garbage and those are from newspapers but the crowd started beating them and suddenly their mother also arrived and she was also beaten. The other Christian residents also tried to settle the issue but they were beaten as well. Both sisters and her mother received injuries and in the meanwhile the owner of the house, a Muslim man, arrived and called the police in an effort to save the Christians.

Police took the mother and her two daughters into custody. A first information report (FIR) was filed in the Ramna police station in which Miss Ramsha was made the main accused of blasphemy. But police arrested all the three. Seeing the tension in the area as Muslim activists on the instigation from the mosques started attacking and burning the Christian houses, Ramna police immediately sent the minor to the notorious Adiala prison and kept her mother and sister in the women police station for some time. When activists tried to gather outside the Ramna police station, the police shifted both mother and sister to some unknown place and according to police this action was taken for their safety. But the father of the victims and other Christians are suspicious and it was accused that both mother and daughter have been taken away by some militants.

The Christians from different slums areas of the Islamabad, capital of Pakistan, have started leaving their communities and apprehend that their houses would be attacked and burned. The Islamabad administration has yet not taken any action to protect the Christian population.

It is also accused by Christian population that some powerful persons want to grab the Christian dominated areas for commercial purposes and use by Muslim activists.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:

Currently, extreme militant Muslim organisations may use blasphemy laws as a way to pressure and oppress religious minority groups. So far, the government has failed to protect the lives and property of the minority community. Although there is formal protection in place for religious minorities in the Constitution and although the blasphemy law has made it compulsory that no police officer below the rank of Superintendent of Police can investigate the charges, these statutes are rarely respected.

Religious minority groups in Pakistan remain vulnerable due to the continued use and abuse of blasphemy charges, despite section 295C of the Pakistan Penal Code. The police, who fail to follow the code and who operate under the directives of extremists in the community, must face strong legal action. Charges of blasphemy are still met with the death penalty in Pakistan.

The deliberate institutionalisation of Islam’s status as protected and predominant promoted the perpetuation of religious intolerance by Islamic fundamentalists. According to data collected through different sources at least 1030 persons were charged under these anti-blasphemy clauses from 1986 to August 2009, while over 30 persons were killed extra-judicially by angry mobs or individuals.

Militant Muslim organisations are using blasphemy as a tool as the best way to keep religious minority groups under pressure and even forcibly take land. The State is failing to protect the lives and property of the minority community. Additional information regarding the case.

 

SUGGESTED ACTION:

Please write the letters to the given authorities calling them to inquire about the incident of Hameera abadi, Islamabad where a mentally retarded minor girl was arrested on the charges of blasphemy and kept in the Adiala prison where minors are not allowed to be detained. Please urge them to immediately release the minor and recover her mother and sister who are missing after their arrest. Please also urge them to prosecute the concerned police officials of the Ramna police station for filing the case of blasphemy against mentally retarded minor and without the proper investigation.

The AHRC writes a separate letter to the UN Special Rapporteur on freedom of religion or belief and Independent Expert on minority issues calling for their intervention into this matter.

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