PAKISTAN: Investigation stalled into horrific killing of a human rights activist’s son 

Dear friends,

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) writes to you seeking your urgent intervention into the brutal torture and horrific killing of 21-year-old Faraz Ahmed Naveed, the son of prominent human rights activist Baseer Naveed, on 8 November 2004. Faraz was himself a peace activist who had attended peace conferences in Canada in 2000 and India in 2002, as a representative of Pakistani youth. Faraz was targeted because of Baseer’s campaigning against the construction of a major expressway near Karachi. Following Faraz’s death, Baseer’s other son was beaten, as too was his wife.

Despite the significant time that has now passed since Faraz was kidnapped, tortured and killed, no effective action has been taken by the police or government and therefore his killers remain at large. The police maintain that investigations are ongoing, but to date no arrests have been made and little, if anything, has been done to properly pursue this case.

We request that you write to President General Pervez Musharraf seeking his immediate intervention into this case. An independent and impartial enquiry must be conducted into Faraz’s death without delay in order to bring the perpetrators of these crimes to justice. Of paramount importance is that full protection must be provided to Baseer and his family while investigations are underway, during the trial and after it, if need be.

Urgent Appeals Desk
Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC)
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INFORMATION:

Name of the victim: Faraz Ahmed Naveed, 21-years-old, son of Baseer Naveed
Date of incident: 8 November 2004

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Details:

Baseer Naveed is a prominent human rights activist in Pakistan and Chairman of the Citizen Action Committee. He is leading the movement of more than 50 communities against the construction of Lyari Expressway in Karachi. The construction of the expressway would render some 300,000 people homeless and at least 100,000 students would be deprived of education due to destruction of schools. The project is being built on the direct instruction of President General Musharraf and with direct involvement of the army. Baseer’s activities against this project has made him subject to threats and intimidation by unknown persons.

On 8 November 2004, Baseer’s son Faraz came to his radio station to assist in a broadcast. After the broadcast he told his father he would go to the washroom and then they would go home together. When he went to the washroom he was called to the exit by some unknown persons and then he was not see again. Believing that he may have just gone off with friends, Baseer did not worry.

On November 10, when Baseer was at work at the radio station, he was told that a youth’s body had been found alongside the building.?Finishing his broadcast, Baseer went to take a look and there saw a crowd looking at the body of a mutilated young man. Torture marks could be seen all over the body, the neck was clearly broken and the nose was visibly pushed into the skull. A police officer came to Baseer and gave him identity documents from the body indicating it was Faraz. But Baseer could not recognize him. Anyhow they took the body to the nearby Jinnah Hospital. It was only upon reaching the hospital and inspecting the body further that Baseer realised the mutilated body before him was his own son, Faraz.

Baseer immediately demanded that a post-mortem be conducted on his son’s body. However, the Medico-legal Officer at the hospital refused to perform one without giving any clear reasons. Baseer tried for three hours to have the post-mortem conduct, without success. The hospital also would not accept the body and it was kept in the hot sun for a long time. Police from Feroz Aabad station present at the hospital assured Baseer that all would be done to find his son’s killers. Baseer was forced to take the body home without a post-mortem, for funeral rites and later again tried to have a post-mortem done, but again without success. Soon after, the governor of the province also assured Baseer that his son’s killers would be found and that he and his family would be looked after.

Since this time, the police and government authorities have failed to pursue the case seriously. Police later found blood stains in the building believed to be from his son, but these have not been used in evidence. The police also have changed their interpretation of the incident. The first police investigators began looking at the case as a murder but subsequently other police said that it was a suicide. Again after that more senior officers said that it was a murder. However, no progress has been made in the investigation.

The police questioned some of Faraz’s friends to give the appearance that they were doing something, but there was no evidence against these friends whatsoever and Baseer remonstrated that they would not be responsible for his son’s death.

Baseer and his family have received further threats since his son’s death. When Baseer continued to pressure the police to properly investigate the killing, he was told by army officers to leave the matter and take care of his other son and daughter.

One month after Faraz’s body was found, Baseer’s other son was forcibly removed from his school bus and beaten by unknown persons. He was told at the end of his beating that he was to go home and tell his father “don’t go any further”.

One month after the beating of Baseer’s other son, his wife was then beaten in a marketplace and had her purse stolen. When she went to the police to report this and explained what had been happening to her family, the police officer told her that he would not lodge a First Investigation Report (FIR) on her behalf if this was the line of complaint she intended to pursue. An FIR was, therefore, never lodged.

The Pakistan Human Rights Commission approached the government regarding this case. They requested to know why a post-mortem was not conducted on Faraz at the time of his death. However, they were provided no answer.

To date, no action has been taken in this case and no persons have been brought to justice for this heinous crime. The targeting and killing of Faraz was unquestionably a message to Baseer to stop protesting against the construction of the expressway. The repeated attacks against his other family members, give support to this belief.

SUGGESTED ACTION:

Please write to President General Pervez Musharraf voicing your deep concern for this case. An impartial and independent inquiry must be conducted by a specialized criminal investigation unit into Faraz’s killing. Of utmost importance is full protection to Baseer and his family while investigations and the subsequent trial are under way.
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