Dear friends,
A number of human rights groups have informed the Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) that 19-year-old student Javaid Anjum was abducted on17 April 2004 and then severely tortured for five days at the Jamia Hassan Bin Murtaza madrassa (Islamic religious school) in Toba Tek Singh, Punjab Province. The perpetrators accused him of theft and refusal to denounce his Christian faith. Against his will, he was forced to convert to Islam by reciting the Kalima, the Muslim creed. The boy was brought to a police station on 22 April 2004 where he was accused of theft. However, his health was so bad by then that his family was allowed to take him to a hospital. Yet 11 days of treatment could not save him, and Javaid died on 2 May 2004 at 3:00 am.
The abduction, torture and religious violence of this case are highly disturbing. Please send a letter calling for an immediate investigation into this case and question how it was possible for this young man to die in these circumstances. The safety of all individuals must be protected by the law enforcement authorities, and it is vital to investigate any case of religious intolerance and violence. Your urgent action is highly appreciated.
Urgent Appeals Desk
Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC)
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CASE DETAILS
Name of Victim: Javaid Anjum, 19, a student of Bachelor in Commerce, son of Pervaiz Masih
Alleged Perpetrators: Mauluvi Ghulam Rasool and others at the Jamia Hassan Bin Murtaza madrassa
Date of incident: April 17 to May 2, 2004
Place of incident: Jamia Hassan Bin Murtaza madrassa, Toba Tek Singh, Punjab Province, Pakistan
Javaid Anjum was on his way to his grandfather’s house after visiting his aunt in Toba Tek Singh on 17 April 2004 when he was abducted. Javaid comes from Quetta but had gone with his sisters and mother to visit their grandfather in Gojra in Punjab on16 April. The following day they went to visit their aunt in Toba Tek Singh, which is about 25 kilometres from Gojra, and it was when returning from there that Javaid disappeared. Pervaiz Masih, Javaid’s father, was informed that his son was missing, and the next day, 18 April, he arrived in Gojra to begin searching for him. He reported to the police that his son was missing as well as issuing an appeal on cable TV, but it was not until 22 April that the family received any news on the whereabouts of their son.
On that day, Pervaiz and his family were finally informed by the police that Javaid was at the police station and had been accused of theft. When reaching the police station, however, it was obvious that their son was in very poor health due to the ill-treatment to which he had been subjected over the preceding five days.
Men from the Jamia Hassan Bin Murtaza madrassa had caught Javaid when they found him drinking water from a tap belong to the madrassa. They accused him of theft, and he was taken to the madrassa of Mauluvi Ghulam Rasool. Discovering that he was a Christian, the men tried to force him to denounce his faith and embrace Islam. For the following five days, Javaid was given electric shocks as well as burned and marked with warm iron rods, and his nails were pulled out. After five days of abuse, Javaid was given to the police and accused of theft. The police subsequently handed him over to his family because of his deteriorating health.
The parents took Javaid to a hospital in Gojra. His right arm and fingers had been fractured, both of his kidneys were failing, his feet were swollen from the beatings and pus was gushing out from different parts of his body. His family filmed his condition at the hospital and recorded his statement in which he said that Mauluvi Ghulam Rasool and his accomplices had been abusing him for five days.
The doctors at the hospital in Gojra referred him on to the Allied Hospital in Faisalabad where he went through several dialyses as both of his kidneys had failed. His critical condition, however, did not improve; and after 11 days of hospital care, Javaid died of his injuries on 2 May 2004 at 3:00 a.m.
Although the head constable of the police station, Mohammad Anwar ul Haq, said Ghulam Rasool had been arrested, the fact-finding team from the Centre for Legal Aid, Assistance and Settlement (CLAAS) was not allowed to see him, and the head constable at the police station said that the accused and the other men had not beaten Javaid to purposely kill him.
The CLAAS team felt powerless, and people from the madrassa were monitoring the situation by continuously visiting the police station. The CLAAS team also felt threatened by people from the madrassa. When leaving the police station, for instance, they were approached and stopped by a man who wanted to know what they had been doing inside the police station and why they were showing so much interest in this particular case. A car also followed them until they took a bus to Lahore.
SUGGESTED ACTION
Please send a letter, fax or e-mail to the addresses below and express your concern about the death of Javaid Anjum.
1. General Pervez Musharraf
President
Pervez Musharraf, Pakistan Secretariat,
Islamabad
PAKISTAN
Fax: +92 51 922 4768 / 920 1893 or 1835
2. Punjab Chief Minister Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi
30-C, Ch. Zahur Elahi Road,
Gulberg-II, Lahore
or
House No.9, Street
72, F-8/3, Islamabad
PAKISTAN
3. Hon. Mr. Khalid Maqbool
Governor
State Government of Punjab
Telephone: +92 42 920 0016
Fax: +92 42 920 0052
E-mail: governor.sectt@punjab.gov.pk
4. Mr. Kamran Rasool
Chief Secretary of Punjab
Telephone: +92 42 920 3162
E-mail: chiefsecy@punjab.gov.pk
5. Mr. Sahadat Ullah Khan
Inspector General of Police of Punjab
Telephone: +92 42 921 0062
Fax: +92 42 921 0028, 921 0064
6. Special Rapporteur of the Commission on Human Rights
on Freedom of Religion or Belief
c/o Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights
United Nations Office
8-14 Avenue de la Paix
1211 Geneva 10
Switzerland
Fax: +41 22 917 9003
E-mail: urgent-action@ohchr.org
7. The Working Group on Minorities
c/o Office of the High Commissioner for
Human Rights
United Nations Office at Geneva
8-14 Avenue de la Paix
1211 Geneva 10
Switzerland
Fax: +41 22 917 9022
To support this case, please click here: SEND APPEAL LETTER
SAMPLE LETTER
Re: Teen tortured in madrassa
Name of Victim: Javaid Anjum, 19, a student of Bachelor in Commerce, son of Pervaiz Masih
Alleged Perpetrators: Mauluvi Ghulam Rasool and others at the Jamia Hassan Bin Murtaza madrassa
Date of incident: April 17 to May 2, 2004
Place of incident: Jamia Hassan Bin Murtaza madrassa, Toba Tek Singh, Punjab Province, Pakistan
I am appalled by the violence directed at Javaid Anjum, a 19-year-old young man, inside Jamia Hassan Bin Murtaza madrassa, an Islamic religious school, in Toba Tek Singh in Punjab Province between 17 and 22 April 2004.
I ask the government of Pakistan and the responsible law enforcement authorities to ensure a thorough investigation into his violent death and that all possible action be taken by the appropriate authorities to ensure justice.
Religious violence and intolerance in Pakistan must be dealt with immediately at the highest levels of the government; they must be curbed for the stability of the country at large. Moreover, the equal rights of minorities must be protected, and this protection, just as the country's respect for religious freedom, is the responsibility of the nation-state to ensure. While nothing the government can do will return this boy to his family, his death should spark immediate action by the government and society at large to ensure that no one dies again in Pakistan because of their religious faith.
Thank you for your prompt attention to this very serious matter.
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Thank you.
Urgent Appeals Programme
Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC)
