Dear Friends,
The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information that a political activist has disappeared following his arrest, allegedly by Pakistan Ranger personnel. The activist was arrested on 18 November 2015 and has not been produced in any court of law. The missing activist’s wife is pregnant and has threatened that if her husband has been killed in a fake encounter, she will commit suicide, along with her three children. She is apprehending that her husband is being` tortured and will be killed extrajudicially. The Sindh High Court has failed to instruct the local police station to file a First Information Report (FIR) on the arrest and disappearance of the activist. The Karachi police have also refused to file an FIR on the application of the wife because the allegation is that the arrest has been made by Rangers.
CASE NARRATIVE:
On November 18, Mr. Mohammad Riaysat Ullah, 40, son of Mohammad Rehmat Ullah, and resident of House 283, Sector 1-D, Orangi Town, Karachi, was traveling via motorcycle along with his friend to attend a hearing at the Anti Terrorist Court (ATC) in Karachi (a court that had earlier granted him bail). As they reached the bus stand of Nazimabad 7, personnel from Pakistan Rangers stopped and arrested them. Both of them were blindfolded and forced into a Ranger’s truck. After a 20 minute drive, during which both were beaten by Ranger personnel, the truck was stopped at a secluded place and an officer instructed that the two friends be separated.
Mr. Ullah is the former MQM unit in charge of Orangi Town. MQM is the third largest political party in Parliament. The Party has been under the radar of a Rangers operation, for allegedly being involved in acts of terrorism, target killings, and extortion.
Mr. Ullah was arrested on the same date in 2013and he was kept in illegal custody by the Rangers for five days. Then he was produced before the ATC. Subsequently, Rangers took him under physical custody for 90 days. During this period, he was severely tortured and forced to confess that possession of deadly illegal arms and for training his party cadres to conduct target killings and extortion. After 90 days, he was released by the Rangers, as nothing was proven. Due to his ordeal, he suffered the dengue virus and malaria and lost much weight. He still faces a deficiency of white blood cells.
According to Mr. Shah Zeb, who is the friend of Mr. Ullah and the owner of the motorbike, after the Rangers separated him from Ullah they interrogated him for two hours in the moving truck and dropped him at Kati Pahari, North Nazimabad, where his motor cycle was handed over to him. Zeb is a policeman, who works as part of the security detail of Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Orangi Town.
Mr. Ullah’s wife, Fauzia Sultana, learned about her husband’s arrest from his friends, who were also co-accused in the 2013 case. She immediately reported the case to the Orangi Town Police Station. She also sent through courier service an application on the same day to the Director General of Pakistan Rangers, stationed at Karachi, about the illegal arrest of her husband. She also filed a report in the Nazimabad Police Station on December 17 about her husband’s disappearance. However, the police refused to lodge an FIR against the Rangers unless court orders force them to do so. His location of arrest falls under the Nazimabad Police Station jurisdiction.
Fauzia Sultana has also filed a writ petition in the Sindh High Court, on November 18. Since then, the Court has not listed her petition (CP-d-7289/2015) for hearing, due to the involvement of Pakistan Rangers in the crime. The next hearing of her petition is fixed on January 2, whereas, she has prayed to the court that her husband be recovered urgently, given how likely he is to be tortured by the Rangers, as we has in 2013, and even extrajudicially killed, as is common Ranger practice. The High Court double bench, of Justice Shah Nawaz Tariq and Justice Mahmood A. Khan, has not instructed the police to file a case of disappearance till now.
The wife of the victim has written letters of appeals to various human rights organisations and media houses threatening that if her husband is not recovered, she will commit suicide with her three children. Her eldest son’s age is five years.
You may please see here the various papers related to her case.
The disappearance of Ullah after arrest by Pakistan Rangers is the gross violation of various articles of the Constitution of Pakistan;
Article 4 of the Constitution of Pakistan says: “(1) To enjoy the protection of law and to be treated in accordance with law is the inalienable right of every citizen, wherever he may be, and of every other person for the time being within Pakistan.
“(2) In particular — “(a) no action detrimental to the life, liberty, body, reputation or property of any person shall be taken except in accordance with law;
Article 9 regarding Security of person says, No person shall be deprived of life or liberty save in accordance with law.
Article 10 regarding safe guards as to arrest and detention says,
(1) No person who is arrested shall be detained in custody without being informed, as soon as may be, of the grounds for such arrest, nor shall he be denied the right to consult and be defended by a legal practitioner of his choice. (2) Every person who is arrested and detained in custody shall be produced before a magistrate within a period of twenty-four hours of such arrest, excluding the time necessary for the journey from the place of arrest to the court of the nearest magistrate, and no such person shall be detained in :custody beyond the said period without the authority of a magistrate. (3) Nothing in clauses (1) and (2) shall apply to any person who is arrested or detained under any law providing for preventive detention.
Article10A regarding right to fair trial says, For the determination of his civil rights and obligations or in any criminal charge against him a person shall be entitled to a fair trial and due process.
Article 14 regarding inviolability of dignity of man, etc says, (1) The dignity of man and, subject to law, the privacy of home, shall be inviolable. (2) No person shall be subjected to torture for the purpose of extracting evidence.
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:
According to the MQM website, 15 workers are missing in 2015, 27 workers were detained arbitrarily in 2015, and 7 workers killed extra judicially in 2015.
On August 12 2015 Farooq Sattar, a parliamentary leader of MQM reported that over 40 workers of the party had been killed extrajudicially. About 15 workers were reported missing in 2015 alone, while 27 more were arrested and detained arbitrarily. An official ban has been enforced on social and charitable activities of the party and television channels have been instructed against live broadcast of MQM Chief Altaf Hussain’s speeches.
SUGGESTED ACTION:
Please write letters to following authorities calling on them to immediately recover Mr. Mohammad Riaysat Ullah from the illegal custody of Pakistan Rangers. Since his arrest on 18 November 2015, his whereabouts are unknown. The government must order the police to file an FIR for the disappearance of the victim and prosecute the concerned SHOs for denying the right of complaint regarding a missing person. Also concerned Rangers officials must be prosecuted for keeping persons in illegal detention and subjecting them to medieval torture for confessional statements.
The AHRC is writing a separate letter to the UN Working Group on Enforced and Involuntarily Disappearances for its intervention into this matter.
To support this case, please click here: SEND APPEAL LETTER
SAMPLE LETTER
Dear ………………..,
PAKISTAN: Wife of disappeared political activist threatens suicide
Name of victim:
Mr. Mohammad Riaysat Ullah, 40, son of Mohammad Rehmat Ullah, resident of House 283, Sector 1-D, Orangi Town, Karachi, Sindh
Names of alleged perpetrators:
Officials of Pakistan Rangers, Karachi Range
Station House officer (SHO) Orangi Town Police Station, Karachi, Sindh
Station House officer (SHO) Nazimabad Police Station, Karachi, Sindh
Date of incident: 18 November 2015
Place of incident: Nazimabad No. 7, Karachi, Sindh
I am writing to voice my deep concern regarding the enforced disappearance of a political worker after his alleged arrest by the Pakistan Rangers. The activist was arrested on 18 November 2015 while he was traveling with his friend on his friend’s motorbike. Since then his whereabouts are unknown and to date he has not been produced in any court of law. The wife of the victim is pregnant and has threatened that if her husband has been killed in an encounter, she will commit suicide, along with her three children. She is apprehending that her husband will be killed extrajudicially, a crime that has become routine business for law enforcement agencies in the name of countering terrorism. Her husband is suffering from deficiency of white blood cells.
The Sindh High Court has failed to instruct the local police station to file a First Information Report (FIR) on the arrest and disappearance of the activist. The Karachi police have also refused to file an FIR on the wife’s application.
According to the information I received, on November 18, Mr. Mohammad Riaysat Ullah, 40, son of Mohammad Rehmat Ullah, and resident of House 283, Sector 1-D, Orangi Town, Karachi, was traveling via motorcycle along with his friend to attend a hearing at the Anti Terrorist Court (ATC) in Karachi (a court that had earlier granted him bail). As they reached the bus stand of Nazimabad 7, personnel from Pakistan Rangers stopped and arrested them. Both of them were blindfolded and forced into a Ranger’s truck. After a 20 minute drive, during which both were beaten by Ranger personnel, the truck was stopped at a secluded place and an officer instructed that the two friends be separated.
Mr. Ullah is the former MQM unit in charge of Orangi Town. MQM is the third largest political party in Parliament. The Party has been under the radar of a Rangers operation, for allegedly being involved in acts of terrorism, target killings, and extortion.
I remind here that Mr. Ullah was arrested on the same date in 2013and he was kept in illegal custody by the Rangers for five days. Then he was produced before the ATC. Subsequently, Rangers took him under physical custody for 90 days. During this period, he was severely tortured and forced to confess that possession of deadly illegal arms and for training his party cadres to conduct target killings and extortion. After 90 days, he was released by the Rangers, as nothing was proven. Due to his ordeal, he suffered the dengue virus and malaria and lost much weight. He still faces a deficiency of white blood cells.
According to Mr. Shah Zeb, who is the friend of Mr. Ullah and the owner of the motorbike, after the Rangers separated him from Ullah they interrogated him for two hours in the moving truck and dropped him at Kati Pahari, North Nazimabad, where his motor cycle was handed over to him. Zeb is a policeman, who works as part of the security detail of Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Orangi Town.
It is appalling for me that Mr. Ullah’s wife, Fauzia Sultana, learned about her husband’s arrest from his friends, who were also co-accused in the 2013 case. She immediately reported the case to the Orangi Town Police Station. She also sent through courier service an application on the same day to the Director General of Pakistan Rangers, stationed at Karachi, about the illegal arrest of her husband. She also filed a report in the Nazimabad Police Station on December 17 about her husband’s disappearance. However, the police refused to lodge an FIR against the Rangers unless court orders force them to do so. His location of arrest falls under the Nazimabad Police Station jurisdiction.
I am shocked that how higher judiciary does avoids to provide the constitutional rights to the victim’s family. Fauzia Sultana has also filed a writ petition in the Sindh High Court, on November 18. Since then, the Court has not listed her petition (CP-d-7289/2015) for hearing, due to the involvement of Pakistan Rangers in the crime. The next hearing of her petition is fixed on January 2, whereas, she has prayed to the court that her husband be recovered urgently, given how likely he is to be tortured by the Rangers, as we has in 2013, and even extrajudicially killed, as is common Ranger practice. The High Court double bench, of Justice Shah Nawaz Tariq and Justice Mahmood A. Khan, has not instructed the police to file a case of disappearance till now.
It is shocking for me to learn that the wife of the victim has written letters of appeals to various human rights organisations and media houses threatening that if her husband is not recovered, she will commit suicide with her three children. Her eldest son’s age is five years.
You may please see here the various papers related to her case.
The disappearance of Ullah after arrest by Pakistan Rangers is the gross violation of various articles of the Constitution of Pakistan;
Article 4 of the Constitution of Pakistan says: “(1) To enjoy the protection of law and to be treated in accordance with law is the inalienable right of every citizen, wherever he may be, and of every other person for the time being within Pakistan.
“(2) In particular — “(a) no action detrimental to the life, liberty, body, reputation or property of any person shall be taken except in accordance with law;
Article 9 regarding Security of person says, No person shall be deprived of life or liberty save in accordance with law.
Article 10 regarding safe guards as to arrest and detention says,
(1) No person who is arrested shall be detained in custody without being informed, as soon as may be, of the grounds for such arrest, nor shall he be denied the right to consult and be defended by a legal practitioner of his choice. (2) Every person who is arrested and detained in custody shall be produced before a magistrate within a period of twenty-four hours of such arrest, excluding the time necessary for the journey from the place of arrest to the court of the nearest magistrate, and no such person shall be detained in :custody beyond the said period without the authority of a magistrate. (3) Nothing in clauses (1) and (2) shall apply to any person who is arrested or detained under any law providing for preventive detention.
Article10A regarding right to fair trial says, For the determination of his civil rights and obligations or in any criminal charge against him a person shall be entitled to a fair trial and due process.
Article 14 regarding inviolability of dignity of man, etc says, (1) The dignity of man and, subject to law, the privacy of home, shall be inviolable. (2) No person shall be subjected to torture for the purpose of extracting evidence.
I therefore, urge upon you to to immediately recover Mr. Mohammad Riaysat Ullah from the illegal custody of Pakistan Rangers. Since his arrest on 18 November 2015, his whereabouts are unknown. The government must order the police to file an FIR for the disappearance of the victim and prosecute the concerned SHOs for denying the right of complaint regarding a missing person. Also concerned Rangers officials must be prosecuted for keeping persons in illegal detention and subjecting them to medieval torture for confessional statements.
Yours Sincerely,
……………….
PLEASE SEND YOUR LETTERS TO:
1. Mr. Mian Nawaz Sharif
Prime Minister
Prime Minister House
Islamabad
PAKISTAN
Fax: +92 51 922 1596
Tel: +92 51 920 6111
E-mail: secretary@cabinet.gov.pk, pspm@pmsectt.gov.pk
2. Mr. Syed Qaim Ali Shah
Chief Minister of Sindh
The Government of Sindh Province
Karachi, Sindh Province
PAKISTAN
Fax: +92 21 920 2000
Email: pressecy@cmsindh.gov.pk
3. Mr. Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan
Minister
Ministry of Interior of Pakistan
R Block, Pak Secretariat
Islamabad
PAKISTAN
Tel: +92 51 9212026
Fax: +92 51 9202624
4. Mr. Sohail Anwar Khan Siyal
Minister for Home
Government of Sindh
Barrack 79, Pakistan Secretariat
Near MPA hostel
Karachi, Sindh Province
PAKISTAN
Fax: +92 21 9204456
Tel: +92 21 9201920-1
E-mail: secy.home@sindh.gov.pk
5. Mr. Tahir Shahbaz
Registrar
Supreme Court of Pakistan
Constitution Avenue, Islamabad
PAKISTAN
Fax: +92 51 9213452
Email: mail@supremecourt.gov.pk
6. Chief Justice of Sindh High Court
High Court Building
Saddar, Karachi
Sindh Province
PAKISTAN
Fax: +92 21 9213220
E-mail: info@sindhhighcourt.gov.pk
7. Justice (Rtd) MajidaRazvi
Chairperson, Human Rights Development
Government of Sindh
Barrack number 92 Sindh Secretariat
4. B, opposite to Sindh Assembly Building
Karachi
PAKISTAN
Tel: +92 21 99207042-43
Fax: +92 21 99207044
E-mail: ministerhrd@sindh.gov.pk
8. Mr. Ghulam Haider Jamali
Inspector General of Police, Sindh province
Police Head quarter I.I Chundigar road
Karachi-PAKISTAN
Fax-+92-21-99212051
complaints@pprasindh.gov.pk
Thank you.
Urgent Appeals Programme
Asian Human Rights Commission (ua@ahrc.asia)
