ASIAN HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION – URGENT APPEALS PROGRAMME
The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has learned that four young men have been illegally arrested, detained and tortured by Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) officials because of a minor personal dispute. The first victim was allegedly taken hostage by an ISI colonel so that his uncle would pay a debt, and the other three were friends of the victim who inquired about him at the local police station. Three of the young men are still being held incommunicado and according to the fourth, who was released after six days, they have all been badly tortured by officials in a secluded place. The released victim is in ill health and has been warned against publicising the details of his friends' capture by the perpetrators. Although civilians in Muzaffarabad have held protest rallies, no action has yet been taken by the authorities.
The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has learned that four young men have been illegally arrested, detained and tortured by Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) officials because of a minor personal dispute. The first victim was allegedly taken hostage by an ISI colonel so that his uncle would pay a debt, and the other three were friends of the victim who inquired about him at the local police station. Three of the young men are still being held incommunicado and according to the fourth, who was released after six days, they have all been badly tortured by officials in a secluded place. The released victim is in ill health and has been warned against publicising the details of his friends' capture by the perpetrators. Although civilians in Muzaffarabad have held protest rallies, no action has yet been taken by the authorities.
CASE DETAILS:
According to the information we have received, Mr. Pervez Butt, a resident of Center Plate in Muzaffarabad, borrowed money with a Pathun (an ethnic group) money-lending group and was unable to pay the sum back. One of the money lenders is related to an ISI Lieutenant Colonel in Peshawar, Lt Cl Hamza, who allegedly threatened Pervez a number of times about the money.
On 21 November Lt Col Hamza went to Pervez's residence with ten people, most of them from the Frontier Constabulary of Peshawar.Pervez was not in his residence at that time, and the Lt Col took his nephew, Mr. Faizan Butt as a hostage, reportedly handing him over to the Saddar Police Station in Muzaffarabad. That evening three of Faizan's friends – Ali Rathore, Raja Qayyum and Shafiq Butt – went to the police station to ask for his release and were allegedly taken away with Faizan by the colonel.
Two days after the men's abduction, Butt’s family received a call from Lt. Colonel Hamza, telling them that the four young men would only be released from his custody in exchange for Pervez, who is in hiding. One of the captives, Ali Rathore, was left near Butt's house on November 27 with serious torture injuries, and was declared by hospital doctors to be in a state of shock. The next day Rathore’s family received a call from the Lt Col, who told them that the emaining prisoners would be tortured more harshly if details of the arrest were given to the public. The whereabouts and condition of the three men remain unknown.
Civilian representatives in Muzaffarabad and members of the Kashmir National Party have written several letters to the prime minister of Pakistan-held Kashmir, as well as to other high officials of the Pakistani and Kashmir governments, yet no action has been taken.
It should be noted that Lt Col Hamza has no professional connection to Kashmir, which the government of Pakistan has declared to be an independent state, with its own prime minister and government. The case demonstrates not only the impunity available to those who work within military intelligence and the complicity of other law enforcers in it, but also exposes the limit to Kashmir officials' authority over the ISI, which frequently conducts operations in the area under the banner of national security.
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:
Though Azad Jammu and Kashmir (generally known as Pakistani-held Kashmir), is officially an independent state, it remains ostensibly under the Pakistan’s Federal Ministry of Kashmir Affairs. Because of insurgent activity between it and Indian-held Kashmir, Pakistani spy agencies operate heavily in the area and Muzaffarabad, the capital of Pakistani Kashmir, hosts at least five ISI centres alongside the other intelligence agencies of the state, most notably the Military Intelligence (MI), which are known to consistently operate above the rule of law.
SUGGESTED ACTION:
Please write letters to the authorities urging them to recover the three victims from the illegal captivity of ISI, and take legal action immediately against the responsible officials.
The AHRC is writing a separate letter to UN Special Rapporteur on the question of torture and to the Working Group on arbitrary detention,calling for their intervention into this case.
To support this appeal please click here:
http://www.ahrchk.net/ua/
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