Statement: Civil society strongly condemns behaviour of LEAs in blasphemy case
February 25, 2018
Islamabad High Court Ruled Mobile Network Shutdowns Illegal
February 27, 2018Civil society strongly condemns behaviour of law enforcement authorities in blasphemy case
- We as civil society organisations and concerned citizens condemn in the strongest possible terms the torture and inhumane treatment of Patras Masih and Sajid Masih by the FIA in Lahore. Not only is this a complete violation of the rights of the accused enshrined in the Constitution of Pakistan, but seriously undermines the credibility of law enforcement agencies to protect citizens.
- Blasphemy allegations emerged against the accused, Patras Masih, 17 years old, in Shahdara last week. Announcements were made through mosque loudspeakers identifying the accused, alleging that he shared “blasphemous content” on social media supposedly on January 16, 2018. The Tehreek Labaik Ya Rasool Allah (TLYR) and other religious parties blocked the Shahdara intersection, incited violence against the family and demanded the arrest of Patras Masih. These threats have endangered the entire Christian community living in Dhir village in Shahdara Town, resulting in some fleeing their homes. An FIR was registered against Patras (FIR No. 174/18) on February 19 at the Shahdara Town Police Station under Section 295-C of the Pakistan Penal Code that carries a mandatory death sentence.
- The accused and his cousin, Sajid Masih, 24, were in the custody of the FIA at the Punjab Headquarters on February 23, 2018 when the incident in question occurred. In a sensitive and charged case of blasphemy, it was highly irregular and imprudent that, according to Pakistan Today, in addition to the complainants, members of the TLYR and other religious parties were also present at the FIA building at the time of the investigation.
- It has come to light that around 6:00 PM, Sajid fell off the fourth floor of the FIA building resulting in serious injuries to his head and body. The FIA initially denied that such an incident had taken place. However, it has come to light that Sajid and Patras were tortured by officers of the cyber crime wing and were coerced into sexually assaulting one another. Sajid, pleaded with them to stop. As a last resort, in order to escape the torture and sexual abuse, he jumped off the fourth floor of the FIA building, where the cyber crime wing is located. Sajid is currently in the hospital recovering from his injuries.
- We are seriously concerned regarding the treatment of marginalised groups by law enforcement agencies, specifically religious minorities. The state has a heightened duty to protect persecuted groups. Given the history of the blasphemy law being misused to target minority groups, it is egregious that the FIA completely failed to provide any security to the accused and the family. The law enforcement authorities have not only failed in their duty to protect minorities, but have actively participated in violence against them. The vulnerabilities of the accused were exploited by the law enforcement agency to sexually abuse and torture them. This is in direct violation of Article 14 of the Constitution and Pakistan’s international commitments under the Convention Against Torture (CAT).
- As concerned members of civil society and organisations working on digital/human rights, we urge the government to hold the concerned law enforcement officers accountable and take active measures to ensure that Patras Masih and Sajid Masih are given the necessary security given the nature of the accusations made against them.
Demands of the Civil Society:
We demand the Ministry of Interior, Ministry of Human Rights, Human Rights Commission of Pakistan, Senate Committee on Human Rights to,
- Immediately WITHDRAW the FIR against Sajid Masih for attempted suicide given the fact that he was attempting to escape from the physical and psychological torture and sexual abuse being inflicted on him by state agencies. Section 325 of the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC) is a regressive and colonial-era law that criminalises suicide, and will soon be repealed by the Criminal Laws Amendment Bill 2017.
- Pursuant to the right to a fair trial enshrined under Article 10A of the Constitution, the accused must not be denied any of their civil liberties and rights. Patras and Sajid’s lawyer should be granted immediate ACCESS to the accused. Attempts to withhold their right to counsel will result in a violation of fundamental rights.
- Security should be PROVIDED to the accused and their family in order to prevent the real and present threat of violence. Attacks against the accused and their family are common in cases of blasphemy and specifically in this case public threats have been issued, making the possibility of violence reasonably foreseeable. The accused has already been attacked outside court where he appeared for his remand hearing on February 23, 2018. Failure of the state to provide protection will constitute willful negligence on their part.
- A full and independent INQUIRY of this incident should be conducted to hold the concerned law enforcement authority and officials accountable. The inquiry should be comprehensive, independent and transparent. The inquiry committee should specifically investigate the FIA officials involved for abuse of power, sexual assault and torture. Any withholding of information should be dealt with seriously.
- Keeping Article 14 of the Constitution and Pakistan’s international commitments under the Convention Against Torture (CAT) in consideration, law enforcement agencies should be SEVERELY PENALISED for effectuating torture against the accused. Drastic measures should be in place to ensure that such incidents are not allowed to take place again.
- ESTABLISH checks and balances on the abuse of power by law enforcement authorities, particularly for policing powers granted under the National Action Plan, the Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act and terrorism-related legislation. The government is urged to REVIEW these powers and that the right balance is struck to ensure that there are protections in place for the accused.
- An independent Civil Society Steering Committee needs to be SET UP to review and check the performance of the National Response Center for Cyber Crime (NR3C), FIA. This committee should include members of civil society, technical experts and parliamentarians. The recommendations and concerns raised by the Committee should be taken into account when reviewing the progress of the FIA under section 53 of PECA and determinations of funding by the Ministry of Interior.
- Plans to incorporate provisions relating to blasphemy into the PECA need to be seriously RECONSIDERED given inability of the FIA to provide protection to the accused in such cases. Adding these provisions will effectively allow for the weaponization of blasphemy accusations without offsetting protections for the accused.
- Special PROTOCOLS to be issued for law enforcement when processing cases of blasphemy, ensuring the rights and security of the accused. Only specially trained law enforcement officers should be allowed to investigate these cases, with oversight with the Steering Committee.
- EFFORTS should be made to ensure that Investigating Officers and officials from minority groups are represented in law enforcement agencies. Quotas for women and minority groups need to be implemented with immediate effect and consistently across offices of the FIA.
Endorsed by:
- Alpha Human Rights Care Association
- Blackstone School of Law
- Bolo Bhi
- Cecil & Iris Chaudhry Foundation (CICF)
- Centre for Legal Aid Assistance and Settlement (CLAAS)
- Courting The Law
- Democratic Commission for Human Development (DCHD)
- Democratic Students’ Alliance (DSA)
- Digital Rights Foundation (DRF)
- Dove Foundation Pakistan
- Ending Violence against Women and Girls Alliance (EVAWG Alliance)
- Freedom Network
- Girls at Dhabas
- Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP)
- Institute for Peace and Secular Studies
- Khwendo Kor
- IRADA (Institute for Research, Advocacy and Development)
- LAAS
- Media Matters for Democracy (MMFD)
- Minorities Rights Watch
- National Commission for Justice and Peace (NCJP)
- Network of Journalist for Digital Rights
- New Emerging Development Organization (NEDO)
- NET
- Pakhtunkhwa Ullasi Tehrik
- Pakistan Feminist Watch
- Pattan
- Rawadari Tehreek
- SATH Pakistan
- Shirkatgah
- South Asian Partnership Pakistan (SAP-PK)
- Takkra Qabailee Khwendy
- Tangh Development Society
- The ASR Resource Centre
- The Feminist Collective
- The Institute of Women’s Studies, Lahore
- The Voice Society
- Women United for Digital Rights
- Women’s Action Forum, Hyderabad
- Women’s Action Forum, Islamabad
- Women’s Action Forum, Karachi
- Women’s Action Forum, Lahore
- Women’s Action Forum, Peshawar
- A. H. Nayyar
- Adnan Ahmad Chaudhri
- Aila Fill, NCJP
- Akram Pervez
- Aleena Rashid
- Ali Kamran
- Amber Rahim Shamsi, Journalist
- Amna Mir
- Anam Lodhi, Journalist
- Anbreen Ajaib
- Angbeen Atif Mirza, Advocate High Court
- Arifa Mazhar
- Asad Jamal, Advocate High Court
- Asha Bedar
- Asher Bhatti
- Atiqa Shahid
- Ayra Inderyas
- Ayesha Khan
- Barrister Hassan Niazi, Law Clinic
- Bari Sarwar
- Bilal Hasan Minto, Advocate Supreme Court
- Bushra Gohar
- Daniyal Yousaf
- Dara Shikoh
- Diep Saeeda
- Dr. Parveen Ashraf
- Dr Riaz Assi
- Faheem Zafar
- Farida Shaheed
- Ferida Sher
- Farooq Bashir
- Fatima A. Athar
- Fatima Anwar, Lawyer
- Furhan Hussain
- Ghazala Afghan
- Haider Zafar
- Hamza Irshad
- Hiba Akbar, Advocate High Court
- Hija Kamran
- Hina Vahidy, Peace and Development Organisation
- Hira Saleem, Advocate High Court
- Hyra Basit
- Humaira Sheikh
- Iqbal Khattak, Freedom Network
- Imaan Zainab Mazari-Hazir
- Imran Nafees Siddiqui
- James Rehmat, Ecumenical Commission for Human Development
- Jannat Ali Kalyar, Barrister
- Jannat Fazal
- Jalila Haider
- Javed Akhtar, Support With Working Solution (SWWS)
- Jibran Nasir
- Joseph Francis
- Kashif Nemat, Advocate High Court
- Khadija S. Ubeid, Attorney at Law
- Khawar Mumtaz
- Kiran Nazish, Journalist
- Lala Hassan
- Lala Rukh Khan
- Luavut Zahid
- Lynette Viccaji
- Maham Ali
- Maliha Zia Lari, Lawyer
- Malik Faraz
- Maria Chaudhry
- Maria Rashid
- Marium Khalid, Advocate High Court
- Meera Ghani
- Mohammad Tehseen
- Muhammad Salman Khan, Queeristan
- Musirah Farrukh
- Nadeem Anthony
- Nadia Jamil
- Naeem Sadiq
- Naeema Malik
- Naheed Aziz
- Nasir David
- Nasir Saeed
- Nasreen Kazmi
- Naveed Fabian
- Nazia Rafique Paul
- Nazish Attaullah
- Nyla Ahsan
- Nighat Dad, digital rights activist/Advocate High Court
- Nighat Said Khan
- Nijah S. Khan
- Noor Ejaz Chaudhry, Lawyer
- Noreen Lehri
- Nosheen Abbas Kazmi, Journalist
- Omer Imran Malik, Associate; Mandviwalla and Zafar; CEO of Tahafuz Project
- Pastor Shahid M.Paul Christ Assemblies Church International
- Parveen Ashraf Hunzai
- Prof. Farkhanda Aurangzeb
- Ramis Sohail, Lawyer
- Riaz Anjum, Advocate High Court
- Roland deSouza
- Rubina Saigal
- Rukhsana Rashid
- Rukhshanda Naz
- Rukhshanda Naz, Advocate
- Rumana Husain
- Saadia Toor
- Sabrina Dawood
- Saddique John
- Sadia Bukhari
- Safdar Chaudhry
- Safina Javed
- Sajida Billy
- Sajjad Anwar
- Sana Mehmud
- Sana Saleem
- Sarah Zaman
- Sarwar Bari
- Seerat Khan
- Sehar Tariq
- Sehar Naveed
- Shaukat Ali
- Sheema Kermani, Tehreek e Niswan
- Shireen Aslam
- Shmyla Khan, Lawyer
- Sourayya Frick Azam
- Sumera Haq
- Sumaira Ashfaq
- Syed Ali Mehdi Zaidi, Teacher
- Syed Nadeem Ahmad
- Tahira Abdullah
- Tanzila Mazhar, Journalist
- Ujala Akram,
- Victoria deSouza
- Watson Gill
- Yousaf Benjamin
- Yousaf Mubark
- Zahra Khan, Thrive Pakistan
- Zehra Zaidi, Lawyer
- Ziauddin Yousafzai, UN Special Advisor on Global Education
- Zohra Yousaf
- Zoya Rehman, Researcher
- Zubeida Mustafa
