A Statement by the Asian Human Rights Commission
Since the Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) first reported on the torture of Mr. Fazal Abbas and his family by police earlier this month, details of escalating brutality have continued to become public, particularly in the case of Abbas’ brother-in-law, Mr Shafiq Dogar. The events are horrifying enough on their own, but when one imagines the number of police officers and court members who either carried out the torture or allowed it to go ahead, across the province, Pakistani law enforcement is cast in a particularly bare, ugly light.
Fazal, his young sisters, his mother and his brother in law were all tortured in April at the Airport Police Station Rawalpindi and their ordeal was allegedly arranged and aided by family members of Fazal’s new wife Khulsoom, including MPA Mr. Iftekhar Baloch, in revenge for a marriage that they hadn’t approved. Please see: One victim, a sixteen-year-old girl has yet to be found, even though she was seen being beaten and driven away in a car with Iftekhar Baloch, who remains at large.
Mr. Shafiq Dogar was subjected to which included torment of various imaginative kinds, including his rape, after which red chili powder was put into his anus. Dogar’s wife Riffat Rani and her younger sisters, 12 and 19, were also beaten by policemen and by law maker Iftekhar Baloch and arrested on trumped up charges, and since their release, have been threatened by Iftekhar Baloch.
However it is in the details of relentless abuse which we are able to provide here, that patterns emerge: of impunity and corruption. In the chronology below a disturbing relationship comes to light between Kulsoom’s family–wealthy mill-owners and a provincial assembly member–the lower judiciary and the police, the latter two working under the direction of the former, somewhat like hired thugs. It is particularly unpleasant to note that in each case the lower judiciary has acted as little more than a safe haven for the officers, who at one point had to push Dogar into court in a wheelchair because he could no longer walk.
Asian Human Rights Commission for more
(Submitted by Abdul Hamid Bashani Khan)