Judicial harassment /
Threats
Pakistan
July 16, 2019
The Observatory for the Protection of
Human Rights Defenders, a partnership of the World Organisation Against Torture
(OMCT) and FIDH, requests your urgent intervention in the following situation
in Pakistan.
Brief description
of the information:

The Observatory has been informed by reliable sources about the ongoing
judicial harassment against Ms. Gulalai Ismail and about threats
and harassment against her relatives. Ms. Ismail, an ethnic Pashtun and woman
rights defender, is the founder of the Youth
Peace network and co-founder and Chairperson of the Aware Girls NGO, an
organisation aiming at strengthening the leadership of young people, especially
women and girls, enabling them to act as agents of change for women empowerment
and peace building. Ms. Ismail has led a campaign against extrajudicial killings in
Pakistan and was awarded the 2017 Anna Politkovskaya Award by 'the
organization Reach all Women in War (RAW).
According
to the information received, Ms. Gulalai Ismail was forced into hiding after
facing charges of “defamation” (Section 500 of the Penal Code), “sedition”
(Section 124-A of the Penal Code), “promoting enmity between different groups”
(Section 153-A of the Penal Code) and other charges under Section 6/7 of
Pakistan’s Anti-Terrorism Act. The charges stemmed from a speech she gave at a
rally in Islamabad, in which she called for justice in the case of a
10-year-old girl who was raped and murdered in May 2019 and denounced the
authorities’ inaction to bring the perpetrator(s) to justice[1].
Moreover,
Ms. Ismail’s relatives have faced repeated acts of harassment and intimidation
by security forces since two First Information Reports (FIRs) were filed
against her by the police in Islamabad on May 22 and 23, 2019. For instance, on
May 24 at dawn, the police raided her family home in Islamabad and threatened
her family members. The family’s residence was again raided on May 27 and June
4. Again, on July 4, 2019, a large group of men in civilian clothes raided Ms.
Ismail’s house in Islamabad three times and threatened to harm Ms. Ismail’s
younger sister if the former did not cease her work as an activist. Security
forces also took away the family’s driver, interrogated him, and subjected him
to physical acts of ill-treatment. According to the information received,
toxins were allegedly injected into his body, he was punched in the
head, and he was beaten with a pistol. Furthermore, he was threatened with his
children being killed. The driver was released eight hours later.
Moreover,
on July 12, 2019, a FIR was lodged against Ms. Ismail and her parents by the
Counter-Terrorism Department in Peshawar, accusing them of having received
“financial support from terrorist organizations”.
The Observatory condemns the ongoing harassment
against Ms. Gulalai Ismail and her relatives, and calls upon the Pakistani authorities to put an
immediate end to these acts of harassment, which seem to be aimed to punish Ms.
Ismail for her human rights work.
The
Observatory recalls that this is not the first time that Ms. Ismail faces
judicial harassment because of her human rights activities. Since October 2018,
she has been placed on Pakistan’s Exit Control List
and prevented from leaving the country. Moreover, on February 5, 2019, Ms.
Ismail and other Pashtun Tahaffuz Movement (PTM)[2] members were arrested
outside the National Press Club in Islamabad while they were taking part in a
protest to denounce the killing of Mr. Ibrahim Arman Loni, a teacher and PTM core committee member in Baluchistan
Province. Ms. Ismail was first taken to G9 Women's Police Station in Islamabad
before being moved to an unknown location, until her release on February 6,
2019[3].
Please write to the authorities in Pakistan, urging them to:
i. Guarantee, in all circumstances, the physical integrity and
psychological well-being of Ms. Gulalai Ismail, her relatives, and all
human rights defenders in Pakistan;
ii. Put an end to all acts of harassment - including at the judicial
level and restrictions on the freedom of movement - against Ms. Gulalai
Ismail, her relatives and all human rights defenders in Pakistan, and ensure
that they are able to carry out their legitimate activities without any
hindrance and fear of reprisals in all circumstances;
iii. Carry out an immediate, thorough, impartial, and transparent
investigation into the above-mentioned events, in order to identify all those
responsible, bring them before an independent tribunal, and sanction them as
provided by the law;
iv. Conform to the provisions of the UN Declaration on Human Rights
Defenders, adopted by the General Assembly of the United Nations on December 9,
1998, in particular with Articles 1 and 12.2;
v. Ensure in all circumstances respect for human rights and fundamental
freedoms in accordance with international human rights standards and
international instruments ratified by Pakistan.
Addresses:
·
Mr. Arif
Alvi, President of Pakistan; Fax: +92 51 920 8479; Email: secretary@president.gov.pk
·
Mr. Imran Khan, Prime
Minister of Pakistan, Minister in Charge for Interior and Narcotics Control;
Fax: +92 51 922 04 04; Email: info@pmo.gov.pk
·
Mr.
Shehryar Khan Afridi, Minister of State for Interior, Fax: +92 51 920 2624, Email:
interior.complaintcell@gmail.com
·
Ambassador Farukh Amil,
Permanent Representative to the United Nations in Geneva, Switzerland; Fax:022
734 80 85; Email: mission.pakistan@ties.itu.int
Please also write to the
diplomatic mission or embassy of Pakistan located in your country.
***
Geneva-Paris, July 16, 2019
Kindly inform us of any action undertaken
quoting the code of this appeal in your reply.
The Observatory for the
Protection of Human Rights Defenders (the Observatory) was created in 1997 by
the World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT) and FIDH. The objective of this
programme is to prevent or remedy situations of repression against human rights
defenders. OMCT and FIDH are both members of ProtectDefenders.eu, the European Union Human Rights Defenders Mechanism implemented by
international civil society.
[1] On
May 15, 2019, 10-year old girl Farishta went missing near her home in Islamabad.
Her parents reported her disappearance the same day, but it took four days for
the police to register a FIR on the disappearance, and a proper search was not
launched. Her body was finally found in a forest on May 21, 2019, leading to
public outcry.
[2] PTM
is an alliance that calls for the de-mining of the former tribal areas, greater
freedom of movement in these areas, an end to extrajudicial killings, enforced
disappearances and arbitrary detentions, and for the accountability of
perpetrators of such acts within a truth and reconciliation framework.
[3] See Observatory Urgent Appeal PAK 001 / 0219 / OBS 015, published on February 14, 2019.
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