| |
REPORT
SEMINAR ON “DISAPPEARANCES IN PAKISTAN”
February 22, 2007
National Press Club, Washington , DC
For watching the video of the seminar, please visit:
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=7557377391295541039
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=2553506049753864731
The World Sindhi Institute (WSI) held a seminar on the topic
of “Disappearances in
Pakistan ” on Thursday, February
22, 2007 at the National Press Club, ‘Lisagor Room’,
Washington , D.C. The two hour event started on scheduled time
at 12:00 noon and ended at 2:00 pm . The seminar was very well
attended, with participants from some prominent human rights
organizations in DC, such as Torture, Abolition & Survivors
Support Coalition, National Council of Negro Women, INC., Amnesty
International, Project on Middle East Democracy, Sindh Excellence
Team, Pen Foundation and Sadhu Vaswani Mission, some leading
media agencies, including Reuters, ANI and Daily Times, Think
Tank on Self Determination, representatives from the business
community, Pakistani students in the U.S., the U.S. State Department
and Embassy of Pakistan in USA. Even before the seminar proceedings
began, great impact was being created by the numerous posters
sticking on the walls of the room, each with the actual name
of one missing person and the date and place of that particular
disappearance; thus as the participants kept coming and settling
down, it was realized that the event is not only an academic
endeavor, but is about real people and genuine cases of forced
extrajudicial arrests. The time of the event nearly coincided
with the forced disappearance of Dr. Safdar Sarki, the Sindhi
activist who was also a U.S. citizen and was abducted by the
Pakistani authorities on February 24, 2006 from Karachi , where
he was visiting with his family. Thus the seminar was held as
an annual commemoration of the sacrifice by Dr. Sarki and many
more vocal and active human rights advocates in Pakistan . The
event was marked by an extremely lively and intuitive discussion
by most of the participants on the subject that has lately emerged
as a national issue of Pakistan . The fact that enforced disappearances
as a growing and critical problem of the country has drawn global
attention, particularly from all human rights groups and believers
of peace and democracy became quite evident during the course
of the most interesting and brain storming deliberations in
the seminar.
The worthy Speakers of the seminar included the following:
Keynote Speaker: Dr. Dorothy
I. Height; Chair and President
Emerita, National Council of Negro Women, INC. An administrator,
teacher, and social activist, she has been a leader in the struggle
for equality and human rights for all people.
Speakers:
§ Sr. Dianna Ortiz,
Executive Director of TASSC (Torture, Abolition & Survivors
Support Coalition) is herself a survivor of torture in Guatemala
.
§ T. Kumar,
Advocacy Director for Asia & Pacific, Amnesty International,
USA
§ Yohannes Tsehai,
Senior Legislative Counsel, Office of Congresswoman Sheila Jackson
Lee (Co-Chairperson of Congressional Pakistan Caucus)
§ Munawar Laghari,
Executive Director, The World Sindhi Institute, Washington ,
DC
Ms. Humaira Rahman, Director WSI Canada performed the role of
the Moderator of seminar. She opened the proceedings by welcoming
the guests and provided a brief back ground of the issue of
disappearances in Pakistan . She raised concern over the horrific
practice of forcefully abducting, torturing, and even executing
any person having the courage to express difference of opinion
with the government’s policies or actions. Further more,
she declared the practice of enforced disappearances in Pakistan
as a ‘War on Freedom of Expression’.
The first speaker of the event was Dr. Dorothy I. Height; the
keynote speaker. She began by recalling that her first visit
to the continent of Asia was in 1952, when she first landed
in Karachi , Pakistan on her way to India . Thus she still considers
Pakistan to be her orientation to that region. She reminded
that in the history of nations, there usually comes a time when
they have to sacrifice and pay the price for nation building,
but hopes that history does not have to repeat itself and that
we learn from the past mistakes in other parts of the world.
Curtailing human expression by force has never succeeded as
a mechanism of managing affairs of nations, as “Might is
not always Right”. She expressed great concern while quoting
survey results of some renowned international human rights groups,
which disclose that the number of persons missing in Pakistan
due to enforced abductions goes up to many thousands, 4000 being
from one province only. Another cause of concern is that numerous
disappeared persons include professors, poets, journalists,
political workers, labor leaders, nationalists and human rights
activists and NOT Terrorists! She urged the government of Pakistan
to take this issue seriously and to take steps to solve it.
She also commended The World Sindhi Institute to provide a platform
where this serious issue is being brought up for open debate
and remedial suggestions. Narrating an incidence from the past
in Europe , she ended her speech by highlighting the American
values of equality, democracy and freedom of expression as the
basic foundations of this great nation, where even if lynched,
a person can freely speak up against lynching! She stressed
on the need to associate with those who value these traits as
virtues, and not those who ruin them by persecuting their own
people. This she said is important because the highest ideals
for us to achieve is a world where there is not only law and
order, but also peace and humanity.
Sister Dianna Ortiz from ‘Torture, Abolition & Survivors
Support Coalition’ (TASSC) was next to speak. She presented
a very forceful and emotional account of the human aspect of
the issue of disappearance and torture in Argentina and Guatemala
. She gave the perspective of a torture survivor, which she
herself is and also narrated true stories of few more torture
victims in her circle of friends. Her paper included the perspective
of the family of the victim also, which she claimed, get as
much hurt and devastated as the victim him/herself. She expressed
surprise that out of so many places in the world where abductions
and torture are being practiced as a tool of governance, one
of them is an esteemed friend and ally of the U.S. – Pakistan,
where it is not only far from uncommon, but is a full blown
practice. She said that according to some acknowledged sources,
although the government of Pakistan has sold alleged terrorists
to the U.S. for an impressive sum of money; however, Baloch
and Sindhis are a special target of enforced abductions in that
country. Drawing attention of the audience to this ironical
situation, she mentioned that on one hand President of USA states
that “Freedom from torture is an inalienable human right”
and that, “The United States is committed to the worldwide
elimination of torture and we are leading the fight by example”,
and on the other hand he is the same president who praises a
government who abducts and tortures not only its own people,
but did not even spare a U.S. citizen, Dr. Safdar Sarki. She
assessed that the only example the Bush administration has set
is not one of eliminating torture, but justifying its practice.
It is hardly surprising then that when, on June 26, 2003, the
president condemned by name countries that torture, he listed
only those whose governments that the U.S. opposes. It is not
surprising that Pakistan ’s government was not mentioned.
Mr. Yohannes Tsehai represented Congresswoman Sheila Jackson
Lee, the Co-chair of Congressional Pakistan Caucus at the seminar.
He apprised the audience about the work done at Congresswoman’s
office regarding extra-judicial arrests, which particularly
got triggered at the time of disappearance of Dr. Safdar Sarki.
He explained the process, through which he himself conducted
investigation on that particular case of disappearance, whereby
he carried out fact finding at various levels, including interviews
with Ambassador of Pakistan to the U.S. But to his frustration
and despair, no one seems to know anything about the whereabouts
of Dr. Sarki, although there have been reports from other independent
sources that few detainees who returned back from the detention
centers of the intelligence agencies in Pakistan have personally
met Dr. Sarki in one of those centers. This, he expressed, adds
on to his frustration that even at the U.S. Congressional level,
it becomes difficult to get to the truth about certain issues
in Pakistan. However, he committed to continue the search for
truth at his end and praised the efforts of all those who are
attempting to do the same in spite of all the challenges.
Mr. T. Kumar, Advocacy Director for Asia & Pacific in Amnesty
International, USA came next to deliver his most heart-felt
speech. He candidly condemned the brutal practice whereby the
administration of a country abducts and tortures its own citizens.
He did not mince words when he expressed extreme shock and grief
over the observation that police and army personals in Pakistan
stripped the family members naked and tortured them too, when
they asked about the whereabouts of the disappeared person and
their loved one. This so-called act of bravery on the part of
armed forces and police, according to him, was the most brutal
act that has no precedence throughout the world. To add to the
frustration, he said, is the obscurity with which the crimes
related to enforced disappearances and abductions by authorities
are conducted, whereby the responsible authority very conveniently
negates even the happening of the incidence and gets away with
it by simply denying the fact. It is observed, he commented,
that the missing persons constitute those who opposed the Musharraf
rule, and that those who disappear, rarely ever re-appear to
be with their family and friends. Majority of these victims
are leaders of ethnic minorities and political opponents of
General Musharraf, including Baloch and Sindhi activists who
are struggling against military rule in the country. The list
is still growing, he warned. Mr. Kumar commended the effort
by WSI to organize an event of this nature, which he conveyed,
is beneficial in serving the following three purposes:
1. To raise the issue of disappearances
as an important and worthwhile cause to work for.
2. Communicate to the Musharraf led government in Pakistan
, that the world is watching their acts of human rights violations
and that they are not in a state of isolation and absolute
authority.
3. To prevent further acts of disappearances, because by creating
and raising awareness about the issue, not only opponents,
but also the allies of General Musharraf have now realized
the fate of any kind of opposition and difference of opinion
under his dictatorial regime.
He winded up his emotionally stirring deliberations
with the hope that Washington would understand and be careful
about the nature of allies that they decide to hold hands
with. Moreover, he wished that through auspices of this seminar,
a message would be communicated to the wider world that there
are people who are not ready to accept such crimes against
humanity as the fate of some unfortunate persons, and that
we will keep struggling for basic human rights of all, wherever
they may be and however strong the persons committing the
atrocities may be.
The last speaker of the seminar was Mr. Munawar Laghari, Executive
Director of The World Sindhi Institute in Washington , DC
. He began by giving a brief historical background of the
practice of disappearances and torture during repeated phases
of martial law and dictatorial regimes in Pakistan since its
creation, with particular reference to the present regime
and disappearance, torture and execution as tools of revenge
from political opponents. Mentioning forced abductions as
a general trend and menace of the present regime, he supported
his notion by referring to individual incidences, such as
Mian Nawaz Shareef, cases of extra judicial detention as well
as execution in Balochistan, including Nawab Akbar Bugti,
Sardar Mengal and Habib Jalib and many similar cases in Sindh,
including Dr. Safdar Sarki, Asif Baladi and Chetan Bajir and
numerous journalists and activists, such as Hayatullah Khan
from Waziristan; all this while, the government professed
ignorance about their whereabouts. He expressed concern that
the implication of this common practice has been grave for
the country, when international community clearly notices
that even the Supreme Court and Ministry of Defense in the
country seem helpless in preventing ISI and Military Intelligence
agencies from these acts under a government that claims to
implement ‘enlightened moderation’ in the country.
The most difficult situation, he said, is for the relatives
and friends of the victims, who are forced to resort to radical
measures such as hunger strike and suicide attempts in order
to know the whereabouts of the lost family member. Agreeing
with the critical observation made by Amnesty International,
he said that parliamentarians and the courts are to be blamed
for not effectively raising their voice against such violations
and for not providing relief to the affected people. He quoted
Article 4 section (1) of the Constitution of Pakistan that
provides guarantees against arbitrary arrests and detentions
as “the inalienable right” of everyone to be treated
in accordance with the law. He attributed the indifference
of Pakistani civil society to the fact that over a period
of time people have grown used to the abuse of their rights
and to violence. Mr. Laghari appealed to the International
Human Rights organizations, United Nations, USA, European
Union and all individuals who believe in human dignity, liberty
and democracy to pressurize the government of Pakistan to
provide each family with accurate information about the arrests
of their relatives & where they are being held and to
shut down the places of illegal detention. Through the auspices
of the seminar, he also demanded from the government of Pakistan
to ensure that all complaints of enforced disappearance are
investigated promptly, impartially and effectively, and appealed
to the judiciary of Pakistan to seriously fulfill their constitutional
duty of protecting human rights and particularly to treat
petitions filed by the relatives of victims with the urgency
they deserve.
The floor was then opened for Q&A session. The first question
came from Mr. Walter Landry from ‘Think Tank on Self
Determination’, who asked Mr. Yohannes Tsehai if members
of the U.S. Congress are following upon the situation in Pakistan
and are they keeping track on matters such as will General
Musharraf end term this year or are there other plans for
that country?
Mr. Tsehai said that he does not have information on General
Musharraf’s, a question that should be directed to himself
or Ambassador Durrani, but as there is no information on his
discontinuance, it may be inferred that he would continue
as the President of Pakistan. However, he said, that although
there is convergence of interests between U.S. and Pakistan
due to international terrorism, we should not turn a blind
eye to what our friends do. Congresswoman Lee is very cognizant
of this fact that constructive engagement should be carried
out without sacrificing our basic values of human rights and
freedom of speech and press. HR1 has specific provisions about
use of funds to Pakistan and Afghanistan , making sure it
goes in the right direction.
Mr. Khalid Hashmani referred to the herald magazine’s
article quoted during Mr. Tsehai’s speech, which mentions
that labor leaders have met Dr. Safdar Sarki along with more
detainees. He asked if the Pakistani authorities do not provide
correct information, what action could the office of the Congresswoman
then take?
Mr. Yohannes said that Mrs. Sarki and WSI first drew his attention
to this information on the specific location of Dr. Sarki,
at which he immediately contacted Ambassador of Pakistan in
the U.S. , Mr. Mahmud Ali Durrani, his staff and the Foreign
Minister of Pakistan. They enquired from the police, military
and intelligence agencies in Pakistan , but did not get any
clue of the missing persons. Mr. Tsehai committed that he
would continue pushing the Pakistani authorities to continue
the search and urge other Congressmen and State Department
to do the same and to support organizations such as Amnesty
International and WSI in their efforts to search the missing
persons.
Mr. Khalid Hasan from Daily Times asked about the exact figure
on the number of disappeared persons and if there is any documentation
on that?
Ms. Humaira responded by referring to published reports by
Cage Prisoners, Amnesty International and Herald magazine,
according to which, she mentioned that somewhere around 8,000
persons are missing. She said that obviously the government
of Pakistan would not provide statistics on this, although
they are the one who can, hence there are no official records
available on the exact number of missing people. To this Ms.
Deeba from the audience added that first of all, typically
in such cases it is not possible to track numbers and figures,
not only because the culprits of this crime refuse to acknowledge
it, but also because sometimes the families of victims hesitate
to report them with fear of further persecution. Moreover,
she said that just the estimate that nearly 4,000 persons
have disappeared from the province of Balochistan alone, is
enough for us to figure out that there must have been some
truth in the estimated figure of 8,000 disappeared persons
in Pakistan as quoted in some reports.
Mr. Khalid Hashmani, representing ‘Sindh Excellence Team’
as well as the private sector diaspora requested Mr. Yohannes
Tsehai to elaborate further on the information about some
labor leader detainees having met Dr. Safdar Sarki in a detention
cell in Pakistan . To this Mr. Tsehai responded in affirmative
and Ms. Humaira assisted him by reading out a paragraph from
the Herald magazine, where this information was documented
in detail.
Out of some young Pakistani students present at the occasion,
Mr. Asif raised concern over the blatant way that actions
of Pakistani government and particularly General Musharraf
were criticized during Mr. T. Kumar’s deliberations in
the seminar, and if he would have said the same, had it not
been for Pakistan? To this, Mr. Kumar asked them to refer
to his speech at the occasion of Gujrat riots in India and
to see for themselves that he is equally critical and vocal
about all and any human rights violation any where in the
world, so much so, that in India he is sometimes blamed to
be an agent of Pakistan. This neutral approach and use of
tough words for violators of human rights is the key policy
and methodology of working at the Amnesty International as
an organization of international repute.
Mr. Stephen Mc. Inerney from Project on Middle East Democracy
asked Mr. Yohannes if his office has had communication with
the White House on the issue of disappearances and what is
the level of their interest in working on this matter. Also,
are the other members of Congressional Pakistan Caucus involved
too? He was told that the Congresswoman’s office has
not had any communication with the White House on this, but
they have worked closely with the State Department and have
felt they should be more active in exerting pressure both
publicly and privately. Along with friendly ties, we need
to be critical too, especially when it comes to our own values,
not only for ourselves but also for the rights of Pakistanis
in their land. Regarding the other members of Congressional
Pakistan Caucus, he said that majority are generally active
in engaging Pakistan , particularly the Democrats. Human Rights
consideration is universal to America and US should condemn
acts of violence regardless of our relations with that country.
Caucus members should also engage more in this.
In the context of active engagement of Pakistan , Ms. Humaira
informed that the Ambassador of Pakistan, Mr. Mahmud Ali Durrani
was invited to the seminar but due to his visit to the west
coast, he has sent his representative. So, any question from
the Embassy may be directed towards him. At this Mr. Shahid
Ahmed, Counsellor of Pakistan Embassy introduced himself as
the representative of the Ambassador.
Mr. Khalid Hashmani enquired if the gathering could be apprized
about the official stance of the government of Pakistan on
the issue of enforced disappearances happening so frequently
in the country. Mr. Khalid refused to comment, declaring it
un-necessary, as the government’s point of view is available
in the newspapers.
Mr. Faisal, a Pakistani student asked for clarification from
Mr. Munawar about the time period when he was tortured in
Pakistan, which seems to coincide with the elected government
of Ms. Benazir Bhutto. Mr. Munawar corrected him that it was
the period of General ZiaulHaq’s Martial Law. However,
he added that whether martial law or democracy, in Pakistan
it is always the ISI and Military Intelligence who actually
rule on the freedom of people. Military rule always stays
on the country, whether directly or indirectly.
The last question of the day came from Mr. Arif, Pakistani
student in the U.S. , who asked Ms. Dorothy Height if she
had any documented supporting evidence for the information
that she gave, that some missing persons were arrested as
suspected terrorists and have been handed over to the U.S.
, to be kept in Guantanamo Bay ?
To this, Mr. T. Kumar and Ms. Humaira both responded in affirmative
that this information is well on record and is documented.
A participant from the audience reminded that General Musharraf
has admitted to this fact in his book, “In the line of
fire”.
The heated discussion had to be concluded in order to follow
the scheduled timings. With wide consensus of the participants,
a resolution was passed, which was signed by almost all except
the worthy representatives of the Pakistan Embassy. The resolution
was articulated as follows:
RESOLUTION OF THE SEMINAR ON
DISAPPEARANCES IN PAKISTAN
February 22, 2007
National Press Club, Washington , DC
Consequent upon the deliberations of WSI’s Seminar on
“Disappearances in Pakistan ”, we, the participants
of seminar are in absolute agreement and consensus on the
following:
* We condemn the practice of extra-judicial
involuntary and forced disappearances in Pakistan .
* We urge the Government of Pakistan to
immediately sign the ‘International Convention for the
Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearances’,
adopted by the United Nations General Assembly on December
20, 2006.
Lastly, Ms. Humaira thanked all participants for attending
and specially thanked the Speakers to take time out for enlightening
all with their thoughts. Most of all Dr. Dorothy Height’s
kindness and support was commended, who gave priority to this
human rights issue, in spite of her very busy schedule.
Light lunch was served after the vote of thanks and the seminar
came to its end.
For watching the video of the seminar, please visit:
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=7557377391295541039
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=2553506049753864731
|
|