Summary
Eight years delay in recovering 9 family members of Mr.
Manu Bheel, a Hindu, mirrors the police failure to
practice rule of law and ensure human rights protection
in Pakistan.
Mr. Abdul Rehman Mari, an influential landlord in
District Sangharh, Sindh Province, allegedly kidnapped 9
family members of Mr. Manu Bheel, including his parents,
wife, 2 daughters, 2 sons, a brother and a relative on 2
May 1998 from the village Goth Waryam Memon Deh 31 in
District Mirpurkhas. The family belongs to a lower caste
of Hindu community called “Bheel”. The alleged
landlord was only arrested after 8 years, on 22 July
2006, but the missing members are yet to be found.
Besides litigation, Mr. Bheel has staged hunger strike,
starting from 19 January 2003 to 25 July 2006, in front
of Hyderabad Press Club to draw the attention of the
authorities to his case. Mr. Bheel was reportedly
tortured and pressurized several times by police
personnel and was offered Rs. 400,000 (US$ 6,666.67) by
the landlord to withdraw the case.
Justice Mr. Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, the Chief Justice
of Supreme Court issued a sou-motu notice (The authority
of the Supreme Court to interfere in any case and to call
both parties before the court) on the delay in recovering
Mr. Bheel’s family and directed Mr. Salimullah Khan,
the Deputy Inspector General of District Mirpurkhas to
supervise the investigation of Mr. Bheel’s case.
The next hearing before the Chief Justice of Pakistan is
scheduled on 3 November 2006. Mr. Manu Bheel and
representatives of human rights organizations have
re-started hunger strike in front of Hyderabad Press Club
on 10 October 2006. He is also expecting that
international pressure can help him in recovering his
family members.
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Action Requested
Please write polite letters expressing
your deep concern and solidarity with Mr. Manu Bheel,
requesting the authorities to:
locate the kidnapped family
members of Mr. Manu Bheel as soon as possible
ensure equitable investigation
and trial irrespective of social status
ensure protection of Mr. Manu
Bheel
| Send
letters to: |
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H.
E. Pervaiz Musharaf
President of Pakistan
President House
Islamabad, PAKISTAN |
Fax:
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92–51–9221422
92–51–9224768
92–51–9201893
92–51–9201835 |
| Send
copies to: |
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Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhary
Chief Justice of Pakistan
Supreme Court of Pakistan, Constitutional Avenue
Islamabad, PAKISTAN |
Fax: |
92–51–9213452 |
Honorable Dr. Arbab Ghulam Rahim
Chief Minister of Sindh
3rd floor, Building #1
New Sindh Secretariat,
Karachi, PAKISTAN |
Fax: |
92–21–9202000 |
Honorable Aftab Ahmad Khan Sherpao
Minister for Interior Affairs
R–Block, Pak Secretariat
Islamabad, PAKISTAN |
Fax: |
92–51–9202624
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Mr. Mirza Jahangir Khan
Inspector General Police – Sindh
3rd floor, Central Police Office
II Chundrigar Road
Karachi, PAKISTAN |
Fax: |
92–21-9212051
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| Diplomatic representatives of Pakistan in
your country. |
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Sample
Letter
We write with deep concern about the
kidnap of 9 family members of Mr. Manu Bheel, a
Hindu, allegedly by Mr. Abdul Rehman Mari an
influential landlord of District Sanghar, Sindh
in 1998. In the past 8 years, Mr. Manu Bheel (50)
has been struggling to recover his 9 family
members: Mr. Kheero (Father, 78), Mrs. Akho
(Mother, 68), Mrs. Mautan (Wife, 48), Ms. Momal,
Ms. Dhanee (Daughters, 21 and 10 respectively),
Mr. Chaman, Mr. Kanjeen (Sons, 18 and 16
respectively), Mr. Talal (Brother, 33) and Mr.
Karto (a relative).
Despite Mr. Bheel and human rights
organizations’ many submissions to higher
government officials requesting them to take
effective action to locate the missing members,
including Mr. Bheel’s hunger strike, the
recovering process had little progress.
The delay in recovering the 9 family members
appears to mirror the state’s failure to
practice rule of law in the country. Pakistan was
incepted to provide a secure place to citizens
but it has become a state of the landlord which
protects the rights of the powerful people only.
The ordeal of Mr. Bheel is a reflection of gross
human rights violations in the country.
As a member state of the United Nations, your
government is obliged to adhere to Article 3 of
the Universal Declaration of Human Rights which
states “Everyone has the right to life,
liberty and security of person.” Moreover
Article 9 of the Constitution of Pakistan clearly
declares “No person shall be deprived of
life or liberty save in accordance with the
law”.
Therefore, we humbly request your government to:
locate the kidnapped
family members of Mr. Manu Bheel as soon
as possible
ensure equitable
investigation and trial irrespective of
social status
ensure protection of Mr.
Manu Bheel
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Background
In 1994
Mr. Manu Bheel with his 2 brothers and 5 relatives
started working at the agricultural lands of Mr. Abdual
Rehman Mari in Sanghar, who gave Rs. 5,000 (US$ 111.11),
to each one of them as loan, asking them to return the
loan by working for him for a year. After 1 year, Mr.
Manu Bheel cleared the outstanding dues and requested the
master to settle the accounts, but was refused and
brutally tortured.
He was forced to work for the landlord until 1996, when
Mr. Bheel, his family and 59 other bonded laborers were
released from bondage by a joint effort of Human Rights
Commission of Pakistan and Anti-Slavery
International’s UK team.
The released individuals were provided temporary
accommodation at a camp organized by Catholic Church
leadership at District Matli in Sindh province. After
some time all the released people migrated to different
area of the province in search of livelihood.
In May 1998, the allged landlord and armed culprits
kidapped the Bheels. Soon after the kidnap in 1998,
eyewitnesses lodged a First Information Report (FIR 35 /
98) against Mr. Mari and his 7 culprits at District
Mirpurkhas Police station. Since then, Mr. Manu Bheel,
national and international human rights organizations
have requested judiciary, police and state officials to
act on the case. They were able to get the case discussed
in the Provincial Assembly, where a member of the
Assembly, Mr. Poonjamal Bheel raised the issue on the
floor and requested the Sindh Governor to take notice of
the matter.
However, the authorities have failed to recover his
family members. This is despite the fact that the
Governor of Sindh, Dr. Ishrat-ul-Ibad has ordered top
police officials to recover his family members within 24
hours during a visit to the Hyderabad Press Club on 31
March 2003, when Mr. Manu Bheel was staging the hunger
strike.
In April 2006 the Supreme Court of Pakistan ordered Mr.
Salimullah Khan, the Deputy Inspector General Mirpurkhas
to supervise the investigation of the case and District
Coordination Officer to submit the details of all the
property and bank deposits of Mr. Mari. The police
arrested Mr. Mari in July 2006 after the Sindh High Court
Hyderabad issued a non-bailable warrant and the Supreme
Court of Pakistan declared him an accused with his
property confiscated.
Out of 8 individuals accused in the First Information
Report (FIR 35 / 98), Mr. Bashir Ahmad has died, Mr.
Natho Bheel and Mr. Hashim were released on bail, the
whereabouts of Mr. Sher Khan Mari, Mr. Sheral Chandio,
Mr. Azam Khaskhli, and Mr. Qazi Jabar are not known.
Feudal Lords’ Influence over Administration
Sindh Taraqqi Pasand Party Chairman, Dr Qadir Magsi said
in a seminar on 22 September 2006, organized by Shakeel
Pathan Memorial Society, which was set up in memory of a
local human rights activist, Mr. Shakeel Pathan, that the
existing political system had made feudal lords more
powerful: The feudal lords were sitting in parliament and
in bureaucracy to protect their vested interests. It
resulted as a lack of genuine democracy until people were
rid of the feudal system, he said. He believes that Mr.
Manu Bheel’s case was the latest example of their
hold on administration that despite efforts by human
rights activists and Supreme Court, Bheel’s family
members remained missing to date.
The police was inefficient in investigating the case. The
case has been investigated 10 times by Senior
Superintendents of Police, District Police Officers and
Deputy Inspector Generals. Four Senior Superintendents of
Police and 4 District Police Officers declared the case
truth-less and fabricated story by Mr. Manu Bheel. Mr.
Muhammad Ameen Yousafzai was the only District Police
Officer who mentioned the kidnap by the landlord in the
investigation report but was immediately transferred to
another district.
Latest situation
Besides the hunger strike which started on 10 October
2006, local human rights organizations have scheduled
continuous demonstrations and rallies to support Mr.
Bheel in order to draw the attention of the authorities
to his case since October 2006.
Mr. Abdul Rehman Mari, the accused has produced a medical
certificate requesting the Chief Justice of Pakistan to
exempt him to appear before court on 3 November 2006 due
to his unavoidable medical conditions. He is suffering
from multiple diseases including hepatitis, cardiac and
diabetes and the court has directed his regular medical
check-up in police custody.
Source:
Local sources
Local newspapers: “Dawn” and “The
News”
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