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Pakistan: A chilling tale of police torture
Asian Human Rights Commission Statement - May 29, 2009
AHRC-STM-122-2009
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: http://www.ahrchk.net/ua/mainfile.php/2009/3159/. 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.
The torture of Shafiq Dogar, according to the victim himself
April 25, 2009: A First Information Report (FIR: a document of complaint) is filed against Fazal Abbas, the groom, at the Airport Police Station in Rawalpindi (Punjab province) by Kulsoom's brother, Mehmood Ur Rehman and others. It charges Abbas with the girl's abduction and rape and the theft of her jewelry and cash.
April 26: Early morning Baloch, the MPA, with Mehmood Ur Rehman and Kulsoom's brother-in-law Mr. Nasir Khan Baloch, along with Basheer, an assistant sub inspector (ASI) and other police officers, raid the house where Kulsoom is staying. She is beaten severely by each member of the raiding party. They ask for the address of her husband's office. Neighbors intervene and Kulsoom manages to escape.
At noon, the same group of men visit the house of her in-laws in Iqbal colony, Sargodha, Punjab province. They forcefully enter the home and severely beat up the women and girls there, demanding to know the whereabouts of Fazal Abbas. They then force Abbas and his sisters, Riffat Rani (wife of Shafiq Dogar); Miss Nadia, 19, who is a national badminton champion; Miss Shazia Riaz, 16; and Miss Nazia, 12, into three private cars. Shazia Riaz is dumped into a separate car with Iftekhar Ahmed Baloch, and she has not been seen or heard of since.
April 28; Shafiq Dogar works as cable operator for electronic channels in Sargodha district, and is the vice president of a cable operators organization in Punjab province and president of the Electronic Media Club, Sargodha. Dogar is the brother in law of the controversial groom, Fazal Abbas. At around 1.00 pm, five private cars come to his office, at Company Bagh, Sargodha, and drag him outside the office, beating him with fists and legs. He is not told by the captors on what charges he is being arrested. In the five cars are one sub-inspector, Mr. Sharif, two other constables along with the brothers of the bride (Kulsoom), namely, Aamir khan son of Hyder Baloch, Nasir son of Lal Khan. The police and other persons come in two black cars, one silver car bearing registration number ICG 4747, one red coloured Alto car bearing number FDA 1721 and one green coloured car bearing number A 4144.
Shafiq Dogar is blindfolded and taken to Barana police station, Chiniote town, 20 kilometers away from his office by the highway. Highway police stop the cars and when they find that one person was blind folded they ask police and other occupants of the car to wait. After a heated exchange of words, there is a telephone call from Choudhry Akram, the deputy police superintendent of police (DSP). He arrives at the scene and tells the highway police that the blindfolded person is a dangerous terrorist and the police should be allowed to take him onwards. The car in which Dogar is taken is given a clean chit by the highway police and the occupants celebrate their victory by shouting slogans. They then start beating Dogar in the car.
Dogar is brought to Barana police station, Chiniot. On alleged instructions from Iftekhar Baloch, a member of assembly, Dogar is pushed into in a private room at the Barana police station where he is flogged with 'chitter', a locally made flat leather whip. He is asked to tell the whereabouts of his wife, Riffat Rani, whom police claim, is shielding Kulsoom. Then his hands are chained, a roller is passed behind his neck and he is hanged at a height. After some hours, Dogar falls unconscious and is then moved back inside the lock up. When he regains consciousness, he is denied water. In the late hours he is again beaten and asked to tell about his wife and Kulsoom.
April 29: Dogar is implicated in a case of theft, and an FIR (first information report, the legal document for further process) is lodged. In the evening he is taken to the room of SHO, the Station House Officer, where Iftekhar Baloch, the MPA is seen seated with DSP Choudhry Akram. Baloch asks him to provide the address of his wife and Kulsoom. When Dogar pleads ignorance about their whereabouts, he is again taken to the same private room and one Mehmood ur Rehman, Kulsoom's brother reportedly instructs sub inspector Sharif to torture him untill he reveals their hideout. In the room, he is first whipped with a 'chitter' and at 11.00 p.m. his hands are tied chained to his right leg, while his left leg is stretched in the opposite direction, making it difficult for him to stand. This method of torture continues, according to him, until morning prayers after 5 am.
April 30: Dogar is produced before Mr. Tayyab Ishaq Mayo, civil judge Chiniote for police remand and he is warned by Sub inspector Sharif not to tell the magistrate about the torture, or else he would be tortured more severely. When he is produced before the civil judge he tells the court that he has been severely tortured. Dogar also shows the torture marks on his body. But the civil judge pays no need to the torture. Dogar tells the judge he ought to know on what charges he has been arrested. The judge passes the buck and tells him to find that out from the police. Dogar is given three days physical remand in police custody under sections 380 and 406 ppc.
After 11.00 p.m. DSP Akram comes to the police station and orders the police to bring Dogar from the lock up, as if he were a dog. Dogar is tied with chains and compelled to walk naked like a dog, while the other end of the chain is held by Sub Inspector Sharif. The DSP office is about 200 meters away from the police lock up where Iftekhar Baloch, the MPA, is also seated. Baloch verbally abuses Dogar. He tells Dogar that he needs Kulsoom only because she has brought the Baloch family into disrepute. When Dogar pleads ignorance about the whereabouts of Kulsoom and his wife, he is again taken to the private room at the police station where he is hung upside down with chains, while two policemen pull him down, stretching his body. They stop torturing him after an hour when they see blood coming from his mouth and he faints.
May 1: Dogar is subjected to verbal abuse at regular intervals throughout the day. He is taken out for one hour from the lock up. Unexpectedly, the SHO of Barana police station joins duty after a holiday which gives Dogar a respite from the torture. The SHO gets the whole story from Dogar, while Sub Inspector Sharif allgedly tells him that Baloch, the MPA, is pressurizing the police. The next three days are torture-free for Dogar owing to the presence of SHO Mr. Sajjad Cheema.
May 2: Dogar's media friends come to meet him and give him an assurance that they will intervene with the concerned authorities to prevent further torture.
May 4: Dogar is produced before Mr. Babar Hussain, a newly transferred civil judge. Civil judge Baber Hussain refuses Dogar's lawyer's request to allow his client a medical check-up. After a phone call from Mr. Baloch, the civil judge leaves his seat and the court for almost three hours. Later, he gives Dogar a further three day's remand in police custody.
After 9.00 p.m., DSP Choudhry Akram interrogates Dogar again, asking the same questions. The DSP asks Sub Inspector Sharif to take off Dogar's clothes and again try to extract information. While policemen pin Dogar down, one officer sodomises him. After some time the DSP asks the cook of the police station to bring him some red chili powder and a spoon. At around three am on May 6 Dogar is again hung upside down and a wooden spoon dipped in chilly powder paste is pushed inside his anus, twice. He faints again till 11.00 a.m, when he is able to wash. However he is unable to walk until later that evening. That night, DSP Choudhry comes again to interrogate Dogar., warning him that should he tell anyone about the torture, he would bring Dogar's children in to be subjected to the same thing. Officers call his wife a prostitute. Eventually Dogar's friends are able to intervene and the torture ends.
May 7: Top police officials of the district write a report in favour of Dogar and exonerate him from the false theft charges, however he is kept in custody under another charge; a breach of settlement in a business transaction.
May 9: Dogar is produced before Mr. Babar, a civil judge, who remands him to judicial custody and sends him to Chiniot district prison. Yet he is loaded into the car of Nasir Baloch, the brother of Iftekhar Baloch, MPA, and taken to Jhang prison instead. When he is arrives, Mr. Baloch, the MPA, is also there. Here Sub Inspector Choudhry allegedly pays Rs 500 to a jailer called Shah to put Dogra with the prisoners who are generally sent out side the jail to work every Sunday. This is allegedly part of a conspiracy to kidnap him and declare that he had escaped prison. However, the inmates of the Jhang prison get to know about the past torture and club together to resist this unofficial transfer to an unknown destination.
May 10: The deputy superintendent of Jhang prison calls Dogar inside the office and orders a group of around nine policemen to slap his face five times each, with full force. His face is swollen and bruised for days.
May 11: Mr. Basheer Malik, the assistant sub inspector of the Airport police station, Rawalpindi – 400 kilometers away from Jhang – comes to Jhang prison and meets with Shafiq Dogar, and asks the whereabouts of his wife and Kulsoom. He tells him to be prepared for further interrogation at his police station.
May 13: A petition for Dogar's medical check up is filed in the Sessions court. No action has yet been taken.
May 14: Dogar is presented before Babar Hussain, the civil judge who gives him one day traveling remand and hands him over him to the custody of the Airport police in Rawalpindi. He is taken in the same red car, bearing number 1721. Mahmood-ur-Rehman, brother of Kulsoom, drives the car and two more people are also seen along with him. Dogar is taken into a private bungalow in Rawalpindi, close to Airport police station. Here, two constables, Imran and Sultan take custody of Dogar. ASI Basheer starts interrogation and asks about phone calls received and made by him. At 9.00p.m. Constables Imran and Sultan come with a head Muharrar (record keeper), also named Dogar and take the victim to the rooftop of a private house, where he is handcuffed, his legs are tied with a rope and they start whipping him with chitter, asking him where his wife is. After some time the police constables start beating him with wooden rollers. Then he is compelled to adopt a humiliating posture holding his ears with his hands. This is usually done to truant children in school.
He is continuously tortured. At 1:30 a.m. (early hours of May 15th) ASI Basheer Malik comes in drunk and starts beating him while speaking abusively about his wife. Then Dogar is locked inside the police lockup at the Airport police station.
May 15: Dogar is produced before Azmatullah Awan, a civil judge in Rawalpindi, who remands him to police custody for three days. Dogar complains about his physical torture but is ignored. Baloch, the MPA, and Mehmood-ur-Rehman, brother of Kulsoom are present in the court.
May 16: Dogar is taken from the police lockup and confined to a large room with two cupboards and a table with dim lights. Again he is handcuffed and interrogated with fists and slaps. All the time policemen ask him about his wife and Kulsoom. After a few hours he is again thrown inside the police lockup in a semi unconscious condition.
May 17: He is again taken into a private room where he is forced to take off all his clothes. He is then hanged upside down and beaten with rollers and chitters. He is kept hanging till 5.00 am the next day. The SHO, Mr. Safdar also joins in the torture and sexually abuses Dogar.
May 19: The police remand is over and Mehmood-ur-Rehman arrives in his private car, number 1721 and takes him to the civil judge court of Mr. Azmatullah with three police officials,s including ASI Basheer Malik. Mehmood abuses him with filthy language and makes abusive remarks about his wife for most of the journey. The judge gives a physical remand to Dogar for three more days. At this point, Dogar can barely walk. He is wheeled into court in a wheelchair.
Later in the day, Mahmood and ASI Basheer again take him to a private room and strip him. Mahmood brings an empty mineral water bottle with him, fills it with his urine and instructs Dogar to drink it, forcing him to beg not to. Later on, Mr. Chaudhry Safdar, the Station House Officer of the Airport police station joins the torture session. Mehmood, a non policeman, rubs chili powder into Dogar's anus. The session lasts all night.
May 20: Dogar is thrown into the police lock up where he partially gains consciousness that morning. There are about seven prisoners inside the lock up who care for him and wash away the red chili. In the evening the Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Mr. Taifoor, comes and starts beating him, trying to provoke him with abusive language. That night ASI Basheer tortures Dogar, compelling him to take the posture of a chair while Mehmood sits on him. ASI Basheed then hangs him from the ceiling.
May 21: Dogar is again thrown inside the police lock up after a whole night of torture, yet he remembers that the police officers suddenly become very mild in their behavior towards him. It should be noted that on May 20 an urgent appeal [http://www.ahrchk.net/ua/mainfile.php/2009/3159/] was issued which was received by authorities through their email addresses. Many television channels start to break the news of the torture as a result.
In the after noon, DSP Taifoor comes and asks him to disclose the whereabouts of the two ladies and tells him that he would be sent back to Qadirpur police station, Jang where a new police officer Mr. Saqlain has taken charge. Dogar is told that this man is notorious for inflicting third degree torture.
May 22: He is again produced before civil judge Azmatullah for physical remand. He gives two days physical remand in police custody on the pressure of Mr. Baloch, the MPA, who allegedly remains in contact on telephone with the civil judge by mobile phone throughout the session. Most newspapers and television channels have come out with the news of the torture to Dogar and his family. The entire day passed without torture but he is all the time threatened by SHO and DSP.
May 23: The Chief Justice of Lahore High Court, Punjab province, takes Sou Moto action on the news of torture of the whole family. Shafiq Dogar is asked by the high court to be brought before the court.
About AHRC
The Asian Human Rights Commission is a regional non-governmental organisation monitoring and lobbying human rights issues in Asia. The Hong Kong-based group was founded in 1984.
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