Civil society strongly condemns behaviour of law enforcement authorities in blasphemy case

1. We as civil society organisations and concerned citizens condemn in the strongest possible terms the torture and inhumane treatment of Patras Masih and Sajid Masih by the FIA in Lahore. Not only is this a complete violation of the rights of the accused enshrined in the Constitution of Pakistan, but seriously undermines the credibility of law enforcement agencies to protect citizens.
2. Blasphemy allegations emerged against the accused, Patras Masih, 17 years old, in Shahdara last week. Announcements were made through mosque loudspeakers identifying the accused, alleging that he shared “blasphemous content” on social media supposedly on January 16, 2018. The Tehreek Labaik Ya Rasool Allah (TLYR) and other religious parties blocked the Shahdara intersection, incited violence against the family and demanded the arrest of Patras Masih. These threats have endangered the entire Christian community living in Dhir village in Shahdara Town, resulting in some fleeing their homes. An FIR was registered against Patras (FIR No. 174/18) on February 19 at the Shahdara Town Police Station under Section 295-C of the Pakistan Penal Code that carries a mandatory death sentence.
3. The accused and his cousin, Sajid Masih, 24, were in the custody of the FIA at the Punjab Headquarters on February 23, 2018 when the incident in question occurred. In a sensitive and charged case of blasphemy, it was highly irregular and imprudent that, according to Pakistan Today, in addition to the complainants, members of the TLYR and other religious parties were also present at the FIA building at the time of the investigation.
4. It has come to light that around 6:00 PM, Sajid fell off the fourth floor of the FIA building resulting in serious injuries to his head and body. The FIA initially denied that such an incident had taken place. However, it has come to light that Sajid and Patras were tortured by officers of the cyber crime wing and were coerced into sexually assaulting one another. Sajid, pleaded with them to stop. As a last resort, in order to escape the torture and sexual abuse, he jumped off the fourth floor of the FIA building, where the cyber crime wing is located. Sajid is currently in the hospital recovering from his injuries.
5. We are seriously concerned regarding the treatment of marginalised groups by law enforcement agencies, specifically religious minorities. The state has a heightened duty to protect persecuted groups. Given the history of the blasphemy law being misused to target minority groups, it is egregious that the FIA completely failed to provide any security to the accused and the family. The law enforcement authorities have not only failed in their duty to protect minorities, but have actively participated in violence against them. The vulnerabilities of the accused were exploited by the law enforcement agency to sexually abuse and torture them. This is in direct violation of Article 14 of the Constitution and Pakistan’s international commitments under the Convention Against Torture (CAT).
6. As concerned members of civil society and organisations working on digital/human rights, we urge the government to hold the concerned law enforcement officers accountable and take active measures to ensure that Patras Masih and Sajid Masih are given the necessary security given the nature of the accusations made against them.

Demands of the Civil Society:

We demand the Ministry of Interior, Ministry of Human Rights, Human Rights Commission of Pakistan, Senate Committee on Human Rights to,

1. Immediately WITHDRAW the FIR against Sajid Masih for attempted suicide given the fact that he was attempting to escape from the physical and psychological torture and sexual abuse being inflicted on him by state agencies. Section 325 of the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC) is a regressive and colonial-era law that criminalises suicide, and will soon be repealed by the Criminal Laws Amendment Bill 2017.
2. Pursuant to the right to a fair trial enshrined under Article 10A of the Constitution, the accused must not be denied any of their civil liberties and rights. Patras and Sajid’s lawyer should be granted immediate ACCESS to the accused. Attempts to withhold their right to counsel will result in a violation of fundamental rights.
3. Security should be PROVIDED to the accused and their family in order to prevent the real and present threat of violence. Attacks against the accused and their family are common in cases of blasphemy and specifically in this case public threats have been issued, making the possibility of violence reasonably foreseeable. The accused has already been attacked outside court where he appeared for his remand hearing on February 23, 2018. Failure of the state to provide protection will constitute willful negligence on their part.
4. A full and independent INQUIRY of this incident should be conducted to hold the concerned law enforcement authority and officials accountable. The inquiry should be comprehensive, independent and transparent. The inquiry committee should specifically investigate the FIA officials involved for abuse of power, sexual assault and torture. Any withholding of information should be dealt with seriously.
5. Keeping Article 14 of the Constitution and Pakistan’s international commitments under the Convention Against Torture (CAT) in consideration, law enforcement agencies should be SEVERELY PENALISED for effectuating torture against the accused. Drastic measures should be in place to ensure that such incidents are not allowed to take place again.
6. ESTABLISH checks and balances on the abuse of power by law enforcement authorities, particularly for policing powers granted under the National Action Plan, the Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act and terrorism-related legislation. The government is urged to REVIEW these powers and that the right balance is struck to ensure that there are protections in place for the accused.
7. An independent Civil Society Steering Committee needs to be SET UP to review and check the performance of the National Response Center for Cyber Crime (NR3C), FIA. This committee should include members of civil society, technical experts and parliamentarians. The recommendations and concerns raised by the Committee should be taken into account when reviewing the progress of the FIA under section 53 of PECA and determinations of funding by the Ministry of Interior.
8. Plans to incorporate provisions relating to blasphemy into the PECA need to be seriously RECONSIDERED given inability of the FIA to provide protection to the accused in such cases. Adding these provisions will effectively allow for the weaponization of blasphemy accusations without offsetting protections for the accused.
9. Special PROTOCOLS to be issued for law enforcement when processing cases of blasphemy, ensuring the rights and security of the accused. Only specially trained law enforcement officers should be allowed to investigate these cases, with oversight with the Steering Committee.
10. EFFORTS should be made to ensure that Investigating Officers and officials from minority groups are represented in law enforcement agencies. Quotas for women and minority groups need to be implemented with immediate effect and consistently across offices of the FIA.

Endorsed by:

1. Alpha Human Rights Care Association
2. Blackstone School of Law
3. Bolo Bhi
4. Cecil & Iris Chaudhry Foundation (CICF)
5. Centre for Legal Aid Assistance and Settlement (CLAAS)
6. Courting The Law
7. Democratic Commission for Human Development (DCHD)
8. Democratic Students’ Alliance (DSA)
9. Digital Rights Foundation (DRF)
10. Dove Foundation Pakistan
11. Ending Violence against Women and Girls Alliance (EVAWG Alliance)
12. Freedom Network
13. Girls at Dhabas
14. Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP)
15. Institute for Peace and Secular Studies
16. Khwendo Kor
17. IRADA (Institute for Research, Advocacy and Development)
18. LAAS
19. Media Matters for Democracy (MMFD)
20. Minorities Rights Watch
21. National Commission for Justice and Peace (NCJP)
22. Network of Journalist for Digital Rights
23. New Emerging Development Organization (NEDO)
24. NET
25. Pakhtunkhwa Ullasi Tehrik
26. Pakistan Feminist Watch
27. Pattan
28. Rawadari Tehreek
29. SATH Pakistan
30. Shirkatgah
31. South Asian Partnership Pakistan (SAP-PK)
32. Takkra Qabailee Khwendy
33. Tangh Development Society
34. The ASR Resource Centre
35. The Feminist Collective
36. The Institute of Women’s Studies, Lahore
37. The Voice Society
38. Women United for Digital Rights
39. Women’s Action Forum, Hyderabad
40. Women’s Action Forum, Islamabad
41. Women’s Action Forum, Karachi
42. Women’s Action Forum, Lahore
43. Women’s Action Forum, Peshawar
44. A. H. Nayyar
45. Adnan Ahmad Chaudhri
46. Aila Fill, NCJP
47. Akram Pervez
48. Aleena Rashid
49. Ali Kamran
50. Amber Rahim Shamsi, Journalist
51. Amna Mir
52. Anam Lodhi, Journalist
53. Anbreen Ajaib
54. Angbeen Atif Mirza, Advocate High Court
55. Arifa Mazhar
56. Asad Jamal, Advocate High Court
57. Asha Bedar
58. Asher Bhatti
59. Atiqa Shahid
60. Ayra Inderyas
61. Ayesha Khan
62. Barrister Hassan Niazi, Law Clinic
63. Bari Sarwar
64. Bilal Hasan Minto, Advocate Supreme Court
65. Bushra Gohar
66. Daniyal Yousaf
67. Dara Shikoh
68. Diep Saeeda
69. Dr. Parveen Ashraf
70. Dr Riaz Assi
71. Faheem Zafar
72. Farida Shaheed
73. Ferida Sher
74. Farooq Bashir
75. Fatima A. Athar
76. Fatima Anwar, Lawyer
77. Furhan Hussain
78. Ghazala Afghan
79. Haider Zafar
80. Hamza Irshad
81. Hiba Akbar, Advocate High Court
82. Hija Kamran
83. Hina Vahidy, Peace and Development Organisation
84. Hira Saleem, Advocate High Court
85. Hyra Basit
86. Humaira Sheikh
87. Iqbal Khattak, Freedom Network
88. Imaan Zainab Mazari-Hazir
89. Imran Nafees Siddiqui
90. James Rehmat, Ecumenical Commission for Human Development
91. Jannat Ali Kalyar, Barrister
92. Jannat Fazal
93. Jalila Haider
94. Javed Akhtar, Support With Working Solution (SWWS)
95. Jibran Nasir
96. Joseph Francis
97. Kashif Nemat, Advocate High Court
98. Khadija S. Ubeid, Attorney at Law
99. Khawar Mumtaz
100. Kiran Nazish, Journalist
101. Lala Hassan
102. Lala Rukh Khan
103. Luavut Zahid
104. Lynette Viccaji
105. Maham Ali
106. Maliha Zia Lari, Lawyer
107. Malik Faraz
108. Maria Chaudhry
109. Maria Rashid
110. Marium Khalid, Advocate High Court
111. Meera Ghani
112. Mohammad Tehseen
113. Muhammad Salman Khan, Queeristan
114. Musirah Farrukh
115. Nadeem Anthony
116. Nadia Jamil
117. Naeem Sadiq
118. Naeema Malik
119. Naheed Aziz
120. Nasir David
121. Nasir Saeed
122. Nasreen Kazmi
123. Naveed Fabian
124. Nazia Rafique Paul
125. Nazish Attaullah
126. Nyla Ahsan
127. Nighat Dad, digital rights activist/Advocate High Court
128. Nighat Said Khan
129. Nijah S. Khan
130. Noor Ejaz Chaudhry, Lawyer
131. Noreen Lehri
132. Nosheen Abbas Kazmi, Journalist
133. Omer Imran Malik, Associate; Mandviwalla and Zafar; CEO of Tahafuz Project
134. Pastor Shahid M.Paul Christ Assemblies Church International
135. Parveen Ashraf Hunzai
136. Prof. Farkhanda Aurangzeb
137. Ramis Sohail, Lawyer
138. Riaz Anjum, Advocate High Court
139. Roland deSouza
140. Rubina Saigal
141. Rukhsana Rashid
142. Rukhshanda Naz
143. Rukhshanda Naz, Advocate
144. Rumana Husain
145. Saadia Toor
146. Sabrina Dawood
147. Saddique John
148. Sadia Bukhari
149. Safdar Chaudhry
150. Safina Javed
151. Sajida Billy
152. Sajjad Anwar
153. Sana Mehmud
154. Sana Saleem
155. Sarah Zaman
156. Sarwar Bari
157. Seerat Khan
158. Sehar Tariq
159. Sehar Naveed
160. Shaukat Ali
161. Sheema Kermani, Tehreek e Niswan
162. Shireen Aslam
163. Shmyla Khan, Lawyer
164. Sourayya Frick Azam
165. Sumera Haq
166. Sumaira Ashfaq
167. Syed Ali Mehdi Zaidi, Teacher
168. Syed Nadeem Ahmad
169. Tahira Abdullah
170. Tanzila Mazhar, Journalist
171. Ujala Akram,
172. Victoria deSouza
173. Watson Gill
174. Yousaf Benjamin
175. Yousaf Mubark
176. Zahra Khan, Thrive Pakistan
177. Zehra Zaidi, Lawyer
178. Ziauddin Yousafzai, UN Special Advisor on Global Education
179. Zohra Yousaf
180. Zoya Rehman, Researcher
181. Zubeida Mustafa