ABWTI

Established in 1980 by Ansar Burney, Advocate in the Pakistani port city of Karachi; the Ansar Burney Welfare Trust was the first organization to introduce true human rights in Pakistan.

With a mission to work as a non-political, non-governmental and non-profitable organization, the trust started its fight against all forms of torture, cruel inhuman or degrading treatment, child abuse, cruelty to women and other more subtle forms of violent repression or human and civil rights violations.

The "Ansar Burney Welfare Trust" headed by Mr. Ansar Burney, Advocate is a network of human rights organizations working for peace and justice without discrimination. Our work is for the betterment of human rights and civil rights, to help those in need, to fight for women's rights and help children in need.

The Trust is also involved in bringing reforms in Police Stations and Prisons; and works for the aid, advice, release, rehabilitation and welfare of the illegally and unlawfully detained or confined prisoners, mental patients, missing and kidnapped children or persons and drug addicts.

We also working for the rehabilitation and welfare of the families of these unfortunate human beings purely on humanitarian grounds in the greater interest of justice and humanity without any affiliation or consideration for any political party, group or activities. The A.B.W.T always raise its voice against terrorism and injustices on innocent human beings and is utterly against discrimination on the basis of their cast, color, creed, religion, etc.

One of the remarkable achievements of ABWT has been the collection of data we have on Pakistani prisoners confined in different Jails around the world due to various misunderstandings. Many of these were released and repatriated back to Pakistan due to efforts by ABWTI.

Similarly the Trust has also been able get release of a number of Foreign nationals from Pakistani Jails and sent them to their respective home countries on Trust's expenses.

The Ansar Burney Welfare Trust International has also appointed 84 people in various jails and mental asylums to take care of mental patients and prisoners.

Once established, the trust also took on the role of providing all forms of aid to disaster hit areas and regions.

Since its inception in 1980, the Ansar Burney Welfare Trust has shown a marked and steady progress in achieving the vowed objectives and has started a number of centres for various projects in Pakistan and abroad.

The Trust also publishes newsletters and human rights reports with the purpose of spreading awareness of issues and to try and get more and more people involved.

Working rigorously over the past 24 years, the Ansar Burney Welfare Trust Int. has helped hundreds of thousands of people.

The ABWT has been successful in raising awareness of what human rights are and their violations in Pakistan; the closing down women "mandis" (markets) in remote parts of Pakistan; the closing down of many forced child labor camps; the release of thousands of Hindu "Haris" used as slave laborers in Interior Sindh Province of Pakistan; the closing down of the practice of murdering innocent persons for the purpose of stealing and selling their healthy body parts; and much more.

We have bought reforms in prisons and mental institutions; taken aid relief to various disaster hit regions of the world; have fought for justice on behalf of people abused.

The Trust has so far been able to secure release of more than 600,000 innocent prisoners who were illegally imprisoned in Pakistan and abroad; some released after as much as 50 to 55 years of illegal confinement. Some were even born in prisons and mental asylums where they grew up and lived as prisoners or patients for 35 to 40 long years of their lives; only released and rehabilitated with their families and society because of the hectic efforts of Ansar Burney and the ABWT Prisoners Aid Society.

The Ansar Burney Welfare Trust has also arranged release of around 20,000 persons from mental asylums and mental wards of prisons. These were not mental cases but were kept in these asylums by influential persons due to their own vested interests.

ABWT has also been successful in tracing out around 100,000 children through the Bureau of Missing Persons who were safely delivered to their families. These include children who were set free from "khakar" camps, child camel jockeys and young girls who had been sold away for prostitution.

However, due to our work we have attracted a lot of negative attention and made many enemies. The Trust and our personnel are constantly under threats and attacks. Our chairman has been attacked on several occasions and continually receives death threats. His name is on the "Terrorist Hit List" which was leaked into newspapers from Pakistani Intelligence Agencies.

ABWTI offices have been fired upon, bombed and our employees killed. Members of the Burney family have also been attacked and severely injured. Our Ambulances have come under attack, been fired upon, burnt and stoned. The attacks continue to this day; but out work continues.