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Pakistanis’
murder: Ansar Burney visits Macedonia
SKOPJE: Ansar Burney Advocate on Sunday visited Rashtaniska
Lozja village in Macedonia, where six Pakistanis and
one Indian economical migrant were brutally murdered
by the Macedonian Forces in March 2002.
The Chairman of the Ansar Burney Welfare Trust International
and Prisoners Aid Society, Ansar Burney along with the
team of Macedonian Lawyers and Journalists visited the
place of Rashtaniska Lozja near Skopje and enquired
about the murder of 6 innocent Pakistanis and one Indian
in a fake encounter. He also collected evidences from
the area people.
“I have collected dozens of evidences to prove
that all the six Pakistanis and an Indian were innocent
and economical migrant,” said Mr Burney.
Burney met the officials of the Ministry of Foreign
Affairs, Ministry of Interior, Ministry of Justice,
Attorney General and other high officials and discussed
with them the case of fake encounter and cold blood
murder of six Pakistanis and one Indian national.
The Pakistan's renowned human and civil rights organisation,
Ansar Burney Welfare Trust International and Prisoners
Aid Society, has already served a legal notice to the
Macedonian Government through it’s Ambassador
in London (UK) on Friday May 7th at Macedonian Embassy,
claiming US Dollars 12 million on killing six innocent
Pakistanis and one Indian by Macedonian police in the
fake name of terrorism, in March 2002.
While talking to newsmen Burney declared his meetings
in Macedonia with High Officials as very successful.
The seven innocents were kidnapped from Macedonian Boarder
and transported to the Rastanski Lozja area, about 5km
north of Skopje, where they were surrounded and gunned
down by the Macedonian police in a fake encounter. The
Macedonian police in the name of terrorism killed seven
including six Pakistanis and one Indian on 2nd of March
2002.
“They lost their lives in a staged murder,“
said Burney. He said the Ansar Burney Welfare Trust
International, has appointed Ms Ismeta Amet, Advocate
to monitor the criminal proceedings in the Macedonian
court of law against Former Interior Minister, Ljube
Boskovski, and High Police officials including two Generals.
These 6 young Pakistanis who left for European countries
in search of a better future and fulfill their dreams,
were arrested at the Macedonian border because they
carried Quranic verses in their pockets. The border
forces during body search recovered copies of Quranic
verses - Surah-e-Rehman, Sura-e-Yasin, Aiytal Kursi
and Nad-E-Ali from Syed Bilal Husain Shah, Umar Farooq,
M Asif Javed, Khalid Iqbal, Aijaz Ahmad and Muhammad
Riaz and suspected them to be members of and linked
to the Taliban or Al-Qaeda. Initially it was alleged
that they were trained in Pakistan and intended to destroy
key installations in Europe.
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Macedonian
Govt admits to killing innocent refugees
AM - Tuesday, 4 May , 2004
Reporter: Geoff Thompson
TONY EASTLEY: A court in Turkey has charged nine
suspected al-Qaeda operatives in connection with alleged
plans to bomb a NATO summit in Istanbul next month.
In all, 16 men detained were in the city of Bursa after
police tracked them for a year as they allegedly hatched
plans to attack the summit set for June.
But elsewhere in region investigations under the banner
of the war against terror have gone badly wrong. In
March 2002, police in Macedonia gunned down seven alleged
terrorists, just six months after the September 11 attacks
in the United States.
This week the Macedonian Government has admitted that
it made the whole thing up. Far from being terrorists,
the six Pakistanis and one Indian killed by police were
innocent immigrants kidnapped at a border and taken
to the Macedonian capital to be executed in a dummy
operation just so Macedonia could be seen to be doing
its part in the war on terror.
Now the Macedonian Government is being sued for $17
million in compensation, as South Asia Correspondent
Geoff Thompson reports from Islamabad.
GEOFF THOMPSON: Remember the first six months of the
US-led war on terror, just after the September 11 attacks
when there was a frenzy of hyper-security as fear and
suspicion gripped the world?
It was then that the government of Macedonia also put
itself on the war on terror map – when its special
police forces gunned down six Pakistanis and one Indian
they claimed were terrorists intending to target western
interests in Europe in March of 2002.
Pakistan's Information Minister Sheikh Rashid says
Pakistan disputed this claim from the beginning.
SHEIKH RASHID: At that time we had said that they are
not terrorists. They were looking for a job –
they were unemployed people who were there, maybe illegally,
so they made a case, a drama, to show that they were
terrorists and they want to prove that they are very
active against the terrorism, and in this way, they
have killed these innocent people.
GEOFF THOMPSON: And now an astonishing admission from
the new Macedonian Government has proven Pakistan to
be tragically correct.
This week Macedonian police revealed the results of
an investigation, which shows that the seven men were
nothing but illegal immigrants kidnapped by police at
a border crossing, allegedly under the instruction of
Macedonia's then Interior Minister Ljube Boskovski.
He allegedly instructed his police chief to find immigrants
who could fit the description of Islamic terrorists.
The kidnapped men were then taken to place outside
the Macedonian capital and gunned down. TV footage showed
the dead men with pistols stuck in their waistbands
as the Macedonian public and the world was told they
died after ambushing a police patrol.
Ansar Burney of the London-based human rights advocacy
group the Ansar Burney Welfare Trust is now suing Macedonia
for about $17 million on behalf of the families of each
of the victims.
ANSAR BURNEY: …who left for European countries
in search of a better future. Having beautiful dreams
in their eyes, were arrested at Macedonia border. The
Macedonian police took them outside the US embassy in
the capital Skopje, and brutally murdered them in a
fake encounter and told the world that they were a terrorist,
trained in Pakistani camps and had planned to strike
American and European interests.
GEOFF THOMPSON: But no they weren't. In the words of
Macedonian Interior Ministry spokeswoman Mirjana Kontevska,
the whole affair was set up to score political points
with the international community".
The mother of one of the victims, 22-year-old Umar
Farooq, who came from a village in eastern Pakistan
– provides a different perspective.
"He had nothing to do with terrorism," she
says. "I sold my jewellery, borrowed money from
relatives and added them to my life savings" to
send my son abroad.
For AM, this is Geoff Thompson in Islamabad.
Skopje
admits terrorism frame-up
By Asif Shahzad
LAHORE, Pakistan -- Relatives said yesterday they
will seek legal damages after Macedonia admitted that
its police framed and executed six Pakistani immigrants
to boost the Balkan country's profile in the U.S.-led
effort against terrorism.
The men, aged between 22 and 29, were gunned down
in March 2002 outside Skopje, Macedonia's capital. They
had been accused of ambushing a police patrol and plotting
attacks on foreign embassies in Macedonia.
Ansar Burney, a lawyer and head of the Ansar Burney
Welfare Trust International, a civil rights group that
has campaigned on behalf of the victims' families, said
he was preparing to file a lawsuit in the International
Court of Justice in The Hague, Netherlands.
"We will sue the government for $12 million"
-- $2 million per family, he said by e-mail from London,
where he is based.
Macedonian police said seven Pakistanis were killed,
but Mr. Burney said one of the victims was Indian. He
said police killed them in a fake encounter outside
the U.S. Embassy in Skopje and made out that they were
terrorists, trained in Pakistani camps and planning
to strike American and European interests.
"They were just economic migrants passing through
Macedonia illegally to reach some European country to
earn money for their poor families," Mr. Burney
said.
Macedonian police have accused the country's former
interior minister, Ljube Boskovski, of ordering the
executions and also implicated three top associates,
as well as a businessman and two police commandos.
The charges are a first step in a legal process likely
to lead to an official indictment and a trial. If found
guilty, they could face life in prison.
Pakistan's government praised Macedonia for revealing
the "diabolical plot" and starting legal action.
"This crime is even more shocking and heinous
because these murders were pre-planned and were committed
to spruce up Macedonia's image as an ally in the war
against terrorism," Foreign Ministry spokesman
Masood Khan said.
He added that Pakistan's ambassador was in touch with
authorities in Skopje, and that the government would
"make all efforts to seek full justice for these
innocent victims." He did not elaborate.
Mr. Burney appealed to European countries and the
United States "to see what is happening with innocent
people in the name of the war against terrorism."
Since breaking away from Yugoslavia in 1991, Macedonia
has been eager to win American political and economic
support. It has supported the U.S.-led campaign against
al Qaeda and has sent troops to Iraq.
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Macedonia
charges ex-minister in killings
Nicholas Wood NYT
Monday, May 3, 2004
LJUBLJANA, Slovenia Macedonia has charged its former
minister of the interior with staging the killing of
seven South Asian migrants two years ago, in an attempt
to show the United States that the government was actively
supporting the campaign against terror.
The minister, Ljube Boskovski, was accused with three
senior police commanders of ordering the murder of six
Pakistanis and an Indian close to the capital, Skopje,
in March 2002. Two other police officers and a businessman
have also been charged.
The killings were described recently by senior Western
diplomats as a crude attempt by the government to win
a free hand to deal harshly with Macedonia's ethnic
Albanian minority, which had won major civil rights
concessions from the government after a 2001 conflict.
At the time, Boskovski said the police had foiled a
plot by the National Liberation Army, an ethnic Albanian
guerrilla group, to attack the American, British and
German embassies. The men had been killed, he said,
when they opened fire on a police patrol.
When news of the deaths was first announced, photographs
were shown of the men with pistols stuffed in their
pockets. New automatic rifles wrapped in plastic were
put on display along with new uniforms marked with the
insignia of the guerrilla group, all of which the police
said had been found with the dead men.
[Relatives of the victims said Sunday that they would
seek legal damages, The Associated Press reported from
Lahore, Pakistan.
Ansar Burney, a lawyer and head of Ansar Burney Welfare
Trust International, a civil rights group that has campaigned
on behalf of the victims' families, said he was preparing
to file a $12 million lawsuit before the International
Court of Justice in The Hague, Netherlands.]
Boskovski was interior minister until September 2002,
when his Macedonian nationalist party was voted out
of office in parliamentary elections.
Former ethnic Albanian guerrillas are now members of
a coalition government with a center-left Macedonian
party.
On Friday, before the charges were announced, Boskovski
denied that he had allowed the killing of civilians.
"Before I'm taken into custody, I solemnly declare
I'm telling you the truth," he said, according
to Reuters. "I have not given any such order to
eliminate such a group. There was no order to kill civilians."
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Anasr
Burney Trust Refutes Police Version In Senator Zardari
Case
May 24, 1999: The Ansar Burney Welfare Trust has issued
the following statement from its office in Karachi today:
The human, fundamental and civil rights organisation
"Ansar Burney Welfare Trust International"
has refuted the police version of the suicide attempts
by Senator Asif Ali Zardari as "made up" to
cover up the brutal and inhumane torture he was put
through. ABWTI declared it as attacks on Senator Zardari's
life (husband of former Prime Minister Mrs. Benazir
Bhutto) in Police custody at CIA centre Karachi, Pakistan
on Monday night, May 17 and again on 19th May.
Mr. Burney, before beginning added that neither him
nor his organisation has anything to do with politics.
"We do not support or oppose any political party,
either it be the government or the opposition parties".
He added, that even a criminal, being a human deserves
rights and "a law protector should not become a
law breaker". Mr. Ansar Burney also added to this
regard
that "whatever Asif Zardari may have or not done
wrong is for the courts to decide and the police have
no right to take away the rights of a prisoner or punish
him by means of torture; this is the reason ABWTI has
taken this matter in to it's hands to make sure that
everyone is given the most basic of rights".
The Chairman of the Trust, Ansar Burney, Advocate today
issued his Trust's investigative report and rejected
the police version, calling it "a pack of lies".
"They were not suicide attempts as alleged by the
government; after harassing the press, judiciary and
NGO's, this was an attempt to murder a sitting Senator
during police custody to further harass Opposition parties
in Pakistan", he added.
Mr. Ansar Burney said that the two somewhat different
versions of the first event by Police has created very
serious doubts in the minds of law abiding citizens;
(1) In the police's first version, Mr. Asif Zardari
was said to have become enraged and broke his drinking
water glass with which he tried to cut himself (2) In
the second version, during interrogation, Asif Zardari
was said to have become enraged and broke the window
glass with his hand with which he tried to cut his throat.
On 19th May at 12:30 hrs, another report came out about
another alleged suicide attempt by Mr. Zardari, but
this time he was said to have cut his tongue with his
own teeth in the bathroom and had come out bleeding.
According to facts gathered by ABWTI in Pakistan, the
first incident occurred soon after the Opposition Leader
Ms. Benazir Bhutto's appealed to the Supreme Court to
look in to the tempering of evidence held with the lower
court. She suspected tempering of evidence and so wanted
it placed on record before her appeal against the Accountability
conviction.
Husband of the former Prime Minister, Senator Asif
Ali Zardari was removed from the judicial lock up without
the court's permission. He was already on bail in the
murder case of Justice Nizam Ahmed and could not have
been remanded in police custody without the permission
of the court. "He was illegally and unlawfully
taken to the CIA police station from the judicial jail
custody on Sunday, a holiday, which was itself illegal
and nobody, not even his lawyers were allowed to see
him", Ansar Burney added. The authorities justified
his shifting by accusing him in the Justice Nizam's
murder case, which is so far not supported by any substantial
evidence.
Mr. Burney maintained that it was an extra judicial
attempt on the life of a sitting Senator who was being
treated worse then a convicted criminal. He said that
Zardari had already been granted bail before his arrest
in the case in which he was taken illegally to police
custody. Sources said that Asif Zardari received a two-and-a-half
inch cut to his throat and neck.
While in the custody of authorities, he was tortured;
which is in no way lawful for interrogation under any
law. During the interrogation, Mr. Zardari's wrists
and neck were cut.
When the word of his torture came out, he was shifted
to another place, unconscious and bleeding. Despite
such grave conditions, he was not shifted to a hospital
but was subjected to sign further confessions.
After the second alleged suicide incident, amidst extremely
tight security, detained Senator Asif Ali Zardari was
shifted from the CIA Centre to Agha Khan Hospital on
May 19 at around 2 pm with a severely bleeding mouth
due to tongue injury. The injury looked to have been
caused by a sharp weapon. Sources also suggested that
the bleeding from his mouth started from around 11 am
though he was taken to hospital hours later at 2 pm
and admitted in room 307.
According to the police version, the accused had cut
his tongue with his teeth to avoid investigations into
the murder case of Justice Nizam and his son. A doctor
of the hospital (name with held for his/her security
reasons) told ABWTI that "the version of the police
is foolish and unbelievable, it is not possible to cut
the throat like this'. 'The cut was not self inflicted
but by someone else with a sharp weapon', the doctor
added.
Hakim Ali Zardari, father of Asif Zardari, Ghulam Mustafa
Khar, Agha Siraj Durrani and political secretary of
Benazir Bhutto Naheed Khan were allowed to meet the
injured Senator. Hakim Zardari came out from the room
with tears and avoided talking to anyone including the
representative of the Trust.
Waving the bloodstained green 'shalwar kameez' of Asif
Zardari, Sindh PPP chief Nisar Khuhro said: "We
saw him in a bad shape as blood was bleeding from his
mouth which had stained his clothes and he was unable
to speak."
According to Zardari, Deputy Superintendent Police
Amanat Javed made a cut on his (Zardari) tongue after
threatening him 'we would cut your tongue off so that
you cannot narrate the ordeal being meted out to you'.
Zardari alleged that police officers were getting instructions
directly from Nawaz Sharif, Shahbaz Sharif and Saifur
Rehman.
The authorities failed to give any satisfactory justification
and no evidence in support of their assertion of attempted
suicide was given. It is nowadays customary that interrogations
are video taped and these tapes are released onto TV.
However in this the authorities refrained from giving
any tapes showing him attempting a suicide. This single
effort could have had vindicated the authorities of
any accusations of the maltreatment of a Senator.
Ansar Burney Trust report confirmed that police tortured
Asif Zardari during interrogation and registered a fake
and concocted case of suicide attempt against him to
avoid the court orders that directed the authorities
to shift him to hospital
Burney
in search of 95-year-old prisoner
Sunday, November 7, 2004
The Ansar Burney Welfare Trust International is in
search of the relatives of a 95 years old man who was
recently released from the Jail on bail.
The 95 years old man Ranjhan son of Khaliq Dino was
in the Jail since last six months on a crime he never
committed.
In the greater interest of humanity and human rights
the Chairman of the Ansar Burney Welfare Trust International,
Ansar Burney, Advocate has arranged his bail and gets
him out from the prison.
Ansar Burney, Advocate has said that the Ranjhan is
unable to tell his address as well ill. He requested
the relatives of the 95 years old man to contact Ansar
Burney Welfare Trust International at 6 Hassan Manzil,
Arambagh Road, Karachi.
Ansar Burney said that any one if knows about the relatives
of a old man is requested to contact Ansar Burney Welfare
Trust International at Karachi, so that he could be
able to rejoice Eid with his family members.
Twice
Damned
By Sanna Bucha
A woman in Kohat alleges rape, but the court
convicts her for adultery, and she is sentenced to death
by stoning.
In a cramped, airless cell, Zafran Bibi, 28,
sits listlessly in semi-darkness with her seven-month-old
baby daughter next to her. A fan slowly churns high
above her head, barely making any difference to the
stifling heat. This is the 'condemned prisoners ward'
in Kohat jail, NWFP, and Zafran Bibi has been sentenced
to death by stoning for committing adultery.
She may well have already been put to death, considering
that the conditions she is forced to live in have deprived
her of every shred of human dignity. The cell has no
lavatory and an overpowering stench hangs in the air.
A tiny window at one end of the room is opened for a
mere half-hour a day. She is given food of even lower
quality than that served to the regular inmates. As
is the practice with condemned prisoners, she is not
allowed to wear an izarband, lest she decide to hang
herself with it. Says human rights lawyer, Ansar Burney:
"The ward is a man-made version of hell."
There is in our society however, no shortage of humans
playing god.
Zafran Bibi was married 13 years ago to Naimat Khan
of Kari Sher Khan village in Kohat, two kilometres away
from her own village of Chorlaki. About a decade ago,
her husband was convicted of murder and awarded 25-years
imprisonment in Haripur jail. Zafran Bibi continued
to live with her in-laws. According to her, she was
harassed on numerous occasions by her husband's brother,
Jamal Khan. With nowhere else to turn, she complained
about his behaviour to her mother-in-law Zar Bibi, who
instead laid the blame squarely on the young woman's
shoulders and ordered Zafran to mend her ways. A few
days later, the harassment turned into violence when
Zafran Bibi was raped by Jamal Khan. Zafran now demanded
that something be done, otherwise she would seek help
elsewhere. Her father-in-law intervened at this point
and assured her of his support. The matter was once
again brushed under the carpet, arising only when it
was suspected that Zafran had become pregnant.
Meanwhile, Zafran Bibi's sister-in-law, her husband's
sister, had received a proposal from a man named Akmal
Khan some time back. According to reports, there were
differences between the two families and the proposal
was refused. These differences had since developed into
personal enmity. When Zafran Bibi's pregnancy came to
light, her in-laws allegedly saw the opportunity to
kill two birds with one stone: implicate Akmal Khan
in a case of adultery with Zafran Bibi, which would
get their son off scot free and Akmal Khan thrown into
jail. Their daughter-in-law Zafran Bibi's life, was
obviously of no account.
Oblivious to the scheming going on behind the scenes,
Zafran Bibi, accompanied by her father-in-law, Zabita
Khan, went to the police station to file a First Information
Report. According to records, FIR No 85 was registered
on March 26, 2001, at 8: 35 a.m. by Zabita Khan, Zafran's
father-in-law, to which Zafran had affixed her thumb
impression. The FIR states that about 11 to 12 days
back, when Zafran Bibi was cutting grass on a hill known
as Khulgai of Moza Kerri Sheikhan district, a short
distance from her house when Akmal Khan grabbed hold
of her and raped her. After the registration of the
FIR, a medical examination of the victim was carried
out at the 'Women Hospital Singarh' by a lady doctor
named Robina Yasmin, who recorded Zafran Bibi to be
at least seven to eight weeks pregnant. The police then
arrested both Zafran Bibi and Akmal Khan for adultery
on the grounds that if she had indeed been raped as
she said some 12 days ago, her approximately two-month
pregnancy could only be explained by the commission
of zina (adultery) rather than zina-bil-jabr (rape).
Zafran Bibi, in her statement in court under oath
under section 340 CrPc, said it was her brother-in-law,
Jamal Khan who had raped her and not Akmal Khan. Zafran
denied that she had ever accused him of the crime. For
his part, Akmal Khan repeatedly denied having anything
to do with Zafran and pleaded not guilty, accusing Zabita
Khan of trying to frame him. While he was acquitted,
Zafran Bibi was even denied bail.
The Additional Sessions Judge at the time was Yaqoob
Khan Khattak. During the course of the trial, he was
replaced by Anwar Ali Khan. Meanwhile, Zafran Bibi's
lawyer, Sher Haider Khan, instead of defending his client,
portrayed her in court as a woman of low character involved
in a sexual relationship with Akmal Khan, who was now
trying to implicate her innocent brother-in-law Jamal
Khan. Zafran Bibi therefore requested a change in her
lawyer, suspecting that Haider Khan was in collusion
with her in-laws. When another lawyer took up her case,
Zafran again repeated her earlier statement that she
was not guilty of adultery and had been raped by Jamal
Khan. However, at no point was Jamal Khan produced in
court for questioning.
On April 17, 2002, Additional Sessions Judge Anwer
Ali Khan pronounced her guilty as charged, sentencing
her to death by stoning at a public place "subject
to confirmation of this judgement by Federal Shariat
Court of Pakistan."
In the nine-page judgement, he says that Zafran Bibi's
two statements alleging zina "coupled with the
presence of an illegitimate female child, amounts to
confession of offence as envisaged by section 8 of the
offence of Zina (Enforcement of Hudood) Ordinance 1979."
The conviction provoked expressions of outrage from
several lawyers and human rights activists, claiming
that Zafran Bibi has not only been wrongly convicted
but that her conviction does not meet the demands of
justice. Proof of rape or adultery liable to hadd punishment
can, as stated in the afore mentioned section 8, be
in either of two forms. One is a confession of the offence
by the accused before a court of competent jurisdiction
on this basis. However, to take Zafran Bibi's statements
- that had in any case alleged zina-bil-jabr rather
than confessing to zina - and the existence of her illegitimate
baby as proof that "amounts to a confession"
is clearly an extension of the law.
"Either by adultery or by rape, this woman is
now the mother of a child. The courts have acquitted
the accused Akmal Khan and have not even tried the man
Zafran claims is responsible, Jamal Khan," said
Ansar Burney, who has appealed to various quarters -
including the president and the Federal Shariat court
- to prevent this cruel punishment from being carried
out.
Others have also voiced their criticism of the verdict.
Chief Executive of Aurat Foundation, Rakhshanda Naz
said at a news conference that the court heard the case
very briefly. "The accused never confessed to the
crime nor were there four eye-witnesses (tazkia-al-shahood)
produced in the court and in her statements Zafran clearly
stated that she was raped." Besides Ansar Burney,
two other prominent lawyers, Barrister Masoud Kausar
and Zafrullah, have filed an appeal in the Federal Shariat
Court on Zafran Bibi's behalf. The Federal Shariat Court
expressed their acceptance of Ansar Burney's appeal
in a letter dated April 27, stating that "subsection
(3) of section 5 of the offence of zina (Enforcement
of Hudood) ordinance interalia provides that no punishment
shall be executed until it has been confirmed by the
court to which an appeal from the order of conviction
lies."
A new twist was added to the story when Zafran's husband,
Naimat Khan, upon his release from Haripur Jail on account
of good conduct told Ansar Burney Trust representative
Jan Afzal, that he is the father of Zafran's child.
Naimat Khan explained that while behind bars, he had,
as a model prisoner been made a 'mushaqqati ' (a prisoner
who, while serving time, is assigned work outside the
jail premises - for instance, at the homes of higher
security personnel). Almost two years ago, he said that
he was working at the superintendent's house when his
wife paid him a visit and they shared intimate moments
together, which probably resulted in Zafran's pregnancy.
Aside from the conviction, tragedy seems to be stalking
the couple. Naimat Khan and Zafran Bibi had three children
besides the infant daughter. The eldest, a 12-year-old
son, recently died, reportedly from illness brought
on by his distress over the news that his mother had
been given a death sentence.
Although recent developments may well lead to Zafran
Bibi's acquittal by the appellate court, the case once
again illustrates how the Zina Ordinance can be used
by mysogynistic judges to punish women, while the male
accused get the benefit of doubt. Although so far no
punishment of stoning to death has yet been upheld by
the Federal Shariat Appellate court, the very existence
of the Hudood laws renders women vulnerable to victimisation.
In a country where women are traditionally regarded
as repositories of family honour....
Sentences
of Stoning to Death Passed in Pakistan
By: Tahira Syed
Mon, 06 May 2002 18:14:39 +0500
Sentences of 'Stoning to Death' passed in Pakistan:
ISLAMABAD: The first sentence of stoning to death and
flogging under Hudood Ordinance was passed in 1981 in
the Fehmida-Allah Bukhsh case. The case in which the
couple failed to register their marriage within the
prescribed period was finally dismissed after Ansar
Burney met with the President and much public uproar.
In 1983, in a rape case, an unfortunate blind girl
Safia Bibi was convicted 'Stoning to Death' on adultery,
while the alleged rapists were acquitted for want of
evidence. Safia Bibi was also eventually acquitted after
much personal pain and public humiliation. Again credit
goes to renowned human rights activist and Chairman
'Ansar Burney Welfare Trust International' Ansar Burney,
Advocate who once again met the President and informed
him the injustices and sought President's intervention
in the matter to save the precious life of an innocent
blind girl.
In January, 1988, the sentence of stoning to death
was passed in Mst Shahida Parveen case. The case in
which the couple failed to register their marriage within
the prescribed period was finally dismissed after renowned
human rights activist Ansar Burney made appeals with
the Prime Minister and Governor of Sindh.
The (EX) Prime Minister, Mohammad Khan Junejo and The
(Ex) Governor of Sindh, Mr Justice (Retd) Fakhruddin
G. Ebrahim stayed the execution on the Appeals made
by the Ansar Burney Welfare Trust International.
Lal Mai was not so fortunate. In 1983 she was publicly
flogged for adultery, before a crowd of 5000 spectators.
In this year 2002 'Stoning to Death' sentence was passed
by the Additional District and Session Judge, Kohat
to a lady Zafran Bi Bi (28) and appeal of 'Ansar Burney
Welfare Trust International' is pending before the Federal
Shariat Court for justice.
Unfortunate
Women are for Sale like Animals in Sindh Province in
Pakistan
Mon, 12 Jun 2000 23:31:15 +0500
Believe it or not women are cheaper than
the animals in Pakistan, Shaheen Burney:
KARACHI: In this Information age, when man has landed
on moon, it is the pak of callousness, ignorance, and
apathy that women are still, like in the barbaric age,
are sold in a “MANDI” (animals market) in
Sindh like the animals are sold. It was stated by Mrs
Shaheen Burney Vice Chairperson of Ansar Burney welfare
Trust International, an International human and civil
rights organization of Pakistan.
Shaheen Burney has revealed this ugly and horrible
fact with great sorrow and grief. She said that Chief
Executive Gen. Pervaiz Musharraf, who himself has pledged
to ensure the rights of women in Pakistan, should take
serious notice of such anti-human practices which under
protection of influential political persons are taking
place in these markets of Thar and other parts in Sindh.
She said women are sold like animals and buyers after
examining and scanning those unfortunate women fix their
prices. "They take full opportunity of humiliating,
molesting and sexually harassing these unfortunate women
in the open market like animal markets", She added.
Shaheen said that Mr Ansar Burney, Advocate the Chairman
of the Trust recently visited himself and has witness
such barbaric practices in the areas of district of
Thar and some other parts of the Sindh province in Pakistan.
He also recorded interviews of such women folks on video,
who are either abdicated or fraudulently brought to
these areas of Sindh from the province of Punjab and
neighbouring country Bangladesh.
These women are compelled to live a miserable and humiliating
life afterwords alongwith there illigitimate children
as those who bought them usually resell them when those
women are no longer required by those beast of Jungle
(as such people cannot deserve to be call human being),
she continued .
Shaheen Burney condemned those corrupt, bureaucrats
and influential politicians under whose patronage such
ugly, barbaric activities are thriving and flourishing.
Shaheen Burney demanded a thorough investigation into
the murder of a journalist Sufi Muhammad Khan in Thar
on high level, such investigation will surely reveal
the hidden hands behind this murder, who were also indulged
in the buying/selling of women. Those who are running
these women market have saved the original murderer
and have bring to the font a so-called murder, she alleged.
Shaheen Burney warned that “If no immediate and
concrete action would be taken by the Government to
stop such heinous crime and to trace the murderer of
Sufi Muhammad Khan, the Ansar Burney Welfare Trust International
will be compelled to raise this issue on international
level in the larger interest of humanity and human rights.
40 young
Pakistanis Stuck Off In Yemen Sea
Tuesday, 10 June 2003, 8:51 am
40 young Pakistanis Stuck Off In Yemen Sea, Becoming
Mental Patients:
ISLAMABAD: The renowned human and civil rights lawyer
Ansar Burney has urged upon Pakistan’s President
General Parvez Musharraf and Prime Minister Jamali to
repatriate and save the lives of 40 young Pakistanis
who were cheated by agents in Pakistan and are stuck
off at Aden Sea Port in Yemen, where they are hungry
and now becoming mental patients.
In a letter to President and Prime Minister respectively,
Mr Burney informed that he would like to bring into
Your Excellency’s kind notice that 40 young innocent
Pakistanis are stuck off at the Sea port of Aden in
Yemen, where they are going to die if no help will provided
to them. The Ansar Burney Welfare Trust International
is trying it best to save their lives and bring them
back to Pakistan.
Chairman, Ansar Burney Welfare Trust International,
Ansar Burney said that these 40 Pakistanis are starving,
drinking rusty water and have no medical facilities
on two dead Ships at Aden port in Yemen. Due to these
pathetic conditions one of these Pakistanis tried to
kill himself and now he has become mental patient. Some
of them jumped in to the sea to reach ashore for assistance
and food.
”These Pakistanis paid a huge amount of money
to agents in Pakistan for arranging their jobs on a
ship”, Burney informed.
”A few months ago when they went to Yemen and
joined the ship, the owner of the ship did not pay any
single penny to these Pakistani youngsters due to that,
they are facing pathetic and crucial time on the port
of Aden”, Letter said.
These Pakistanis are on M.V Yaseen (Sheza) M.V.Buchear,
M.V. Adem and allegedly booked by Pakistan’s Global
shipping agency Great Easter, Ocean ship management
and seaways.
”The responsible of the shipping agencies that
booked these young Pakistanis for Yemen (Aden) are already
apprehended by the F.I.A at Karachi but nothing has
so far being done to bring back/repatriation of these
40 innocent Pakistanis from Aden port”. Letter
informed.
”The ‘Ansar Burney Welfare Trust International’
will highly appreciate if President Musharraf and Prime
Minister Jamali could do something to save the lives
of dozens of young Pakistanis and ask the concern Ministry
for the repatriation of these innocent Pakistanis on
urgent basis”, Ansar Burney added.
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