Pakistan Academics' Collective

Our Human Rights Complaint to the UN Special Rapporteurs

A Complaint about Women and Children Rights Violations in Pakistan

Note: This complaint was originally sent to the UN Special Rapporteurs in June 2023 and was updated in August 2023 with new information about the continuing atrocities against women and children in Pakistan. We will continue to update and archive the HR violations against women and children here. 

To:

Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders, Ms. Mary Lawlor Via email: hrc-sr-defenders@un.org 

Special Rapporteur on Violence against Women and Girls, its causes and consequences, Ms. Reem AlSalem; Via email: hrc-sr-vaw@un.org

Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the Right to Freedom of Opinion and Expression, Ms. Irene Khan; Via email: hrc-sr-freedex@un.org 

Special Rapporteur on the Rights to Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and Association, Mr. Nyaletsossi Clément Voule; Via email: hrc-sr-freeassembly@un.org

Special Rapporteur on Torture and other cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment, Ms. Alice Jill Edwards; Via email: hrc-sr-torture@un.org

Members of the Working Group on Discrimination Against Women and Girls, the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention, and the Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances

 Via email: hrc-wg-discriminationwomen@un.org, hrc-wg-ad@un.org, hrc-wg-eid@un.org 

Dear Special Rapporteurs and Working Group Members, 

We write to inform you about the continuous and horrendous rights violations against human rights defenders (HRDs) in Pakistan,  amid rising authoritarianism and violent crackdown on the people participating in the recent political protests and those who are publicly critical of the Pakistan state and military. In particular, we wish to draw your attention to violations against women human rights defenders (WHRDs) and against children and youth under eighteen who have been arrested and detained in adult detention centers. What we are witnessing at the moment is an assault and a complete breakdown of civil liberties and the legal system in Pakistan. The news about these human rights violations is officially banned from mainstream media publicly in Pakistan and is largely available only through social media platforms, which we have tried to archive here with evidence in this statement.

The point of reference for a majority of these violations are the mass demonstrations which broke out across Pakistan, in the wake of the extrajudicial arrest of former Prime Minister Imran Khan on 9 May. Some of these protests led to arson, which members of Khan’s party, Pakistan-Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), have called for independent investigations into. Pakistani authorities responded to the demonstrators with tear gas, water cannons, beatings, and other physical attacks. Police have carried out arbitrary arrests of thousands of Khan’s supporters and dozens of opposition leaders, including thousands of home raids, often involving physical and other abuse. They have disappeared activists and PTI party members, and committed torture and other inhumane treatment against detainees, within a prison system already rife with human rights violations. Police are handing civilians to the army to be tried in military courts, which use secret procedures and deny due process. On 17 June, senior lawyer of the Supreme Court, Uzair Bhandari, who had filed a challenge to the use of military courts was abducted. Although Mr Bhandari was released later, his abduction was a clear case of intimidation of the senior legal fraternity. Days ago, assailants shot at the house of lawyer Sardar Latif Khosa, who also is part of a team challenging the use of military courts to try civilians. Authorities have imposed social media and internet restrictions. Pakistan’s military and Electronic Media Regulatory Authority also ordered the press to stop any coverage of Imran Khan and the PTI demonstrations. Police have reportedly conducted unwarranted searches of opposition members’ homes, destroyed their property, shut down their businesses, and threatened their family members. Wives and daughters of  PTI political leaders are being dragged away in the middle of the night, in many cases forcefully made to leave behind small toddlers. Minor children of PTI politicians are also being abducted in a similar manner. Many PTI members have been forced into hiding, or being coerced into renouncing the party. Many family members, who come to attend court hearings of political prisoners have also been abducted from court premises.

This widespread repression comes not long after Pakistani police attempted to block women from peacefully demonstrating for the fifth year in a row on International Women’s Day, including by beating them with sticks. Despite the repression of this growing trend of women’s activism, women have played key roles in the mass demonstrations in support of Khan after his ouster. Some women participants report that these demonstrations represent a new civil society space where their participation is valued and respected. This enhanced role and visibility, however, has also meant that women activists are being increasingly targeted, including with sexual violence. Out of the 10,000 protestors arrested in the aftermath of the May 9th protest, almost 4000 are women and a large majority of them are imprisoned in the city of Lahore. While some of these women have been released, thousands remain in prison without access to legal justice, health facilities and access to families. Some of the lawyers are providing regular public updates via their Twitter accounts for prominent women prisoners like Khadija Shah, Tayyaba Raja, Yasmin Rashid etc.  – Sameer Khosa,   Khadija Siddiqi , Advocate M. Salman Shahid  Barrister Salman Safdar,  Naeem Panjutha. It should be also pointed out that, while many women’s families have employed private legal assistance, a majority of these women are receiving free pro-bono legal support from young men and women lawyers – many of them affiliated with PTI’s legal wing the (ILF) Insaf Lawyers Forum. (Names of lawyers working to on various cases available on file with the Collective, should anyone be interested in extending any kind of legal support.) 

In Pakistan’s patriarchal context, women protesters face additional sexist attacks such as the suggestion that they may have experienced sexual violence by police and that this violence is somehow their fault. These and other attacks can have an added chilling impact on all women’s ability to protest, as male family members may forbid women from participating.

 

Rights Violations Against Women Human Rights Defenders and Affiliates

In addition to carrying out arbitrary arrests and due process denials, police have verbally abused and beaten women demonstrators and political activists. They have also threatened and abused women family members of political activists in their homes. In prison, women report being strip searched in the middle of the night, and being denied access to healthcare and visits by family. In some cases the police violence involves discrimination on the basis of gender or on the basis of both gender and religion. Police have threatened targeted women with sexual violence, for example, and removed their religious clothing (head scarves and chaddors) in public. 

Below are reports from women protesters of police violence and other human right violations:

  • One woman advocate reported that police beat twelve of her colleagues, who were peacefully demonstrating, so badly on the way to jail that they each required stitches.  
  • An advocate notes that a woman demonstrator publicly stated that she had bite marks on her body after being released from jail, and is now receiving threats for having come forward about the abuse.
  • A woman demonstrator in Karachi reported that police came to arbitrarily arrest her for standing peacefully with a protest sign on May 10th. They told her they were applying for Section 144, which bars gatherings of five or more people. She insisted that because she was alone, Section 144 did not apply to her. The police beat her hand and arm as she held onto a nearby pole to stay where she was, and grabbed and pulled her arm that held the sign. She reports that civil policies normally permit only women officers to touch women arrestees. Women nearby tried to help her, but the police then arrested those women. She let go of the pole and agreed to walk. While taking her to the police car, the police pulled off her religious head covering in public. She reports that they took her to a men’s prison, not a women’s prison, where they verbally abused and physically mistreated a number of women they detained, including her. *
  • Police threatened the elderly 78 year old mother of a young politician with rape to get her son to turn himself in. This was acknowledged variously by government officials.  Male police entered the private home at 2:30am without an arrest warrant, and reportedly stole valuables, broke car windows, destroyed household items and tried to strangle one of her daughter in laws. Women protestors and female PTI supporters have been threatened with rape on the streets and in their homes. 
  • A female student protester asked male police not to touch her, letting them know she would cooperate and walk with them to the police van. Generally only female officers are supposed to touch women arrestees. In response they said, “ If you were a decent girl, you would not have left the house.” ( Translated from BBC Urdu report)
  • Police are arresting many women, who protested on the streets following Imran Khan’s arrest on 9 May, taking them from their houses based on facial surveillance images. In one notable case, Pakistan Football team goalkeeper Shumaila Sattar, was picked up from her house on 17 June, with police alleging she took part in a 9 May arson at the Army Corps Commander’s house, known as Jinnah House, in Lahore. She was arrested after being tagged through online geofencing surveillance.
  • Khadijah Shah, a fashion designer from Lahore was similarly geotagged and arrested for alleged involvement in the 9 May arson at the Army Corp Commander’s House, or Jinnah House, in Lahore. Shah was peacefully live streaming the 9 May protest on Instagram, and not participating in any violent acts or arson, but she has been accused as the primary suspect of sabotage of the Jinnah House. 
  • Among the inhumane treatment and harassment being meted out to women protestors in prison, are acts like being strip searched in the middle of the night. These facts were stated publicly by the female detainees on court premises and confirmed by their lawyers.
  • In addition, almost all women prisoners are being denied bail over the past hundred days. This is unprecedented violation of political and judicial rules. They are being kept in judicial remand by the court for investigation and have been presented for ID parades multiple times, after which they can technically be given bail. However all are being illegally detained in violation of court orders. For example, a group of 13 female prisoners in Lahore’s Bakhshi Khana prison  and another group of women in Sarwar Road Thana case were sent on judicial remand at the end of May, based on which they were to be granted bail within 5 days. In the past few weeks, they have been ordered to be released multiple times but the court orders are not being implemented as the women continue to be in detention in obvious violation of the court orders. Another group of seventeen women at the Sarwar Road jail in Lahore were also granted bail but not released.  On Aug 10th, 2023 former PTI MNA and Parliamentary Law Secretary, Barrister Maleeka Bokhari and Javeria Siddiqui, wife of slain journalist Arshad Sharif, along with others write an Open Letter to the Chief Justice of Pakistan, requesting him to take Suo Motu action on the issue of women politicians & activists detained for almost a 100 days. They highlight that bails pending in High Courts are being deliberately delayed & access to justice is being denied.  
  • Many female prisoners have been reported to have disappeared after being arrested and taken into custody. This has been stated publicly by various women lawyers, including prominent female HR lawyer Anjum Hameed. In one specific example at the Bakhshi Khana jail in Lahore, five female prisoners are reported by lawyers to be missing. According to lawyers, 19 women were initially detained and now there are only fourteen of them left. The legal status of these missing women is unknown and they have not been presented before court. Based on the testimony of the women prisoners and their lawyers, these women were taken away from the broader group of prisoners within the first few days of detention. Many of these women were unknown to each other, so they cannot identify them or share details. One woman Sana Asif from another prison on Sarwar Road is also cited as being missing, as she is not being presented before court for identification.
  • Women prisoners personal belongings and private items are being regularly stolen or extorted from them. Prisoner Sanam Javed’s mother claimed that her daughter had not received any belongings that she had brought for her. For example, a letter from a woman prisoner in Adiala Jail, Lahore, to her family (shared via lawyer Salman Siddiqui) cites horrendous conditions in prison. This woman prisoner asks her family for new clothes, as she has nothing left to wear. The female prisoner was arrested on May 9th, and has spent almost a hundred days in prison by the time she is sending this letter on August 11th.  Letter highlights the collapse of the legal system and prisons in Pakistan.  According to reports, there are almost 3000 women prisoners in the city of Lahore only. Among these female prisoners are professional lawyers, teachers, housewives, scientists, academics and students, many of whom are students at international universities. Also to be noted there are over 200 student prisoners who are enrolled at international universities.  
  • Former PTI MNA and Parliamentary Law Secretary, Barrister Maleeka Bokhari  holds Maryam Nawaz Sharif, daughter of Nawaz Sharif and niece of current Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif, responsible as an active accomplice in perpetuating harassment and torture against PTI women. This further bolsters the claims by lawyers and many women prisoners like Sanam Javed and Tayyaba Raja, that they are deliberately being detained and denied bail on MNS’s direct orders. Prisoners were told by prison staff that they were following orders from Maryam Nawaz Sharif. Prominent social media activist, Sanam Javed has publicly said multiple times that the prison wardens tell her they torture her on directive of Maryam Nawaz Sharif. Recently, Sanam Javed’s parents and lawyers have stated in public interviews that she has been told to apologize to MNS and is refusing to do so. According to her mother, Sanam has asked her to be prepared to raise her children in the long run as “she will not apologize to MNS in this lifetime”.  
  • Many women prisoners like Khadija Shah are repeatedly being forced to accept false charges or to give false statements against PTI. 
  • Women lawyers defending the female prisoners are being actively harassed, even within court premises, and threatened with enforced disappearance. 

 

 Violations Against Women Politicians 

Also of concern is the extent to which the clampdown on civil liberties may undermine women’s political participation gains in government and political party roles. Women are among those apparently being coerced into publicly renouncing their political roles.

  • For example, after being arrested in a police raid on her home in May 2023, released by a court, and then re-arrested four more times as she stepped out of jail, former Human Rights Minister Shireen Mazari held a press conference announcing she was quitting politics. In August 2023, Mazari’s daughter Imaan Hazir Mazari, a prominent human rights lawyer, was abducted at her home in the early hours of Aug 20th on charges of treason through anti-terrorism laws.
  • Similarly, PTI stalwart Maleeka Bokhari announced in a May press conference that she was resigning from the PTI after spending weeks in a stifling, crowded jail cell without proper ventilation and only an open hole in a corner as a toilet.
  • After days in prison, an anti terrorism court ordered the release of a woman government member, Yasmin Rashid, a 77 year old cancer patient, was arrested under false terrorism charges related to the 9 May protests, because she refused to renounce her long standing leadership and support for the PTI.  This violates Article 9 (Security of Person) Article 10A (Right to fair trial), Article 17 (Right to freedom of Association) and Article 19 (Right to Freedom of Speech) of the Constitution of Pakistan. In spite of court orders, Rashid continues to be in prison for almost a 100 days.
  • Another woman politician reported that she has to stay in hiding to remain active. Police raided her home in May when she was not there, and evicted an elderly female relative who was present. Many women PTI party members have lost livelihoods because they fear leaving for work due to the raids and arrests.
  • Former MNA Aliya Hamza Malik, who has been in prison since May 9th, has been denied medical aid in the face of serious health deterioration. This is a breach of The Prison Act, 1894 which stipulate respectively that the names of prisoners appearing to be out of health shall be reported by the officer in charge to the jailer, and that there must be a hospital or specific area in prison designated  to receive sick prisoners. This is also a contravention of Rules 787 and 788 of the Pakistan Prisons Rules, 1978, namely the provision of a hospital in prison (Rule 787) and the right of every prison complaining of illness to be brought before the Medical Officer/Junior Medical Officer for examination to determine whether to be treated as an outpatient or admitted to a hospital (Rule 788). It is also a contravention of Rules 787 and 788 of the Pakistan Prisons Rules, 1978, namely the provision of a hospital in prison (Rule 787) and the right of every prison complaining of illness to be brought before the Medical Officer/Junior Medical Officer for examination to determine whether to be treated as an outpatient or admitted to a hospital (Rule 788)The systemic harrassment of PTI women continues many months after the May protests.
  • On July 27th, PTI Senator Dr. Zarqa Taimur’s private medical clinics were ransacked and sealed and she is consistently being threatened by the government.
  • On August 9th, former MNA Shandana Gulzar was abducted/arrested , when a group of heavily armed gunmen broke into her mothers home and forcibly removed her into a waiting police truck. They refused to provide any detail of where  she would be taken , or which authority was indeed responsible for arresting her- nor was any arrest warrant produced, nor was she given the opportunity to appoint her counsel. Gulzar was charged with sedition  for hostile remarks against Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif. In the meanwhile, female politicians from Shahbaz Sharif’s party especially the information minister Mariyum Aurangzeb have been publicly boasting and making incendiary statements about PTI supporters and their horrific travails in the jails, as well as joking about the fact that almost all of PTI leaders and supporters were in jail.
  • On Aug 23 a newly constructed Hospital and Pharmacy by Dr Nousheen Hamid, PTI’s Ex MNA and President women wing central Punjab, was destroyed in the presence of Rangers and police. Visual evidence of the destruction is available here. 

 

Rights Violations Against Minors

Children face rights violations in the context of the crackdown on protesters, both as direct victims of arrest and detention, and because they cannot see their long-detained parents. Many female prisoners are mothers of very young children, and have been publicly derided by the government for being bad mothers and for being responsible for the misery of their children. For example, the children of Sanam Javaid, whose children can be seen outside the prisons and courts on visitation days, are not allowed to see their mother. Khadijah Shah has three small children under the age of 11, who have been denied access to their mother. For well-known figures who have some access to support to care for the children, this denial of access to their children is still a strain. For those lesser known women demonstrators with fewer resources, the risks to their children from their parents being detained are even higher. Also in violation of children’s’ rights, Pakistani authorities have imprisoned youth as young as 11 years old in the adult detention system without access to their families or legal help.

Here are some recent publicly evidenced examples:

Requests and Recommendations 

We respectfully ask that you please issue a public statement calling for the Pakistani authorities to respect the human rights of all women and youth involved in, or affiliated with those involved in demonstrations or protected acts of political participation such as political party membership. 

We also request that you publicly call on the Pakistani authorities to prioritize all human rights defenders’ safety and their fundamental rights to expression, to assembly, to due process, to freedom from torture or ill treatment including threats of sexual violence, and to freedom from arbitrary detention and disappearance. 

Specifically, we encourage you to ask the Pakistani authorities to:

  • Release all those detained for their political party affiliation or for demonstrating, and drop any charges against them.
  • Release children and youth under eighteen into the custody of their families and end the use of adult detention for minors.
  • Immediately identify all arrested activists and PTI members and affiliates who have been reported disappeared, grant them access to lawyers and visitors, and ensure their access to due process for any criminal charges filed against them.
  • Investigate reported acts of gender violence committed by police or other state officials against demonstrators and human rights defenders and ensure accountability for these acts.
  • Investigate and hold accountable military, police and other state officials who beat demonstrators, or otherwise commit torture and other inhumane acts against them, and who perpetrate enforced disappearance, and other fundamental rights violations against demonstrators, 
  • Halt the use of military trials for protesters, and ensure those arrested receive all due process protections and access to legal counsel, and 
  • Investigate circumstances leading to women politicians’ repudiation of their political or government roles following their arrest, and ensure the conditions for their meaningful political participation. 

We kindly request that you also publicly call for the international community to encourage the Pakistani government to uphold human rights of women and children, especially the Women Human Rights Defenders who are currently illegally detained for protesting on the streets.

 

*Names of informants not disclosed here to protect their privacy.

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