Reference: pfp/09/281 Date: 07/12/2009

The Prime Minister

Azad Jammu and Kashmir

Muzaffarabad,

Subject: Illegal detention of citizens in Muzaffarabad, Azad Jammu and Kashmir

Dear Sir

I wish to draw your kind attention towards an appalling incident happened in the jurisdiction of Azad
Jammu and Kashmir which has caused deep antipathy among the people of the region, who feel
insecure after the illegal detention of four citizens from the capital city - Muzaffarabad.

As per details Mr. Faizan Butt, Mr. Shahid Qayum, Mr. Ali Rathore and Mr. Shafiq Butt were
allegedly kidnapped by staff of security agencies in Muzaffarabad on November 21, 2009. One of
them has been released after many days of mental and physical torture and inhuman treatment;
however, the remaining three are still under any secret location. The Family members of abductees
insist that the police have refused to lodge FIR regarding the incident.

The PFP is concerned on unlawful detention of these Kashmiri citizens by the state agencies. It
categorically condemns this occurrence and considers this happening is an open assault on human
rights and civil liberties guaranteed by national and international laws.

Press for Peace (PFP) believes that this illegal arrest is gross violations of Universal Charter of
Human Right’s Articles: 2,5,6,8 and 10, which explicitly state that:

• Everyone is entitled in full equality to a fair and public hearing by an independent and impartial
tribunal, in the determination of his rights and obligations and of any criminal charge against
him.
• No one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.
• Everyone has the right to recognition everywhere as a person before the law.
• Everyone is entitled to all the rights and freedoms set forth in this Declaration, without
distinction of any kind, such as race, colour, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion,
national or social origin, property, birth or other status. Furthermore, no distinction shall be
made on the basis of the political, jurisdictional or international status of the country or territory
to which a person belongs, whether it be independent, trust, non-self-governing or under any
other limitation of sovereignty.
Everyone has the right to an effective remedy by the competent national tribunals for acts violating
the fundamental rights granted him by the constitution or by law.
 Similarly, I would like to remind you the recent illegal arrest of four people is also against the
Constitution of Pakistan. The articles 9 and 10, Chapter 1 under Fundamental Rights evidently say
that:
.
(1) No person who is arrested shall be detained in custody without being informed, as soon as may
be, of the grounds for such arrest, nor shall he be denied the right to consult and be defended
by a legal practitioner of his choice.
(2) Every person who is arrested and detained in custody shall be produced before a magistrate
within a period of twenty-four hours of such arrest, excluding the time necessary for the
journey from the place of arrest to the court of the nearest magistrate, and no such person shall
be detained in custody beyond the said period without the authority of a magistrate.
PFP believes that this incident is also contrary to the basic human rights guaranteed in the Interim
Constitution of State of Azad Jammu and Kashmir.

PFP demands that illegally detained citizens must be released without any delay and the concerned
authorities must be brought to the justice.

The PFP demands that the government of Azad Jammu and Kashmir must take notice of such kind of
occurrences where blameless people have illegally been detained by the state organs. We believe that
such kinds of tactics are creating crossness among the inhabitants that the state has failed to protect
the lives of its citizens which is considered the core obligation of the government.

You are requested to take solemn and urgent notice of such gross human rights violations in order to
provide the justice to the victims of state torture.

Looking forward to your kind and prompt reply

Zafar Iqbal

Executive Director

Press for Peace (PFP)

Bank Road, Muzaffarabad,
Jammu and Kashmir, Pakistan

Email:zafar@pressforpeace.org.uk

Ph:0092 301-5710575

www.pressforpeace.org.uk

Copy:

1. Human Rights Commission of Pakistan, Lahore

2. Human Rights Watch, New York
3. Amnesty International Secretariat, London
4. Asian Human Rights Commission, Hong Kong,
5. The Freedom House, Washington D.C.