URGENT ACTION URGENT ACTION URGENT ACTION URGENT ACTION URGENT ACTION

ASIAN HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION - URGENT APPEALS PROGRAM

05 July 2001
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UA-21-2001 - Young mother sentenced to death

PAKISTAN: Denial of Right to Life, questions over fair trial and police brutality
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The latest UPDATE for this appeal is available at:
http://www.ahrchk.net/ua/mainfile.php/2001/142/
http://www.ahrchk.net/ua/mainfile.php/2001/126/

The military government of Pakistan plans to carry out the death sentence on Ms. Robina Khan, aged 22, on the 17th July. She will be killed by hanging, unless the President chooses to commute her sentence. She is being held at the Multan Women's Jail [First Incident Report no. 310, Factory area, Sargodha police station].

Ms. Khan is the mother of a 7 year-old daughter, and has been convicted for murder. She was pregnant at the time of her arrest but the pregnancy terminated, reportedly due to police torture while in custody. Ms. Khan's husband divorced her during the trial, leaving her with no means to continue her defence. Thus she had to rely on court-appointed lawyers for the remainder of the trial and the appeal process. The appeal process appears to be exhausted, and President Musharraf has so far refused to commute the death sentence.

We denounce the use of the death sentence in any circumstance, as it is a direct contravention of the most basic right of all - the right to life. However, in these circumstances, where the accused is a young mother, has faced brutal treatment and inadequate representation, and would leave behind a young daughter with no means of livelihood, the humanitarian and compassionate reasons for pardoning the sentence weigh as heavily as the extreme human rights violation.

SUGGESTED ACTION

Please write urgently to General Musharraf BY FAX AND EMAIL to plead for pardon for Ms. Khan, and also send a copy to the UN Special Rapporteur on Extrajudicial, Summary, or Arbitrary Executions to urge them to intervene.

SAMPLE LETTER

Dear Gen. Musharraf

I am writing to urge you to commute the death sentence that has been handed to Ms. Robina Khan [FIR No. 310, Factory area, Sargodha police station], who is currently imprisoned in Multan Women's Jail. Ms Khan is 22 years old, has a 7 year old daughter, has been divorced by her husband during the trial (leaving her with no means for proper defense), appears to have suffered torture in detention to such an extent as to cause the miscarriage of her second child, and is now due to be hanged on 17th July, leaving the daughter a virtual orphan.

I plead with you in the name of humanity, compassion and the most fundamental human rights to commute Ms. Khan's sentence. A death sentence can never be justified in circumstances where the accused has been treated with brutality and where there are serious misgivings about the ability of the accused to properly be defended. You have the power to protect the life of this young mother, and your compassion or lack thereof will be greatly remembered by the international community depending on your decision.

Yours sincerely
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SEND LETTERS - BY BOTH FAX AND EMAIL IF POSSIBLE - TO

General Pervez Musharraf
Chief Executive of Pakistan
Islamic of Republic of Pakistan
Prime Minister House, Islamabad,
Pakistan
FAX: +92 051 920-1893/1835 or 4632
EMAIL: CE@pak.gov.pk
Salutation: Dear General Musharraf

SEND COPIES TO
Ms. Asma Jahangir
Special Rapporteur on Extrajudicial, Summary, or Arbitrary Executions
c/o OHCHR-UNOG, 1211 Geneva 10, Switzerland
Fax: 41 22 917 9006
Email: webadmin.hchr@unog.ch
PLEASE MARK: FOR THE URGENT ATTENTION OF MS. JAHANGIR