ASIAN HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION – URGENT APPEALS PROGRAMME

Urgent Appeal Case: AHRC-UAC-067-2009



29 June 2009
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PAKISTAN: An Air Force personnel arbitrarily detained for 16 months, tortured and retrenched without legal benefits

ISSUES: Torture; arbitrary detention; right to liberty and security; administration of justice; armed forces

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Dear friends,

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information that an employee of the Pakistan Air Force (PAF) was illegally detained and tortured by the Special Investigation Branch (SIB) of the PAF on charges of terrorism and securing funds for a terrorist organisation. After 16 months of illegal detention he was fired from his job without any benefits which included his pension. He was first targeted by the government when he refused to vote in the referendum of 2002, conducted by former President General Pervez Musharraf. He was then implicated along with 200 officers on charges of attempting to murder Musharraf. During the period of his arrest, a corporal of the air force died by means of torture and five were executed on charges of plotting to murder Musharraf. In addition, the 200 PAF and army personnel that were held in detention were charged with acts of sedition.

CASE DETAILS:

On March 30, 2004, Mr. Tanveer Iqbal a former Chief Technician of the logistics branch, 102, Air Engineering Depot, at the PAF Faisal Base in Karachi, was abducted by the Special Investigation Branch of the PAF. Iqbal joined the Pakistan Air Force on December 11, 1985 as an Airman and served until his arrest on March 30, 2004. He was charged with committing acts of terrorism. He was released from the PAF Faisal Base in Karachi on July 28, 2005.

During the 16 months that Iqbal was illegally detained, various types of interrogation methods were utilized, including physical torture, sleep deprivation and beating to the extent that he suffered lasting damage to his left ear. Throughout this time, his family, one wife and 5 children, stayed at the residential quarters of the PAF Faisal Base in the same vicinity as Iqbal, but were denied any access in either visiting or speaking via telephone with Iqbal. After his arrest he was handed over to different investigating agencies for many days, where he was allegedly subjected to mental and physical torture in order to obtain a confessional statement. The victim claims that PAF Unit 501 beat him to the extent that he sought medical treatment for damage to his left ear at the PAF Hospital Masroor.

In 2002, Mr. Tanveer Iqbal, along with five airmen in his unit refused to vote in favour of General Musharraf’s referendum, which would reelect Musharraf for an additional five years as the constitutional president. Musharraf, being Chief of Army Staff, seized power through a military coup in October 1999. Mr. Tanveer Iqbal, states that during the referendum one had to vote openly before their commandant officer and it was mandatory for every employee of PAF to vote on “yes” in favour of General Musharraf. After the referendum, Mr. Tanveer Iqbal had knowledge that more than 200 airmen voted against Musharraf and as a result were labeled suspected terrorists. Additionally what fuelled the attack on the airmen was the resentment of the Pakistan Air Force, mostly the majority of the lower ranked officers towards granting the USA and other Pakistan allies, an air base to refill their jets at Jacobabad airport in the Sindh province. Those who expressed their opposition were targeted and arrested.

Tanveer Iqbal was charged with committing acts of terrorism. At the end of the interrogation he was tried in the Field General Court Marshal (FGCM). He was charged with the following: attempting to attack General Musharraf’s convoy at the Chichi Bridge in 2003, meeting and training of Jihadists in Afghanistan and being the unit leader of Jash e Mohammad, a militant organization that was involved in a plane hijacking in India. All charges were proved false and he was acquitted in May 2005 but remained in incommunicado until July 28, 2005. He was then relieved from the service after 19 years without any complaints. He was deprived of the stipulated tenure of service, denied payment /allowances and others monitory benefits including pension and salary during his detention in PAF custody. His half portion of monthly salary was also withheld from March 30, 2004 to July 28, 2005.

His house at Village Dharra, Teshsil Oghi (town), District Mansehra, North West Frontier Province, has been destroyed in the earth quake of October 8, 2005. His house has completely been destroyed and he has to shift with his family to another place. 

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:

According to the Defence of Human Rights Islamabad, an NGO, after General Musharraf’s referendum in 2002, the 200 airmen were subjected to disappearances by the Special Investigation Branch (SIB). During their incommunicado, they faced humiliation, brutal and barbaric torture and coercive interrogation tactics. One corporal Hashmat of Kohat, lost his life, while suffering torture, in PAF custody at AHQ Islamabad. In order to obtain confessions to crimes they did not commit, they were beaten into submission. They were told that their families are in custody of the secret agencies. They had them threatened to cooperate and to confess otherwise their wives would be raped. Consequently, after 130 days in detention, the victims were forced admit the crime due to torture.

The victims were then court-martialled by the PAF officer’s tribunal. It has been claimed that the trial was held in secret and the proceedings were tempered with. In order to substantiate the false charges, those who testified against the victims were forced to sign false confessions and appeared in court handcuffed and blindfolded. False accusations of terrorist activities resulted in many victims being awarded the death penalty.
Since the court-martial of these victims in 2005, any appeals that were made have been rejected by the Supreme Court (SC) as well as their case being denied any redress by higher civil courts.

SUGGESTED ACTION:

Please write letters to the relevant authorities urging them to thoroughly investigate the crimes committed by law enforcement authorities and demand the release of those imprisoned illegally. Please also urge upon the authorities to provide Mr. Tanveer Iqbal the back benefits of his service including pension and medical facilities.
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SAMPLE LETTER:

Dear __________,

PAKISTAN: An Air Force personnel arbitrarily detained for 16 months, tortured and retrenched without legal benefits

Name of victim: Mr. Tanveer Iqbal, former Chief Technician of the logistics branch, 102, Air Engineering Depot, at the PAF Faisal Base, Karachi, Sindh. His postal address is Village Dharra, Teshsil Oghi (town), District Mansehra, North West Frontier Province (NWFP)

Name of alleged perpetrators: The Special Investigation Branch of the Pakistan Air Force, Faisal Base, Karachi; Pakistan Air Force (PAF) Unit 501, Faisal Base, Karachi Sindh
Date of incident: from March 30, 2004 to July 28, 2005
Place of incident: PAF Faisal in Karachi

I am writing to voice my deep concern regarding the case of torture reported in the Pakistan Air Force in Karachi.

I am informed that the victim in this case, Mr. Tanveer Iqbal, a former Chief Technician of the logistics branch, 102, Air Engineering Depot, at the PAF Faisal Base in Karachi was abducted on March 30, 2004 and kept in illegal detention at the Faisal Base of PAF, Karachi for more than 16 months and tortured by the Special Investigation Branch of the Pakistan Air Force in Karachi and 501 unit at the same base. I am informed that the victim was working as a Chief Technician for the PAF Faisal Base in Karachi when he was arrested. After his field general court martial was completed and he was found innocent on May 2005, but again was held in illegal detention for more than three months. Even when he was later acquitted of all charges he was not allowed to meet his family members. During his 16 months of detention his family was not aware of his whereabouts.

It is also shocking for me that when Mr. Tanveer was acquitted from all charges and declared innocent, the Pakistan Air Force retrenched him illegally from his job and was not paid any legal dues including pension just to please General Musharraf, the former military ruler. He is still being treated as a terrorist and he is denied of all his legal rights from the Pakistan Air Force.

I have also been informed that he and some other airman voted against Musharraf during the referendum and they were forced to cast votes in favour of Musharraf before the commanding officer of Air force which could have been a motivating factor in his arrest. Mr. Tanveer Iqbal and other victims were arrested on March 30, 2004 on the charges of attempting to murder General Musharraf in 2003 after one year of the incident. The facts from this case reveal that opposition to Musharraf’s referendum was a motivating factor in the arrests, torture and convictions of the victims involved.

I urge upon you to provide all his legal dues and back benefits of his 19 years of work in PAF according to the constitution of Pakistan and the law of the land. Denying him of his legal dues is the contravention of Article 12 of the Constitution of the Pakistan including the contravention of Article 11 (2) of Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Section 120 of the Pakistan Air Force Act 1953. His detention in the Pakistan Air Force Base on false charges is also contravention to the provision of sections 102 and 103 of PAF Act 1953, Rule 44 and 4,5 of PAF Act Rules 1953. He was also compelled to sign the confessional statement before his court marshal is also contravention of Article 13 of constitution of Islamic Republic of Pakistan of 1973.

I appeal to you and hope that you will provide justice to him and also to other victims of the PAF who are continuously denied their lawful rights.