ASA 33/004/2007
UA 48/07
Incommunicado Detention/Medical Concern/« Disappearance »
PAKISTAN Khalid Khawaja (m)
28 February 2007
Khalid Khawaja, who has been actively involved in assisting the relatives of people who have « disappeared », was reportedly « abducted » by the security forces in the morning of 26 January. On 21 February he was granted bail, but that evening he was moved, reportedly to a different detention centre, where the authorities have denied having him in custody. His whereabouts are now unknown. He could only legally have been kept in custody after bail was granted if new charges had been brought against him, but none have been announced. Khalid Khawaja is diabetic and has reportedly been denied adequate medical care.
Khalid Khawaja had been active with an organisation called Defence for Human Rights, which brought together relatives of people who had been subjected to enforced disappearance, especially those who had been picked up by the security forces on suspicion of having links with « terrorist » networks.
After he was taken into custody, his family did not know what had happened to him for some hours : they were then told that he was held in Adiala Jail, in Rawalpindi, charged with « distributing pamphlets that incite sectarian violence. » He strongly denies the charge, and believes it arises from his work with Defence for Human Rights, which included organising demonstrations by relatives of the « disappeared ». He was granted bail by the Islamabad additional and sessions courts on 21 February, but was moved that night on the orders of the Home Secretary of Punjab. News reports claimed that he had been moved to a high-security detention facility in Faisalabad, but when his lawyer called the detention centre to confirm the report, he was told that no one by that name was in their custody
Khawaja’s family and lawyer have filed an appeal with the Lahore High Court (Rawalpindi Bench), who in a 28 February hearing directed the provincial and federal authorities to establish his whereabouts and produce him in court by 2 March, and make known the charges against him.
RECOMMENDED ACTION : Please send appeals to arrive as quickly as possible, in English or your own language :
expressing concern at reports that Khalid Khawaja is still in custody, despite the fact that he was granted bail on 21 February and no new charges have been brought against him ;
expressing concern that he is held incommunicado at an undisclosed location, and calling on the authorities to ensure that he is allowed unhindered access to his lawyers and family at all times while he is in custody ;
calling on the authorities to ensure that Khalid Khawaja is immediately given all the medical treatment he requires ;
calling on them to ensure that Khalid Khawaja is released on bail as directed by the additional and sessions courts in Punjab.
APPEALS TO :
Mr Aftab Ahmed Khan Sherpao
Minister for the Interior
Room 404, 4th Floor
Block R, Federal Secretariat
Islamabad
Pakistan
Fax : +92 51 9202624 (about 10 rings before the fax comes on)
E-mail : minister interior.gov.pk
secretary interior.gov
Salutation : Dear Minister
Home Secretary Punjab
Civil Secretariat
Lahore
Pakistan
Fax : +92 42 921 1732
Salutation : Dear Home Secretary Punjab
Punjab Inspector General of Prisons
Inspectorate of Prisons
Jail Road
Lahore
Punjab
Pakistan
Salutation : Dear Inspector General
Ambassade de la République islamique du Pakistan
Avenue Delleur 57
1170 Bruxelles
Fax : 02.675.83.94
Email : parepbrussels belgacom.be
PLEASE SEND APPEALS IMMEDIATELY. Check with the International Secretariat, or your section office, if sending appeals after 10 April 2007.
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