The Secretary General
Amnesty International
International Secretariat
1 Easton Street
London WC1X 8DJ
UK
DR FAROOQ SATTAR, A PRISONER OF CONSCIENCE IN ATTOCK FORT IN NWFP NEAR THE BORDERS OF PUNJAB
Dear Secretary General
The Military Head of State who is ruling the country under the rubric of civilian rule has launched another round of crackdown against Muttahida Quami Movement (MQM) and Mohajirs. The new crackdown is in the garb of countering corruption while in 1992; it was under the pretext of countering kidnapping for ransom and car lifting etceteras. But the agenda remains unchanged, that is the decimation of the MQM, third largest political party in Pakistan representing and struggling not only for the rights of Mohajirs but ninety-eight per cent of the middle class and down trodden people of Pakistan, whose rights have been usurped by the Military and Feudal rulers since the inception of the country.
Dr Farooq Sattar, former Mayor of Karachi, former Minister for Local Bodies in the democratically elected government of Sindh province, now stands suspended, Member of the Co-ordination Committee of MQM and one of the most senior members of the party has been transferred to Attock Fort in NWFP bordering Punjab from Karachi. He was mysteriously transferred to Attock Fort on 21 February 2000 via Islamabad by flight no.306 at 4.00 p.m. (Pakistan Time)
The Government of Sindh under the rule of the Military Chief Executive directed its Police and intelligence agencies personnel to raid the house of Dr Farooq Sattar in the early hours of 17th. November 1999. The Law Enforcers not only unlawfully raided the house of Dr Farooq Sattar but also ransacked it totally, mercilessly beat the members of the household, particularly his Secretary. To save his household members and staff from the wrath of the Military Government, Dr Farooq Sattar held a Press Conference on 26th. November 1999 at the Karachi Press Club. In that Press Conference, he graphically presented the account of all the financial dealings of his Ministry including the case of Octroi, in which the government has falsely accused him. He also presented the press clippings of the most respected newspapers including the “Dawn” that praised his handling of the Octroi dealings benefiting Government of Sindh, for the first time, after several years rule of Military and Feudal oligarchy. Notwithstanding the political victimisation and persecution, on the same day, he voluntarily offered his arrest having total faith in his unblemished record and innocence.
After his arrest, he was unlawfully kept in Military Cantonment, depriving him of all his basic human rights, enshrined in the Constitution of Pakistan, Universal Charter of Human Rights of the United Nations and plethora of International Laws. Father of Dr Farooq Sattar filed a writ in the High Court of Sindh against habeas corpus. Despite the Orders of Sindh High Court, the Sindh Government under the rule of the Military Chief Executive failed to produce him in the High Court, a manifestation of the contempt of Court. However, after several hearings, he was presented for a brief period and finally the Advocate General of Sindh told the Court that the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) would levy charges against Dr Farooq Sattar. The Constitution, the Law of Land and particularly the ruling of the Sindh High Court, however, prescribes that the trial can only take place in the same jurisdiction where the FIR (First Information Report) has been registered and therefore, his transfer to Attock Fort and his Mock Trial by establishing Mock Court in the Attock Fort renders the entire façade unconstitutional and illegal by any cannons of law.
During the totalitarian rule of the deposed Prime Minister Mohammad Nawaz Sharif, the MQM challenged the unlawful establishment of the Military Courts in the Supreme Court of Pakistan by the autocratic ruler for politically victimising the MQM. The Supreme Court declared those Military Courts illegal and unconstitutional. Furthermore, now we can not expect the same merit from Courts since there is no semblance of law left in the country, since the present panel of Judges have taken oath of allegiance to the Military Government and not to the Constitution of the Country. Those judges having any conscience refused to take oath of allegiance to the Military Ruler including the former Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, have been removed unceremoniously from their jobs.
The National Accountability Bureau headed by a Military General, instead of trying Dr Farooq Sattar in the Constitutional Court established a Mock Court (Kangaroo Court) in the Attock Fort in haste to try Dr Farooq Sattar. Dr Farooq Sattar, in flagrant violation of the Constitution and the Bill of Human Rights, was not allowed to be to be represented by a lawyer. It is pertinent to mention that the Attock Fort is more than one thousand miles away from Karachi and is virtually impossible for the defence lawyers to be stationed there permanently to defend Dr Farooq Sattar and also to physically move the plethora of documents and testimonies required to defend Dr Farooq Sattar. It appears evident that transfer of Dr Farooq Sattar to this far-flung area of Pakistan is a deliberate orchestration of the Government to deprive him of his defence, his basic Constitutional and human rights.
It should be borne in mind that the Attock Fort is in total control of the Army and is notorious for keeping and torturing political opponents of the Government.
Dr Farooq Sattar, in violations of all basic Human Rights, has been kept in a solitary confinement in a cell of seven by seven feet where the sunlight can not even penetrate. Moreover, setting up a “Kangaroo Court” in the Attock Fort in NWFP near the borders of Punjab violates the Constitution and the Law of the Land. Once again, setting up of this Mock Court by the Military Ruler is a manifestation of non-confidence in the Judiciary of the Country that tantamount to its slaying.
While Dr Farooq Sattar stands innocent, the dinosaurs of Punjab in the shape of corrupt rulers roaming scot-free who in the connivance with the Military looted the country and rendered it virtual bankrupt. For example, likes of Choudry Shujaat Hussain, who made millions of Dollars of poor people who had deposited their lifetime savings in his Co-operative and investment companies. However, to avoid the wrath of Punjab and to prove more Punjabi than a blue eyed Punjabi, the Mohajir Military Ruler has embarked upon victimising his own community only to prolong his rule.
Furthermore, Nawaz Sharif is being tried in Karachi because his FIR was registered in Karachi but in a demonstration of double standard, the Mohajir Chief Executive has unlawfully chosen, only to shift Dr Farooq Sattar to the Attock Fort in NWFP bordering Punjab and no one else, so far. Although, Dr Farooq Sattar has been accused in the crime allegedly committed in Karachi.
We request you to kindly take a note of gross violations of basic human rights of Mohajirs and Sindhis, particularly Dr Farooq Sattar’s, a heart and ulcer patient who is being mentally and physically tormented by the Punjabi tormentors. Please raise your voice pro-actively against the inhuman behaviour of the Military Rulers to bring the plight of the Mohajir Nation to an end and also the occupation of Sindh by Punjab.
Yours faithfully
Chief Organiser MQM UK & Europe