To All Living Things
Last Week's Column
"Human rights defenders everywhere have the right to actively and peacefully oppose violations of all human rights." |
Amnesty Action:
Harassed for Defending Human Rights in Pakistan
"They have done everything to intimidate
me... They have even turned on my two young daughters... I have had to send them out of
the country. Sometimes you have to pay such an unbearable price for what you believe
in."
by Kathy Gay
his week’s action from
Amnesty International is
a case from Amnesty’s current campaign, "Defending the Defenders of the
Universal Declaration of Human Rights." It concerns a Pakistani human rights
lawyer who has been harassed and threatened because of her work on a wide range of human
rights issues, including bonded labor and the treatment of child prisoners. Most recently
she has been attacked for her public criticism of the blasphemy law and for her defense of
women’s rights.
Amnesty International is urging the Pakistani government to protect this woman and other activists in Pakistan who work to promote and defend human rights. Human rights defenders everywhere have the right to actively and peacefully oppose violations of all human rights, to denounce violations which take place, and to give their support to the victims. Their activities frequently endanger the defenders themselves, who in turn become victims of torture, murder, disappearance or imprisonment.
Amnesty International believes it is the inescapable responsibility of state and inter-governmental bodies to guarantee the free exercise of the right to promote and defend human rights. As such, states are fundamentally obliged to protect and promote this right, to prevent it from being threatened, restricted or suppressed, and to protect the liberties and security of those who exercise it.
Background Information
In 1995 this human rights lawyer defended an illiterate 14-year-old boy 
who had been sentenced to death for blasphemy for allegedly scribbling blasphemous words
on the walls of a mosque. The blasphemy law carries a mandatory death sentence in
Pakistan. It is vaguely worded and so can be used to limit the rights to freedom of belief
and expression – rights guaranteed by Articles 18 and 19 of the Universal Declaration
of Human Rights.
During the trial hearings, Islamists shouted slogans and interfered with proceedings. Death threats were made against the young defendant, his lawyer and the judge. The boy was acquitted on appeal within a month of being sentenced as there were no witnesses and no material evidence against him. Shortly after his acquittal, a gang of armed men forced their way into the home of his lawyer’s brother, looking for her, but she escaped.
More recently, this human rights lawyer defended a 22-year-old woman whose father sought to have her marriage declared illegal by the courts because she had married without his consent. She had spent 11 months in a woman’s shelter for fear that her father might kill her. In March 1997 the court ruled that the consent of a male guardian was not required for a marriage to be valid. The case was important in defending a woman’s right to choose her husband, a right under attack in Pakistan even though it is guaranteed by Article 16 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
How you can help
Please send a letter to the Prime Minister of Pakistan 
as soon as possible, but no
later than April 12, 1998. You may use the sample letter linked below or use it as a
model to write your own letter. If you choose to use the sample letter, please cut off or
delete all website information at the very top of the letter. If you prefer to write your
own letter, please keep in mind that its intent is to improve the human rights situation
in Pakistan. Make sure the letter is politely worded, non-partisan (i.e., not used as a
vehicle for political expression) and written with respect for the recipient. Be sure to
include both your name and address, as well as the date, on your letter.
U.S. airmail postage to Pakistan is 60 cents.
Questions?
If you have any questions, just post a message to me (Kathy SF) in the Pub, and I will respond as soon as I can. I greatly appreciate your interest and support.
To see the sample letter for this action, please click here.
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Kathy Gay is a vegan, and has been a member of Amnesty International since 1987, where she has worked on numerous campaigns. She lives in the San Francisco Bay Area and is a business analyst for a leading California bank.
Kathy's column, To All Living Things, is a regular feature of VegSource On-Line Magazine.