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Date: Sat, 21 Oct 2000 21:39:05 EDT
Reply-To: Campus Freethought Alliance Announcement <[log in to unmask]>
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From: Austin Dacey <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: ACTION ALERT: Can You Help Save Dr. Shaikh?
To: [log in to unmask]
ACTION ALERT
October 21, 2000
International Humanist and Ethical Union
www.iheu.org
(edited and distributed by the Campus Freethought Alliance
www.campusfreethought.org)
___________________________________________________
CAN YOU HELP SAVE DR. SHAIKH?
Dr. Younus Shaikh is founder-President of Enlightenment, a Pakistan-based
organization which is a member of the International Humanist and Ethical
Union (www.iheu.org). Dr. Shaikh is a doctor and a teacher at a medical
college in Islamabad. He lived and worked in the UK before returning to
Pakistan.
On October 4 2000, Dr. Shaikh was arrested by the Islamabad police and booked
under the dreaded Section 295-C (Blasphemy) of the Pakistan Penal Code. The
police First Information Report was not readily available, but in it he is
alleged to have defiled Mohammad, the Prophet of Islam, by pointing out that
the Prophet did not become a Muslim till the age of 40 (i.e. until he
received the first message of God), and that the Prophet's parents were
non-Muslims because they died before Islam was proposed by the Prophet. It is
for stating these facts that Dr. Shaikh will be killed by the State, if he is
found guilty.
45 year-old Dr. Shaikh lives alone, has no family, and has been sacked from
his job following his arrest. To build popular pressure, an Islamabad-based
Urdu language newspaper, Khabrain, is carrying a campaign demanding the death
penalty for him.
On October 19 2000, Dr. Shaikh was presented before the court, but he had no
lawyer. Frequently lawyers are intimidated by the mob, so they do not take up
blasphemy cases. Even judges are afraid of trying them. A group of 20 clerics
- - menacing and aggressive - came to the court, to pursue their case against
Dr. Shaikh. They represent the Majlis-I-Khatam-I-Nabuwat (Organization on the
Finality of the Prophet) one of the groups responsible for Pakistan's descent
into lawlessness. Dr. Shaikh's reading glasses were broken when he came to
court, he was unable to read well, and was not allowed to speak to anyone.
Fortunately he has not been tortured by the police during 2 weeks of custody.
If we do not act in time, he will be doomed.
The main concern of Pakistan's Human Rights activists are the Blasphemy laws.
Blasphemy of Islam is punished differently and much more severely than
Blasphemy of other religions. There is no Freedom of Religion or Belief in
Pakistan. Bishop John Joseph, Roman Catholic Bishop of Faizalabad even killed
himself in protest in front of the sessions court of Sahiwal, on May 5, 1998.
But even this ultimate sacrifice did not move the administration or the
legislature.
Pressure must mount from all quarters to enable the law to change, and to
protect the victims. Pakistan's theocracy is depriving many honest citizens
of their liberty and their life.
WHAT CAN YOU DO?
1. In the US, Contact the US Commission on International Religious Freedom
Invoke the provisions of the International Freedom of Religion Act, 1998. The
law obliges them to take up the case with the US Ambassador in Islamabad, and
to follow it up.
Mr. Martin
Officer in charge of Pakistan
Office of International Religious Freedom
(DRL/IRF), Room 4829,
U.S. Department of State
Washington, DC 20520
Tel: 202-647-4359
Fax: 202-647-5283
Email: [log in to unmask]
2. In European Union Member States, contact your country's EU Ambassador
Ask your own country's EU Ambassador to explore the possibilities of asylum
for Dr. Shaikh.
Write to your Foreign Minister, and demand that the Minister summon the
Pakistani High Commissioner to share concerns about the state of Freedom of
religion or Belief in Pakistan. Ask your Minister to arrange for
an observer at Dr. Shaikh's trial, if he is not released immediately.
3. Contact the UN Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Religion or Belief
The Special Rapporteur has the mandate to take the matter up with the
government on a diplomatic level.
Dr. Abdul Fatteh Amor
UN Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Religion or Belief
8-14 Avenue de la Paix
1211 Geneva 10, Switzerland
Tel: (41-22) 917-9000
Fax: (41-22) 917-9016
4. Write to General Musharraf
With the respect due to a Head of Government, remind General Musharraf that
he had declared that Mohammad Ali Jinnah, Pakistan's founder (formal title:
Quaid - I-Azam) was his political hero. The Quaid had declared in his speech
to the Constituent Assembly of Pakistan on 11 August 1947 : "You are free;
you are free to go to your temples, you are free to go to your mosques or to
any other places of worship in this State of Pakistan. You may belong to any
religion or caste or creed that has nothing to do with the business of the
state."
Ask General Musharraf to take steps to make Pakistan true to the Quaid's
ideals. He can do so by ensuring that Pakistan will no longer remain a
theocracy. Ask for protection to all religious minorities and non-believers
living in Pakistan.
Demand that the Sections 295-B and 295-C of the Criminal Code be repealed as
soon as possible, and that he should take steps to prevent their malicious
and frivolous abuse meanwhile.
Remind him that Pakistan, one of the poorest nations in the world, will be
better able to use Dr. Shaikh's services as a doctor rather than keep him
prisoner. Mention specific details: the dates of arrest, the location in
Adyala Jail in Rawalpindi, and the police station, Margalla.
Invite Pakistan to ratify the International Covenant on Civil and political
Rights and the International Covenant on Social, Economic and Cultural
Rights.
General Pervez Musharraf
Chief Executive of Pakistan Government
Email: [log in to unmask]
5. Contact Amnesty International
Ask them to adopt Dr. Shaikh as a prisoner of conscience.
6. Send letters of support to Dr. Shaikh at [log in to unmask]
7. Make a donation for Dr. Shaikh's legal defense
Checks payable to IHEU. Credit Card donations preferable. To avoid
international bank charges, Fax us card details (address, card number,
Visa/mastercard, date of issue, date of expiry, name of card holder).
IHEU
47 Theobalds Road
London WC1X 8SP
UNITED KINGDOM
Fax: +44 207 404 8641 or +44 207 4301271
www.iheu.org
PLEASE SEND A COPY OF ALL MESSAGES TO [log in to unmask]
FOR MORE INFORMATION, PLEASE VISIT www.iheu.org.
____________________________________________________
The Campus Freethought Alliance (http://www.campusfreethought.org) is an
international affiliation of non theist, humanist, and skeptical students and
student groups. The Young Freethinkers Alliance reaches out to high school
students. To find out more, email <[log in to unmask]>. The
CFA and the YFA are sponsored by the Council for Secular Humanism
(http://www.secularhumanism.org).
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