Assassination of Ms. Perveen Rehman

PAK 002 / 0313 / OBS 025

Extrajudicialkilling

Pakistan

March 19, 2013

TheObservatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders, a joint programme ofthe International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) and the World OrganisationAgainst Torture (OMCT), requests your urgent intervention in the followingsituation in Pakistan.

Descriptionof the situation:

The Observatory has been informed of the assassination, inKarachi, of Ms. Perveen Rehman, a highly respected social activist who was workingvigorously for the emancipation of the poor and marginalised people in Karachithrough the "Orangi Pilot Project".

According to the information received, on March 13, 2013,Ms. Perveen Rehman was brutally shot dead by four armed men on two motorcycles,while travelling in her car near the western Karachi's Orangi area. No militantgroup has claimed the attack.

Ms. Perveen Rehman was reportedly shot twice on the faceand once in the neck, shortly after she left her office. Ms. Rehman was rushedto the local Abbasi Shaheed Hospital, where she subsequently died from herwounds.

Ms. Perveen Rehman had previously reported being subjectedto death threats. On one occasion, an armed man had reportedly stormed heroffices and had ordered staff to leave.

Ms. Parveen Rehman was a very well respected teacher ofarchitecture and one of the most committed and courageousdefenders of the cause of the poor and the disadvantaged in Pakistan over thelast 30 years. She was the director of the internationally renowned “OrangiPilot Project” (Karachi), one of Pakistan's most successful non-for-profitsocial programmes, which helps local communities escape from poverty. Sheinherited the direction of the “Orangi Pilot Project” in 1999 from Dr. AkhtarHamed Khan (who founded the project in the 1980s) and maintained the project asa pioneering institution in the areas of urban development, rural planning,water and sewerage management, poor children’s education and a genuinemicro-credit service.

Ms. Perveen Rehman had recently been documenting thesituation in villages close to Karachi, which are affected by land grabs andreligious extremism.

The motive behind her murder remains unclear, but theincident appears to be another case of ongoing targeted and violent attacks onhuman rights defenders, NGOs representatives and social workers in many partsof the country. It also demonstrates the nexus between criminal and politicalelements involved in land grabbing.

On March 14, 2013, the provincial parliament of Sindh, ofwhich Karachi is the capital, offered a vote of condolence for her.

However, the investigation has so far remained inconclusivealthough the police claimed that the Tehrik-e-Taliban was involved, and killedone of its leaders, Mr. Qari Bilal, in an “encounter” following Ms. Rehman’sassassination.

The Observatory firmly denounces the assassination of Ms.Rehman, which seems to be related to her human rights activities, and to aim atsilencing her work in social and economic development of the poor andmarginalised people in the country. TheObservatoryoffers sincere condolences to the bereaved family and to Ms. Rehman's friendsand colleagues.

Actionsrequested:

The Observatory urges the authorities of Pakistan to:

1. Carry out an effective, thorough and impartial investigation into the above-mentioned killing, in order to identify all those responsible, bring them before a civil, competent and impartial tribunal, and apply to them the penal sanctions provided by the law;

ii. Guarantee the physical and psychological integrity of all human rightsdefenders in Pakistan;

3. Conform in any circumstances with the provisions of the Declaration on Human Rights Defenders, adopted on December 9, 1998 by the United Nations General Assembly, in particular:
   - its Article 1, which states that “everyone has the right, individually or in association with others, to promote the protection and realization of human rights and fundamental freedoms at the national and international levels”;

- its Article 6 (c) which states that “everyone has the right,individually and in association with others to study, discuss, form and holdopinions on the observance, both in law and in practice, of all human rightsand fundamental freedoms and, through these and other appropriate means, todraw public attention to those matters”;

- and its Article 12.2 which states that “the State shall take allnecessary measures to ensure the protection by the competent authorities ofeveryone, individually and in association with others, against any violence,threats, retaliation, de facto or de jure adverse discrimination, pressure orany other arbitrary action as a consequence of his or her legitimate exerciseof the rights referred to in the present Declaration”.

iv. Ensure in all circumstances respect for human rightsand fundamental freedoms in accordance with international human rightsstandards and international instruments ratified by Pakistan.

Addresses:

· His Excellency Raja Pervez Ashraf, Prime Minister ofPakistan, Prime Minister House, Islamabad. Tel no: + 92 519213562 Fax: + 92 519221596 E-mail: secretary@cabinet.gov.pk

· His Excellency Asif Ali Zardari, President ofPakistan, President's Secretariat, Islamabad. Tel: +92 51 9204801/9214171. Fax:+92 51 9207458 Email: publicmail@president.gov.pk

· Dr. Faqir Hussain, Registrar, Supreme Court ofPakistan, Constitution Avenue, Islamabad. Fax: + 92 51 9213452 E-mail: mail@supremecourt.gov.pk

· Ambassador Zamir Akram,Permanent Mission of Pakistan to the United Nations in Geneva, 56, Rue de Moillebeau,Case Postale 434, 1211 Geneva 19, Switzerland. Fax: +41-22-734-8085. Email: mission.pakistan@ties.itu.int

Please also write to diplomatic representations ofPakistan in your respective countries.

***

Paris-Geneva,March 19, 2013

Kindly inform us of any actionundertaken quoting the code of this appeal in your reply.

The Observatory, a FIDH and OMCTventure, is dedicated to the protection of Human Rights Defenders and aims tooffer them concrete support in their time of need.

To contact the Observatory, callthe emergency line:

• E-mail: Appeals@fidh-omct.org
• Tel and fax FIDH + 33 (0) 143 55 25 18 / +33 1 43 55 18 80
• Tel and faxOMCT + 41 (0) 22 809 49 39 / + 41 22 809 49 29