On July 30, 2010, Parvez Aslam
Choudhry, LADS Chairman, was complainant in the court of Mr. Maher Yousaf ASJ
(additional session’s judge) Lahore
against Sajad Ali, Muhammad Amin, khalid Nadeem , Zafar Maish and
Satar Maish who have illegal occupied his house
As he moved from house about 7.10 am,
one black color car try to hit his
car . He succeded to save his car.
Later one next signal again this act was
repeated by one white color car again he remained save. With this tense situation he has to remain in his office and has
also go back to home at evening.
IHHAE expresses high concern for life safety and family lives will be highly
We urge Pakistan government to act so that illegal occupants be exit from his legal house ;
and to provide Parvez Aslam Choudhry and
other human rights activists’ life safety to continue human rights work
in Pakistan.
Biography : Parvez
Aslam Choudhry, is the chairman of a Lahore-based legal group :
the NGO "Legal Aid for Destitute and Settlement" (LADS), which
provides legal assistance to impoverished detainees and works against
discriminatory laws in Pakistan,
Parvez Aslam Choudhry is a Member High Court Bar Association and Member
Lahore Bar Association in Pakistan,
and former president Christian Lawyers Association Pakistan (CLAP).
Parvez
Aslam Choudhry has defended many blasphemy accused in the High Court
Pakistan, both Muslim and non-Muslim, and has been attacked on several
occasions. He has been in danger before because of his work against the
blasphemy laws. In 2003 he was assaulted while defending a blasphemy
case. He filed a complaint with the police, but says they took no action.
He received frequent death threats while defending blasphemy case against
one Younis Masih, a Christian who was allegedly charged with flinging a
burning matchstick on November 12, 2005 in the Quran
Mahal, a Islamic school situated in the Sangla Hill stadium which caught
fire and is at risk of being sentenced to death.
Since
the trial of Younis Masih began, he has been threatened outside the court
and has also received anonymous telephone death threats, warning him that
his life will be in danger if he continues to represent Younis Masih.
Members of his family have also received threats during the trial of
Younis Masih.
Younis
Masih is alleged to have made derogatory remarks about the Prophet
Mohammed at a religious service held at a house near his own on 9
September 2005, in
the Chunngi Amar Sadu area of Lahore. He denies this, and a local
newspaper quoted his wife as saying that he was attacked after he went to
the house at around midnight and asked the people inside not to sing so
loudly, as he was in mourning for his nephew, who had recently died.
According to the local press, the next day local Muslims looted a number
of Christian homes, and witnesses said that the police did not intervene.
The
Muslim cleric who had led the service filed a complaint against Younis
Masih accusing him of offences under Section 295C of the Pakistan
penal code, which deals with blasphemy. According to his lawyer he is not
facing any other charges. He was arrested on 11 September and taken to
Kot Lakhpat jail, in Lahore, where he is still held. A first bail
petition was rejected by the session's court in Lahore in November and a
second petition is now pending in the Lahore High Court.
Masih
always denied involvement in the desecration of the Quran, regarded by
Muslims as a holy book of Islam.
Parvez
Aslam Choudhry has received numerous anonymous telephone calls, and has
been physically assaulted outside the court. On 26 January 2006on his way
to the jail where he hoped to visit Younis Masih, a van drove into his
car causing him minor injuries. Some of the men in the van got out and
began to attack him as he sat in the car, but got back in the van and
drove off when friends of Parvez Choudhry approached.
On 11 May 2006, unknown assailants deliberately rammed their car into
Parvez Aslam Choudhry’s car, which then was pushed off the road and fell
forty feet. One passenger, lawyer Rana Javed Rafiq, died instantly.
Parvez Aslam Choudhry and his colleague Ijaz Victor were hospitalized for
a number of days after the incident. On two occasions in February and
July 2006, Parvez Aslam Choudhry was threatened at gun point by Muslim
men who warned that his life was in danger if he continued to represent
blasphemy cases.
On 6
April 2008, before the hearing in a blasphemy case in the
court, Parvez Aslam Choudhry was attacked by a large mob
when he arrived at court for the bail hearing. The miror
of the car was broken and car was damged also and the mob
threatened to kill him. On 8 April 2008, he received an anonymous
telephone call threatening both him and his family. He was reportedly
told he was to be killed because he was a Christian lawyer defending a
Christian person accused of blasphemy. Similar threats were also made
against him inside the court by witnesses.
On
25 April 2008, the car in which Parvez Aslam Choudhry, Aslam Masih, Ijaz
Victor and Mubarak Masih were travelling was hit from behind and from the
right-hand side by a red van. The back windscreen was broken, the bumper
was damaged and there were minor injuries to all passengers. On 12
november 2008 after accepting the appeal of medi Hassann Parvez Aslam
Choudhry received three life threats calls from unknown callers. Later on
13 November 2008 and then 14 November 2008, callers continously said that
Parvez Aslam Choudhry was a blasphemr and now he ans his family will be
kill.
On
11 March 2009, police officers arrived at the house of Parvez Aslam
Choudhry, in Youhanabad in Lahore.
The police informed her that Section 144 had been imposed in several
cities of Punjab, effective for 3 days
from 11 March, banning any form of protest march or gathering of people.
On 12 March 2009 lawyers from across Pakistan began a demonstration –
"the lawyers’ long march"- which is due to culminate in a
sit-in outside the Parliament on 16 March. Parvez Aslam Choudhry has
chosen not to return to his home while these restrictions are in place
for fear that he will be detained.
In
2003, Parvez Aslam Choudhry has been awarded the Bishop John Joseph Award
by Pakistan Minorities Front for his outstanding work in defending the
rights of minorities at considerable personal risk.
Background Information :
Christians
comprise less than 3 percent of Pakistan's over 162-million mainly Muslim
people, experts say. (With BosNewsLife Research and reports from
Pakistan).Lawyers defending people accused of blasphemy in Pakistan are
facing growing threats to their lives. Death threats and physical assault
have become a regular occurrence for some lawyers, despite the widespread
misuse of the blasphemy laws. Those accused of blasphemy also face
similar threats. A human rights organization has urged Pakistani
government to ensure protection of lawyers defending people accused of
blasphemy in the country. It has also called for measures to ensure that
the blasphemy accused are treated as innocent until proven guilty.
The
blasphemy laws of Pakistan, while purporting to protect Islam and the
religious sensitivities of the Muslim majority, are vaguely formulated
and arbitrarily enforced by the police and judiciary in a way which
amounts to harassment and persecution of religious minorities. Many of
those accused or suspected of blasphemy have been assaulted or tortured.
People detained on blasphemy charges in prisons including Kot Lakhpat,
where Younis Masih is held, have been killed by fellow detainees or
prison wardens. Others suspected of blasphemy, but not under arrest, have
been unlawfully killed without police taking any action to protect them.
Copyright IDHAE
Please take action on behalf of
Parvez Aslam Choudhry.
Copy
the enclosed IDHAE letter and send it to the address provided.
ADRESSES:
President Asif Ali Zardari,
Office
of the President,
Aiwan-e-Sadr,
Islamabad,
Pakistan.
Fax: +92 51 921 1018
Email: psecyp@isb.paknet.com.pk
LETTRE:
[your
name here]
Your Excellency,
I am writing to draw
your attention to the urgent case of my colleague Pakistani human rights
lawyer, Parvez Aslam Choudhry, who is facing death threats in the run-up
to the final phases of a blasphemy trial, involving Mr. Qamar David.
My colleague
Parvez Aslam Choudhry is a Member
High Court
Bar Association and Member
Lahore Bar Association in Pakistan,
and former president Christian Lawyers Association Pakistan (CLAP). Parvez Aslam Choudhry, is the
chairman of a Lahore-based legal group: the NGO "Legal Aid for
Destitute and Settlement" (LADS), which provides legal assistance to
impoverished detainees and works against discriminatory laws in Pakistan
Since 2003, he
has been threatened outside the court and has also received anonymous
telephone death threats, warning him that his life will be in danger as a
result of his human rights activities.
Recently was
complainant in the court of Mr.
Maher Yousaf ASJ (additional session’s judge) Lahore against Sajad Ali, Muhammad Amin,
khalid Nadeem , Zafar Maish and Satar Maish who have illegal occupied his
house
As he moved from house about 7.10 am, one black color car try to hit his car .
He succeded to save his car. Later
one next signal again this act was repeated by one white color car again he
remained save. With this tense
situation he has to remain in his
office and has also go back to home at evening.
I urge the
authorities in Pakistan to please to :
1.
1.act so
that illegal occupants be exit
from his legal house
2.
Provide as soon as possible
the following minimum protections to Parvez Aslam Choudhry :
3.
Carry out an immediate,
thorough and impartial investigation into the death threats and
intimidation against Parvez Aslam Choudhry, with a view to publishing the
results and bringing those responsible to justice in accordance with
international standards;
4.
Provide a secure means of
transportation, and a police escort when Pares Aslam Choudhry is
attending trials;
5.
2.More generally provide
police guards for his office and his family and particularly his wife
Neelam Shazia so as to guarantee their physical and psychological
integrity in the final days of the trial of Qamar David
6.
Guarantee in all circumstances
that human rights defenders in Pakistan are able to carry out their
legitimate human rights activities without fear of reprisals, and free of
all restrictions including judicial harassment.
I look forward
to hearing from you with regards to this crucial matter.
Yours Sincerely,
[Your signature ]
PLEASE
ACT NOW.
THANK YOU.
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