Rape Victim Seeks Justice: Please Help

Gang Rape of a Lady Doctor and the cover up by the Pakistan Military regime

Military regimes in Pakistan have a long history of suppressing minority groups and women by violating their basic human rights. The present military dominated government is acting no different despite its pretensions to the so-called enlightened moderation. It is presently engaged in the most despicable attempts to cover up a rape case in which military personnel are reported to be involved.

According to the news reports, a Captain and his accomplices belonging to the Defense Security Group gang-raped Dr Shazia Khalid on the night of 2-3 January 2005 at Sui in Balochistan, the Southwestern province of Pakistan. The victim lady doctor was hit, beaten, tortured, threatened to be burned to death and then repeatedly gang-raped. Afterwards she was kept unconscious for three days by giving her tranquilizers so that she could not report or speak about the incident to the police. Later, instead of conducting a medical examination and allowing her to register a case, she was involuntarily moved out of the province and admitted in a psychiatric clinic in Karachi, Sindh.

After a public furor, the Police officers of Dera Bugti pursued the probe into the case and gathered evidence that proved the occurrence of the heinous crime. Pakistan Petroleum Company (PPL), the employer of the doctor however continued to stonewall the investigations under the Army pressure. Documents of Police investigations and the cover-up were made available to the South Asia Tribune, an Internet newspaper, recently. They included a five page detailed report sent on Jan 7, 2005 by the Deputy Superintendent Police, Dera Bugti Circle to the District Nazim of the area, the administrative head.

Khalid Aman, the victim's husband in an interview with daily Dawn on Thursday, Feb 03, stated that he and his family were being pressurized to keep silent on the issue. He further said, "We now feel insecure, we need justice, and want the man responsible to be arrested and punished in accordance with law."

The UN tribunals have recently declared institutional, systematic rape a crime against humanity. The International Criminal Court (ICC) Statute, commonly referred as the Rome Statute, unequivocally declares rape as a crime against humanity under its Article 7, paragraph 2(f).

We therefore appeal the international community and the human rights organizations to condemn the rapists and their supporters. We also request the international community and the human rights organizations including the United Nations Commissioner for Human rights to pressurize Pakistan Military Regime to bring the culprits of this heinous crime against humanity to the courts of law to be punished according to the international Statute and also to provide security to the gang-rape victim lady doctor and her family who need to be relieved of the pain and torture caused by the threats and the denial of justice from the military backed government of Pakistan.

SANA Human Rights Committee

Sindhi Association of North America (SANA) is the largest democratic, representative community organization of Sindhis living in North America. For further information, please visit: www.sanalist.org