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Pakistan: HRCP mourns the loss of Rashid Rehman

12 May 2014

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Press release

HRCP mourns the loss of Rashid Rehman

Lahore, May 8: The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan is deeply
grieved at the killing of its Multan Task Force coordinator, Rashid Rehman,
Advocate.

Rashid was a committed rights activist and lawyer and had been associated
with HRCP for over twenty years.

It must be recalled that on 10 April, through a statement, the Commission
had brought it to the attention of the authorities that Rashid was being
openly threatened by prosecution lawyers in the Multan District Prison
where he was representing a blasphemy accused. The hearing was being held
in the prison due to security concerns. The judge, it was reported, did not
take any notice of threats issued to Rashid in his presence. Three persons
had addressed defence lawyer Rashid Rehman in the judge’s presence and
said: ‘You will not come to court next time because you will not exist any
more.’

It is regrettable that no attention was paid to HRCP’s or Rashid’s concerns
and nothing was done to apprehend the three persons who had threatened
Rashid. In its earlier statement, HRCP had demanded that the three persons
who had threatened defence lawyer Rashid Rehman in the case be “proceeded
against under the law without delay and effective measures are taken to
ensure the defence lawyer’s security.â€

HRCP demands that cases be immediately registered against those who had
threatened Rashid and his killers be brought to justice. It would be a
travesty of justice for the cause of human rights and for Rashid’s family
if this plea was also ignored and meaningful action was not taken.

Rashid had bravely decided to represent a blasphemy accused in a society
where bigots believe that those accused do not have the right of defence.
In his death, HRCP has lost a courageous and committed human rights
defender. The forces of religious extremism, unchecked by the state, may
have won a battle but not the war.

Zohra Yusuf

Chairperson
Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP)
107-Tipu Block, New Garden Town, Lahore - 54600
Phone: (92-42) 35845969 Fax: (92-42) 35883582
eMail: hrcp@hrcp-web.org