Pakistan: 11-year-old Christian girl with Down's Syndrome arrested for blasphemy

Pakistan's blasphemy law is an ongoing human rights abuse, abundantly documented here at Jihad Watch over the years. The West should be condemning Pakistan and pressuring it to drop this law. Instead, under pressure from the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), Western countries are on the verge of adopting laws very like this one. "11-year-old girl arrested in Pakistan on charges of blasphemy," from the PTI, August 18 (thanks to G.S.):

ISLAMABAD: An 11-year-old Christian girl has been arrested in Pakistani capital on a charge of blasphemy after she was accused of burning pages of the Quran, police said on Saturday.

Officials of Ramna police station said an FIR had been registered against Rimsha Masih, a resident of Umara Jaffar in sector G-12 in Islamabad.

The girl was arrested on Friday by personnel from a women's police station after a man named Syed Muhammad Ummad filed a complaint against her.

However, an NGO named 'Christians in Pakistan' reported on its website that the girl has 'Down Syndrome' and had been falsely accused of burning 10 pages of the Quran.

The NGO said other Christians living in sector G-12 had been "threatened by extremists" who wanted to burn down their village on Friday.

It said some 300 people had left their homes and were in hiding due to the threats....

UPDATE: Take action. From the Asian Human Rights Commission (thanks to David):

The AHRC writes a separate letter to the UN Special Rapporteur on freedom of religion or belief and Independent Expert on minority issues calling for their intervention into this matter.

SAMPLE LETTER:

Dear ___________,

PAKISTAN: A mentally retarded minor girl is arrested on the charges of blasphemy; her mother and sister are missing after their arrest

Name of victims:

1. Miss Ramsha, 11, mentally retarded, daughter of Misraf Masih, resident of Hameera abadi, sector G-8, Islamabad
2. Miss Mashal, daughter of Misraf Masih, resident of Hameera abadi, sector G-8, Islamabad
3. Mrs Misraf Masih, resident of Hameera abadi, sector G-8, Islamabad

Names of alleged perpetrators:
Police officials of Ramna Police Station, Islamabad

Date of incident: August 16, 2012
Place of incident: Hameera abadi, sector G-8, Islamabad

I am writing to voice my deep concern regarding the case of misuse of the blasphemy of Islamabad against a11 year old mentally retarded Christian girl for burning the papers collected from the garbage.

It is very shocking for me that the minor girl has been sent to Adiala prison which is only for adults instead of sending her to protective child welfare centers known as remand homes which are in every city if the country. Her mother and sister are also missing after they custody by the Ramna police station, Islamad and their whereabouts are unknown.

Miss Ramsha, 11, mentally retarded, daughter of Misraf Masih, was the residing at Hameera abadi, sector G-8, Islamabad with a sizeable numbers of Christians, and was collecting used papers from the garbage for night cooking as there is no gas connections and poor people depend on burning wood. When after sun set she was burning the copies of newspapers, collected from the garbage, a Muslim lady entered her house and started shouting that Ramsha is burning the papers from holy Quran. At that time her elder sister, Mashal, 14, was at home and her father and mother were out for their job. At this moment both sisters told the Muslim crowd, which was gathered after listening the shouting from Muslim lady, that the papers were from garbage and those are from newspapers but the crowd started beating them and suddenly their mother also arrived and she was also beaten. The other Christian residents also tried to settled the issue but they were beaten. Both sisters and her mother received the injuries and in the meanwhile the owner of the house, a Mulim man, arrived and called the police in the effort to save the Christians.

Police took the mother nad her two daughters in custody. A first information report (FIR) was filed in the Ramna police station in which Miss Ramsha was made the main accuse of blasphemy. But police arrested all the three. Seeing the tension in the area as Muslim activists on the instigation from the mosques started attacking and burning the Christian houses, Ramna police immediately sent the minor to the notorious Adiala prison and kept her mother and sister in the women police station for some time. When activists tried to gather out side the Ramna police station, the police shifted both mother and sister to some unknown place and according to police this action was taken for their safety. But the father of the victims and other Christians are suspicious of their missing and it was accused that both mother and daughter have been taken away by some militants.

The Christians from different slums areas of the Islamabad, capital of Pakistan, have started leaving their communities and apprehend that their houses would be attacked and burned. The Islamabad administration has yet not taken any action to protect the Christian population.

It is also accused by Christian population that some powerful persons want to grab the Christian dominating areas for their commercial purposes and using the Muslim activists.

I therefore urge you to investigate the incident of Hameera abadi, Islamabad where a mentally retarded minor girl was arrested on the charges of blasphemy and kept in the Adiala prison where minors are not allowed to be detained. I urge you to immediately release the minor and recover her mother and sister who are missing after their arrest. Please also prosecute the concerned police officials of the Ramna police station for filing the case of blasphemy against mentally retarded minor and with out the proper investigation.

Yours sincerely,

----------------

PLEASE SEND YOUR LETTERS TO:

1. Mr. Asif Ali Zardari
President of Pakistan
President's Secretariat
Islamabad
PAKISTAN
Tel +92 51 9204801+51 9214171
Fax: +92 51 9207458
Email: publicmail@president.gov.pk

2.Mr. Raja Pervez Ashraf
Prime Minister of Pakistan
Prime Minister House
Islamabad
PAKISTAN
Fax: + 92 51 9221596
E-mail: secretary@cabinet.gov.pk, pspm@pmsectt.gov.pk

3. Dr. Fehmida Mirza
Speaker, National Assembly of Pakistan
Parliament house, Islamabad,
PAKISTAN
Email: speaker@na.gov.pk
Tel. No. +92 51 920 3734 +92 51 922 1082
Fax: +92 51 920 4673 / +92 51 922 1106

4.Mr. Maula Bux Chandio
Federal Minister
Ministry of Law, Justice & Parliamentary Affairs
Government of Pakistan,
R block, Pak Secretariat
Islamabad, PAKISTAN
Tel: 92-51- 9202712
FAX: 92-51-9202541
E-mail: minister@molaw.gov.pk

5. Federal Minister for Human Rights
Ministry of Human Rights
Old US AID Building
Ata Turk Avenue
G-5, Islamabad
PAKISTAN
Fax: +92 51 9204108
E-mail: sarfaraz_yousuf@yahoo.com

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

Thank you.

Urgent Appeals Programme
Asian Human Rights Commission (ua@ahrc.asia)