Urgent Action: DISAPPEARANCES OF FAMILY MEMBERS OF POLITICIANS (Pakistan 58.24)

Three family members of political workers from the opposition party Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) were forcibly disappeared in June 2024. Two brothers of PTI member Azhar Mashwani – Professors Mazhar-ulHassan and Zahoor-ul-Hassan – as well as Shahbaz Gill’s brother, Ghulam Shabbir, were disappeared on June 6 and June 9 respectively. The whereabouts of all three individuals remain unknown despite their families’ efforts to locate them by approaching the police and the court. A pattern of enforced disappearance is emerging, seemingly to intimidate those living abroad who are critical of the Pakistani government and the military. The government of Pakistan must immediately disclose their whereabouts and ensure an effective, independent, and impartial investigation into these disappearances.

PLEASE TAKE ACTION AS SOON AS POSSIBLE UNTIL: October 31, 2024   

take action:

• Write a letter in your own words or using the sample below as a guide to one or both government officials listed. You can also email, fax, call or Tweet them.
• Click here to let us know the actions you took on Urgent Action 58.24. It’s important to report because we share the total number with the officials we are trying to persuade and the people we are trying to help.

 

contact information:

sample letter:

Dear Minister Mohsin Naqvi,

I am writing to express my grave concern about the pattern of disappearances of family members of Pakistan Tehreeke-Insaf (PTI)’s party members. Professors Mazhar-ul-Hassan and Zahoor-ul-Hassan were disappeared from their home in Lahore at approximately 2:45 am, on June 6, 2024. Both are brothers of Azhar Mashwani, social media focal person for former Prime Minister of Pakistan, Imran Khan, who is currently in self-exile outside the country. Subsequently, on June 8, 2024, Ghulam Shabbir, brother of Dr. Shahbaz Gill, former Special Assistant to the Prime Minister (SAPM) for Imran Khan, also disappeared under similar circumstances. Despite their families’ effort to retrieve them, including police reports and appeals to the Lahore High Court, the whereabouts of all these three individuals remain unknown.

Therefore, I urge your Ministry to ensure that the whereabouts of all three disappeared individuals are made known and that their immediate and safe return is guaranteed. I further urge you to ensure an effective, independent, and impartial investigation into the disappearance of these individuals and that all those suspected of criminal responsibility for the disappearance are brought to justice in fair trials before an ordinary civilian court. Finally, I urge you to ensure an end to the practice of enforced disappearance and disclosure of the fate and/or whereabouts of all forcibly disappeared people.

Yours sincerely, 

[YOUR NAME]

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