Your Action Needed Now to Support Pakistani Women’s Rights Activist Mukhtar Mai

Update: June 28, 2005 - Yesterday, Mukhtar Mai attended Supreme Court hearings in Islamabad, Pakistan, against men who allegedly ordered and carried out her rape in 2002. Reports indicate that her passport has been returned to her and that her name is no longer on Pakistan’s “exit control list.” However, police continue to follow and surround her wherever she goes. While the government insists this is for her own protection, Mukhtar Mai asked reporters on June 27: “Are free people like this?”

Alert Issued: June 15, 2005

The Pakistani government is trying to silence human rights defender Mukhtar Mai, whose courage and refusal to be silenced has increased international attention to abuses against women in Pakistan.

In 2002, Mukhtar Mai was gang-raped on orders of a traditional village council as punishment for acts allegedly committed by her younger brother. She courageously testified in court against the men responsible for her rape and, using compensation money, built schools for girls and boys and started a shelter for abused women. She has emerged as a powerful symbol of the brutality and blatant inequality of the justice administered by tribal councils in rural Pakistan.

Earlier this month, Mukhtar Mai was put on Pakistan’s “exit control list,” notorious for preventing government critics from leaving the country, in response to her plans to speak about her experiences in the United States. On Thursday June 9, Mukhtar Mai was placed under strict police watch and prevented from leaving her home, and was later taken to an undisclosed location by government officials.

At a June 14 press conference, a government representative announced that restrictions on Mukhtar Mai’s movement would be lifted, but that a police squad would accompany her for her own protection. She tearfully told Pakistani human rights activists that she had faced significant pressure from the Pakistani government to sign a letter withdrawing her visa application to the United States.

Human Rights First condemns the silencing of Mukhtar Mai. Join us in taking action to demand that Mukhtar Mai’s rights are protected, and that she be free to travel to speak about her experiences.

Tell me more:

In June 2002, Mukhtar Mai was gang-raped on the orders of a council of tribal elders in her village of Meerwala, Pakistan. A rumor had spread through the village that her 14-year-old brother had been seen in public with a girl from a rival tribe. The tribal council of the village ordered that she should be raped, explaining that the rape would shame her family and thus restore the offended tribe's honor. According to a website dedicated to Mukhtar Mai, more than 150 Pakistani women were sentenced to this type of punishment in the first half of 2004. In the presence of a gathered mob, four men who had volunteered to execute her sentence took turns raping Mukhtar Mai for over 90 minutes. Afterwards, Mukhtar Mai was turned into the street with little clothing left to cover her badly beaten body.

It was expected that Mukhtar Mai would take her own life, and in fact she endured one failed attempt. But after her recovery, instead of remaining silent out of fear or shame, Mukhtar Mai began her quest for justice by alerting national and international media. The attention stirred the justice system into action, and Mukhtar Mai’s brave testimony secured verdicts against six men who were responsible for her rape. Mai told reporters: "If more courts start giving decisions like this, I am sure that rapes will be reduced, if not stopped totally. I am satisfied with the decision."

As part of the settlement, Mai was given the equivalent of about $8,000 in compensation, which she used to start a school for boys and the first school for girls in Meerwala. "I hope to make education more readily available to girls, to teach them that no woman should ever go through what happened to me," Mai said. International media attention to the case helped to encourage donations to her cause, which she has used to set up a shelter for battered women and to buy an ambulance for her village.

In March 2005, after an appeal by the convicted men, the Lahore high court overturned the verdict. On June 10, the Lahore court ordered the release of 12 men detained in the case – including the 6 who were originally convicted. Further appeals are expected.

For more information, please see:

A website dedicated to Mukhtar Mai

June 14, 2005 New York Times Editorial by Nicholas D. Kristof

Pakistani Daily Newspaper (in English)

Asian-American Network Against Abuse of Women

Sample Letter:

President Pervez Musharraf
c/o Embassy of the Islamic republic of Pakistan
3517 International Court, NW
Washington DC 200

Dear President Musharraf:

I am disturbed to learn that Mukhtar Mai, whose courageous activism has increased international attention to abuses against women in Pakistan, remains under government surveillance. While she has received her passport and her name has been removed from Pakistan’s “exit control list,” she is followed and surrounded by police at all times. While the government insists this is for her own protection, Mukhtar Mai asked reporters on June 27: “Are free people like this?”

As you know, in 2002, Mukhtar Mai was gang-raped by four men on orders of a traditional village council as punishment for acts allegedly committed by her younger brother. She courageously testified against the men who ordered her rape and, using compensation money and donations resulting from media attention, she built schools for girls and boys and started a shelter for abused women.

Human rights groups invited Mukhtar Mai to travel to the US and speak about her experiences. But reports indicate that earlier this month, she was put on the “exit control list,” preventing her from leaving Pakistan. On Thursday June 9, Mukhtar Mai was placed under strict police watch and prevented from leaving her home, and on Tuesday she was taken from her home to an undisclosed location by government officials.

I am glad to learn that restrictions on Mukhtar Mai’s movement have been lifted, and that her passport has been returned. There is no reason to prevent her from leaving Pakistan, and I hope that the Pakistani government will allow her to travel to the United States independently to speak about women’s rights in Pakistan if she so wishes. Furthermore, police surveillance should be used only for her protection, and only if she expressly consents to it.

Pakistani women’s rights activists have protected rights of assembly, association, and expression under the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the UN Declaration on Human Rights Defenders. I am saddened to learn that rather than protecting the rights of human rights activists, Pakistani officials restrict their ability to assemble, associate, and express their views.

For example, on May 14 human rights activists organized a mini-marathon as a symbolic protest against a ban on female participation in public sports events and to highlight violence against women. The ban came as a response to violence by an alliance of religious parties opposed to a mixed gender road race in April in Gujranwala, Punjab. When participants gathered to begin the race, police first blocked them, and then charged, wielding batons. Approximately 40 participants were forcibly put in police vans and taken to the Model Town investigation center. There were allegations that police singled out women and even intentionally tore their clothes. One detainee reported that a policewoman told her they had orders to do so to “teach them a lesson.” Detainees included several internationally recognized human rights defenders.

The Pakistani government fears Mukhtar Mai tarnishes its image when she speaks out about the gang-rape she endured as punishment for her brother’s alleged acts; but when a government represses its own agents of progress – human rights defenders – it demonstrates to the world its authoritarian disregard for equality and justice.

I urge you to take immediate and effective steps to address restrictions on human rights defenders and the pervasive problem of violence against women that they seek to illuminate. The President’s office should condemn actions against outspoken women activists and ensure that those responsible for curtailing their rights are held accountable.

Thank you for your consideration of this important matter.

Sincerely,

cc. Ambassador Jehangir Karamat
Embassy of Pakistan
3517 International Court, NW
Washington DC, 20008