ICC Note:

A Christian human rights group concerned with Pakistan is demanding questions be asked of Pakistan’s notoriously brutal police forced after a fourth Christian man has died in their custody. According to the British Pakistani Christian Association (BPCA), Liaquat Masih was recently beaten to death by Pakistani police after being falsely implicated in a theft from his employer. BPCA says this is not the first time a Christian who has been falsely accused of a crime has died in police custody. According the them, three other Christians have met similar fates as the police often used torture as a means to extract confessions. 

1/20/2016 Pakistan (Crossmap) – A Pakistani Christian man has died whilst in custody of the notoriously brutal police force of Pakistan, according to the British Pakistani Christians Association (BPCA) www.britishpakistanichristians.org.

BPCA reports that Liaquat Masih (aged 47) — “the victim in this recent devastating police crime” — had been serving for fifteen years as driver for Raza Hameed, the son of Gujuranwala politician S.A. Hameed of ‘Pakistan Tehreek Insaaf’ (PTI). Liaquat was described as a model employee by other colleagues and was a devout Christian who attended church regularly, and was an Elder at his local church.

“Sadly, on November 15, 2015 he was arrested for theft under circumstances that are suspicious and are alleged to be false by family and friends, who state he was completely innocent and framed because he is a Christian,” said Wilson Chowdhry, chairman of BPCA.

BPCA says the allegation came from his employer who accused him of stealing gold from his home, despite the 15 years of loyal unbroken service he provided. ”The family believes this was an attempt to extort the money out of the family to replace the gold that had been stolen from them, as Mr Hameed had no insurance,” said Chowdhry. Arresting officers took Liaquat to the local police station in Rahwali Cantt, and he was later placed on judicial remand at Gujuranwala Prison.

BPCA reports Liaquat Masih was detained without evidence and tortured frequently in hope that he would yield to the police and confess to the crime. ”However, Liaquat continued to uphold his innocence and the torture increased in severity,” Chowdhry said.

BPCA said that on the day of Liaquat’s death his 20-year-old son Khurram, who was also arrested and tortured, witnessed his father being hung by his arms and beaten. “Finally his weakened and emaciated body (due to poor nourishment in the cells), gave in to the torture and Liaquat died on January 13, 2016,” Chowdhry said.

Sajid Mehmood, Station Head Officer told the BPCA: “The accused man Liaquat had a heart attack, so we transported him to the local hospital. Liaquat did not survive the attack.”

Mohammad Amin, Investigation officer, said: “Liaqat Masih was brought to the police station from Gujarnawala prison to answer a further allegation by his former employer. During the investigation, he had a stroke and was taken to the local hospital.”

Liaquat leaves behind his wife Rubina (aged 40 ) and four children, Khurram (20), Kinza (15), Adeel (12), and Zarish (9). Hundreds of Christians from across Pakistan attended the wake to share their condolences and show solidarity.

Police officers delayed informing the family of the death by over 24 hours, a process local Christians believe allowed the local constabulary to hide evidence of their wrongdoing and gave an opportunity for preparation and synchronization of their alibi, the BPCA said in its report.

Questions are being asked about Liaquat’s death. His passing away whilst in custody is the fourth incident of a Christian being killed in a prison cell by alleged police brutality, since BPCA was founded. Robert Danish was the first reported incident – killed September 15, 2009. BPCA later reported the death of Qamar David in similar circumstances – killed March 15, 2011, and then on March 11, 2015 BPCA reported on the murder of Zubair Rashid.

Wilson Chowdhry stated: “In all previous cases police refused to investigate police brutality and alleged that the three men had committed suicide. Sadly, during court investigation of each and every one of those cases judges determined paucity of evidence prevented action against the perpetrators of the torture. Thus all the police implicated in the violence were exonerated — a judgement we expect to be replicated for the death of Liaquat Masih.”

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