A woman rights activist’s days in custody
KARACHI, Nov 17: Eminent rights activist and a founder member of the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) Noor Naz Agha, who is a also a lawyer, has been under house arrest after she spent several days in the women prison after her arrest on Nov 3, when Gen Pervez Musharraf proclaimed emergency in the country.
In her letter she wrote during the detention, she describes what it is like to be under house arrest:
“My house has been designated a “sub-jail”. It’s hard to believe. As a lawyer and a founding member of the HRCP, I have visited many prisoners over the years. Now I am one of them.
“As I write, a large number of male police officers are standing outside my front gate; two female officers are sitting in my drawing room. They are polite in their dealings with me. I can’t go out, and only family members are allowed to visit me or stay in the night.
“At the moment (police) officers Huma and Naheed are sitting next to my bedroom. When we eat, they eat with us. They also watch my television. And they keep an eye on me.
“I was arrested on the first day of the emergency – on November 3. It started as a normal day. I went to court and returned home at about 7pm. But half an hour later a police van arrived. An officer got out and told me very politely that he wanted to arrest me. I said OK, let me change my clothes and prepare my bag.
“I was held for several days and nights in the city’s women’s prison. Some lawyers came to see me. Nadja, a young newly-qualified lawyer, was crying. But it wasn’t so bad. The prisoners would sit with me and have tea. When they heard I was a lawyer, they asked me for advice. There were some foreigners, too, on drug smuggling charges, from Sudan and Burma, and one lady from France. Then the superintendent, Sheeba Shah, came and told me that I would be held in my own home.
“The thing that worries me most is my health. They won’t let me go to hospital and I suffer from diabetes and high blood pressure. The day before yesterday my blood sugar was really low and I had no access to a doctor. It was very difficult for me. I am checking my sugar levels. It is the only way. But I have a headache and my body hurts. I used to exercise and walk for half an hour a day, but I’m not able to exercise at home.
“I am not alone in living like this. Across the country other lawyers from the provincial bar councils and Pakistan Bar Council are detained in prison or in their own homes. They are not allowed to meet friends or relatives. The leadership has been arrested except for a few who have gone underground. We are all of us political victims of my country’s regime.
“I think they (the rulers) are afraid that if I was free I could go out and lead the lawyers’ movement opposed to General Musharraf. I can imagine they are afraid of me. I was the first person to challenge the cases of the “missing” in Pakistan. I challenged the use of the army act to try civilians.
“My mother, brothers and sisters are allowed to come to see me. The police have a list of names. Those whose names are on the list are allowed to come into the house. When they come they give all the support they can. Everyone is sympathetic but there’s not much to say, so we talk about everyday things.
“I don’t have (access to) satellite TV. As most of the cable stations have been blocked during the emergency, I get my information from newspapers. Otherwise I rely on other lawyers to call me and tell me the news. The people I am most worried about are my colleagues who are in jail. They don’t have any access to their families or friends. Although I don’t think they would be abused, they don’t have lawyers to represent them and they cannot approach the courts. In any case they don’t want to deal with the judges who took Musharraf’s oath of loyalty; the rubber stamp judges.
“When I watch the news I think every dictatorship eventually comes to an end. I cannot imagine that this country can be forcibly ruled. At any time, I think, Musharraf will be no more. And when I see him on television these days, what I see is a weak person. With the international pressure, I don’t think it will be easy for him to survive this situation.
“And so this evening I am trying to get permission to go to the doctor for a check-up. If I can’t I’ll be at home. So I will study. I will write up my pleadings and read. Perhaps I will watch television or listen to music, because that is all I can do trapped in my home. But I will carry on.”
Source: Dawn
Date:11/18/2007
” 
” 
” 
” 
” 
