The Governing Council of the Inter-Parliamentary Union,

Referring to the case of Mr. Riaz Fatyana, a former member of the National Assembly of Pakistan affiliated with the Pakistan Muslim League Q and a former substitute member of the IPU Standing Committee on Democracy and Human Rights, and to the resolution it adopted at its 193rd session (October 2013),

Taking into account the information provided by a member of the delegation of Pakistan who appeared before the Committee on the Human Rights of Parliamentarians during the 130th IPU Assembly (Geneva, March 2014), and the information transmitted by the sources,

Recalling that Mr. Fatyana was the Chairman of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Human Rights and has been a vocal critic of Pakistan’s police system, repeatedly denouncing police heavy-handedness and brutality in parliamentary debates, and that he has been outspoken on other violations of human rights, such as missing persons, targeted and extrajudicial killings, abuse of authority and acts of torture carried out by law enforcement agencies,

Recalling the following information on file:

• On 19 June 2012, Mr. Fatyana’s residence was attacked by a group of people protesting against repeated power shortages, allegedly at the instigation of the ruling political party in Punjab province, the Pakistan Muslim League-N (PML-N);

• Mr. Fatyana, who was expecting such protests would take place, had given prior notice to the police the day before to ensure that proper security measures would be put in place for his protection; the police did not, however, take any precautionary measures; Mr. Fatyana called them again when the protesters gathered in large numbers in front of his residence, but to no avail; the protests turned into violent confrontations and one person was killed as a result of the violence;

• The police, when they finally arrived, allegedly allowed the attackers free access to his house and arbitrarily arrested and detained Mr. Fatyana for three days; they also arrested 13 of his employees;

• While in detention, Mr. Fatyana and the 13 employees were charged with murder by the police; the sources allege that these charges were fabricated and were not supported by any evidence; after a long investigation, the charges against Mr. Fatyana were dismissed but the proceedings continued against the 13 detained employees until the court finally acquitted them all in March 2013;

• The police initially refused to register Mr. Fatyana’s complaint against the alleged attackers of his residence, but eventually did so on 22 June 2012, following the intervention of the Provincial Police Office (FIR No. 206/12); however, the police has not investigated the complaint lodged by Mr. Fatyana and none of the alleged attackers have been arrested to date; the case therefore currently remains pending before the trial court of Kamalia almost two years after the attack; it further appears that the report of the Commissioner and the District Coordinator Officer on the incident exposed a personal vendetta of the local police against Mr. Fatyana and confirmed the names of the alleged attackers; however, instead of arresting these suspects, the police arrested a member of Mr. Fatyana’s personal staff; furthermore, no sanction has been taken against the police officers responsible for Mr. Fatyana’s arbitrary arrest and for bringing trumped-up charges against him;

• The alleged attackers have continuously threatened Mr. Fatyana with reprisals if he pursues the case against them; Mr. Fatyana has also been threatened by the police; while in detention, he was told by police officials that he should not run in the forthcoming National Assembly elections, otherwise he and his family would face reprisals; he was forced to flee his constituency, together with his entire family, after these events; the sources allege that Mr. Fatyana was not able to run his electoral campaign properly as the police did not provide him with the security he required to move around and campaign freely in his constituency;

• The sources believe that Mr. Fatyana has been framed by the Punjab police, at the instigation of PML-N leaders in Punjab and of Mr. Chourdry Asad ur Rehman Ramdey, his long-standing main political opponent in the constituency, in order to sideline him in the run-up to the general elections in May 2013; the sources indicated that the local police, the lower ranks of the judiciary and the local administration of Punjab are completely controlled by these officials;

• Mr. Fatyana was not re-elected in the May 2013 general elections and is no longer a member of parliament; the sources claim that the elections in Mr. Fatyana’s constituency were rigged in favour of his political opponent - who was elected - and indicated that a complaint has been lodged with the election tribunal on these grounds,

Considering that, during the hearing held at the 130th IPU Assembly, the member of the delegation of Pakistan confirmed that the judicial proceedings were still ongoing and had so far been conducted in a satisfactory manner; however, none of the alleged attackers have been arrested to date and neither have the complicit police officers been sanctioned for arbitrarily arresting and detaining a member of parliament; a high court judge has been appointed to probe into these matters and the outcome of this judicial inquiry is awaited,

1. Thanks the member of the delegation of Pakistan for the information provided;

2. Notes with interest that there has been some progress in the settlement of the case but remains deeply concerned that the alleged perpetrators remain at large, although their identities are known to the competent authorities and fails to understand why proceedings before the High Court have not yet been completed almost two years after the events;

3. Is equally concerned that the complicit police officers have not yet been sanctioned and urges the competent authorities to take urgent action in that respect;

4. Notes with appreciation that the Pakistani Parliament continues to monitor the case; expects that it will continue to take all appropriate action to ensure the satisfactory settlement of the case and wishes to be kept informed of any developments;

5. Requests the Secretary General to convey this resolution to the parliamentary authorities and to the sources;

6. Requests the Committee to continue examining this case and to report back to it in due course.

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