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ACTION . COpy DSG- cdL-- ~)...1 : ::' . : t~ \"' E~ ....... ~11,.. t Pakistan Awami Tehreek (PAT) 365-M, Model Town Lahore United Nations Secretariat Pakistan Office ofSecretary General Mr Ban Ki-Moon W: www.PAT.com.pk 760 United Nations Plaza New York, NY 10017 United States ofAmerica Date: September 24, 2014 Dear Mr Ban Ki-Moon, RE: Serious Complaint Against Pakistan PM, a named Murder Suspect Serious complaints surrounding Pakistani Prime Minister Mr Nawaz Sharifs impending UN speech on September 26, 2014 is the reason we are writing to you which is on behalfof tens of thousands ofpeople who are protesting in Islamabad. We believe that during his address at the UN, he will resort to lying and distort the facts about the current atrocities that his government has been inflicting on innocent Pakistani people and the severe violation ofbasic human rights that he has carried out. For the past 41 days tens of thousands ofpeople have staged one of the biggest and longest anti­ government protests in the heart of Islamabad led by two opposition political parties, the Pakistan Awami T ehreek headed by the leading scholar and politician, Dr Muhammad Tahir-ul-Qadri and the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf CPTI) headed by Imran Khan. The anti-government protest sit-in demands immediate resignation ofthe Prime Minister of Pakistan along with his brother who heads the pro vince of Punjab. Among many others there are two main reasons for this demand. 1. There is conclusive evidence that Mr Sharifcame to power due to large-scale pre-poll rigging which led him to accumulate two-thirds of a majority in the legislative assembly hence is an illegitimate Prime Minister. 2. The Prime Minister and this cabinet have been charged with murder and attempted murder, by using severe acts ofviolence and human rights abuses , for killings of 14 political workers in Lahore on June 17,2014 and killing of 3 further political workers on August 31,2014 in Islamabad. Electoral fraud and illegitimate Prime Minister The corruption in the electoral process has been widely criticized by many including various parliamentarians. Recently it was disclosed by the Interior Minister Chaudhary Nisar Ali Khan in the Parliament. It has also been disclosed by the leaders of the Opposition both in the lower and the upper houses of Parliament and by the former President of Pakistan, AsifAli Zardari. Mr Zardari has been on record saying that he suggested N awaz Sharif to join his government but Mr Sharif rejected the offer responding "next is our turn". L-I fJ Irrefutable evidence on vote rigging has recently been disclosed by both the former ECP Secretary Mr Kanwar Dilshad and the Secretary Mr Afzal Khan. Imran Khan, chairman of PTI has recently demanded that the SharifAdministration recount votes on at least four seats to fix the rigging charge. Tens of thousands ofpeople, however, took to the streets on August, 14 demanding that the illicitly elected PM step down. Rigging has been enabled through collaboration by former President of Pakistan, Mr Asif Ali Zardari, and the opposition lawmakers in the Parliament who introduced the 20th amendment to the Constitution of Pakistan. This empowered the then government and the opposition MPs to jointly constitute the Election Commission of Pakistan and empower them to conduct the general elections through mutually decided returning officers (ROs) supervised by the privileged ECP authorities. Thereafter article 213 was not implemented and the ECP was constituted in violation of this Article. There are serious reservations with regard to the training of 360,000 polling staff in Punjab and Islamabad Capital Territory who are supported by the United Nations Development Program UNDP. In this regard we request that you send an investigation team to probe the rigged elections so that the truth is established. Mr N awaz Sharif has been violating human rights and suppressing the freedom ofexpression of the Pakistanis through his use of the Protection of Pakistan Act (PPA). It is a Black Law that has already been challenged in the Apex Court. It gives Police excessive powers to arrest citizens on the grounds of terrorism detaining and interrogating them for 60 days. He has also employed a special police force to be used against his political rivals. Murder, suspected murder charges against Nawaz Sharif Dr Muhammad Tahir-ul-Qadri an internationally renowned humanitarian and scholar was invited by the people of Pakistan to return home to bring about much needed change through mass protests. He arrived in Pakistan in December 2012 and led a historical peaceful long march to Islamabad to demand electoral reforms which the then government did not allow to implement. When Dr Qadri announced to return to Pakistan on June 23,2014, Mr Nawaz Sharifand his government planned to disrupt Dr Qadri's arrival. A week before his arrival, on June 17, 2014 the younger brother ofNawaz Sharifwho is the ChiefMinister Punjab, Shahbaz Sharifordered the removal of the security barriers that surrounded Dr Qadri's residence and MQI Secretariat in Lahore. Heavily armed police were sent equipped with firearms, bulldozers and armoured vehicles after midnight to launch an offensive attack against PAT workers while they slept. They continued their offensive for 12 hours. Later they opened fire killing 14 including two women, one ofwhom was pregnant and injuring about a hundred. They also arrested hundreds of PAT workers subjecting them to torture, many of them with serious injuries. On 23 June, 2014 the government forced to divert the plane carrying Dr Qadri from Islamabad to Lahore by refusing permission to land at Islamabad airport where thousands of Dr Qadri's supporters were waiting to welcome him. The government subsequently blocked roads with huge containers around the city of Lahore preventing its residents from leaving their houses. This prevented thousands ofpeople from travelling to Islamabad for the protest march. To date 25,000 PAT workers and over 15,000 PTI workers have been jailed. Hundreds of them have been brutally tortured and disabled. A one-sided judicial Tribunal was formed to investigate this incident which pointed out that the Punjab governnlent ordered the crackdown and is responsible for the killings of 14 PAT workers. Dr Qadri has lodged numerous complaints against the government and the police who have killed and injured hundreds of his workers. Following the report ofthe judicial tribunal the High Court orders to register a murder and attempted murder case against the Prime Minister ofPakistan, Chief Minister of Punjab and the federal cabinet ministers who were allegedly involved in the planning of brutal attack on PAT workers. In August 2014, 2 murder and attempted murder cases were registered against the sitting Prime Minister ofPakistan Mr Nawaz Sharif. On August 14, 2014, thousands of protesters marched towards Islamabad to demand his resignation and were subsequently subjected to police brutality and terrorism on the night of30-31 Aug. They shelled the unarmed protesters with poisonous gas causing serious pulmonary disorders. Serious head injuries were sustained by protesters as they were beaten. Rubber and live rounds were fired hitting the protesters in the neck and chest. Over a thousand protesters were injured, many killed and many are still missing. Demanding immediate resignation of the Prime Minister The Pakistani people are demanding that these a prime minister with murder charges must resign. Among the list ofcrimes of the government are looting national wealth, killing hundreds ofinnocent peaceful citizens, depriving the people of Pakistan their basic human rights and subjecting peaceful protesters to state terrorism. The protesters have demanded that N awaz Sharif resign, following other world leaders who have resigned from their posts following much less serious misdemeanours; such as the likes of the PM of South Korea, PM ofLibya, PM ofUkraine and members of French Cabinet. Among vote rigging and murder charges mentioned above Mr Nawaz Sharif is accused of the following: • Hundreds ofcorruption charges • Forcing state institutions to drop up to 143 corruption charges • Denying Basic human rights to the masses • Supressing the implementation ofarticles 1-40 ofconstitution of Pakistan which relate to peoples wellbeing • Using excessive police force to crush protesters • Killing and injuring innocent and unarmed peaceful protestors • Defaming the Pakistani Army who is at present engaged in an operation against terrorists in North Waziristan and who are taking care ofa million lOPs • Purchasing loyalties ofMPs to perpetuate his corruption , . Politicizing the police and the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) Suppressing the freedom ofexpression of the Pakistani people and the media I would question how the United Nations legally and morally allows such a prime minister with murder and attempted murder changes to represent his country at the United Nations? We request that Mr N awaz Sharif therefore is denied any opportunity to address the forthcoming session of the United Nations and instead a full investigation be carried out against him based on the above allegations. With best regards Dr Raheeq Ahmed Abbasi President Pakistan Awami Tehreek (PAT) Phone: +92-300-4268340 Phone: +44-7791-299871.
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