——————————————————
Islamic Human Rights Commission
——————————————————-
11 December 2007
Alert Update: ‘Afzal Petition: A Quest for Justice’ Uploaded
1. Background
The book, ‘The Afzal Petition: A Quest for Justice’ detailing vital information about Afzal Guru’s case has been uploaded on the website. This book will serve as reinforcement to the Afzal Guru campaign and contains important details about Mr Guru’s case from people who are directly involved. The book contains the petition that Mr Guru wrote to the President of India. The summary at the back of the book states:
‘Here for the first time the people can read Afzal’s petition to the President of India. The Annexures to the petition consist of court records, submissions made by the prosecution and extensive quotes from the Supreme Court Judgment. A reading of the Afzal Petition will reveal the shocking fact the [sic] Afzal was awarded a death sentence not on legal grounds but on political grounds, to “satisfy the collective conscience of the society.”’
The book can be downloaded at the link https://www.ihrc.org.uk/show.php?id=3062
IHRC urges all campaigners to take urgent action to save the life of Muhammad Afzal Guru, a Kashmiri Muslim facing execution for his alleged role in the attack on the Indian Parliament in December 2001.
Afzal faces hanging although:
• There is no direct evidence against him and he is known not to have injured or harmed anyone.
• The Courts have found that the investigating agencies deliberately fabricated evidence and forged documents against him and others accused.
• He was severely tortured by the Special Cell of the Delhi police and was forced to “confess” in front of the national media thereby prejudicing the outcome of the trial.
• He was denied an opportunity to defend himself – he did not even have a lawyer.
Afzal was due to be hanged on October 20, 2006 but a stay on his execution was obtained through a Mercy Petition to the Indian President. He is still waiting to hear whether the President will intervene to save his life. Right-wing elements in India have begun a campaign to speed up the process of execution.
The former President of India, Dr A P J Abdul Kalam, was presented with the appeals of clemency for Afzal Guru when he addressed the European Parliament on 25 April 2007. However, there has been no progress since then.
For further details of Afzal Guru’s case, please visit https://www.ihrc.org.uk/show.php?id=2480, http://justiceforafzalguru.org/ and http://www.saveafzalguru.org/
2. Suggested Action
IHRC requests campaigners to write to the following parties. For sample letters please visit https://www.ihrc.org.uk/show.php?id=2585 Please copy letters to info@ihrc.org
a) Send Afzal Guru a letter of support and encouragement. Send letters to
Mohammad. Afzal Guru
s/o Habibullah
Convict under Death Sentence
High Security Ward,
Jail No.3,
Tihar Jail,
Delhi-110018
India
b) Write to the Indian president and appeal to her to rescind Afzal’s death sentence and grant him a full presidential pardon.
Smt. Pratibha Devisingh Patil
President of India
Rashtrapathi Bhawan,
New Delhi 110001
INDIA
Fax: +91 11 2301 7290
Email: presidentofindia@rb.nic.in
c) Write to your local Indian embassy / high commission. The details for the Indian High Commission in London are below. For your local embassy details, please see http://india.gov.in/overseas/indian_missions.php
HE Mr Kamalesh Sharma
Office of the High Commissioner for India
India House
Aldwych
London WC2B 4NA
Fax: +44 207 836 4331
d) Write to the Chairperson of Indian National Human Rights Commission and appeal to him to work diligently for Afzal’s immediate release.
Dr. Justice Shivaraj V. Patil,
Chairperson,
National Human Rights Commission,
Faridkot House,
Copernicus Marg
New Delhi 110001
India
Fax: +91 11 2338 4863
Email: covdnhrc@nic.in, ionhrc@nic.in
e) Write to the Foreign Minister of your country requesting them to intervene in the case.
UK campaigners can write to:
Rt. Hon David Milliband MP
Foreign & Commonwealth Office
King Charles Street
London
SW1A 2AH
Fax: +44 207 839 2417
Email: private.office@fco.gov.uk
UK campaigners can also write to their MP and request him/her to sign the Early Day Motion to save Afzal Guru. The EDM has been tabled by John McDonnell MP calling for the death sentence to be revoked and for an inquiry into the conviction. The EDM can be read at http://edmi.parliament.uk/EDMi/EDMDetails.aspx?EDMID=33105&SESSION=885
For contact details of who your MP is and where to write to them, visit http://www.writetothem.com
f) Write to the President of the European Parliament Mr Hans-Gert Poettering, MEP and request that he call upon the President of India to grant Afzal Guru a full presidential pardon.
Prof. Dr. Hans-Gert Poettering, MEP
President
Europäisches Parlament Rue Wiertz PHS 11B011 BE-1047 BRÜSSEL
Fax : +32 (0)2 28 49769
Email: hans-gert.poettering@europarl.europa.eu
Campaigners in EU countries can also write to their MEP and ask him to raise it with both the President of India and the President of the European Parliament. UK-based campaigners can find out details for their MEPs at the link below
http://www.europarl.org.uk/uk_meps/MembersMain.htm
————————————————————————————————————
IHRC is an NGO in Special Consultative Status with the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations
Please help IHRC by visiting https://www.ihrc.org.uk/catalog and making a donation or buying an item from our on-line store.
If you want to subscribe to the IHRC list please send an email to subscribe@ihrc.org
If you want to unsubscribe from the IHRC list please send an email from your subscribed email address to unsubscribe@ihrc.org
If you are reusing this alert, please cite the source.
For more information, please contact the office on the numbers or email below.
“And what reason have you that you should not fight in the way of Allah and of the weak among the men and the women and the children, (of) those who say: Our Lord! Cause us to go forth from this town, whose people are oppressors, and give us from Thee a guardian and give us from Thee a helper.”
Holy Qur’an: Chapter 4, Verse 75
Join the Struggle for Justice. Join IHRC.
Islamic Human Rights Commission
PO Box 598
Wembley
HA9 7XH
United Kingdom
Telephone (+44) 20 8904 4222
Fax (+44) 20 8904 5183
Email: info@ihrc.org
Web: www.ihrc.org
