FO directed to rigorously follow case of transgender killed in Saudi Arabia

Pakistani Embassy in Saudi Arabia is following the case which is still under investigation: Senate committee told

Islamabad

Senate Standing Committee on Human Rights on Monday directed the Foreign Office to rigorously follow the case of Muhammad Amin, a transgender who died in the custody of police in Saudi Arabia.

Amin, belonging to Swat, was one of the 35 Pakistani transgenders taken into custody by Saudi Arabia’s police after a raid on a guest house in Riyadh on February 26. 35 arrested persons belonged to various parts of Pakistan including Karachi, Sargodha, Charsadda, Peshawar and Mardan.

Media reports suggested that Amin died after being subjected to torture whereas Saudi authorities denied the reports. The death certificate also suggests that Amin was a heart patient and died in custody due to cardiac arrest.

Family members and civil society activists, who also attended the Standing Committee meeting held under the chairpersonship of Senator Muhamad Mohsin Khan Leghari, came with the evidence that the body of Amin, which was handed over to the family on March 11, carried marks of severe torture.

“He had torture marks all over his face. His teeth were broken and his lower jaw was also hanging. The prisoners in the Saudi jail have also contacted us and have shown us the signs of torture,” claimed rights activist Qamar Waseem who represented the family members of deceased.

In his briefing, Foreign Office representative Muhammad Ejaz said that according to the reports of Saudi Police, the group of transgender persons was involved in immoral activities and used to organized dance parties on commercial basis which otherwise required No Objection Notice from the government. He said that Amin was staying illegally in Saudi Arabia, a claim which was again denied by the family.

The Foreign Office representative said that 29 transgender persons have already been released by the Saudi authorities. He said that, according to the response received by Saudi authorities, at the time of handing over the dead body, the authorities gave an option of performing autopsy which was denied by the family members. “The family also confirmed that Amin was a heart patient and died due to the same reason,” said Ejaz.

Responding to this, Amin’s family members said they agreed to the claim of Saudi authorities under pressure. They alleged that they had suffered immense humiliation at the hands of Saudi authorities in the process of getting the possession of Amin’s body which was then shifted to Pakistan on the expenses paid by the family and friends.

Standing Committee members including Senators Farhat Ullah Babar and Samina Abid were of the opinion that even if the group of transgender persons violated the law, they could have been punished for the crime but they could not be tortured to death in the police custody. “What would be the reaction of Saudi authorities if the same case had happened in Pakistan involving a Saudi national?” asked Samina.

Foreign Office officials said that the Pakistani Embassy in Saudi Arabia is following the case and the case is still under investigation. Farhat Ullah Babar asked the Foreign Office to brief the committee regarding the case after every two weeks.

The Committee also approved The National Commission on the Rights of Child Bill, 2017 with two amendments and formed a sub-committee to review another private member bill titled “The Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Bill, 2017.

The Committee was also briefed about the juvenile Justice and age determination protocol by the Justice Project Pakistan. The representative of the organization shared their reservation about the process of determining the age of juvenile in custody. They shared that 10 per cent of persons executed in past were juvenile which they said is the violation of international commitments as well as the constitution.

However, the authenticity of the data shared by the organization was challenged and criticized by the Senators and the origination was asked to review and confirm the statistics shared in their report.