Mukhtaran Bibi, who has done some truly wonderful things for women and poor villagers in Pakistan, has been
thrown in jail because Musharraf's government feared that she'd dis Pakistan in her trip to America. If Musharraf's big fear is losing his American support, we have to make it clear to him that jailing feminist heroes is a great way of doing exactly that. At the end of this diary you'll find the email addresses that
Ezra Klein found, for Pakistani diplomats you can email to express your outrage and help Bibi. First, let me reprint some of Nick Kristof's piece on the situation, which I linked above.
Last fall I wrote about Mukhtaran Bibi, a woman who was sentenced by a tribal council in Pakistan to be gang-raped because of an infraction supposedly committed by her brother. Four men raped Ms. Mukhtaran, then village leaders forced her to walk home nearly naked in front of a jeering crowd of 300.
[Update]: Did we just
win? Thanks so much to everyone who emailed!
Ms. Mukhtaran was supposed to have committed suicide. Instead, with the backing of a local Islamic leader, she fought back and testified against her persecutors. Six were convicted.
Then Ms. Mukhtaran, who believed that the best way to overcome such abuses was through better education, used her compensation money to start two schools in her village, one for boys and the other for girls. She went out of her way to enroll the children of her attackers in the schools, showing that she bore no grudges.
Readers of my column sent in more than $133,000 for her. Mercy Corps, a U.S. aid organization, has helped her administer the money, and she has expanded the schools, started a shelter for abused women and bought a van that is used as an ambulance for the area. She has also emerged as a ferocious spokeswoman against honor killings, rapes and acid attacks on women. (If you want to help her, please don't send checks to me but to Mercy Corps, with "Mukhtaran Bibi" in the memo line: 3015 S.W. First, Portland, Ore. 97201.)
A group of Pakistani-Americans invited Ms. Mukhtaran to visit the U.S. starting this Saturday (see www.4anaa.org). Then a few days ago, the Pakistani government went berserk.
On Thursday, the authorities put Ms. Mukhtaran under house arrest - to stop her from speaking out. In phone conversations in the last few days, she said that when she tried to step outside, police pointed their guns at her. To silence her, the police cut off her land line.
After she had been detained, a court ordered her attackers released, putting her life in jeopardy. That happened on a Friday afternoon, when the courts do not normally operate, and apparently was a warning to Ms. Mukhtaran to shut up. Instead, Ms. Mukhtaran continued her protests by cellphone. But at dawn yesterday the police bustled her off, and there's been no word from her since. Her cellphone doesn't answer.
Asma Jahangir, a Pakistani lawyer who is head of the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan, said she had learned that Ms. Mukhtaran was taken to Islamabad, furiously berated and told that President Pervez Musharraf was very angry with her. She was led sobbing to detention at a secret location. She is barred from contacting anyone, including her lawyer.
We've got to make vicious tactics like these into a losing proposition for the dictators who try them. It's time to start emailing the hell out of the Pakistani embassy. In the end, this isn't just for Bibi -- it's for human rights activists everywhere who are at risk of being imprisoned by dictators. Tactics like Musharraf's must fail.
Here's the email I sent. Maybe it's too polite and it doesn't do enough to make the central point that Ezra wanted -- "if she dies, her voice will be far louder than if she lived." Consider it a stepping stone to your better email. Feel free to cut and paste and personalize.
I write to protest the utterly vicious way that Pakistan has treated Mukhtaran Bibi.
She is truly a heroic woman. After having been publicly gang-raped by men of her village at the order of a tribal council, she testified against her persecutors and had them put in prison. She used the money she received as compensation to start schools in her village. When her case became known to the rest of the world and people sent her more money, she expanded the schools, set up an ambulance service, and worked to protect women from violent abuse.
Shortly after she was invited to speak in America, your government put her under house arrest, cut her phone lines, released the men who raped her, and then imprisoned her at a secret location. At this point, nobody can contact her. I am among the many people who are concerned for her safety.
I will telephone my Congressman and Senators tomorrow to express my fury at the imprisonment of Ms. Mukhtaran. I am also doing what I can to make more people aware of her plight. A country that mistreats one of its heroes in this horrific manner deserves no support from America.
Send your email to the following Pakistani diplomats (names provided by
Ezra, who has the email addresses as links, so if you want that, go there.)
His Excellency Mr. Jehangir Karamat ambassador@embassyofpakistan.org
(Ambassador Karamat is probably a fine thing to call him if you don't want to say 'Your Excellency'.)
Mr Mohammad Sadiq is Deputy Chief of Mission and assists the Ambassador in the overall functioning of the Embassy. He deals with both political and administrative issues. dcmsadiq@embassyofpakistan.org
Mr Aslam Khan is Minister (Political) and deals with political issues minpol@embassyofpakistan.org
Mr Shahid Ahmed is Counsellor Community Affairs and deals with the Pakistani community in the United States. shahidahmed@embassyofpakistan.org
Brig Shafqaat Ahmed is the Defence & Military Attache of the Pakistan Embassy. da@embassyofpakistan.org
Mr Ashraf Hayat is the Minister (Trade) and deals with Pakistan-US trade issues. commercialsection@embassyofpakistan.org & compk@rcn.com
Mrs Talat Waseem is the Press Minister and Media Spokesperson of the Embassy pressinfodiv@embassyofpakistan.org