The Justice Bulletin: Plight of Migrant Workers

Volume II
September 2016
The Justice Bulletin:
Special points of interest:
Migrant Workers’ Rights
Plight of Migrant Workers
Forsaken Lives
Inside this issue:
A Vile Nexus 2
Tales from Saudi Jails 2-3
The Need for a Consular Policy 2
Examples for Pakistan 2
Tragedy of Asmat Hayat 3
Zulfiqar - A ‘Lucky’ Escape 3
More than Just Numbers 4
On 29 August 2016, around 120 grieving Pakistanis
gathered outside the Lahore Press Club,
desperate to have their voices heard. These 120
individuals from all over the country had one
thing in common: their loved ones are facing the
executioner’s axe in Saudi Arabia while the Government
of Pakistan sits idly by.
There are more than 2000 Pakistanis currently
languishing in deplorable conditions of the Saudi
jails. Since 2014, 40 Pakistanis have been executed
in Saudi Arabia and it is feared that many
more Pakistanis will soon join this list. Only the
Government of Pakistan, by intervening on the
behalf of its citizens, can stop this alarming trend.
Imprisoned migrant workers are frequently tortured
and forced into signing confessions they do
not understand. Their trials are just as farcical, as
they are not provided unbiased translators or free
consul. Denied a fair chance to present their
case, the migrant workers are often sentenced to
be beheaded for drug trafficking—regardless of
the fact that these poor migrant workers are coerced
into being mules in the first place. Despite
knowledge of these facts, and repeated pleas
Families of imprisoned migrant workers protest in Lahore
from family members, the embassy of Pakistan
and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs rarely step in.
After being sentenced, the execution can take
place at any time and any date in a totally arbitrary
manner. These prisoners, cut off from their
families and support networks, are doomed to be
buried in a nameless pile without a trace, as if
they never lived. Their families never receive their
bodies and remain uninformed of their execution.
Pakistanis Abroad - Importance and Obligations
Remittance (in USD Millions)
for FY16
Saudi Arabia
Other GCC
5690.39
1966.1
UAE
Rest of the World
4833.43
3545.3
64% of Pakistan’s remittance comes from poor migrant workers in the GCC
96 percent of Pakistan’s total migrant population is concentrated
in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries
1.5 million Pakistanis are employed as blue collar workers in Saudi
Arabia and contribute greatly to Pakistan’s economy
There are more than 8500 Pakistanis imprisoned abroad with
around 2390 in Saudi Arabia alone
Under the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations, it is incumbent
on the GCC countries to share information on Pakistanis they
have imprisoned. More crucially, the convention obligates the
Pakistani government to take up the cases of its citizens
However, the Pakistani government has repeatedly failed to intervene
on behalf of its citizens imprisoned abroad

Page 2
The Justice Bulletin: Plight of Migrant Workers
A Vile Nexus:
Travel Agents and Drug
Traffickers
Perhaps the biggest villains in the
sorry saga of imprisoned migrant
workers are the predatory travel
agents in bed with drug traffickers.
These travel agents, often licensed
Overseas Employment
Promoters (OEP), identify and
target individuals from economically
and socially disadvantaged
backgrounds and areas. They fill
their heads with fantasies and
exploit the lure of working near
the revered Muslim holy lands
that is prevalent in the Pakistani
imagination.
Thereafter the agents force the
poor individuals, often by torture
or threats, to become drug mules
and made to ingest capsules of
drugs right before their flights
and instructed to deliver it to
someone. But many of them are
caught on arrival, and unceremoniously
sentenced to death by a
kangaroo court.
Vienna Convention on Consular
Relations
Article 36 places an obligation on
host countries to share information
of prisoners with their country
of origin
UN Body of Principles For
The Protection of All Persons
Under Any Form of Detention
or Imprisonment
Principle 16(2): A detained foreign
national has to be provided
communication with his national
embassy or consulate
International Obligations
On Pakistan and KSA
The Treaty of Friendship
between Saudi Arabia and
Pakistan
The following snippets are from interviews conducted
by JPP’s investigation team with current
or former prisoners in Saudi Arabia and families
of those languishing in Saudi Jails. Names and
places may be changed to protect privacy.
Exploitation by agents promising employment
“… men put him in a car and told him that they
are taking him to the airport, but instead they
took him to somewhere in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
Once they were there, the men threatened Liaqat
at gunpoint that they would kill his family if he
would not ingest some pills. Under severe duress
and out of fear for his life and that of his family’s,
Liaqat swallowed the pills.” - Ramzan, brother-inlaw
of Liaqat Ali, a Pakistani executed for drug
trafficking in 2015
What is Consular Assistance?
It is the help and advice provided
by the diplomatic agents
of a country to their fellow citizens
working or travelling in a
foreign country.
This help can take the form of
replacing documents, and supporting
in the case of accident,
illness, death or legal trouble.
Does Pakistan Have a Codified
Consular Policy?
In short, no. In response to a
High Court petition filed by the
India
In October 2015, the Indian
Minister of External Affairs condemned
the attack on an Indian
domestic worker by her employer
who chopped her arm
off. The victim was extended
consular and legal help by the
Indian Embassy in Saudi Arabia
to pursue charges against her
employer
JPP Files: Tales from Saudi Jails
The Dire Need for a Consular Policy
JPP on behalf of 10 migrant
workers locked up in Saudi jails,
the Pakistani government submitted
a set of diffused
‘guidelines’ that it adheres to
when dealing with cases of
Pakistani prisoners abroad.
However, the government’s
reply betrayed a lack of a comprehensive
policy located in one
authoritative document with
clearly defined mechanisms or
roles and responsibilities of the
government.
Examples for Pakistan
Sri Lanka
In 2014, the Sri Lankan government
got Saudi Arabia to sign a
labor deal which would protect
the rights of the 500,000 Sri
Lankans working in the country.
Moreover, the Sri Lankan embassy
established a 24-hour
hotline where distressed workers
could call for help.
Lack of lawyers or translators in Saudi courts
“The trial was conducted in Arabic and I was not
provided with a tarjuman (translator). I could not
understand the proceedings at all, and I was not
provided with a lawyer either despite not being
able to afford to pay for my lawyer” - M.A., prisoner
on death row
Torture and forced confessions
“I was interrogated more than 20 times….. I told
them my story and how I was forced to supply
drugs. They tortured me and gave electric shocks
and due to that my mental condition became
worse…. The officials made me sign a confession
paper I did not understand because it was in
Arabic…” - A.Q., prisoner on death row
Guidelines are NOT Enough
Guidelines are not readily disseminated
or made available
for the public. Thus there is a)
lack of understanding among
officials and b) no awareness
for prisoners about their rights.
The inherent vagueness of procedure
and categories like
“deserving Pakistanis” provide
room for bureaucratic inaction.
Thus a majority of Pakistanis
imprisoned abroad receive no
relief from the Pakistani consulates.
Philippines
The Filipino government actively
intervenes on behalf of its
“Overseas Filipino Workers”
(OFW). A 2011 inquiry found:
“There is no doubt that Department
of Foreign Affairs personnel
actively monitor developments
in the death row cases
and make active representation
for the OFWs involved…”
http://focusweb.org/sites/www.f
ocusweb.org/files/COWA_report_
Saudi.pdf

Volume II
Page 3
No Consular support
“During the period of my detention, no one from
the Pakistani embassy ever visited the jail. Even
prisoners who had been in jail since a long time
told me that people from Pakistani embassy
never visited. Officials from Bangladesh, Sudan
and even India used to come to the jail at least
once a month. Even if they cannot help their prisoners,
they at least provide prisoners with some
courage.” - Asad, deported prisoner
No information given to families
“I only found out about my son’s arrest, imprisonment
and conviction when his fellow inmates
contacted his family through illegal means. The
only mode of communication, all these
years….has been through illegal channels. I have
Fatal Promises of Pilgrimage: The Tragedy of Asmat Hayat
The following narrative is gleaned from
interviews with Asmat’s family members
Asmat Hayat, a resident of a small Punjabi
village, thought he had won the lottery when
Sarfraz Andi, an Overseas Employment Promoter,
told him of a Haji Sahib who sent
poor but pious men to Saudi Arabia for pilgrimage
free of cost.
Asmat, 50, was a farmer without any formal
education. To make the deal more appealing,
the agent offered to handle Asmat’s visa
application and related paperwork for him.
Asmat bid farewell to his wife and six children
in 2009, and ostensibly left for
ummrah. They would never see each other
again.
Asmat went with his brother Amjad to Islamabad
to meet the agent, as instructed.
However on arrival they were told of a ticketing
error that delayed the departure, and
JPP Files: Tales from Saudi Jails
never been provided with any official notification
containing the details of Muhammad Altaf’s arrest,
imprisonment, conviction and any legal proceedings
from either the Saudi authorities or the
Government of Pakistan.” - Kulsoom, mother of
Altaf, an executed Pakistani
Executions without notice/bodies not delivered
“I have been told that my son was executed in
January 2014. I do not believe this news. I will
not believe this until I can see for myself. If he
has really been executed then why hasn’t his
body been transferred to us as is customary in
Islam?” - Sameen, mother of Ibrar, a Pakistani
executed in 2014
instead were taken to the distant city
of Mardan, at the Haji’s house, to
spend the night.
Once in Mardan, Amjad was taken
hostage by hired gunmen who threatened
to kill Asmat’s brother and the
rest of his family unless he swallowed
some pills. Asmat, under duress, did
as he was ordered and was taken to
the airport. Meanwhile, Amjad remained
their hostage for a fortnight to
ensure Asmat did as instructed.
Alas, upon arrival, Asmat was arrested
by Jeddah airport authorities, and soon
after sentenced to be beheaded. As
ever, the court ignored all context and
did not allot Asmat any counsel. After
six years on death row, Asmat was
executed in August 2015.
Zulfiqar Ali - One ‘Lucky’ Man Among Thousands
Father of Irfan holding his son’s picture. Irfan, on
death row, has been denied his right of appeal
“If he has really
been executed, then
why hasn’t his body
been transferred to
us as is customary
in Islam?”
Families of jailed migrant workers raising slogans against agents who
trap poor people with false promises of free pilgrimage
On 29 July, 2016, Zulfiqar Ali, a Pakistani in Indonesia received a new lease of life, moments before he was due to be executed by firing
squad. That Zulfiqar is alive can be credited to the late but welcome intervention of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, after tireless pressure by
JPP, media and international civil society. However, the hellish 12 years suffered by the manifestly innocent Zulfiqar prior to that date are a
shocking indictment of Pakistan’s failure to have a meaningful consular policy.
Zulfiqar moved to Indonesia in 2000 in search of a new life, but that life turned upside down in 2004. An acquaintance of Zulfiqar, who got
arrested for drug possession, falsely implicated the Pakistani father of 6 in hopes of a lighter sentence. Zulfiqar was brutally tortured by the
police, resulting in permanent physical injuries, to extract a confession and was denied access to a lawyer, a translator and the Pakistani
embassy. Even though the main witness withdrew his statement, Zulfiqar was given the death penalty, and he lost all his subsequent
An innocent and debilitated man almost lost his life, and his six children nearly became orphans, because Pakistan does not have a properly
defined consular policy which would compel Pakistani consulates in countries like Indonesia to intervene at the first instance of abuse of
prisoner’s rights. Hundreds of Pakistani lives can be saved if the Foreign Ministry adapts a more coherent approach.

Page 4
More than Just Numbers - Devastated Families
Volume II
JPP’S Recommendations for the Government of
Pakistan
Formulation and implementation of a unified policy on consular
support for imprisoned Pakistanis and those facing execution
Immediate and forceful representation on behalf of detained
migrant workers in GCC countries to secure access to due process
and ensure extradition to Pakistan
Review of existing regulatory framework for emigration of Pakistani
migrant workers to minimize risks to citizens seeking employment
opportunities abroad and accord adequate safeguards
for protection of fundamental rights
Registration of criminal charges under the relevant domestic
criminal laws against those responsible for entrapment and
forced narcotics smuggling resulting in wrongful convictions and
executions
Repatriation of bodies of Pakistani prisoners executed
Justice Project Pakistan (JPP) is a non -profit
human rights law firm established in Lahore in
December 2009. JPP provides direct pro bono
legal and investigative services to the most vulnerable
prisoners in the Pakistani justice system,
particularly those facing the death penalty, victims of police
torture, mentally ill prisoners, Pakistani migrants imprisoned abroad,
and victims of the “War on Terror.”
JPP filed a petition in the Lahore High Court on 3 Dec. 2014 on behalf
of the families of Pakistani migrant workers facing executions in
the Middle East. Through this ongoing case, JPP aims to compel the
Pakistan government to fulfill its duty to protect and enforce the human
rights of their citizens. It also seeks to compel the Pakistan government
to provide legal support to those Pakistanis currently in jail
in GCC countries and facing imminent execution.
For further information and submissions please contact:
Zainab Malik, Advocacy and Policy Manager
zainab.malik@jpp.org.pk
http://www.jpp.org.pk/