09/05/2014
Page 1
8 May 2014
Killing of human rights defender Mr Rashid Rehman
On 7 May 2014, human rights defender Mr Rashid Rehman was shot and killed in an attack on his
office in Kutchery Square, Multan, at 8:45pm. Two other people were injured in the shooting, which
was carried out by two unknown men.
Rashid Rehman was a human rights lawyer and a coordinator of the Punjab office of the Human
Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) in Multan. The human rights defender advocated
against the misuse of blasphemy laws in Pakistan and, since February 2014, had been working on
the case of Junaid Hafeez, a lecturer at Bahauddin Zakariya University who is accused of
blasphemy. It is reported that no lawyer was willing to take the case for a year because of fear of
reprisals from extremist religious groups.
The human rights defender was shot several times and pronounced dead on arrival at Nishtar
Hospital. Rashid Rehman's colleague Nadeem Pervaiz and client Muhammad Afzal were also shot
and are receiving treatment in the same hospital. It is reported that two men entered Rehman’s
chambers at 8pm wanting to contract a court marriage and left, then two other men entered and
made the same request before leaving. Shortly afterwards, the first two men entered the office
again and opened fire. Both men managed to escape. The police stated that the shooting was
likely to be a targeted killing and that they were aware of threats that had been made against
Rashid Rehman.
Rashid Rehman has been attacked a number of times in the past, and he and his colleagues have
been threatened. On 9 April 2014, Rashid Rehman was threatened inside and outside the
courtroom of the Multan Central Jail. Reportedly, two of the people making threats were members
of legal team prosecuting Junaid Hafeez. Three unknown men also warned the human rights
defender that if he did not drop the case, he would not be able to come to court to represent his
client. The HRCP wrote to the Punjab government on 10 April 2014 to express its concern
regarding the threats. No case was registered against the three men at the time, however, even
though Rehman reportedly submitted a complaint regarding the threats.
Front Line Defenders condemns in the strongest terms the killing of Rashid Rehman and calls on
Pakistani authorities to launch a full and impartial investigation into his killing, in order to prevent
other human rights defenders paying the ultimate price for exercising their right to provide legal
assistance of those accused of blasphemy.
Front Line Defenders urges the authorities in Pakistan to:
1. Carry out a thorough, impartial and immediate investigation into the killing of Rashid
Rehman with a view to publishing the results and bringing those responsible to justice in
accordance with international standards;
2. Guarantee in all circumstances that all human rights defenders in Pakistan are able to carry
out their legitimate human rights activities without fear of reprisals and free of all
restrictions
