Missing in Pakistan

Submit your video and begin subtitling.

Welcome to dotSUB!

Any Video Any Language

On dotSUB you can view, upload, transcribe, and translate any video into and from any language.

To get started and create your own subtitles, click on the yellow "get started" button below!

Other videos from calmansi

Zardari Saying Shut up (Democracy Shut Up)

Lessig at Educause 2009: CC for science and education

Lessig at educause 2009: Creative Commons

Duration: 24 minutes and 13 seconds

Country: Pakistan

Language: English

License: CC Attribution Non-Commercial Share Alike

Genre: Documentary

Producer: Ziad Zafar

Director: Ziad Zafar

Posted by: calmansi on Nov 27, 2007

"Independently produced documentary about the abduction and illegal detention of Pakistani citizens by Pakistani intelligence agencies. The film is circulating informally among concerned citizens in Pakistan as the subject is too “hot” for commercial channels. This is truth-telling at its bravest, unflinching best." From: http://missinginpakistan.wordpress.com/ , where you will find further info about the film.

Report this video as offensive

Video Transcription

Show in new window

(Missing in Pakistan - Duration 00:24:00:03 - Producer: Ziad Zafar)
(Prayer call)
Journalist: like most military dictatorships
Pakistan has a dismal human rights record
(Prayer call)
For years, the people of Pakistan have suffered humiliation
and widespread violation of their civil and political
(Instrumental music)
Violence against women and minority groups
has been endemic
in a system prone to persecution
and witch-hunts.
But Pakistan's involvement in America's
war on terror
has given these violations
an entirely new dimension
International Human Rights organisations
claim that the war has
given the military government in Islamabad
an effective smokescreen
to authorize arbitrary detention
torture
and has lead to the adoption
of a sinister new tactic
in dealing with dissent.
They say it sponsored kidnapping
(music)
The Pakistani government
has flatly denied the accusations.
But in recent years
hundreds of people
have just disappeared
They are believed to be in the custody
of Pakistan's intelligence agencies
(music)
Some surface in Guantanamo Bay
Others - are not so lucky.
They remain missing
(Veiled lady: At least tell me what his fault was?)
(Old lady: For Allah's sake, give me back my son)
(MISSING IN PAKISTAN)
Anjelicka Pathak - Amnesty International: We know that about 2/3 of the people
in Guantanamo Bay
were handed through unlawfully by Pakistan
to US custody.
There are numerous people who have disappeared
in various secret sites around the world
and there are many
an unknown number of people
who have disappeared in Pakistan itself.
So it is not possible to give an exact number.
But every one of them is one too many
Wasi Zafar - Pakistani Minister for Law, HR and Justice: this is just a novel,
it is just a novel.
This is, this is not... this is a lie
Journalist:Whose...
W. Zafar: What is it? This is Amnesty International's lie
Ali Dayan - Human Rights Watch: Now, this is, in the
vast array of Human RIghts violations
that we have documented in Pakistan -
this development is a new one.
We know that disappearances, as a form of
law-enforcement
is something that has been introduced
to Pakistan post the war on terror
which means that the US has had a -
well, an absolutely crucial role to play
Journalist: Yes, those people
Wasi Zafar - Pakistani Minister for Law, HR and Justice: No these are pictures, just pictures
Journalist: there is a reason, these are people
W. Zafar: you tell me - Nooo
Listen, no no listen, what is happening.
Persons like - and children like you
Who exploit the things -
these persons normally go for terrorism
they run away from their houses,
they join some organisations,
they disappear by themselves.
(gong)
Journalist: But behind the pictures
exist real human stories
like that of Amina Masood,
a 42-year old college teacher and mother of 3.
Her husband Masood went missing 2 years ago
and has not been seen since.
An engineer by profession,
Masood was a born-again Muslim preacher,
but Amina insists he was not linked to any political group.
She says she knew instantly
that he had been abducted by intelligence agencies
Amina Masood: I was assuming it from the beginning,
because those where the days when
the newspapers were full of news like this
the government was picking so many thousands of people,
of like -
that kind of appeals.
And they were not concerned if they weren't picking up rhe right people
or the wrong people.
Washington and they had to please, you know
Bush and Blair.
That was the new purpose of our government.
If anything
anything wrong happened to Masood
if - if any damage to his health
would have come
I'm not going to forgive.
As long as I am alive
I'm not going to forgive.
I'm going to ask those people,
they're responsible for it.
And why, why such a good person
is tortured?
Why such a good person is picked up
and kept in illegal custody?
And the family doesn't even know
the children do not even know why
and why our father and when
and when and for how long?
It's a series of question marks.
I must find him at all cost
I must find him
wherever he is,
I must snatch him back
From that day onwards
I - I never rested.
Journalist Though no government official would help her
Amina has worked at Amnesty to find her husband
She found a joint action forum and brought the other 100's of families like hers
Women chanting (in Urdu): Give us back our loved ones
Journalist: to protest the illegal detention of their relatives
But when they tried to protest
outside the headquarters of Pakistan's military establishment,
they were told to go home or face dire consequences
Man: Just give me one good reason (?)
Journalist: When they persisted the protest was broken up
and many were arrested including Amina's 16-year old son Mohamed
Amina Masood: Leave my son alone
Let my son go
Police Officer: Get to the side
shouts
Man: What are you doing... Let him wear his clothes
Mohamed: Help me ... Help me!
Police Officer: Throw him inside ... spoilt brat
Mohamed: Why wont anyone help me - Why wont anyone help me?
Amina: I want my son right now,
my son, I want him back right now
Amina's daughter: Ma, please save my brother
please bring him back
Ma, please save my brother
Amina Why did you strip him?
Bastards! die die die, I hope you all die
Amina and daughter: Bastards! die die die, I hope you all die
Amina: I hope God doesn't grant you a funeral
I pray he doesn't grant you anything
I hope you all die
Dont you dare touch my children
Amina Masood: Like a daughter of the nation, is that what I deserved?
Was that such a big crime to protest, to ask about my husband, that when he's going to return
and what crime he has done? At least I should know what crime he has done
why he's being kept away from us
Do we have no basic rights?
Wasi Zafar - Pakistani Minister for Law, Human Rights and Justice: Yes, these are baseless, these are - No, no, these are exaggerated, Exaggerated
The word business I am saying ? --- You are saying the word business
I have not used the word until now, You are using the word business
I am saying, these are exaggerated
Ali Dayan HRW: Pakistan has an extensive intelligence apparatus
a security apparatus. Right down to
the neighbourhood level in Pakistan
You have intelligence agencies monitoring
This is a fact of life in Pakistan
There is no way beyond this. And I think that we are far beyond the point -
in any analysis of Pakistan
or even in any cursory, basic look at Pakistan, to
to deny this. No one denies this. Even the military doesn't deny this.
They are very clear about the fact tha they have that sort of presence
General (retd) Hameed Gul: You know, there are excesses, and they do take place in every society
But it was about CIA at one time it was said
that it was an invisible government. A book was written on them.
And similarly, all the intelligence agencies
They have a tendency, which is because their job
is of a clandestine nature
They tend to cross the limit and they've got to be reined in
And as best as I could, I tried to educate my people
to hold them back, and even to admonish them on these instances.
Ali Dayan HRW: We have documented at Human Rights Watch
enough cases of torture in the custody of the police, the Pakistani police,
and of military intelligence agencies to know that that's just a fact of life,
that's how it is, that is what happens here,
Torture is widespread.
Asma Jahangir - UN special rapporteur on Torture: and there is huge evidence, overwhelming,
that the government of Pakistan is maintaining illegal detention centers
where torture goes on as a routine,
Journalist: Ali Hassan was kept in a torture cell for 3 months
and interrogated jointly by American and Pakistani intelligence agents
Nervously , he agreed to speak to us
but only if we didn't use his real name or show his face
Ali Hassan' - Victim of enforced disappearance and torture
They blindfolded us and put hoods on our heads
and then shoved us into a car
when they opened our blindfolds we were in the cell
it was a basement somewhere, thats all i could tell...
They tortured us in different ways
They used to cane the soles of my feet
They would keep me tied up and wouldn't let me sleep...
for up to five days at a stretch sometimes,
I received electric shocks twice
They would hook my finger up and attach a clip to my stomach and pass the current through that,
The first time it was unbearable... It felt like lots of people beating you with sticks,
Then I would regain consciousness it didn't feel so bad, The first time was the worst,
They kept asking me where I'd hidden the dynamite, I kept telling them i didn't know,
I've never even seen dynamite in real life... I've only ever seen it in the movies -
Aftab Sherpao - Pakistani Interior Minister: When you talk of the War on Terror When you talk of the war on terror, I think - it's a different sort of a war,
Here, you don't look - you all look - the damage they cause or the terror that they cause to the innocent people,
We are in the mids of that sort of a situation where we are fighting a war against terror,
Journalist what you say is that some - if not as many as I suggested -
that some basic liberties have been the casualty of this war on terror?
Sherpao What do you mean by some basic liberties have been--?
Journalist That certain human rights have been overlooked or trampled
Sherpao You are talking about the liberties of the terrorists?
Journalist of citizens
Sherpao of the terrorists?
Abdul Hafeez Lakho - Human Rights Lawyer: We are at zero point now
All this is happening, yes, We are living as free citiens, which we are not
I'm not moving or I'll be picked up - For what offence will I be picked up,
What wrong? ..., ? --> which will displease somebody
Iqbal Haider - Secretary General, Human rights Commission of Pakistan: I don't find appropriate words
to condemn this practice of disappearances in such a blatant manner
and to make innocent people suffer and languish and subjected to torture,
Oh my God, there can't be a greater inhuman barbary,
This is not a Gestapo age
Journalist While there has been an expansion in media space in Pakistan
attacks on journalists have increased in recent years
The Committee to protect journalists, a New York-based watch-dog group,
rated Pakistan among the top 3 countries where press freedom is endangered,
Reporters on location ...? Sanjay Kumar ?
shot footage of US fighter jets taking off from an air base from inside Pakistan
one the government had denied was being used by the US,
They were kept in illegal detention for 3 months and tortured,
They were lucky to be released
Woman It's ok, don't cry, Its alright now
Journalist but are not since talking of their ordeal,
Woman It's ok, don't cry darling, Its all alright now,
everything is fine...
Tasnim Aslam - Pakistan Foreign Office Spokesperson I'm not aware of any journalist being ehm, abducted or it has...
Voices quoting names ?
Man It goes on and journalists have been ...? I can tell you that
T,Aslam I ah - I have not heard of any journalist Er, being harrassed
I am not aware of any specific case - there was a case of one journalist
who had disappeared - Hayatullah ... sp? --> He - er, unfortunately, that was very sad
his dead body was later recovered
Journalist Journalist Hayatullah Khan sp? --> took a photograph of something
Pakistan's government said was never there: wreckage of the US hell fire missile
that destroyed a house in Pakistan's tribal area, killing several Pakistani civilians
and one suspected Al Qaida militant
Shouts Tyrants! Answer for the blood you have shed!
Journalist But there are more cases than the Foreign Office is willing to talk about -
countless cases of harassment and detention of journalists have been documented,
Shouts Stop aggression against journalists
Journalist There has been a vociferous outcry by journalists and members of civil society
Police attack on the office of Geo News - 19 March 2007
Journalist but attacks on the press have continued,
General retd --> Hameed Gul - Former Chief of ISI (1986-90) You know that the international community does not come down hard upon it,
The Americans have chosen to remain quiet on this because they have - they are setting the example,
they are setting the tone: ehm, they picked up people,
taken them to Gunatanamo Bay and to Abu Grahib,
Stories are out, and torture camps in Kandahar and ...? and all the stories are there,
So basically, as the world leader, world leader and flag carrier in Human Rights
America excels,
When it is the world leader of the Human Rights
then obviously the small minions who are our rulers - they can go to any extent,
Justice Nasir Aslam Zahid - Former Supreme Court Judge If at all, the aid would be stopped to Pakistan by the US and other agencies,
it would not be on account of Human Rights' violation, It will be for other reasons,
It will be a policy decision will be taken - but not ditch Pakistan ?
They will say: "Pakistan is no longer a country which is required in this process"
Or "Pakistan has gone, has done enough for our victory in Afghanistan",
And I think Pakistan will be punished for that, and not for Human Rights violation,
Amina Masood filed a legal petition on behalf of nearly a hundred families of missing people asking the courts to help find their loved ones -
Pakistan's top judge, Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudry, took up the case and called the military government to account for ist role in enforced disappearances,
In March 2007, while the case was being heard, General Musharraf dismissed the Chief Justice and put him under house arrest,
The country exploded in a spate of violent protests that almost brought down Musharraf's rule...
Rally voices mainly in Urdu, with "Go Musharraf Go" in En,
TV journalist The capital of Pakistan, Islamabad, is a battlefield today, as thousands have come out to protest
the Chief ...,? deposed - Supreme Justice Chaudry Iftikhar,
It is being widely seen as an autocratic assault on the judiciary while increasingly
Dictatorial ...,?
Civil society has been incensed by images of the Supreme Court Justice being dragged by his hair
and man-handled by a low police officer,
Thousands continue to protest across the country - Dozens have been arrested
Judges have left their benches, lawyers refused to plead cases,
the opposition parties are united in condemnation and the press has gone to assault,
A storm is brewing in Pakistan as the military dictator romanced by the West
now seems to be losing his grip
rally voices with "Go Musharraf Go"
The White House declined to comment on the political crisis, terming it:
"An internal matter of the people of Pakistan"
Roedad Khan - Environmentalist and retired Civil Servant Why you organize here this? The land of Madison, the land of Jefferson,
people who, who believed in government of the people by the people for the people -
Why are they supporting ...,? Why are they supporting ...? who is ...? in Pakistan?
They have one rule for themselves, they have another rule for the people of Pakistan
that does out democracy, Why does democracy end here? ?
Why don't they apply democracy to Pakistan?
applause
Bush Thank you all,
applause
Bush Thanks, thanks for the warm welcome,
Our strategy to protect America is based on a clear premiss:
the security of our nation depends on the advance of liberty in other nations,
In September 11, 2001, we saw that
the problems originating in a failed and oppresive state 7'000 miles away
could bring murder and destruction to our country, We saw that dictatorships shelter terrorists,
feed resentment and radicalism and threaten the security of free nations,
Democracies replace resentment with hope,
Democracies respect the rights of their citizens and their neighbours,
Democracies join the fight against terror,
And so America's committed to an historic, long term goal:
to secure the peace of the world, we seek the end of tyranny in our world,
The United State of America has consistently supported successive military dictatorships in Pakistan over a period of sixty years
Countrywide protests for missing people and in support of an indipendent judiciary have persisted for three months after the dismissal of the Chief Justice,
Over forty-five people have lost their lives in the ensuing political violence
REPORTED CASES OF ENFORCED DISAPPEARANCE IN PAKISTAN AFTER 2001, SOURCE: HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION OF PAKISTAN HRCP - followed by their names
Ejaz Ahsan Human Rights Commissioner of Pakistan ... people you are talking about ...,? numbers, these are people
Man (check who) The intelligence agencies have the audacity to be ?... to be the government officials
that nobody is in our custody,
Wazi Zafar: Most of them, for erh, these are, they are in war in terrorism
Man check : This is not done, this is not acceptable, This is not tolerable
How dare you say that we can disclothe the child?
Aftab Sherpao: Erh, I'm also concerned,
Everyone is concerned if someone makes a and cry about a missing person,
We are all concerned in this sense,
Journalist But what measures is the government taking specificly in the case of missing people, to try and trace them...
Sherpao What can the government do?
The government can, you know, find out - er, if he belongs to a province,
from the provincial government, from others
Journalist ... officers ?
Sherpao Sorry?
Journ, it's the government's job,
Sherpao it's the government's ...?
No, when it is about - we notice that they're gone -?
Ali Dayan We cannot have a situation where - just because you are the armed party -
means you can come in, kidnap me or kill me, with no fear
of any kind of law coming to bear on you,
Roedad Khan there is hope for missing people
There is hope for women in this country
There is hope for the people of Pakistan
Do have not bitterness
The power of the powerless
You will see the power of the powerless, Very soon.

Welcome to dotSUB - Any Video Any Language

Welcome to dotSUB!

Any Video Any Language

Other videos from calmansi

Missing in Pakistan

Share

Video Transcription