Case No
Country
Mandate(s)
Summary of the allegation transmitted
Reply
PAK 9/2011
31/10/2011 Pakistan
JAL
Freedom of
religion;
Minority issues;
01/11/2011
Alleged harassment and kidnapping of individuals of the Christian minority. According to the
information received, the late Governor of Punjab, Mr. Salman Taseer, was murdered on 4
January 2011 (see A/HRC/18/51, PAK 1/2011). On 26 August 2011, his son Mr. Shahbaz Taseer
left his residence, not accompanied by police protection. Reportedly, Mr. Shahbaz Taseer was
forced out of his car, and driven away. Ms. Shehar Bano Taseer, sister of the missing Mr.
Shahbaz Taseer, had reportedly received death threats by members of religious parties, to
withdraw the case against the man who is allegedly responsible for the murder of her father. Both
Ms. Shehar Bano Taseer and Mr. Shahbaz Taseer are reported to have been targeted due to their
father seeking reform of the blasphemy provisions in Pakistan. Furthermore, Pakistani Minorities
Minister Shahbaz Bhatti, a Christian member of Pakistan‟s Cabinet, was reportedly shot dead by
gunmen in Islamabad due to his calls for reform of blasphemy laws.
IRN 16/2011
02/11/2011 Iran (Islamic
JUA
Republic of)
Arbitrary
detention;
Freedom of
expression;
Independence of
judges and
lawyers; Iran;
Torture;
Alleged arrest of film makers. According to the information received, on 17 September 2011, Mr
Hadi Afarideh, Mr Naser Saffarian, Mr Mohsen Shahrnazdar, Mr Mojtaba Mir Tahmasb, and Ms
Katayoun Shahabi, all who work in the film industry, were arrested by security forces and taken
to Evin Prison. They have allegedly been under tremendous pressure to make confessions,
accepting their links to western powers. The arrest of aforesaid individuals appears to have been
linked to a documentary broadcasted by BBC Persian about the life of the Ayatollah Ali
Khamenei. Ms Marzieh Vafamehr, a prominent actress arrested in June 2011, was reportedly
released on 24 October 2011, after spending over three months in Gharchak Prison in Varamin,
south east of Tehran. She was reportedly released after an appeal court overturned the original
sentence of 90 lashes and also reduced the imprisonment of one year to three months. On 10
October 2011, Ms Vafamehr was allegedly sentenced to one year in prison and 90 lashes for her
role in a film produced in Australia. Furthermore, the appeal court reportedly upheld the six-year
imprisonment and a ban on writing scripts and making films for twenty years on internationally
acclaimed film maker Jafar Panahi. In December 2010, the lower court reportedly sentenced Mr
Panahi to six years imprisonment, coupled with a 20 year ban from involvement in film-making,
travelling abroad and giving interviews to domestic and international media. Mr Panahi was
allegedly arrested in March 2010 and subsequently charged with collusion and propaganda
against the system.
A/HRC/19/44
132
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