A UW-Madison Medical School associate professor was attacked and injured by members of the secret police force of Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf while traveling in Pakistan early last week.
The professor, Amna Buttar, was attacked outside of the Pakistani Supreme Court building during a rally April 3.
She joined others in a protest to express frustration at Musharraf's recent suspension of Pakistan Chief Justice Chaudhry Iftikhar. The suspension sparked the attention of activists since he was known to stand for a fair democracy and human rights, according to a story by The Capitol Times.
""I have spent years trying to end violence against women,"" Buttar said in the release, ""and yet I was subjected to sexual violence by the police who were there to supposedly protect me.""
""These men started aggressively touching my private parts,"" Buttar said in a press statement. She said while attempting to walk away from the gates of the building she was pushed by one of the men—she fell to her knees and her head was forced to the ground where she was groped inappropriately once more.
Buttar came to find out her attackers were considered the ""elite police"" of Musharraf's government.
Pakistani government officials verbally threatened Buttar in the past, according to the release. Her brother, who was working within the building as a Supreme Court Justice during the protest, also received threats of an upcoming attack.
In 2002, Buttar co-founded the Asian-American Network Against Abuse of Human Rights, an advocacy group to increase awareness regarding the human rights abuses of women in Pakistan. In the recent past, the group and Buttar have sponsored events on the UW-Madison campus.
""Here I am, an inspiration to the rest of the world and a voice for the victims and survivors,"" Buttar said in the release, ""and yet I was voiceless at that time.""
According to Zafar Iqbal, an ANAAHR board of directors member, the group was not surprised an incident of this nature occurred.
""It's just as much a responsibility of the people here as the people there to vocalize and articulate her voice,"" Iqbal said. ""Our group's main objective is to make these type of things more and more difficult for the government to do.""
