Tag: ENFORCED DISAPPERANCES

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London Sit-In Targets Balochistan Disappearances

Extrajudicial killings, enforced disappearances continue in Balochistan: rights body(IN)

Salia Marri, the niece of Baloch national leader Baba Khair Bakhsh Marri urged all political parties and social and human rights activists to join the protest….reports Asian Lite News


In an effort to strengthen the collective voice of dissent against purported enforced disappearances and human rights abuses in Balochistan, Salia Marri, the niece of Baloch national leader Baba Khair Bakhsh Marri, declared a five-day protest in London scheduled from January 3 to 7.

Marri, the wife of Baloch nationalist Mir Taj Muhammad Sarparah who is alleged to be among those to have disappeared, said she will lead the sit-in protest for the safe release of her husband and other missing persons.

She urged all political parties and social and human rights activists to join the protest.

“For the safe release of my husband, all missing persons, I am organising a 5-day sit-in protest in front of 10 Downing Street in London. This protest will take place from January 3 to January 7, 2024, 24 hours daily. I urge all political parties, social and human rights activists, media, Baloch nation, and all other communities to join our sit-in protest,” Marri posted from her official handle on X.

The announcement of a sit-in comes amid ongoing protests against Baloch genocide and enforced disappearances at the National Press Club of Islamabad.

The Baloch Yakjahti Committee-Kech, in a post on X, stated that if the state fails to hold negotiations as per their demand, the issue will be taken to the court of the Baloch people.

“If the state fails to engage in serious negotiations on the demands, demonstrate seriousness, and continues its attitude towards protesters as observed over the past week, then after one week, the movement will express clear disappointment with all state institutions for their policies of state-sponsored killings and colonial treatment towards Balochistan. Then, the decision will be taken to the Baloch people’s court,” the committee warned in a statement.

Serving them an ultimatum, the committee stressed that during this week, the state needs to clarify to the Baloch people how serious they are about addressing the issue of the Baloch genocide.

“It must be practically proven that all forms of human rights violations, including forced disappearances, extrajudicial killings, and illegal actions, immediately cease in Balochistan,” the committee stated further.

The committee added if the state was unwilling to transform its colonial mindset, a decision would be made in the courts of the Baloch people. (ANI)

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Pakistan’s epidemic of ‘enforced disappearances’ now hits Punjab

Pakistan's dreaded 'enforced disappearances' expand from Balochistan to Punjab.(photo:IN)

Pakistani agencies are now implementing the same modus operandi that was used in Balochistan…reports Rahul Kumar

Pakistan’s legendary human rights abuse of “enforced disappearances” in strife-torn Balochistan is now getting mainstreamed in the Punjab province as various paramilitary forces and agencies go on a kidnapping spree.

In just a couple of months since the Baloch community was protesting over the State-sponsored kidnapping of Mahal Baloch and atrocities on other Baloch women, Pakistani agencies are now implementing the same modus operandi on people in Punjab – Pakistan’s most prosperous and powerful region.

The latest to be abducted is lawyer and rights activist Jibran Nasir, who was reportedly picked up on Thursday night. According to his actor wife Mansha Pasha, nearly 15 armed men in plain clothes picked him up. Nasir’s abduction is one of the recent spate of high-profile abductions in the last few weeks beginning with the Pakistani Army’s crackdown on Imran Khan’s supporters in the wake of the audacious May 9 mass attacks on army properties.

This follows the abduction of anchorperson Imran Riaz Khan who had been arrested from Sialkot and has remained missing since then.

Similarly, senior journalist Sami Abraham had been kidnapped by unidentified men in Pakistan capital Islamabad, but was lucky as he came back a week later. Abraham’s abduction was dramatic as his car was intercepted by four vehicles after he left the BOL TV office and nearly ten men took him away. Abraham’s driver was left behind with the car but no keys.

In just a fortnight, former Pakistani army official, Major Adil Raja’s mother and sister were attacked twice by gunmen in unmarked vehicles. Raja claims they were dragged and terrorised on May 16. Soon after on 1 June, Raja’s mother, uncle and cousin were abducted from Rawalpindi, the seat of the Pakistani Army, by armed men, in unmarked vehicles.

The flood human rights abuse taking place across the country including the Punjab province has drawn attention from the besieged Baloch community. In a tweet, Baloch activist on enforced disappearances, Mama Qadeer Baloch said: “The cycle of #enforceddisappearances, which began in remote corners of #Balochistan due to the absence of civil society and modern technology, is spreading to #Pakistan’s bustling cities. If we don’t unite, it will affect each of us individually. I support Jibran’s friends and family and demand his immediate release”.

A heavily militarised Balochistan has been witnessing thousands of extra-judicial killings, enforced disappearances and tortures. The mineral-rich but poverty-infested province has been fighting for independence for the last seven decades from Islamabad’s control. The Baloch even claim that the hundreds of mutilated and rotting bodies found on the roof of the Nishtar hospital in October 2022 belonged to the Baloch people who had been forcibly kidnapped.

The Baloch have held one of the longest protests of over 5,000 days demanding the release of their kidnapped brethren. Most of the protestors happen to be women looking for their fathers, brothers and sons – killed or kidnapped by Pakistani security and spy agencies. The agencies have been increasingly using strongarm tactics against Baloch women and students by assaulting and abducting them.

Pointing out the Pakistani Army’s ingenuous ways to torture people, Mahganj Baloch of the Baloch National Movement told India Narrative in an exclusive interview that “the ISI tortured me in a hospital and not in a torture cell”. She was always surrounded by men from the Pakistani army, the Frontier Corps and the ISI. She added that most of the disappeared Baloch women do not come back and their families do not have access to courts or legal remedies.

Enforced disappearances and torture, which was exclusive to the Baloch till now is being deployed by the Pakistani government across the nation.

(The content is being carried under an arrangement with indianarrative.com)

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Pak Courts Failed To Stem Forced Disappearances

Experts say the major reasons for the commission’s failure to provide justice, were, lack of powers to hold the perpetrators accountable, lack of transparency and functional independence….reports Asian Lite News

The cases of kidnapping and enforced disappearances of activists, journalists and even students have become a norm in Pakistan. Yet, Pakistan has not taken concrete measures to put an end to the rising number of abductions.

Human rights organisations and torch bearers of democratic rights have expressed frustration as the Commission of Inquiry on Enforced Disappearances (COIED) has failed to provide justice and courts are failing to hold Pakistan’s Army– the real force behind enforced disappearances– accountable. 

 Amid the international pressure, the Islamabad government appointed the COIED a decade ago. It received staggering 8,463 cases though activists claimed the actual number to be much higher. The commission could not trace beyond one-third of these cases so far. 

Reacting to pleas, the Islamabad High Court came down heavily on the commission for failing to discharge its duties.  It has even warned the Prime Minister to come before the court in person for the state’s failure.

Over 14,000 persons missing in Balochistan and the count is rising each day

The court said “It is indeed the most grave and intolerable form of torture suffered by the persons who have been subjected to enforced disappearances but more-so for their loved ones.” The court, however, did not speak anything about Pakistan’s security forces despite people in the country especially from Balochistan blaming the military for illegal detentions and enforced disappearances.

Though it said tacitly that enforced disappearance could be an undeclared and tacit policy of the Pakistani establishment to suppress people who criticize or question its powerful army or seeks implementation of basic rights.

Many victims of enforced disappearance said police refused to name military agencies or personnel in the FIRs. And even if they do, no accused military personnel appear before the courts.  And now after the Islamabad court’s remark, calls are being made to remove the COIED’s Chairperson, Justice (retired) Javed Iqbal, from the position.

Experts say the major reasons for the commission’s failure to provide justice, were, lack of powers to hold the perpetrators accountable, lack of transparency and functional independence.

The Pakistani Army that influences the decisions of the civilian government is said to be behind diluting the mandate of the commission.

Pakistan government had formed the commission to deflect criticism and to claim seriousness, said Ian Seiderman, Legal and Policy Advisor at the International Commission of Jurists (ICJ). “In reality, however, the COIED has led to a compromised inquiry process where investigations do not lead to accountability, nor do they result in proper and adequate reparation for victims,” he said.

Even when Islamabad decided to amend the Criminal Act to strengthen the hands of the COIED, two clauses were added that were seen as detrimental to the very objective of addressing the problem of enforced disappearances.

One clause sought to punish victims or relatives if the complaints of enforced disappearances turn out to be incorrect. The other one provided impunity to perpetrators if there is no solid evidence.         

Many genuine complainants did not come forward and dare to report cases of enforced disappearance, thanks to the poor track record of the COIED, and now the lesser probability of justice and fear of witch-hunting owing to the law amendments.

The United Nations too has raised concerns over the lack of legal instrument that facilitates relatives of the victims to pursue the cases of enforced disappearances due to “fear of reprisals or lack of trust.”  Amnesty International in its 2021-22 report said accountability for enforced disappearances remained elusive in Pakistan.

The civilian government’s inability to devise a proper mechanism stems from the fact that Pakistan’s Army itself is behind the enforced disappearances.   “All arrests by Pakistani Army are arguably carried out without specific charges and outside the law, therefore, they are enforced disappearances,” said non-governmental organisation Maat for Peace, Development and Human Rights Association in a statement submitted to the United Nations. 

No civilian government in Pakistan’s history had the courage to take on the army. The army dominates the entire civilian set-up. Judiciary is no exception. That is why army officials are never questioned by the courts. In the case of enforced disappearance too, the court minced no word in its criticism of the COIED and the Islamabad government but, chose not to summon army officials.

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Amnesty slams Pak over enforced disappearance of Idris Khattak

AI asked Pakistan’s authorities to provide details of the case to the family, give him access to lawyers, and produce him before a civilian court for deciding about lawfulness of his arrest and detention….reports Asian Lite News

 Pakistan human rights and political activist Idris Khattak has been convicted of espionage and sentenced to 14 years rigorous imprisonment, Dawn reported.

“Khattak was found guilty of espionage and leaking of sensitive information by a Field General Court Martial (FGCM). He was handed down a 14-year rigorous jail term,” the report said.

The verdict was pronounced this week after the trial concluded in Jhelum.

The report said he was tried under the Pakistan Army Act and Official Secrets Act, 1923. He was accused of providing sensitive information to a foreign intelligence agency.

Khattak remained associated with Amnesty International and had investigated enforced disappearances in erstwhile tribal areas and Balochistan.

He was travelling from Islamabad to Peshawar on November 13, 2019 when he was picked up by an intelligence agency. After nearly six months of public campaign by his family and filing of a habeas corpus petition at the Peshawar High Court, the defence ministry on June 16, 2020 admitted that he was in military’s custody and had been charged with treason under the Official Secrets Act, the report said.

In a reaction to Khattak’s sentencing, Amnesty International’s Deputy South Asia Director Thyagi Ruwanpathirana said: “Idris Khattak’s family and lawyer are being kept in the dark by the Pakistani authorities about the exact status of his case and reported conviction, violating the right to fair trial and due process and making it impossible for them to plan any legal recourse.”

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“If his conviction is confirmed, it will be the culmination of a shameful two-year process that has been unjust from start to finish,” the AI official said.

Few details about the case against him had been disclosed, the official said, while according to his lawyer, the proceedings were ‘deeply flawed’.

AI asked Pakistan’s authorities to provide details of the case to the family, give him access to lawyers, and produce him before a civilian court for deciding about lawfulness of his arrest and detention.

Khattak’s brother later filed a petition with the Peshawar High Court seeking an end to his trial by the military court. The high court, however, on Jan 28, 2021 rejected the appeal.

Meanwhile, three retired military officers were given varying jail sentences by another FGCM in Rawalpindi.

According to the security source, Lt Col (retd) Faiz Rasool was given 14 years rigorous imprisonment, Lt Col (retd) Akmal 10 years rigorous imprisonment, and Maj (retd) Saifuddin 12 years rigorous imprisonment.

All three officers were also convicted of espionage and leaking sensitive information, the report said.

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