Pakistan: The People Of Balochistan Have to Bury Loved Ones

January 31, 2012
A Statement from the Asian Human Rights Commission

Pakistan: The People Of Balochistan Have To Bury The Mutilated Bodies Of Their Loved Ones Almost Every Day Of The Week

56 more bullet riddled bodies of disappeared persons were found in Balochistan during the last six months

The disappearances and extrajudicial killings of Baloch activists continue despite claims from the government and security forces that extrajudicial killings have been stopped. The writ of the state is at its minimal and all the responsibilities of maintaining law and order have been left with security forces and banned militant groups. A new civilian organization with the name of Tehreek-e-Nefaz-e-Aman Balochistan (TNAB) was allegedly established by the state intelligence agencies which claim the killings of political workers and students in the name of maintaining peace. During the last six months it has allegedly killed more than six activists from Balochistan and determined to continue its killings in the future.

In the first month of this year 23 bullet riddled bodies of disappeared persons were found; among those six bodies have been claimed by TNAB.

During the last six months, from August 2011 to January 2012, 56 persons, who were missing or disappeared after their arrest by plain clothed men, were killed in their captivity and their bullet riddled bodies were dumped on the road side. In many cases the places of dumping the bodies were informed by unknown callers to the media and family members of the victims. Please find the list of persons who were disappeared and extra judicially killed by unseen forces (list 1, list 2)

The total number of extra judicial killings of disappeared persons since July 2010 has reached 271. With the introduction of TNAB the security forces are shifting the blame of killing to TNAB to imply that it was killings caused by different civilian groups.

The extra judicial killings and disappearances in Balochistan have become so endemic by the influence of the military and its spy agencies that the government is hesitant to take any action to stop it. The only hope for the people of Balochistan was with the judiciary but that course has also been denied them as the judiciary is careful to avoid any possibility of upsetting the military's illegal and supra constitutional actions. The judiciary has proved that it would not go against its past masters who still rule today. That is why the military and its spy agencies have supra constitutional authority to deal with the Baloch people who are struggling for their constitutional rights of self rule in the province. The judiciary has totally failed them, not only in bringing the disappeared persons to the surface but also has turned a blind eye to the abductions and killings in the province.

The federal government also appears to be unconcerned about the killings of students, intellectuals, journalists and political workers and has left all the responsibility of the law and order situation on the military and Frontier Constabulary (FC) who virtually enjoy absolute power. The FC has been involved in sectarian killings and those of innocent citizens in the province but still the government thinks that its presence in Balochistan is necessary because the army dictates the government to keep it in the province.

The Balochistan province has been completely neglected by the provincial and federal governments as it was during the military governments. The province has become the point of prestige for the army that wants to have control over the natural resources at any cost including the targeted killings.

Who is actually responsible for the extrajudicial killing in Balochistan has become the big question as the government does not have the courage to stop the military and its forces from their blood thirsty activities. The provincial government of Balochistan has been restricted by the military and federal government to just enjoy the benefits of an elected government but cannot interfere in the affairs of the military. The federal minister for interior affairs is always trying to prove the interference of India in the self reliance movement of the people of the province. He has never been able to find conclusive evidence of Indian involvement in the Balochistan movement for independence but the modus operandi of the ministry of interior is to arrest the suspected persons, keep them incommunicado and torture them continuously to get the confessional statement. Sadly, the federal government and military has totally failed to get any confessional statements from the arrested persons that have resulted in the dumping of bullet riddled bodies. This final solution is necessary to avoid their testimony in courts which would positively prove the involvement of the military in these extrajudicial killings.

The situation in Balochistan is the best example of the chaos of the rule of law. It is a land where the rule of law is not allowed to operate and any and all law enforcement is left to killers. No one knows how many more will be killed in the coming days? All that is known is that it is the people of Balochistan that have to bury the mutilated bodies of their loved ones almost every day of the week.

# # #

About AHRC: The Asian Human Rights Commission is a regional non-governmental organisation that monitors human rights in Asia, documents violations and advocates for justice and institutional reform to ensure the protection and promotion of these rights. The Hong Kong-based group was founded in 1984.

Visit our new website with more features at www.humanrights.asia.

You can make a difference. Please support our work and make a donation here.

ENDS

© Scoop Media