Pakistan: Balochistan; 160 persons extra judicially killed

AHRC-STM-007-2014
January 8, 2014

A Statement from the Asian Human Rights Commission

Pakistan: Balochistan; 160 persons extra judicially killed, 510 disappeared and 50 decomposed bodies were found during 2013

A child of 15 was arrested by the security forces in October and there has been no response from the authorities

The disappearances and extrajudicial killings in the province of Balochistan continued unabated during 2013. The Voice of Baloch Missing Persons (VBMP) has compiled lists of disappearances and extra judicial killings despite threats and intimidation from the state security agencies. The VBMP list reveals that during 2013, 160 persons were extrajudicially killed, 510 persons remain missing after arrest by the security agencies and 50 decomposed bodies of unknown persons were recovered from different cities of the province. It mentions the names and dates of the persons disappeared and killed. Please find here the list issued by VBMP.

After the general elections of May 11, 2013 and formation of new governments in Balochistan and the federation it was claimed repeatedly that there has been a reduction in disappearances and the dumping of bullet riddled bodies. However, during the year a new phase was introduced which is the dumping of decomposed bodies which are in such a state that they cannot identified. The former military government, the state intelligence agencies and security forces introduced the phenomenon of enforced disappearances on a large scale throughout the country to spread fear and emphasise the power of the army. During the previous civilian government of Asif Zardari, the security forces took advantage of the weak government and introduced the extrajudicial killings of missing persons to eliminate the evidence of disappearances after arrest. Again, in the reign of the incumbent government, the security forces adopted the new phenomenon of dumping decomposed bodies so that the person cannot be identified.

The VBMP held a press conference and claimed that since the year 2001 to the end of year 1013, a total number of 13,990 persons are missing after their arrest by security forces. The government has made no effort to contradict this figure.

In the meantime the VBMP has forwarded the other cases, including of one of a child who were arrested by the security forces and remains missing.

A young student Abdul Baqi Nichari (15), the son of Kareem Bux, was abducted from his relative's home by the Frontier Corps and plain clothed persons from Qambrani Road Killi Nichari Quetta early in the morning of October 19, 2013. He was a resident of Mungchar Johan Cross district Kalat and a student of class six in Government High School Mungchar.

Personnel from Frontier Corps (FC) and plain clothed persons arrived in 20 FC vehicles. The climbed over the walls of the house where Abdul Baqi was living and harassed the relatives before dragging Abdul Baqi away. After identifying him they threw him in a vehicle. To-date his whereabouts remain unknown. Mr. Baqi belongs to a very poor family and after school he was working on daily wages to assist with the expenses of his family and to continue his education.

On October 23, Safar Baloch 26 son of Qadir Baksh, formerly a resident of Awaran Labach. Baloch was abducted by security forces from his home at Lasbela Hub Choki and his whereabouts are unknown. He was a driver by profession. The FC personnel's raided his hometown of Awaran Labach, which is an earthquake affected area. His family migrated to Hub Choki.

The Baloch Republican Party (BRP) Media cell reported that Pakistan's Inter service Intelligence, the ISI backed group called "Muslah Difa Tanzeem" headed by Taliban linked Mulla Shafiq Mengal, targeted and killed Rais Qudoos Mengal, an organizer of the Balochistan National Party (Mengal group) in Khuzdar on December 31.

In another case the BRP reports that the ISI and a local death squad in Sui abducted a shopkeeper namely Ali Hussain Bugti on December 29. He was a resident of Mat, adjacent area of Sui. He had gone to the market to buy some consumer goods for his shop.

Mohammad Rafiq son of Abdul Karim was arrested by personnel from security forces on October 31from the market place and since then his whereabouts are unknown. Rafiq's sister held a press conference in Karachi on January 7, and told that she has reported the disappearance after arrest to the police, government authorities and security forces, but that no one was helping for his recovery. She demanded that he must be produced before the court and if he had committed a serious crime he must be punished according to law.

The Asian Human Rights Commission urges the government of Nawaz Sharif to remove the blinkers that it and successive governments have been wearing with regard to disappearances and extrajudicial killings. The people of Pakistan have a Constitutional right to the protection from the state; a right which has so far been denied them. Pakistan must immediately ratify the UN Convention against Enforced Disappearances, ensure that local laws are put in place to enforce the Convention and so that this menace is halted one and for all.

Though successive civilian governments have claimed that they are opposed to enforced disappearances, their policy of appeasement toward the armed forces and indifferent attitude towards the people that elected, them betrays their true attitude.

ENDS

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