Why did the Foreign Minister shy away from the issue of Balochistan in her address to the United Nations?

by Stewart Sloan

In her presentation to the UN Human Rights Council at the Universal Periodic Review the Foreign Minister, Hina Rabbani Khar painted a rosy picture of the progress that Pakistan has made over the past four years. However, it was what Khar did not talk about that raised the ire of her audience at that function and around the world. Amongst the items that she failed to mention was the situation in Balochistan.

Balochistan is the largest of the four provinces of Pakistan with a total area almost one half of the entire country. Conversely in terms of population it has the lowest number of people, just fewer than eight million. The province is bordered by Afghanistan to the north and north-west, Iran to the south-west, the Arabian Sea to the south, Punjab and Sindh to the east, and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and FATA to the north-east. The capital city, which is the largest in the province, is Quetta

In 1947 the ruler of Balochistan agreed to join Pakistan on the condition that the defence, currency, foreign office and finance would be controlled by the federal government but that the province would remain otherwise autonomous. However, after death of Muhammad Ali Jinnah Balochistan, along with other princely states was merged into Pakistan. Since then a small group of Baloch nationalists have been in conflict with the Federal Government which has led to an endless series of enforced disappearances and extrajudicial killings; the vast majority of which the government of Pakistan has turned a blind eye to.

Balochistan is rich in natural resources including gold and copper, a fact that the government of Pakistan, and the military, has been quick to take advantage of.

The Frontier Corps (FC), one of the paramilitary forces of Pakistan is based in Peshawar and Quetta and is responsible for protecting the western border regions. Responsible to both the Ministry of States and Frontier Regions and to Army Headquarters the FC comprises of 14 units based in the North-West Frontier and sixteen units based in Balochistan. It is believed that the FC is responsible for the vast majority of enforced disappearances and extrajudicial killings that take place in Balochistan. It is also an established fact that they have torture cells in all the major towns and cities. This is borne out by a large number of reports and appeals issued by human rights bodies.

Most of the killings carried out by the FC occur after the enforced disappearances of students, activists and others. The victims are taken in broad daylight from public places in full view of passers-by, often the abductors are accompanied by police officials. When the family members attempt to file First Information Reports at the police stations the officers refuse to record them due to the involvement of the FC. The victim’s families are then forced to go to the courts who then order the army to respond to the charges. However, showing their complete contempt for the civilian establishment the army never complies. What happens next though is that once they know that the courts and the public are fully aware that the disappeared person is in their custody they get rid of the evidence by extrajudicially killing the victim and dumping his body on the road side. The number of such killings is estimated to be in the region of 400 for this year alone. However, nationalist groups claim that up to 8,000 persons have been disappeared. There are also reliable reports that 141 children and 315 women who have gone missing are being held or used as labourers in military camps.

Just one example of the enforced disappearances is the case of Fareed Ahmed Baloch, the son of Haleem Ahmed Balcoh. Fareed Baloch, a final year student of the Balochistan Engineering and Technology University, was abducted from outside the check post of Frontier Corps (FC) at Sariab road, Quetta, on February 9 after 6 pm when he was travelling with his cousin in a three wheeler. He was stopped at the check point by the FC persons along with some persons who were in plain clothes and taken away in a jeep with no registration number. His cousin, Changez Gichki, tried to intervene and was severely beaten and his cell phone was also snatched along with his wallet. Fareed Baloch was the president of Baloch Students Organisation (BSO-Azad) of district Khuzdar, Balochistan. Since then his abduction by the FC his whereabouts are unknown.

Sadly, as mentioned above it is increasingly difficult to lodge an FIR with the police because they know full well who is behind the abduction. To make matter worse the families of the victims get little relief from the courts. For example, on April 13, 2011 the three member bench of the Supreme Court of Pakistan under the supervision of Justice Javaid Iqbal heard cases of missing persons. Family members of victims whose loved ones were allegedly abducted by state agencies came before the court and provided the details of their cases. The simple fact is that the officers of the FC do not bother to attend court because they have no fear of judicial action being taken against them.

The relatives of the disappeared persons pointed out to the court that they were tired of testifying before judicial bodies as no apparent results had been seen. They also announced that they would not record their statements in future and that, to their knowledge, others would do the same as it was becoming increasingly evident that the judicial bodies set up to investigate enforced disappearances were simply ‘going through the motions’.

The enforced disappearances and extrajudicial killings are the responsibility of the government. Calls for the government to bring the military to heel go unheeded and unless and until the government takes a firm stand these atrocities will continue. President Zardari’s policy of appeasement towards the military will not save him if the armed forces decide that his usefulness has come to an end. Pakistan has suffered most of the 62 years of its existence under military dictatorships. Unless the government wants to find itself unemployed it must clamp down on abuses by the military in general and the Frontier Corps in particular. Only then will the human rights abuses, enforced disappearances and extrajudicial killings in Balochistan and other provinces of the country come to an end.

Hina Rabbani Khar should understand that not mentioning a problem does not mean that the problem does not exist.

 

“If Your Child Disappeared, What Would You Do?”

The Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances concludes its official visit to Pakistan
A delegation of the United Nations Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances concluded its ten-day official visit to Pakistan. The visit took place from 10 to 20 September 2012. The delegation of the Working Group was composed of Mr. Olivier de Frouville, Chair of the Working Group, and Mr. Osman El-Hajjé, member of the Working Group. During the visit, the Working Group received information on cases of enforced disappearances and studied the measures adopted by the State to prevent and eradicate enforced disappearances, including issues related to truth, justice and reparation for the victims of enforced disappearances.

The Working Group wishes to thank the Government of Pakistan for extending an invitation to visit the country. It acknowledges the efforts undertaken before and during the visit to facilitate it, in particular for the assistance in terms of the security arrangements in cooperation with the United Nations. The Working Group also wishes to thank the United Nations Pakistan Country Team as well as the United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights Secretariat, for their support.

During its ten-day mission, the Working Group visited Islamabad, Lahore, Karachi, Quetta and Peshawar. In Islamabad, the Working Group met the Minister of Foreign Affairs and the Minister of Interior. The Working Group also met with the Advisor to Prime Minister on Human Rights, the Governor of Punjab, the Additional Secretary in charge of the United Nations and Economic Coordination at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Inspectors General of various provincial police agencies. In Lahore, the Working Group met with the Home Secretary, the Additional Home Secretary and the Secretary Prosecution of Punjab. In Karachi, the Working Group met the Chief Minister, the Chief Secretary, the Home Secretary, and the Advocate General of Sindh. In Quetta, the Working Group held meetings with the Chief Secretary and the Home Secretary of Baluchistan. In Peshawar, the Working Group met with the Home Secretary of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

In Islamabad, the Working Group also held meetings with the Chief Justice and the judges of the High Court of Islamabad, the Chair of the Commission of Inquiry on Enforced Disappearances and the parliamentarians of the Standing Committee on Human Rights.

Regretfully, some of the meetings that the Working Group had requested with a number of important actors both at the federal and provincial levels did not take place, notably with the Minister of Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs, the Minister of Defence, the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, the Directorate for ISI, the Inspector-General of Frontier Corps in Baluchistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa provinces and the Chief Justices of the High Courts of Lahore, Karachi, Quetta and Peshawar.

The Working Group held a number of meetings with representatives of all sectors of the civil society including NGOs, activists and lawyers. The Working Group also met a number of relatives of disappeared persons in all parts of the country.

The Working Group received allegations according to which some of the persons with whom we met had been threatened or intimidated. We call on the State to guarantee the safety of those who have met with us and protect them against any form of reprisals, threat or intimidation.

In addition, the Working Group met with representatives of the diplomatic community in Islamabad, as well as with Heads of various United Nations Agencies.

The invitation extended by the Government to us and other special procedures of the Human Rights Council is a testimony of its will to cooperate and take human rights issues seriously. The WGEID welcomes this opening and hopes that other special procedures mandate holders will be invited in the near future to visit Pakistan.

The Working Group also welcomes the ratification by Pakistan of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and of the Convention against Torture. It calls on the Government to ratify the Convention for the protection of all persons against enforced disappearances.

The Working Group undertakes its visits in a spirit of dialogue and cooperation and aims at formulating constructive recommendations.

Before stating our preliminary conclusions and recommendations, please note that we did not make any public statements before the press conference today. Any declaration quoted from one of the members of this Working Group has thus incorrectly been attributed to us.

I.  Mandate of the WGEID

The WGEID is tasked with two main mandates. The first mandate is to deal with cases of enforced disappearances. We receive allegations of cases of enforced disappearances and we transmit those cases to the States, asking them to take all necessary measures to find the fate or the whereabouts of the concerned person. This is done in a “humanitarian spirit”, that is to say that once the person is found, the case is considered clarified. We do not look for individual or State responsibilities. But we always remind the State of its obligations to investigate the case, punish the perpetrators and provide integral reparations to the victims.

The other mandate entrusted to the WGEID is related to the Declaration for the protection of all persons against enforced disappearances, adopted by the UN General Assembly in 1992 (thereafter ‘the Declaration’). The WGEID promotes the implementation of the standards of the Declaration and encourages States to implement those standards at the national level. In this respect, we receive general allegations concerning violations of the Declaration that are transmitted to the State, with the request to explain their position and describe the steps they have undertaken in relation to those allegations.

There have been a lot of discussions during the visit about the mandate of this Working Group, in particular on the issue of whether this was a “fact-finding” mission. This expression can have different meanings. If one means by that a body which is tasked with collecting evidence, with the view to initiate criminal proceedings, this is not the role of the WGEID, as the WGEID has always interpreted its mandate, as far as individual cases are concerned, as “humanitarian”. Within this mandate of dealing with cases of enforced disappearances, the WGEID always receives information about alleged individual cases of enforced disappearances, as it did during this mission. Furthermore, the WGEID receives information with respect to its second mandate, which is related to the implementation of the standards of the Declaration by States.

II. General context

Pakistan has been on the road to democracy since its independence. As in all countries worldwide, this road has been difficult and met with many obstacles. Pakistan has endured several periods of military dictatorship throughout its history, which resulted at times in massive violations of human rights. The perceptions of different groups in the society of not being treated on an equal footing with others created frustrations and demands which were often responded to through violent means and further inequalities. Article 25 of the Constitution of Pakistan provides that “All citizens are equal before law and are entitled to equal protection of law” and this principle should lead all policies of the State.

Since 2008, there has been a new phase of parliamentarian democracy, bringing much hope to the people of this country. Pakistan’s political and institutional life is characterized by a multi-party system, a strong independent judiciary, a vibrant civil society and a lively press, discussing all kinds of matters, including the problem of enforced disappearances.

Meanwhile, Pakistan is facing important security challenges. There is a widespread perception, among the population, that their security is not sufficiently ensured.

The State has to deal with multiple threats, coming from terrorist movements or violent groups. The conflicts taking place in neighbouring countries or territories is an additional factor of insecurity. The Working Group acknowledges these threats and the need for the State to ensure the right to life of their citizens. However, it also underlines that actions taken to deal with security threats, and in particular with terrorism, must at all times respect nationally and internationally recognized human rights. Human rights violations in the name of the fight against terrorism does not achieve its aim but can only, on the contrary, lead to further violations.

III. The phenomenon of enforced disappearances in Pakistan

1. Cases pending before the WGEID

A number of cases of enforced disappearances filed with the WGEID have allegedly occurred in 1985 and in the beginning of the 1990s, in the north-west region, in relation to the conflicts taking place in Afghanistan. A number of cases were also reported to the WGEID to have taken place in the 1990s, in relation to the military operations carried out in Karachi and its aftermaths (Sindh province). At the beginning of the 2000s, the Working Group started receiving cases of persons allegedly abducted in the context of the so-called “war on terror” and sometimes said to have been transferred to other State’s territories or detention centres. Those cases mostly concerned the provinces of Punjab and KPK, between 2003 and 2006. Starting from 2005-2006, a number of cases were received from Sindh and Baluchistan. In 2011, as noted in its annual report, the Working Group transmitted five new cases to the Government, including two cases through its urgent action procedure. The 2011 annual report of the WGEID also indicates the latest public information on the reported 107 cases concerning Pakistan, pending before the WGEID.

2. Allegations received during the mission

According to various official and unofficial sources met during the visit, it is in the post 9/11 period that the question of “missing persons” began to raise real attention at the national level. There is acknowledgement that enforced disappearances have occurred and still occur in the country. Cases continue to be reported to the national authorities. But there are controversies both on the figures and on the nature of the practice of enforced disappearances.

The figures communicated to us range from less than a hundred to thousands. In Baluchistan alone, some sources allege that more than 14,000 persons are still missing, while the provincial government only recognizes less than a hundred. To date, the Commission of Inquiry on Enforced Disappearances still has more than 500 cases in its docket concerning the whole country. The number of officially registered allegations, although may not be reflective of the reality of the situation, is itself an indication of the existence of the phenomenon.

As far as the nature of the practice is concerned, the authorities at the federal and provincial levels with whom we met often declared that most of the “missing persons” were in fact not victims of enforced disappearances. According to those authorities, some of those persons had been under criminal charges and had chosen to go in hiding, while some others have fled to another country to join illegal armed groups. Others, according to the same authorities, have been the victims of abductions by non state actors for various reasons. Cases of enforced disappearances by State actors, in this context, would be the result of misconducts and ultra vires behaviour by some agents of the State.

However, nongovernmental sources allege that there is a pattern of enforced disappearances in Pakistan, imputable to law enforcement agencies in conjunction with intelligence agencies.

During our visit families told us their stories and each story, while being different, revealed the same pattern. The abduction, often taking place in front of witnesses, is reported to be perpetrated by law enforcement agencies, like the police or the frontier corps, jointly with members of intelligence agencies in civilian clothing. When asked whether they had filed a complaint for illegal arrest, families generally say they tried to file a first information report (FIR) with the police, but were turned down or discouraged to do so. Most of them finally filed their cases with the provincial High Court or the Supreme Court of Pakistan, so that the Court would issue an order to the police to initiate an investigation. In a large number of cases, families reportedly received threats or were intimidated to try to prevent them to file such cases. Some families were promised that if they would not file a case, their loved ones would be released, which did not happen.

Some other families were threatened that if they did file a case, their loved ones will be harmed, or another member of their family would also be abducted. According to the families we have heard, witnesses who were called to testify before the courts were threatened and in some cases victimized. In a few cases, the lawyers defending the families were reportedly themselves victims of enforced disappearances.

Some of the abducted persons were released while others were never seen again by their relatives. A number of those who have returned have testified to being held in unofficial places of detention. Many of those who came back were allegedly threatened not to speak about their period of disappearance. Some however have chosen to take high risks to give statements before courts or before the Commission of Inquiry. In Baluchistan, since 2010, a number of persons whose whereabouts were previously unknown were found dead, generally with signs of torture and sometimes decomposed to the point that their relatives were unable to identify them. Sometimes those bodies were found far from the place where they had been abducted, for some in deserted areas. The practice of “delivering” dead bodies has allegedly accelerated in the years 2011 and 2012. Most of the families we have met, telling their stories, felt abandoned and hopeless.

They implored that if their loved ones were being accused of any crime, he or she should be presented before a judge and, if recognized guilty, be convicted.

It is the responsibility and duty of the State to investigate thoroughly these serious allegations. The State of Pakistan, acknowledging the existence of the problem of enforced disappearances, has already taken positive steps to try to address this issue. The WGEID welcomes the declared will of the Government to tackle this issue and look at the current shortcomings in order to find the truth about the disappeared and finally eradicate the crime of enforced disappearances in Pakistan. Nevertheless, serious challenges remain when it comes to the prevention and the eradication of enforced disappearances in Pakistan. The WGEID emphasizes that, under article 3 of the Declaration, the State must take effective measures to prevent and terminate acts of enforced disappearance in any territory under its jurisdiction.

The WGEID also underscores that in order to prevent any act of enforced disappearances, it is of outmost importance that, as enshrined in the Declaration on the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearances, any person deprived of liberty shall be held in an officially recognized place of detention and be brought promptly before a judicial authority (art. 10(1)).

IV. Efforts made by the State of Pakistan to deal with the problem of enforced disappearances

The Working Group welcomes the role played by the judiciary to shed light on the phenomenon of enforced disappearances in Pakistan and to trace missing persons. In 2007, the Supreme Court filed a number of petitions presented by individuals or NGOs. It was followed by provincial high courts which also began to take up cases under their jurisdiction to protect human rights. In a number of cases, the Supreme Court also took suo motuactions, showing its determinate will to tackle the problem. After the independence of the judiciary was reinstated in 2009, the courts continued to play a major role in the search for the disappeared persons and a number of persons resurfaced after having been kept in unlawful custody for several months, sometimes for years. The WGEID was told that the courts were also instrumental in facilitating the filing of FIR by families in relation to the abduction of their relatives, when they had previously been turned down by the local police.

Two special bodies were set up successively on the issue of enforced disappearances. In April 2010, the Interior Ministry set up a committee to investigate the fate of the disappeared persons. In March 2011, the Supreme Court decided to institute a specific body to deal with cases of enforced disappearances, initially for six months, but its mandate was then extended for three years. The two-member Commission of Inquiry on Enforced Disappearances is tasked with following up on the work done by the Interior Ministry’s Committee and to deal with cases already received by the Supreme Court, as well as with receiving new cases. The Commission can hear the families and the witnesses, in general in the presence of the representatives of most of the law enforcement and intelligence agencies. The Commission has held hearings in different parts of the country. It can order the setting up of a “Joint Investigation Team” (JIT) at the provincial level, in charge of investigating the matter. It can also summon any potential perpetrator. The JIT must report to the Commission on the result of the investigation.

In May 2012, the Statute of  the National Commission on Human Rights as a national human rights institution (NHRI) has been adopted by the Parliament. The authorities have told the WGEID that the Commission will, among other mandates, have the responsibility to deal with the issue of enforced disappearances, including the exercise of quasi-judicial powers.

There have been commitments from several official authorities to “solve” the problem of the “missing persons” in Pakistan. In particular, as far as Baluchistan is concerned, the Baluchistan “package” adopted by the new government included a provision according to which all persons being in custody should be either released or brought before a court.

V. Challenges faced by the State of Pakistan in resolving the issue of enforced disappearances

1. The judicial inquiries

Efforts made by the courts proved to be efficient in a number of cases, where the persons could effectively be traced and found, and could finally return to their family. However, in the greatest number of cases, the investigations initiated under the orders of the courts remained inconclusive.

Reportedly, the courts have avoided using compelling methods to ensure the cooperation of law enforcement and intelligence agencies whose agents were accused of having perpetrated an enforced disappearance. Some families informed the WGEID that, although they had brought witnesses before the court to substantiate their claims, the court before which the case was filed satisfied itself with the oral declaration by the representative of the said agency, denying the custody of the person. Others told the WGEID that the court failed to use its power to summon an agent suspected of having participated in an enforced disappearance.

The main complaint was that the courts’ proceedings failed to result in prosecutions of the named perpetrators, even when evidence was, according to their lawyers, sufficient to do so.

2. The Commission of inquiry

The same criticism was also made of the Commission of Inquiry, which is said to have limited authority on the various law enforcement or intelligence agencies, allegedly involved in the enforced disappearances reported to the Commission. As in the case of courts, the WGEID received reports that the Commission satisfied itself with the denial of the accused agency that it had the concerned person in custody.

The Commission informed the WGEID that should its orders not be complied with, it had the power to initiate criminal proceedings against the potential perpetrators. But the WGEID has received no report of such criminal proceedings.

Some families also reported to the WGEID that the Commission, after having reviewed a case, gave oral assurances to the family that their loved ones would soon return back home, which in fact never happened. They were not aware of whether or not a formal order had been delivered to the authority allegedly having the disappeared person in its custody.

The families we met had different feelings about the fact that the hearings took place in the presence of representatives of different agencies, including those being accused of having abducted their loved ones: some said they had no fear to confront them, whereas others felt intimidated. The Commission has told the Working Group that families were given the choice to be heard alone with the two members of the Commission, if they preferred to do so. The Working Group is of the opinion that this should be the rule, rather than the exception.

If families are willing to confront and tell their stories in front of the agencies, they should be given the possibility to do so. But generally, the families should be heard by the two members of the Commission in a confidential meeting.

There is no doubt that the courts and the Commission are facing enormous difficulties in their task related to cases of enforced disappearances. The fact that they are being criticized by some families is reflective of the frustration, anguish and fear endured by these families. It is also a sign that those institutions ought to be further strengthened. The WGEID is in particular aware of the limits imposed on a two-member Commission, notably with respect to the limited capacities in terms of staffing.

3. Impunity

As the High Commissioner for Human Rights said when recently visiting the country “Impunity is dangerously corrosive to the rule of law in Pakistan.” Listening to authorities and to victims, we could feel that impunity was a concern for the whole society. Some officials conveyed their concerns that criminals, terrorists or militants from armed groups enjoyed a great impunity because, even when investigations were initiated against them, they managed to get out of them, by using threats against the police, the judges or witnesses. There were hints that this might explain why some law enforcement or intelligence agents might resort to illegal practices such as enforced disappearances.

The WGEID is aware of the difficulties encountered by law enforcement officials to bring criminals to justice and acknowledge the security challenges faced by Pakistan in different areas. However, it underscores that these challenges cannot be accepted as a justification to commit such a heinous crime as enforced disappearances. We draw attention, in this respect, to Article 7 of the Declaration which provides that: “No circumstances whatsoever, whether a threat of war, a state of war, internal political instability or any other public emergency, may be invoked to justify enforced disappearances.”

Furthermore, according to the information received by the WGEID, the practice of enforced disappearances was also a tool to target political or human rights activists, who are legitimately exercising their freedoms of expression, association, and assembly.

Victims complained that, even when clearly identified by witnesses, the perpetrators were not only never convicted, but even never submitted to any effective investigation. The WGEID, despite its reiterated requests, has received no information related to convictions of state agents in relation to acts of enforced disappearances.

We were told by government officials that families of disappeared persons were not so keen to file complaints against named perpetrators and that in the absence of any complaint, no prosecution could be initiated. However, the WGEID would like to recall article 13(1) of the Declaration which provides that whenever there are reasonable grounds to believe that an enforced disappearance has been committed, the State shall promptly refer the matter to a competent and independent State authority for investigation, even if there has been no formal complaint. No measure shall be taken to curtail or impede the investigation.

It was also reported to the WGEID that some victims and witnesses received serious threats when reporting their cases to the police, the courts or the Commission of Inquiry. The WGEID was pleased to hear from official authorities of the Sindh and Baluchistan, but also at the federal level, that laws and regulations relating to the protection of victims and witnesses were in the process of being adopted. As provided in article 13(3) of the Declaration, “steps shall be taken to ensure that all involved in the investigation, including the complainant, counsel, witnesses and those conducting the investigation, are protected against ill-treatment, intimidation or reprisal.” A strong and comprehensive program for the protection of victims and witnesses should be set up, with a special attention to women as relatives of disappeared persons.

The WGEID notes that the Prime Minister promised to the High Commissioner, during her visit, that there would be a “zero tolerance” policy for such abuses, and hopes that this policy will be implemented with urgency.

Investigation against, and punishment of perpetrators, should be in accordance with the law, and with all the guarantees of a fair trial.

Perpetrators should be punished with appropriate penalties, with the clear exclusion of the death penalty. Enforced disappearances can also be punished on the basis of other crimes, as defined in the Criminal Code of Pakistan, such as the offence of “kidnapping or abducting with intent secretly and wrongfully to confine person”. However, it is recommended the creation of a new and autonomous crime of enforced disappearances, following the definition given in the 2006 Convention or the protection of all persons against enforced disappearances, and with the legal consequences flowing from this qualification (see the WGEID’s study on the best practices on enforced disappearances in domestic criminal legislation, doc. HRC/16/48/Add.3).

The WGEID also notes that, in Pakistan, military personnel cannot be submitted to trial before civil courts. This might constitute a factor of impunity for human rights violations and should be changed. Article 16 §§ 1 and 2 of the Declaration states that persons alleged to have committed an enforced disappearance shall be suspended from any official duties during the investigation and shall be tried only by the competent ordinary courts, and not by other special tribunal, in particular military courts.

4. Supervision and training of law enforcement agencies and intelligence agencies

During its visit, the WGEID repeatedly received allegations according to which there was a lack of supervision and accountability of law enforcement and intelligence agencies to the Government.

Accountability and full oversight of law enforcement and intelligence agencies is all the more essential in a situation where the State has to face multiple threats, like terrorism or political violence. In these circumstances, there is a risk that intelligence agencies would acquire new powers to interrogate, arrest and detain individuals, to the detriment of the law enforcement agencies. This shift can ultimately endanger the rule of law, as the collection of intelligence and collection of evidence about criminal acts becomes more and more blurred.

Furthermore, agents in charge of intelligence may be tempted to abuse the usually legitimate secrecy of intelligence operations and commit violations of human rights under the cover of this secrecy.

For these reasons, it is of major importance that the executive effectively supervise and direct the actions of the intelligence agencies. The Parliament has also a role to play in this regard, as it is to hold the executive branch and its agents accountable to the general public.

Appropriate training should also be given to members of law enforcement and intelligence agencies in the field of human rights, with particular focus on enforced disappearances. It should be made clear to all, in particular, that, as stated in article 6(1) of the Declaration that: “No order or instruction of any public authority, civilian, military or other, may be invoked to justify an enforced disappearance. Any person receiving such an order or instruction shall have the right and duty not to obey it.”

5. Assistance to the families and reparation

Victims of enforced disappearances are not only those who have been disappeared, but also their families. Relatives are enduring pain and anguish, as a consequence of the continuous uncertainty about the fate or the whereabouts of their loved ones. In the immense majority of cases, the disappeared persons are men and it is the women who are left alone. The gendered dimension of the phenomenon of enforced disappearances should be duly taken into consideration.

Family members are also prevented from exercising their rights and obligations due to the legal uncertainty created by the absence of the disappeared person. This uncertainty has many legal consequences, among others on the status of marriage, guardianship of under age children, right to social allowances of members of the families and management of property of the disappeared person. When asked, officials told us that there were no specific legal institutions designed to deal with these complex issues. To address this issue, the State of Pakistan should enable the issuance of a “declaration of absence by reason of enforced disappearance.”

During some meetings with officials, we heard that relatives of the disappeared are often taken care of by the extended family and that, in any case, they can file a civil claim in court in order to obtain compensation. But the issue of “compensation” should be clearly distinguished from the aid that should be provided to the families to cope with the dire consequences of the absence of the main breadwinner.

The WGEID recommends the establishment of mechanisms providing for social allowances or appropriate social and medical measures for relatives of disappeared persons in relation to the physical, mental and economic consequences of the absence of the disappeared. In this respect, we welcome the information provided by the Advisor to the Prime Minister on Human Rights that there is an existing fund dedicated to women which could be used for this purpose.

In no case should the acceptance of financial support for members of the families be considered as a waiver of the right to integral reparation for the damage caused by the crime of enforced disappearances, in accordance with article 19 of the Declaration.

In addition to the punishment of the perpetrators and the right to monetary compensation, the right to obtain reparation for acts of enforced disappearance under article 19 of the Declaration also includes the means for as complete rehabilitation as possible. This obligation refers to medical and psychological care and rehabilitation for any form of physical or mental damage as well as to legal and social rehabilitation, guarantees of non-repetition, restoration of personal liberty, family life, citizenship, employment or property, return to one’s place of residence and similar forms of restitution, satisfaction and reparation which may remove the consequences of the enforced disappearance.

6. Recommendations

The WGEID would like now to share a number of preliminary recommendations to the State of Pakistan. It is to be noted that these recommendations – as well as the conclusions we have just exposed – are not exhaustive and will be complemented in the final report, which will be presented before the Human Rights Council at one of its sessions in 2013:

- As a preventive measure against enforced disappearance, any person deprived of liberty shall be held in an officially recognized place of detention and be brought promptly before a judicial authority.

- The Commission of Inquiry should be reinforced. Its membership should be extended, so as to allow parallel hearings. Its staff and resources should be strengthened and the Commission should be given its own premises.

- The courts and the Commission of Inquiry should use all powers they have to ensure compliance with their orders, including the request of sworn affidavits and writs of contempt of courts.

- As a rule, the families should be heard in confidential meetings before the Commission of Inquiry, without the presence of representatives of law enforcement and intelligence agencies.

- A new and autonomous crime of enforced disappearances should be included in the Criminal Code, following the definition given in the 2006 Convention or the protection of all persons against enforced disappearances, and with all the legal consequences flowing from this qualification.

- Investigation against and punishment of perpetrators should be in accordance with the law, and with all the guarantees of a fair trial. Perpetrators should be punished with appropriate penalties, with the clear exclusion of the death penalty.

- Investigations should be initiated whenever there are reasonable grounds to believe that an enforced disappearance has been committed, even if there has been no formal complaint.

- Measures should be taken to ensure that, in case of human rights violations, suspected perpetrators, including army personnel, are suspended from any official duties during the investigation and are tried only by competent ordinary courts, and not by other special tribunal, in particular military courts.

- Clear rules and dedicated institutions should be created in order to ensure the oversight and the accountability of law enforcement and intelligence agencies.

- Appropriate training should be given to members of law enforcement and intelligence agencies in the field of human rights, with particular focus on enforced disappearances.

- A comprehensive program for the protection of victims and witnesses should be set up, with a special attention to women as relatives of disappeared persons.

- The State has to guarantee the safety of those who have met with the WGEID during this visit and to protect them against any form of reprisals, threats or intimidation.

- A system of declaration of absence as a result of enforced disappearance should be issued in order to address the legal uncertainties created by the absence of the disappeared person.

- Financial aid should be provided to the relatives of the disappeared persons, in particular women and children, in order to help to cope with the difficulties generated by the absence of the disappeared person.

- A program of integral reparation should be set up for all victims of enforced disappearances, including not only compensation but also full rehabilitation, satisfaction, including restoration of dignity and reputation, and guarantees of non-repetition.

- Ratify the Convention for the protection of all persons against enforced disappearances, and recognize the competence of the Committee to consider individual and inter-state complaints under article 31 and 32.

- If requested by the Government of Pakistan, the United Nations and other international organizations should stand ready to provide technical assistance and consultative services, so as to implement the Working Group’s recommendations.

To conclude, a mother of a disappeared person has asked us to convey a message to all persons in charge of public affairs in Pakistan. She asked: “If your child disappeared, what would you do?”

This question summarizes the ordeal families are going through. As far as the WGEID is concerned, our only – but unsatisfactory response – to such a torturing pain is to recall that the relatives of the disappeared persons have the right to the truth, the right to justice and the right to reparation, and it is the duty of the State of Pakistan to take all necessary measures to make those rights effective.

Solutions To Resolve the Balochistan Impasse

HRCP’s Findings

In many fundamental respects the situation had not changed in Balochistan since HRCP’s last fact-finding mission to the province in 2011. Enforced disappearances continued in Balochistan as did dumping of bodies and impunity for the perpetrators. Frontier Corps and intelligence agencies were generally believed to be involved in enforced disappearance of people. In some cases their involvement had been proved beyond doubt. Failure to punish the perpetrators or to probe that involvement in a meaningful way was aggravating the situation. The law and order situation had worsened and sectarian killings increased in all districts.

However, there were some positive changes, each with a caveat, which offered hope for improvement in Balochistan’s situation. The Supreme Court hearings in Quetta had certainly had a positive impact, although it remained to be seen if the impact would endure. The mission found youth and political activists were more willing to talk and more keen to engage in efforts to resolve the crises politically. Sincerity and reciprocity were needed to avail the opportunity. There was keen awareness that change was vital and a lot of people looked towards the forthcoming elections to deliver that change. If free and fair elections were held progressive elements were expected to participate. Some nationalists might not contest but others would. If the nationalists became part of the government things were generally expected to improve. However, lawlessness made preparation for the elections difficult for nationalist parties, many of which had constituencies in insurgency-hit districts. There were apprehensions that elections might be rigged and demands were made for national and international monitors for the elections. Law and order had prevented many parliamentarians from visiting their constituencies. As of now, the people only got a chance to go to elections once every decade. There was a general feeling that if there was genuine democracy Balochistan’s woes could have been minimised.

There were multiple layers of violence and tension in Balochistan. Law and order was a problem that cast a long shadow on all aspects of life. The crime wave that had engulfed urban Balochistan and the main highways was either a mark of collusion or utter incompetence of the authorities. The government, law enforcement and security agencies had completely failed to deal with militant / insurgent, sectarian and criminal elements.

Kidnappings for ransom had become a profitable enterprise. No perpetrator had been arrested or tried. It was difficult to see how the kidnappers could operate despite heavy security deployment. The conclusion that most people reached in Balochistan was that the criminals had not been arrested because they enjoyed the patronage of the authorities. The provincial home minister had spoken of fellow cabinet members’ involvement in this crime but no action was taken. Questions were raised as to who would give protection to the people, to the Hazaras, non-Muslims and to truck drivers who pooled money to pay ransom.

The problems in Balochistan had long been looked at in the perspective of a Baloch insurgency and Baloch rights. There was a need to have a holistic look at all the problems in Balochistan, including those faced by a substantial Pakhtun population, the Hazaras, non-Muslims and settlers as well as economic and livelihood issues in the province.

There were complaints of the state’s inability or unwillingness to protect the lives of religious minorities as well as members of some Muslim sects. Killings and harassment of the settler population by the insurgents had led to the settlers shifting to Pakhtun-majority areas or to leave the province altogether. Target killings and crime on the basis of religious and ethnic identity of the victims had grown. The continued persecution of Hazaras was as ruthless as it was unprecedented. The people the mission met said that if the authorities had the commitment to stop the killings or punish those responsible the killings could not have expanded in the manner that they had. Questions were raised about absence of ability or willingness on part of the government to protect the people from faith-based violence as well as its lack of priorities. Heightened threats including kidnappings for ransom had forced Hazaras, non-Muslims, settlers and wealthy people to migrate to other parts of the country and even abroad.

Talibanisation was growing in several areas. Unlike the past, religious fanaticism was not merely being exported to the province from elsewhere. It was now being bred in Balochistan. A growing network of madrassas had contributed to aggravation of inter-sect tensions. There were fears that the security forces were patronizing militants and Quetta was being turned into a haven for militants. There were said to be militants’ training camps in the province.

Aspiring irregular migrants from or passing through Balochistan took great risks in their quest for a brighter future and the human smugglers were only too happy to exploit them. Little was being done to address the reasons that forced people to migrate.

Unlike the past, the insurgents had systematically targeted infrastructure and development work.

Despite the government’s oft-voiced desire for a political solution to the crisis in Balochistan no progress had been made on engaging through talks the nationalist elements in Balochistan. Even preparatory steps towards that end remained lacking.

The state abdicating its basic responsibility and NGOs retreating for fear of abduction of their staff had further aggravated the crises. The government and development agencies had abandoned the troubled areas. Healthcare and education were neglected. Many good teachers had migrated. An insurgency in parts of the province did not justify the state ignoring the people’s health, sanitation and other basic needs and infrastructure, which were not affected by the ongoing strife. There were places in the province where the people, irrespective of their ethnicity, survived in conditions that were not far removed from the Stone Age. Alleviating their problems was no one’s priority.

The provincial government was nowhere to be seen in the crises. The chief minister was away from the province for a lot of time and the provincial government held meetings regarding Balochistan outside the province. The provincial government seemed to have earned a lot of discredit in a short span of time. In probably the only example of its kind, all but one member of the provincial assembly was in the cabinet. After the 18th Amendment and the National Finance Commission Award, more funds had certainly become available to Balochistan but those did not seem to have trickled down. A general observation was that corruption had spiked by the same margin.

The government had shown little interest in shoring up sagging economic activity and businesses. The industry had collapsed, natural resources had not been tapped nor the requisite expertise created and agriculture that was the mainstay of a large part of the provincial economy was in ruins because of drought-like conditions and lack of irrigation water amid plummeting water table, debilitating electricity shortages and absence of delay-action dams.

The total electricity need of Balochistan was very small compared to the needs of the other provinces. Yet the people in the province faced excessive electricity suspension. The people demanded that the government should accept an Iranian offer to supply 1,000 megawatts of electricity to Pakistan and use the same in Balochistan.

There was a widespread feeling that the national media had abandoned Balochistan and not given as much coverage to the events and incidents as their importance demanded. Even when whole cities were shut down during a strike the media did not report that. Journalists in the field felt threatened from the security forces, militants and insurgents. The people in the districts affected by the insurgency in general and journalists in particular felt like hostages. If they said one thing they were traitors to one side and if they did not they were traitors to the other side. The stories that the journalists did file were often covered only in Balochistan editions of publications by national level media organisations. That prevented the people elsewhere in Pakistan from getting the true picture of the situation in the province.

Members of the mission were shocked at the glut of sophisticated firearms in Balochistan and the people’s easy access to them. It defied belief that huge quantities of weapons could pass through a series of check-posts when the common citizen was stopped even for carrying a knife. Had there been sincere efforts to curtail the free flow of weapons they would certainly have made a difference.

The people generally expressed faith in the Levies force because of it being a local force. Police was not well respected.

All investigations in Balochistan today seemed to end as soon as claims of responsibility were made by one militant or insurgent organisation or the other. It was a free for all and in cases of target killings or even common crime any investigation or prosecution worth the name was gene

http://www.hrcp-web.org/showprel.asp?id=295

The moderate and genuine Baloch demands are listed here:

Military operation must end unconditionally and immediately.

All those Baloch who have been forcibly disappeared by FC and are missing must be released and allowed to re-join with their family
members and law-enforcement officers, including military officers, who broke the law or committed crimes against Baloch citizens must be brought to justice.

Hefty and direct compensation in a transparent mode to the families of all those who got killed, kidnapped and tortured.

Homeless I.D.P.s must be returned to their hearth and home with honor and dignity, rehabilitated and compensated.

The mostly Pashtun-based Frontier Corps, which have intentionally been deployed to create bad blood between the Baloch and Pashtuns, must be removed from all Baloch cities and towns in Balochistan and replaced by local Balochs; all the FC check post should
be dismantled in Balochistan; the Pastun-based Frontier Corps should be deployed along the Afghan border in Pashtun areas.

All Afghan refugees living in Balochistan must be returned back to Afghanistan and their names removed from the voter registration lists.

The historic territorial integrity and demography of Balochistan, land of the Baloch, must not be changed.

Balochistan’s boundaries to be redrawn based on historical, ethnic and linguistic line and all Pashtun areas of Balochistan should be joined with Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.

Gwadar port and Balochistan’s natural resources must be used to uplift the Baloch people.

Baloch secular national identity and culture must be honored, preserved, restored and respected.

Balochi language must be declared Balochistan’s primary language of learning.

Center should only keep defense and currency and all other departments, including foreign relations and foreign trade, should be given to provinces with full provincial autonomy.

Baloch, especially the ordinary middle classes, must be well represented at all the federal level and in foreign services to remove their sense of deprivation and alienation to make them feel counted citizens.

London-based international human rights campaigner Peter Tatchell Calls For Referendum to Ascertain Wishes of Balochi People

London-based international human rights campaigner Peter Tatchell, Director of the Peter Tatchell Foundation.

He is today reiterating the “road map for self-determination” that he outlined at the conference on the future of Balochistan, held earlier this year at the Royal Society in London and organised by UNPO, the Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organisation.

Mr Tatchell reemphasised that the major challenge for the Baloch people is “the absence of a programme to deescalate the conflict, end human rights abuses and secure a negotiated political settlement leading to self-determination for the people of Balochistan.”

“There are many laudable aims from many different sectors of the Baloch national democratic movement. But there is no agreed plan on how to get from where the Baloch people are now to where they want to be in the future.

“A plan and unity are vital for success.

“Without a concrete plan for peace and self-determination it will be much more difficult to secure the support of the international community. They want to see a consensus on how the nationalist movement proposes to solve the conflict.

“The Baloch people can put Pakistan on the spot by offering a negotiated political settlement and setting out the means to achieve it.

“I speak as a friend of Balochistan who is mindful that the future of Balochistan is a matter for the people and national democratic movement of Balochistan. It’s not up to me or any other outsider to make any such decisions. I offer advice, experience and knowledge but the future of Balochistan must be decided by the Baloch people.

“What I’m doing is offering a few ideas for consideration. These ideas are not mine alone. They are the result of discussions I had with a group of Baloch national activists in Geneva in 2010, when we went there to lobby at the United Nations.

“This is our draft road map for peace and self-determination:

“First, there should be a ceasefire and the cessation of military operations by all sides; with Pakistan agreeing to withdraw troops and paramilitaries to barracks, halt the construction of new military outposts and permit independent monitoring and supervision by UN observers and peacekeepers.

“Second, all political prisoners should be released and the fate of all disappeared persons accounted for.

“Third, there should be unfettered access to Balochistan by news media, aid agencies and human rights organisations.

“Fourth, displaced refugees should be allowed to return, have their properties restored and receive compensation for losses caused by the conflict.

“Fifth, the population transfer of non-Baloch settlers into Balochistan should end.

“Sixth, there should be a UN supervised referendum on self-determination, offering the people of Balochistan the options to remain part of Pakistan, greater regional autonomy and full independence.

“These six ideas are only tentative, draft proposals. They are open for further discussion, refinement and amendment. But they are a starting point for a united front for Baloch emancipation. Surely all Baloch nationalists, whatever their other differences, can agree with them?

“My advice is: concentrate on the issues around which you can unite and then the Baloch movement will be stronger, more effective, and you’ll be taking the first step on the road to a long-delayed, much-deserved freedom,” said Mr Tatchell.

Further information:

Peter Tatchell
Director of the Peter Tatchell Foundation
London UK – 0207 403 1790 [From outside the UK -   +44 207 403 1790 ]
Peter@PeterTatchellFoundation.org
www.PeterTatchellFoundation.org 

Are Missing Persons Really Missing?

کیا “لاپتہ افراد” واقعی لاپتہ ہیں؟

از محمد عبد الحمید

جبگ/جیو کے حامد میر نے ایک ٹیلی ویژن پروگرام میں کہا کہ میڈیا کے لوگ صرف 10 فی صد سچ بولتے ہیں، میرے سمیت۔ حامد میر ہی “لاپتہ افراد” کے معاملہ میں سب سے زیادہ سرگرم ہیں۔ اس معاملہ میں وہ کتنا سچ بول رہے ہیں؟

“لاپتہ افراد” صرف بلوچستان ہی میں کیوں ہیں؟ بات یہ ہے کہ دوسرے صوبوں میں دہشت گردی ہوتی ہے، جس میں لوگ مرتے ہیں اور زخمی ہوتے ہیں، لاپتہ نہیں ہوتے۔ بلوچستان میں لاپتہ ہونے کی وجوہ میڈیا تلاش نہیں کرتا کیونکہ نہ مالک اس کی اجازت دیتے ہیں، اور نہ انھیں ڈالر دینے والا امریکہ۔

بلوچستان میں نہ حقوق کا مسئلہ ہے اور نہ احساس محرومی کا۔ حقوق کا مسئلہ تو موجودہ حکومت نے 18 ویں ترمیم سے ختم کر دیا۔ صوبوں کو اتنے اختیارات دے دیئے کہ وہ استعمال ہی نہیں کر پاتے۔ انھیں یہاں تک اختیار مل گیا کہ رشوت لے کر درسی کتابوں میں جو چاہیں ملک دشمن مواد شامل کر دیں (جیسے مشرقی پاکستان میں ہوا کرتا تھا) اور اپنی جیبیں بھر کر تیل، گیس اور معدنیات نکالنے کے ٹھیکے جن غیرملکی کمپنیوں کو چاہیں دے دیں۔

احساس محرومی بھی لوٹ مار کا بہانہ ہے۔ پچھلے سالوں میں سینکڑوں بلین روپے بلوچستان کو دیئے گئے۔ موجودہ حکومت نے صرف اس سال 145 بلین روپے دیئے۔ وہ کہاں گئے؟ صوبہ کی کل آبادی اکیلے ضلع لاہور سے بھی کم ہے لیکن احساس محرومی ہے کہ ختم ہونے ہی میں نہیں آتا۔

دراصل، یہ سب امریکہ کے کہنے پر تراشے گئے بہانے ہیں۔ امریکہ بلوچستان کو علیحدہ کرا کے نیا ملک بنانا چاہتا ہے، جیسے اس نے سوڈان کا جنوبی حصہ کاٹ کر ایک نیا ملک، جنوبی سوڈان، بنوا دیا۔ (سوڈان کا 97 فیصد تیل جنوبی سوڈان سے نکلتا ہے۔) بلوچستان میں تیل، گیس اور معدنیات کے ساتھ امریکہ کے اور کئی مفادات ہیں۔ افغانستان سے نکل کر یہاں بیٹھنا چاہتا ہے، چین کو گوادر سے فائدہ اٹھانے سے روکنا ہے، پاکستان اور ایران کو زیادہ سے زیادہ نقصان پہنچانا ہے اور آبنائے ہرمز کے دہانے کو کنٹرول کرنا ہے (تاکہ جنگ کی صورت میں دشمنوں کو خلیج فارس سے سعودی عرب، ایران، عراق، کویت وغیرہ سے تیل کی سپلائی روکی جا سکے)۔

چنانچہ امریکہ نے بلوچستان میں اسلم رائیسانی کو وزیر اعلی بنوایا، جسے حکومت سے کوئی دلچسپی نہیں اور جس کا چھوٹا بھائی، لشکری رائیسانی، امریکی مصنف رون سسکنڈ کے مطابق امریکی، برتانوی اور فرانسیسی خفیہ اجنسیوں کا وظیفہ خوار ہے۔ (اب وہ پی پارٹی چھوڑ کر تحریک انصاف میں شامل ہو چکا ہے)۔ ایک کے سوا تمام ارکان اسمبلی کابینہ میں ہیں تاکہ خرابیوں پر کوئی انگلی نہ اٹھائے جبکہ وزیر اعلی سارا وقت اسلام آباد میں رہتا ہے۔ (اس کی سوچ ہے کہ وزیر اعلی وزیر اعلی ہوتا ہے، چاہے کوئٹہ میں رہے یا اسلام آباد میں۔)

بلوچستان سے فوج بلا لی گئی، پتہ نہیں کس مصلحت کے تحت، جبکہ ماضی میں ہر یورش فوجی کاروائی سے ہی دبائی گئی۔ ملک دشمنوں کے خلاف ساری کاروائی ایف۔ سی۔ (فرنٹیئر کانسٹیبلری) کے ذمہ ہے۔ وہ دہشت گردوں کو پکڑ لے تو بھی ان کے خلاف کچھ کر نہیں سکتی۔ تفتیش پولیس کا اور سزا دینا عدالتوں کا کام ہوتا ہے لیکن ان دونوں اداروں کا وجود ہی نہیں۔ صدر پرویز مشرف نے پولیس کا دائرہ کار 5 فی صد رقبہ سے بڑھا کر 100 فی صد کر دیا لیکن اسلم رئیسانی نے اسے ختم کر دیا ہے۔ اب کوئٹہ کے علاقہ کو چھوڑ کر لیویز کا پھر سے راج ہے، جو سرداروں کی بھرتی کردہ ہوتی ہے جبکہ وفاقی حکومت اس کے اخراجات دیتی ہیں۔

“لاپتہ افراد” ہیں کون؟ میڈیا پتہ کرنے کی کوشش نہیں کرتا کہ یہ لوگ کون ہیں، ان کا اور ان کے کنبوں کا کیا پس منظر ہے، ان کی آمدنی کہاں سے ہوتی ہے۔ اکثر کے تو پتے بھی معلوم نہیں۔ صرف تعداد بڑھانے کے لیئے ان کے نام لکھا دیئے گئے۔ جن کے پتے معلوم ہوئے وہ نام نہاد بلوچستان لبریشن آرمی میں شامل ہو چکے تھے، افغانستان جا چکے تھے، کراچی میں کاروبار کرتے تھے یا ویسے ہی روپوش تھے۔ جو امریکی اور ہندوستانی ایجنٹ مقابلہ میں ہلاک ہو جاتے ہیں وہ “لاپتہ” کے کھاتے میں ڈال دیئے جاتے ہیں۔ کچھ واقعی تحویل میں بتائے جاتے ہیں، ان سے تفتیش ہو رہی ہے۔ اگر مجرم ہونے کا ثبوت مل بھی جائے تو صوبائی حکومت نہ اپنی تحویل میں لیتی ہے، نہ مقدمہ چلاتی ہے۔ در حقیقت یہ وہ افراد ہیں، جو امریکی سرپرستی میں علیحدگی کے لیئے دہشت گردی کرتے ہیں اور جنھیں رہا کرانے کے لیئے امریکہ بے چین رہتا ہے۔ امریکہ سے امداد اور ہندوستان سے تربیت لے کر کرایہ کے لوگوں سے دہشت گردی کرائی جا رہی ہے۔ امرکی ایجنٹوں کو 500 ڈالر (تقریبا 50 ہزار روپے) مہینہ تک وظیفہ ملتا ہے۔ بگتی، مری، مینگل وغیرہ چند قبائل کے سردار ملک سے باہر بیٹھے ہیں۔ جو یہاں ہیں وہ بھی امریکی سرپرستی میں عیش کر رہے ہیں۔ ایک زین بگتی جب افغانستان کی طرف سے اسلحہ لاتے ہوئے پکڑا گیا تو اس نے پہلا فون امریکی سفارت خانہ کو کیا۔ شمالی آئرلینڈ میں جب علیحدگی کی تحریک زوروں پر تھی تو بی۔ بی۔ سی۔ کو اس کے لیڈر جیری ایڈمز کا بیان اس کی اپنی آواز میں سنانے کی اجازت نہ تھی۔ یہاں علیحدگی پسند سرداروں کے گھنٹے گھنٹے کے انٹرویو نشر ہوتے ہیں۔

جو لوگ سمجھتے ہیں کہ میڈیا میں “لاپتہ افراد” کے لیئے ہونے والا پراپیگنڈہ صحیح ہے، ان سے زیادہ بھولا کوئی نہیں۔ صحافیوں کو ڈالر ملتے ہیں کہ زیادہ سے زیادہ شور مچائو، چینل اور اخبار مالکوں کو ڈالر ملتے ہیں کہ علیحدگی پسندوں کے بار بار انٹرویو کرائو، غیرسرکاری تنظیموں کو ڈالر ملتے ہیں کہ مظاہرے کرائو اور دھرنے دو۔ رہی وفاقی حکومت تو اسے ملک دشمنوں کے خلاف کچھ کرنے کی فرصت کہاں۔ رحمان ملک صرف یہ کہہ دیتے ہیں کہ “غیرملکی ہاتھ ملوث ہے۔” اس نامحرم کا نام نہیں لیتے اور نہ اس کا ہاتھ مروڑتے ہیں۔

سپریم  کورٹ کا رویہ بھی حیران کن ہے۔ یا تو اسے حقائق کا علم نہیں یا تجاہل عارفانہ سے کام لیا جا رہا ہے۔ یا پھر سارا جوش و خروش امریکہ کو خوش کرنے کے لیئے ہے۔ فوجی اداروں پر لعن طعن بھی شائد اسی لیئے ہے کہ امریکہ کا ایک بڑا مقصد ہماری فوج کو بدنام کرنا بھی ہے۔

صورت حال یہ ہے کہ میڈیا سچ تلاش نہیں کرتا، عدلیہ سچ سنتی نہیں اور فوج سچ بولتی نہیں کہ حکومت کے لیئے پریشانی پیدا نہ ہو۔ پھر

        خداوندا، ترے یہ سادہ دل بندے کدھر جائیں

 

مزید معلومات کے لیئے امریکی مصنف کا مضمون دیکھیں:

Balochistan: Crossroads of Proxy War

by Eric Draitser

http://www.rifah.org/site/balochistan-crossroads-of-proxy-war/administrative-map-of-baluchistan-province/

الله حافظ!

Balochistan Being Treated as East Pakistan in 1971

The situation of Balochistan is no different to that of the former East Pakistan (Bangladesh) when the military carried out operations and killed more than 300,000 people in the guise of protecting ideological boundaries.

The government does not consider extrajudicial killings anything out of the ordinary and one of the reasons for this is that they have lost all control over the military, para-military forces and state intelligence agencies that control the province. These military forces brook no interference into their affairs and use ‘national security’ and the protection of ideological boundaries to justify the killings and disappearances of innocent persons, particularly students.

Not a single day goes by without an extrajudicial killing. In the recent years a new phenomenon has been introduced in the cases of disappearances where the victims are extrajudicially killed in order to destroy any evidence of wrong doing.

The Voice of Baloch Missing Persons (VBMP), an organization which collects data about the disappearances and extrajudicial killings has compiled a list of 206 persons from July 2010 to date from different districts of Balochistan. The victims were extrajudicially killed and their mutilated bodies which bore marks of torture were found on the roadside. Amongst the 206 corpses 32 of them were not identified as their bodies were too badly decomposed. Many persons were identified by their clothes, shoes and personal effects.

The provincial government and Federal Minister for Interior Affairs claim that the Balochis were agitating against the government and were killed as a result of their ‘illegal’ actions. They do not accept the claim by activists that the deceased were extrajudicial killed. The media has been prevented from covering the incidents of disappearances and killings by the state forces. However, they do produce reports that anti-state activists were killed due to their militancy or in-fighting between militant groups. It has become increasingly dangerous for the people of Balochistan, particularly students to travel outside the province as they are arrested or taken out from the vehicles and kept in incommunicado and after some time their bullet riddled bodies are found.

The month of October 2011 was selected for dumping the bodies of the missing persons in the province as the PM was visiting to the province. This act shows the arrogance of the military forces and intelligence agencies operating in the province that no civil authority should question their power.

To substantiate their arrogance a massive military operation has been launched in the Chamalang areas of Balochistan. The Pakistani Air Force have pounded the villages with heavy bombardments resulting in the deaths of two women and a child besides the destruction of several homes and live stock. Jet fighters, helicopters and heavy artillery have been deployed and they are constantly pounding area indiscriminately. Fear of more deaths and destruction is likely to increase in the affected areas, which is out of bounds to foreign and local media.

If words of students and activists and journalists offend Pakistan’s army or go against the intelligence agencies they face death. In many cases, the abducted persons were not even political activists but were only Baloch civilians.

The people of Balochistan are generally termed as the anti-state elements by the law enforcing agencies and the federal ministry of interior and whenever any citizen of the province talks about their rights he or she has to face the brutal action of the law enforcement agencies who are alien to Balochistan and have no concept of the local culture and traditions. The situation is very much similar to that of former East Pakistan (Bangladesh) where troops from other parts of the Pakistan unleashed terror against the local population and who were totally unaware of the local culture and tradition, which resulted in the killings of more than 300,000 Bengalis and the dismemberment of the country. In Balochistan the local people are treated as agents of India as Bengalis were accused of being so many years ago. The Federal Ministry of the Interior always blames the nationalist as being Indian agents but he rarely visits the province.

Ironically, this same ministry never takes any action against the Jihadis or sectarian militant organizations that kill the people on a daily basis in bomb blasts, terrorist activities or sectarian violence against the religious minority groups. It is said that religious militant groups and Jihadis have the patronage of Pakistani military and the ministry.

In his latest visit to Balochistan, the PM ignored the issues of the Balochi people and allied himself with the army forces.

The Supreme Court and the judicial commission formed to investigate forced disappearances have proved totally impotent and more concerned with appeasing the military than providing justice to the families of the disappeared. In the hearings the judges and conveners made loud pronouncements for the sake of the media but do not have the courage to call the military officers and others identified by the victims and their families to appear.

The entire country of Pakistan is on the brink of a violent movement which may prove more than they can handle. The government has the option of reining in the military and intelligence agencies and providing justice to the victims. However, it would appear that it concerned only with its own survival. What the government must realise is that the people of Balochistan will only be pushed so far before they start pushing back and that will lead to untold horror and bloodshed.

The acceptance of the government of the absence of the rule of law and the ongoing human rights abuses is not going unnoticed by the electorate. The international community is taking notice of this and the government will not be able to sweep this under the carpet by denying knowledge of what is going on.

The government must come to its senses and put a stop to the endless extrajudicial killings of the citizens of Balochistan and order the immediate release of all those who have been forcibly disappearances. Also, it must urgently pass legislation to make forced disappearances a crime under the laws of the country. The military presence in Balochistan must be withdrawn and a tribunal formed to investigate the human rights abuses perpetrated by the military and punish those persons found guilty.

The Disappeared in Balochistan: HRW Report Summary

“Even if the president or chief justice tells us to release you, we won’t. We can torture you, or kill you, or keep you for years at our will. It is only the Army chief and the intelligence chief that we obey.”  

– Pakistani official to Bashir Azeem, the 76-year-old secretary-general of the Baloch Republican Party, during his unacknowledged detention, April 2010

“Disappearances of people of Balochistan are the most burning issue in the country. Due to this issue, the situation in Balochistan is at its worst.”

– Supreme Court Justice Javed Iqbal, commenting on the establishment of the Commission of Inquiry for Missing Persons on May 4, 2010.

“One of them pointed his gun at Abdul Nasir and shouted, ‘Get up!’ As soon as Abdul Nasir got off the ground the man walked him to their car. Since that time I have not seen Abdul.”

– Witness to enforced disappearance of Abdul Nasir, June 2010

On December 11, 2009, a 39-year-old Baloch nationalist activist, Abdul Ghaffar Lango, and his wife were leaving a hospital inPakistan’s southern city ofKarachiafter her discharge from surgery when two whiteToyotapickup trucks suddenly stopped at the main gate. Lango’s wife said that about 10 men in plain clothes approached the couple and one started beating Lango with the butt of an AK-47 assault rifle until he lost consciousness. The men then dragged him into one of the pickups and drove away. When the family went to register the abduction with the police, the police informed them that Lango had been detained because of his political activities, yet refused to provide further information on his whereabouts or specific charges against him.

On July 1, 2011, Lango’s corpse was found in an abandoned hotel near Lakbado area of Gadani town in the Lasbela district of Balochistan. The local police represented by the Station House Officer (SHO) of Gadani Police Station told the local media that “the body bore multiple marks of brutal torture.”

Lango’s case illustrates a disturbingly regular feature of the ongoing conflict inPakistan’s western province of Balochistan: the practice of enforced disappearances, in which the authorities or their agents take people into custody and then deny all responsibility or knowledge of their fate or whereabouts.

Enforced disappearances inflict unbearable cruelty not just on the victims, but on family members, who often wait years or decades to learn of their fate. Many cases result in the extrajudicial killing of the victims.

Under international law, “disappearances” are considered a continuing offense, one that is ongoing so long as the state conceals the fate or the whereabouts of the victim.

The problem of disappearances inPakistanis widespread and is not limited to Balochistan province. This report, however, focuses specifically on “disappearances” in Balochistan, as they are a distinctive feature of the conflict there between government security forces and armed militants that has devastated the province over many years. These disappearances take place in a province in which armed militants, particularly Baloch nationalist armed groups, have attacked security forces and military bases throughout the province.

These groups have been responsible for many targeted killings, including the killing of numerous teachers and other educators. In recent years they have increasingly attacked non-Baloch civilians and their businesses, as well as major gas installations and infrastructure.

Human Rights Watch documented abuses by militants in its 2010 report, “Their Future Is at Stake”: Attacks on Teachers and Schools in Pakistan’s Balochistan Province.

For this report, Human Rights Watch interviewed over 100 individuals inPakistan, including family members of disappeared individuals, persons who had been held in unacknowledged detention and then released, local human rights activists, lawyers, and witnesses.

These cases show thatPakistan’s security forces, particularly its intelligence agencies, targeted for enforced disappearance ethnic Baloch suspected of involvement in the Baloch nationalist movement. Evidence of a broader campaign by the authorities includes detailed accounts of the released detainees and their relatives, witness accounts describing the circumstances of abductions and the identity of the perpetrators, and admissions by government officials. In a few cases representatives of the intelligence agencies admitted responsibility to the families, or during court hearings. None of the victims, their relatives or eyewitnesses to the alleged disappearances interviewed by Human Rights Watch blamed armed Baloch groups. Most blamed Pakistan’s intelligence agencies or the paramilitary Frontier Corps.

Abductions were carried out in broad daylight, often in busy public areas, and in the presence of multiple witnesses. Victims were taken away from shops and hotels, public buses, university campuses, homes, and places of work.

The victims of enforced disappearances in the cases documented were predominantly men in their mid-20s to mid-40s. Three of the disappeared were children, the youngest of whom was 12 years old at the time of the abduction. In three cases, the victims were over 60 years old. Most victims appear to have been targeted because of alleged participation in Baloch nationalist parties and movements, including the Baloch Republican Party (BRP), Baloch National Front (BNF), Baloch National Movement (BNM) and Balochistan National Party (BNP), as well as the Baloch Student Organization (Azad) (BSO-Azad). In several cases, people appeared to have been targeted because of their tribal affiliation, especially when a particular tribe, such as the Bugti or Mengal, was involved in fighting with Pakistan’s armed forces.

Witnesses frequently described the perpetrators as armed men in civilian clothes, usually arriving in one or more four-door pickup trucks. The witnesses typically referred to these assailants as representatives of the “agencies,” a term commonly used to describe the intelligence agencies, including the ISI, Military Intelligence (MI), and the Intelligence Bureau (IB). Other information obtained by Human Rights Watch in many cases corroborates these claims.

In 16 cases documented by Human Rights Watch, the abductions were carried out by, in the presence of, or with the assistance of uniformed personnel of the Frontier Corps (FC), an Interior Ministry paramilitary force. In a number of cases, police assisted by being present at the scene or securing an area while plainclothes intelligence officers abducted individuals who later “disappeared.”

In all the cases Human Rights Watch documented, even evident members of the security forces did not identify themselves, explain the basis for arrest or where they were taking those apprehended. Often instead they beat the victims and dragged them handcuffed and blindfolded into their vehicles. For example, on July 1, 2010, Shams Baloch, the 49-yearold former mayor of Khuzdar town in Balochistan, was abducted from an ambulance while accompanying his sick mother to a hospital inQuetta, Balochistan’s capital. About an hour after they left Khuzdar, men in Frontier Corps uniforms stopped the ambulance at a checkpoint and ordered Baloch to get out.

They proceeded to beat him, while holding others at gunpoint. Four armed men in plain clothes arrived a short time afterwards and took Baloch with them. The police refused to investigate.

Another feature of enforced disappearances in Balochistan is that many of the victims, especially senior political activists, have been “disappeared” more than once. They have been abducted, held in unacknowledged detention for weeks or even months, released, and then abducted again. And sometimes “disappearances” occur after the security forces have made several unsuccessful attempts at abducting a person before finally apprehending and disappearing the victim.

Information on the fate of persons subjected to enforced disappearances inPakistanis scarce. Some of the alleged disappeared are being held in unacknowledged detention in facilities run by the Frontier Corps and the intelligence agencies, such as at the Kuli army cantonment, a military base in Quetta.

Those whom the security forces eventually release are frequently reluctant to talk about their experiences for fear of being disappeared again or facing other repercussions. Many have been threatened with retaliation if they discuss who abducted them or reveal that they were tortured in custody. Without exception in the cases Human Rights Watch investigated, released detainees and relatives who were able to obtain information about the disappeared person’s treatment in custody reported torture and ill-treatment. Methods of torture included prolonged beatings, often with sticks or leather belts, hanging detainees upside down, and food and sleep deprivation.

In seven cases documented by Human Rights Watch, Pakistani authorities attempted to legitimize disappearances by bringing criminal charges against the missing persons. In some cases, the detainees were then transferred into police custody and brought to trial. In other cases, such as that of Dr. Din Mohammad Baloch, the families found out about the charges from the media, yet were still unable to locate or meet with their missing relative.

There is increasing evidence to substantiate the fears of many families that disappeared relatives who have been missing for months or years have been killed in custody. According to media reports, more than 70 bodies of previously disappeared persons have been discovered between July 2010 and February 2011.

While the problem is widespread, the exact number of enforced disappearances perpetrated in recent years by Pakistan’s security forces remains unknown. Antigovernment Baloch nationalists claim thousands of cases. Official numbers of disappeared persons are wildly contradictory. In 2008,Pakistan’s interior minister, Rehman Malik, admitted at least 1,100 victims. In January 2011 Balochistan’s home minister, Mir Zafrullah Zehri, told provincial legislators that only 55 persons were considered missing. The minister provided no explanation for these figures, which are inconsistent with those of credible sources.

Some of the disappeared have been traced by various institutions. The Balochistan home minister claimed in January 2011 that 32 people had been traced. According to separate investigations by the federal Interior Ministry and provincial Home Ministry, 23 victims of disappearances have been traced. The Commission of Inquiry for Missing Persons, established by the Supreme Court of Pakistan, has traced a total of 134 persons throughout Pakistan, of which 23 have so far been released. However, this list is not publicly available and it is not known if disappeared persons from Balochistan are on this list.

Since President Zadari took office in 2008, his government has taken significant steps to address Baloch grievances. It offered a public apology to the people of Balochistan for human rights violations perpetrated by the state under military rule, including large-scale disappearances. In December 2009 the government, seeking political reconciliation in Balochistan, passed the Aghaz-e-Haqooq-e-Balochistan (“Beginning of Rights in Balochistan”) package of constitutional, political, administrative, and economic reforms. It noted the province’s “sense of deprivation in the political and economic structures of the federation” and past failure to implement provisions of the 1973 Pakistan Constitution that sought to empower the provinces.

Yet the government has not kept its promises to address the crisis of enforced disappearances in Balochistan. Those responsible for enforced disappearances in the cases documented in this report have not been held accountable. The security forces have continued to behave with the same impunity they enjoyed under the military government of President Musharraf. This impunity seems to penetrate the system at all levels: police who refuse to register and investigate disappearance cases, courts that appear unwilling or unable to fully enforce the law against the security forces, intelligence agencies that continue to blatantly ignore court orders, and high-level government officials who talk of the need for accountability yet are unwilling or unable to rein in the security forces. The reality is that security forces controlled by the military, including intelligence agencies and the Frontier Corps, continue to act outside all formal mechanisms of civilian oversight.

In the vast majority of cases we documented, relatives of the disappeared reported the cases to the local police. In most cases the police eventually, often after an order from the Supreme Court, registered the cases. Yet that is where official activity usually ended, as no investigations followed. Police often explicitly told the families that they had no powers to investigate disappearances allegedly committed by the intelligence agencies or Frontier Corps personnel.

The right to habeas corpus continues to be largely undermined both by the failure of the courts to meaningfully uphold it and by security agency defiance. In 27 disappearance cases documented in this report, the families of the victims or lawyers acting on their behalf filed petitions with the Balochistan High Court. In none of those cases did the court establish the whereabouts of the disappeared.

The Supreme Court has been more active. In 2009, it reopened the inquiry into disappearance cases acrossPakistanthat it began during the Musharraf period and that had led to a confrontation resulting in Musharraf’s dismissal of the chief justice. In May 2010 the Supreme Court formed the Commission of Inquiry for Missing Persons, with a mandate to investigate enforced disappearances and provide recommendations for eliminating this practice. A new Commission of Inquiry for Missing Persons was established by the federal Ministry of Interior on March 1, 2011. While some of the disappeared were traced by the first commission, no perpetrators were brought to account, possibly because of fears within the courts about confrontingPakistan’s powerful intelligence and security agencies.

The inability of law enforcement agencies and the criminal justice system to tackle the problem of disappearances is exacerbated by the continuing failure of Pakistani authorities at the national and provincial level to exert the political will to address the issue of disappearances in Balochistan. The authorities have failed so far to send a strong message to the security forces and intelligence agencies and to implement a set of concrete measures that would put an end to the practice of enforced disappearances.

This failure remains one of the key factors contributing to the persistent cycle of abuse and impunity in the region, which takes a heavy toll on the Baloch community. It not only affects the victims whose lives are brutalized and lost, but also their families who live in the anguish that they may never learn the fate of their loved ones. It also deeply undermines the efforts of the Pakistani government to win the trust of the Baloch people and achieve reconciliation in the province.

Key Recommendations

To the Government ofPakistanand the Provincial Government of Balochistan:

• Investigate all allegations of enforced disappearances until the fate of each victim is clearly and publicly established. Investigate all related allegations of torture, extrajudicial killings, or other abuses.

• Account for every person detained by all authorities in Balochistan, and in particular those accused of involvement in attacks by Baloch armed groups or arrested in military operations in Balochistan.

• Instruct the police to register all cases of abductions and unlawful arrests, even if the alleged perpetrators include the personnel of the intelligence agencies, the Frontier Corps, or other security forces.

• Ensure that the police and Commission of Inquiry for Missing Persons (CIMP) have the necessary authority and resources to vigorously investigate cases of disappearance, including those perpetrated by the intelligence agencies and paramilitary forces.

• Authorize the police and the CIMP to obtain information from any state agencies, including the military and intelligence agencies, about the whereabouts and status of the disappeared. Provide the police and the CIMP with investigative powers to make unannounced and unaccompanied searches of security force facilities and records.

• Dismiss from service and prosecute as appropriate all officials, regardless of rank, found responsible for committing or ordering disappearances or related abuses. Hold superior officers, whether civilian or military, criminally accountable if they knew, or should have known, that forces under their command had committed or were about to commit criminal acts, and they did not take reasonable steps to prevent such acts or punish those responsible.

• Require arresting officers to identify themselves and present official identification.

• Inform detainees immediately of the reasons for arrest and any charges against them.

• Inform the family promptly of the arrest and location of the detainee. Allow direct contact with family and unhindered access to legal counsel as soon as possible, but in all cases within 24 hours.

• Bring detainees promptly before a judge and inform them of the reasons for arrest and any charges.

• Ensure that all persons detained by security forces are held at recognized places of detention.

• Order the military, intelligence agencies, the Frontier Corps, the police, and all other security and intelligence agencies to promptly respond to inquiries and comply with all habeas corpus orders issued by the courts.

• Release accurate information on all those formally arrested or otherwise taken into custody, detained, and released in Balochistan and elsewhere in Pakistan.

• Introduce legislation making enforced disappearances a criminal offense punishable by sanctions commensurate with the gravity of the crime.

• Sign and ratify the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance and enact national legislation that gives force to its provisions.

• Repeal or revise all laws that allow arrest and detention on vaguely defined charges and grant sweeping immunity to the security forces. These laws include Maintenance of Public Order Ordinance (1960), the Anti-Terrorism Act, 1997, the “Sedition Law” Section 124-A of the Pakistan Penal Code, and the Security of Pakistan Act, 1952.

To Pakistan’s International Partners, in particular those such as the United States and United Kingdom that have relationships with Pakistan’s security and intelligence agencies:

• Demand the government of Pakistan make it a priority to end the practice of disappearances and arbitrary detentions and that it hold all persons who order or carry out disappearances accountable.

• Communicate directly to the agencies responsible for disappearances, including the army, ISI, IB, Frontier Corps, police and other law enforcement and intelligence agencies they have relationships with, and demand an end to disappearances. Make it clear that continued disappearances will result in conditions on or an end to relationships with those agencies.

• Suspend police and military assistance and cooperation programs with Frontier Corps , police and Pakistan Army units based in Balochistan until military and civilian authorities fully investigate and take appropriate action regarding allegations of disappearance and other abuses by their forces.

• Ensure that adequate mechanisms are in place to ensure that no security unit funded and trained by external forces is responsible for human rights violations and that adequate vetting and oversight mechanisms are in place to help deter abuse in the future.

• The US should fully implement the Leahy Law which prohibits the provision of military assistance to any unit of the security forces or a foreign country where there is credible evidence that such unit has committed gross violations of human rights.

Why is Saifullah Paracha Still Detained at Guantanamo?

The story of Pakistani-American businessman Saifullah Paracha’s disappearance, arrest, transfer to the notorious Guantanamo Bay prison, possible release and continued detention remains a mystery.

Paracha, 64, who theUSclaims was involved in terrorist activities, disappeared in 2003 while travelling fromPakistan. He was arrested fromBangkokon July 8 that year through FBI efforts and was transferred toGuantanamoon September 19, 2004.

Paracha was to be released in 2006 following a visit toGuantanamoby aPakistangovernment official, according to a confidential American diplomatic cable obtained by Dawn through WikiLeaks. But for reasons that remain unexplained, he is still under detention there and has been declared “high risk”.

According to the cable, the director of operations of the National Crisis Management Cell of the interior ministry, Lt-Col Imran Yaqoob (Wrongly named Imran Farooq in the cable), met American officials at the US embassy in Islamabad to discuss his visit to Guantanamo.

Yaqoob is reported to have said that the Pakistani delegation left with the impression that most of the Pakistani detainees were individuals who were “in the wrong place at the wrong time”, not extremists who posed a serious threat. He added that the delegation discussed the repatriation of these detainees with intelligence agencies at Guantanamo and the force commander at the prison, leaving with the impression that there were no major obstacles to repatriating six of them.

This group included Paracha, provided that the government of Pakistan would keep him in detention. According to Yaqoob, Guantanamo officials told the delegation that if the Pakistani government submitted a formal request for repatriation it would be received favorably.

Upon his return toIslamabad, the official prepared a report for the foreign affairs ministry in support of such a request.

 

Yaqoob did tell American officials inIslamabad, however, that for the government to keep Paracha in custody, it would need information from theUSto justify his continued detention, noting that Paracha’s family had a petition against his detention pending in the Supreme Court.

The US official in a note said that “Post will pursue the question of the GOP’s ability to hold detainees in custody with the MFA and other interlocutors.”

Yaqoob concluded by requesting that the embassy find out from colleagues inWashingtonabout the views of relevant agencies on the prompt repatriation of the Pakistani detainees. The American officer agreed to do so, but warned that it would be difficult to share these views frankly “when the government continues to leak stories proclaiming the detainees’ imminent release to the local press”.

In his comment theUSofficial said he appreciated word that theUSgovernment was moving forward with the repatriation and that “Post requests guidance from Department on next steps, including interagency coordination and coordination with the GOP of any press statements preceding or following the repatriation.”

But nothing seems to have come of these discussions between US and Pakistani officials, as Paracha is still detained at Guantanamo. An official assessment of the detainees, which includes a December 2008 dossier on Paracha and was also released by WikiLeaks, shows that he was determined to be “high-risk, as he is likely to pose a threat to theUS, its interests and allies”. He is also recommended for continued detention. A similar recommendation had also been made on Oct 24, 2007.

The assessment is based on what the US Department of Defence document calls the detainee’s own account and has been included without “consideration of veracity, accuracy or reliability”. It still apparently forms the basis of his continued detention.

“If released without rehabilitation, close supervision, and means to successfully reintegrate into his society as a law-abiding citizen (Paracha) would probably seek out prior associates and reengage in extremist activities at home and abroad,” the assessment says.

 

One of his sons, Uzair Paracha, had been arrested in theUSand charged with providing material assistance to Al Qaeda. He was convicted by an American court in 2006.

The American document termed Saifullah Paracha a “significant member” of Al Qaeda. In what the file describes as “custodial interviews” rather than interrogations, Paracha is said to have confessed to meeting Osama bin Laden twice, the first time in December 1999 or January 2000 and then again in the autumn of 2000, offering the Al Qaeda leader use of his television station to promote his message to the world.

Paracha is also alleged to have had close links with Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, who confessed to masterminding the 9/11 attacks, and his nephew Ammar al Baluchi, another senior Al Qaeda operative. But he told his captors that his interaction with Al Qaeda “was just business”.

One year after the Pakistani delegation’s visit toGuantanamo, when it became clear that Paracha was not going to be sent home, Amnesty International in October 2007 called for his release unless he was charged and given a fair trial in a non-military court.

According to media reports, an American lawyer representing Paracha said in June 2008 that his client did not deny meeting Al Qaeda figures but did not know their real identities or that they were connected to terrorism.

Hina Shamsi, director of the national security project at the American Civil Liberties Union, has told the media that the assessments “are rife with uncorroborated evidence, information obtained through torture, speculation, errors and allegations that have been proven false”.

Documents referenced: US cable WikiLeaks #76668, Guantanamo document # US9PK-001094. Documents are available on Dawn.com

 

Does the Judiciary ve the Power to Take Action against the Intelligence Agencies?

“We cannot eat, we cannot sleep — we can only hope and that hope is fast dwindling so we pray that our loved ones will be returned to us.”

On April 13, 2011 the three member bench of the Supreme Court of Pakistan led by Justice Javaid Iqbal heard the cases of the missing persons. Victims from Balochistan whose loved ones were abducted by the state intelligence agencies, individually came before the court and provided the details of their cases.

The relatives of the disappeared persons pointed out to the court that they were tired of testifying before judicial bodies as no apparent results had been seen. They also announced that they would not record their statements in future and that, to their knowledge, others would no longer bother to report as it was becoming more and more obvious that the judicial bodies set up to investigate forced disappearances were simply eye wash.

What this lack of action shows is that the Judicial Commission does not have power to take action against the intelligence agencies.

One Nasrullah said in an impassioned testimony: “We appeal to the court to take action against the heads of the intelligence agencies against whom First Information Report has been filed and issue the arrest warrants and bring them before the court to ask them where Bangulzai is and in which condition he is?

In the case of Ali Asghar Bangulzai the FIR was registered against the ISI and MI.

According to the law ofPakistanit is our right that Supreme Court must take action against the intelligence agencies and give us justice. Because in last 11 years we have knocked the doors of all the departments for seeking justice and peacefully recorded our protests for the recovery of Bangulzai and in these 11 years continuously we are recording the eye witness statements before the courts, different committees, the Judicial Commission and Joint Investigation Team, since then till now we are waiting for justice.

Several times we have recorded the statements of the evidences and we became tired of recording statements every time, from now we will not record evidences statements before any department. Now we need such department or person which can give us justice in the light of these evidences, because the family of Bangulzai became tired knocking all the doors of the departments again and again which are made for justice, for seeking justice and now we must be told that if he has been killed during detention or he is alive we must be told because family of Ali Asghar Bangulzai is facing many problems including financial problem.”

On this point Nasrullah said that intelligence agencies were more powerful than the Judicial Commission and that this is why the commission has not taken any affective action against the intelligence agencies. It is because of this that the intelligence agencies in the meetings with the Judicial Commission do not take the matter seriously. In fact, when asked they merely laugh, saying this person is not with us.

Despite the weight of the evidence provided by the witnesses to the head of the commission no action is taken even when the heads of the intelligences agencies report to the commission that their denial of the presence of disappeared persons in their custody is a routine reply.

In fact, high officials of the Judicial Commission have confessed that the denial of keeping the persons with them is their stereo typed statement yeh hamara takya kalam hai (this is our routine stereo way of denial).

From this, Nasrullah said, “…..it is clear that the Judicial Commission record the statements knowing full well that they do not have the power to take action against the intelligence agencies. It shows the fact that the commission records the statements to extend and make the issue of missing persons long. For this reason we appeal to Supreme Court on the presence of this evidence. The Court should take action against the intelligence agencies.”

They told the Court that the only ones who can feel our pain are those whose brother, father, or son or daughter is missing. They do not know from one day to the next if their loved ones are dead or alive. At night time, they often sit with their eyes fixed on the front door, hoping against hope that the missing persons will walk through it. Until that happens they cannot sleep or eat without thinking about that person. They live on hope that is fast dwindling.

Mr Justice Javaid Iqbal, the head of the bench, ordered the Minister of the Interior of Balochistan province, the Federal Secretary of the Interior, the Chief Secretary of Balochistan and the Inspector General of Police, Balochistan to appear before the next hearing and submit reports about the missing persons.

It is difficult to verify cases of enforced disappearance in Balochistan and there is thus a need to document these cases to ensure that those in unlawful detention are freed, the illegal practice is brought to an end, and no enforced disappearance case escapes attention.

Enforced disappearances continue in Pakistan despite criticism in the media and notice taken by the courts.

Verification of the actual number, particularly in Balochistan, is difficult and sometimes impossible. The nationalists claim the figure is in thousands. The authorities have put the number from scores to several hundred, which obviously is an understatement.

However, the problem is that when it comes to documentation the task is not as easy as some people suppose.

Sometimes figures received from various sources get mixed up and the possibility of error becomes greater.

There is an apparent discrepancy in figures used in several documents. For instance, the number of cases before the Commission of Inquiry on Enforced Disappearances that is at work now was 471 from across Pakistan in March 2012. No one can vouch for those figures. We are trying our best to ascertain as many cases as of disappearance as we can and in this we seek the cooperation of the families, civil society organisations and indeed all concerned.

Constant Bodies Surfacing in Balochistan

by Declan Welsh/ Guardian

The bodies surface quietly, like corks bobbing up in the dark. They come in twos and threes, a few times a week, dumped on desolate mountains or empty city roads, bearing the scars of great cruelty. Arms and legs are snapped; faces are bruised and swollen. Flesh is sliced with knives or punctured with drills; genitals are singed with electric prods. In some cases the bodies are unrecognisable, sprinkled with lime or chewed by wild animals. All have a gunshot wound in the head.

This gruesome parade of corpses has been surfacing in Balochistan, Pakistan‘s largest province, since last July. Several human rights groups, including Amnesty International, have accounted for more than 100 bodies – lawyers, students, taxi drivers, farm workers. Most have been tortured. The last three were discovered on Sunday.

If you have not heard of this epic killing spree, though, don’t worry: neither have most Pakistanis. Newspaper reports from Balochistan are buried quietly on the inside pages, cloaked in euphemisms or, quite often, not published at all.

The forces of law and order also seem to be curiously indifferent to the plight of the dead men. Not a single person has been arrested or prosecuted; in fact, police investigators openly admit they are not even looking for anyone. The stunning lack of interest in Pakistan’s greatest murder mystery in decades becomes more understandable, however, when it emerges that the prime suspect is not some shady gang of sadistic serial killers, but the country’s powerful military and its unaccountable intelligence men.

This is Pakistan’s dirty little war. While foreign attention is focused on the Taliban, a deadly secondary conflict is bubbling in Balochistan, a sprawling, mineral-rich province along the western borders with Afghanistan and Iran. On one side is a scrappy coalition of guerrillas fighting for independence from Pakistan; on the other is a powerful army that seeks to quash their insurgency with maximum prejudice. The revolt, which has been rumbling for more than six years, is spiced by foreign interests and intrigues – US spy bases, Chinese business, vast underground reserves of copper, oil and gold.

And in recent months it has grown dramatically worse. At the airport in Quetta, the provincial capital, a brusque man in a cheap suit marches up to my taxi with a rattle of questions. “Who is this? What’s he doing here? Where is he staying?” he asks the driver, jerking a thumb towards me. Scribbling the answers, he waves us on. “Intelligence,” says the driver.

The city itself is tense, ringed by jagged, snow-dusted hills and crowded with military checkposts manned by the Frontier Corps (FC), a paramilitary force in charge of security. Schools have recently raised their walls; sand-filled Hesco barricades, like the ones used in Kabul and Baghdad, surround the FC headquarters. In a restaurant the waiter apologises: tandoori meat is off the menu because the nationalists blew up the city’s gas pipeline a day earlier. The gas company had plugged the hole that morning, he explains, but then the rebels blew it up again.

The home secretary, Akbar Hussain Durrani, a neatly suited, well-spoken man, sits in a dark and chilly office. Pens, staplers and telephones are neatly laid on the wide desk before him, but his computer is blank. The rebels have blown up a main pylon, he explains, so the power is off. Still, he insists, things are fine. “The government agencies are operating in concert, everyone is acting in the best public interest,” he says. “This is just a . . . political problem.” As we speak, a smiling young man walks in and starts to take my photo; I later learn he works for the military’s Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) spy agency.

We cut across the city, twisting through the backstreets, my guide glancing nervously out the rear window. The car halts before a tall gate that snaps shut behind us. Inside, a 55-year-old woman named Lal Bibi is waiting, wrapped in a shawl that betrays only her eyes, trembling as she holds forth a picture of her dead son Najibullah. The 20-year-old, who ran a shop selling motorbike parts, went missing last April after being arrested at an FC checkpost, she says. His body turned up three months later, dumped in a public park on the edge of Quetta, badly tortured. “He had just two teeth in his mouth,” she says in a voice crackling with pain. She turns to her father, a turbaned old man sitting beside her, and leans into his shoulder. He grimaces.

Bibi says her family was probably targeted for its nationalist ties – Najibullah’s older brother, now dead, had joined the “men in the mountains” years earlier, she says. Now a nephew, 28-year-old Maqbool, is missing. She prays for him, regularly calling the hospitals for any sign of him and, occasionally, the city morgues.

Over a week of interviews in Karachi and Quetta, I meet the relatives of seven dead men and nine “disappeared” – men presumed to have been abducted by the security forces. One man produces a mobile phone picture of the body of his 22-year-old cousin, Mumtaz Ali Kurd, his eyes black with swelling and his shirt drenched in blood. A relative of Zaman Khan, one of three lawyers killed in the past nine months, produces court papers. A third trembles as he describes finding his brother’s body in an orchard near Quetta.

Patterns emerge. The victims were generally men between 20 and 40 years old – nationalist politicians, students, shopkeepers, labourers. In many cases they were abducted in broad daylight – dragged off buses, marched out of shops, detained at FC checkposts – by a combination of uniformed soldiers and plain-clothes intelligence men. Others just vanished. They re-emerge, dead, with an eerie tempo – approximately 15 bodies every month, although the average was disturbed last Saturday when eight bodies were found in three locations across Balochistan.

Activists have little doubt who is behind the atrocities. Human Rights Watch says “indisputable” evidence points to the hand of the FC, the ISI and its sister agency, Military Intelligence. A local group, Voice for Missing Persons, says the body count has surpassed 110. “This is becoming a state of terror,” says its chairman, Naseerullah Baloch.

The army denies the charges, saying its good name is being blemished by impersonators. “Militants are using FC uniforms to kidnap people and malign our good name,” says Major General Obaid Ullah Khan Niazi, commander of the 46,000 FC troops stationed in Balochistan. “Our job is to enforce the law, not to break it.”

Despairing relatives feel cornered. Abdul Rahim, a farmer wearing a jewelled skullcap, is from Khuzdar, a hotbed of insurgent violence. He produces court papers detailing the abduction of his son Saadullah in 2009. First he went to the courts but then his lawyer was shot dead. Then he went to the media but the local press club president was killed. Now, Rahim says, “nobody will help in case they are targeted too. We are hopeless.”

Balochistan has long been an edgy place. Its vast, empty deserts and long borders are a magnet for provocateurs of every stripe. Taliban fighters slip back and forth along the 800-mile Afghan border; Iranian dissidents hide inside the 570-mile frontier with Iran. Drug criminals cross the border from Helmand, the world’s largest source of heroin, on their way to Iran or lonely beaches on the Arabian Sea. Wealthy Arab sheikhs fly into remote airstrips on hunting expeditions for the houbara bustard, a bird they believe improves their lovemaking. At Shamsi, a secretive airbase in a remote valley in the centre of the province, CIA operatives launch drones that attack Islamists in the tribal belt.

The US spies appreciate the lack of neighbours – Balochistan covers 44% of Pakistan yet has half the population of Karachi. The province’s other big draw is its natural wealth. At Reko Diq, 70 miles from the Afghan border, a Canadian-Chilean mining consortium has struck gold, big-time. The Tethyan company has discovered 4bn tonnes of mineable ore that will produce an estimated 200,000 tonnes of copper and 250,000 ounces of gold per year, making it one of the largest such mines in the world. The project is currently stalled by a tangled legal dispute, but offers a tantalising taste of Balochistan’s vast mineral riches, which also includes oil, gas, platinum and coal. So far it is largely untapped, though, and what mining exists is scrappy and dangerous. On 21 March, 50 coal workers perished in horrific circumstances when methane gas flooded their mine near Quetta, then catastrophically exploded.

Two conflicts are rocking the province. North of Quetta, in a belt of land adjoining the Afghan border, is the ethnic Pashtun belt. Here, Afghan Taliban insurgents shelter in hardline madrasas and lawless refugee camps, taking rest in between bouts of battle with western soldiers in Afghanistan. It is home to the infamous “Quetta shura”, the Taliban war council, and western officials say the ISI is assisting them. Some locals agree. “It’s an open secret,” an elder from Kuchlak tells me. “The ISI gave a fleet of motorbikes to local elders, who distributed them to the fighters crossing the border. Nobody can stop them.”

The other conflict is unfolding south of Quetta, in a vast sweep that stretches from the Quetta suburbs to the Arabian Sea, in the ethnic Baloch and Brahui area, whose people have always been reluctant Pakistanis. The first Baloch revolt erupted in 1948, barely six months after Pakistan was born; this is the fifth. The rebels are splintered into several factions, the largest of which is the Balochistan Liberation Army. They use classic guerrilla tactics – ambushing military convoys, bombing gas pipelines, occasionally lobbing rockets into Quetta city. Casualties are relatively low: 152 FC soldiers died between 2007 and 2010, according to official figures, compared with more than 8,000 soldiers and rebels in the 1970s conflagration.

But this insurgency seems to have spread deeper into Baloch society than ever before. Anti-Pakistani fervour has gripped the province. Baloch schoolchildren refuse to sing the national anthem or fly its flag; women, traditionally secluded, have joined the struggle. Universities have become hotbeds of nationalist sentiment. “This is not just the usual suspects,” says Rashed Rahman, editor of the Daily Times, one of few papers that regularly covers the conflict.

At a Quetta safehouse I meet Asad Baloch, a wiry, talkative 22-year-old activist with the Baloch Students’ Organisation (Azad). “We provide moral and political support to the fighters,” he says. “We are making people aware. When they are aware, they act.” It is a risky business: about one-third of all “kill and dump” victims were members of the BSO.

Baloch anger is rooted in poverty. Despite its vast natural wealth, Balochistan is desperately poor – barely 25% of the population is literate (the national average is 47%), around 30% are unemployed and just 7% have access to tap water. And while Balochistan provides one-third of Pakistan’s natural gas, only a handful of towns are hooked up to the supply grid.

The insurgents are demanding immediate control of the natural resources and, ultimately, independence. “We are not part of Pakistan,” says Baloch.

His phone rings. News comes through that another two bodies have been discovered near the coast. One, Abdul Qayuum, was a BSO activist. Days later, videos posted on YouTube show an angry crowd carrying his bloodied corpse into a mortuary. He had been shot in the head.

The FC commander, Maj Gen Niazi, wearing a sharp, dark suit and with neatly combed hair (he has just come from a conference) says he has little time for the rebel demand. “The Baloch are being manipulated by their leaders,” he says, noting that the scions of the main nationalist groups live in exile abroad – Hyrbyair Marri in London; Brahamdagh Bugti in Geneva. “They are enjoying the life in Europe while their people suffer in the mountains,” he says with a sigh.

Worse again, he adds, they were supported by India. The Punjabi general offers no proof for his claim, but US and British intelligence broadly agree, according to the recent WikiLeaks cables. India sees Balochistan as payback for Pakistani meddling in Kashmir – which explains why Pakistani generals despise the nationalists so much. “Paid killers,” says Niazi. He vehemently denies involvement in human rights violations. “To us, each and every citizen of Balochistan is equally dear,” he says.

Civilian officials in the province, however, have another story. Last November, the provincial chief minister, Aslam Raisani, told the BBC that the security forces were “definitely” guilty of some killings; earlier this month, the province’s top lawyer, Salahuddin Mengal, told the supreme court the FC was “lifting people at will”. He resigned a week later.

However, gross human rights abuses are not limited to the army. As the conflict drags on, the insurgents have become increasingly brutal and ruthless. In the past two years, militants have kidnapped aid workers, killed at least four journalists and, most disturbingly, started to target “settlers” – unarmed civilians, mostly from neighbouring Punjab, many of whom have lived in Balochistan for decades. Some 113 settlers were killed in cold blood last year, according to government figures – civil servants, shopkeepers, miners. On 21 March, militants riding motorbikes sprayed gunfire into a camp of construction workers near Gwadar, killing 11; the Baloch Liberation Front claimed responsibility. Most grotesque, perhaps, are the attacks on education: 22 school teachers, university lecturers and education officials have been assassinated since January 2008, causing another 200 to flee their jobs.

As attitudes harden, the middle ground is being swept away in tide of bloodshed. “Our politicians have been silenced,” says Habib Tahir, a human rights lawyer in Quetta. “They are afraid of the young.” I ask a student in Quetta to defend the killing of teachers. “They are not teachers, they work for the intelligence agencies,” one student tells me. “They are like thieves coming into our homes. They must go.”

The Islamabad government seems helpless to halt Balochistan’s slide into chaos. Two years ago, President Asif Ali Zardari announced a sweeping package of measures intended to assuage Baloch grievances, including thousands of jobs, a ban on new military garrisons and payment of $1.4bn (£800m) in overdue natural gas royalties. But violence has hijacked politics, the plan is largely untouched, and anaemic press coverage means there is little outside pressure for action.

Pakistan’s foreign allies, obsessed with hunting Islamists, have ignored the problem. “We are the most secular people in the region, and still we are being ignored,” says Noordin Mengal, who represents Balochistan on the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva.

In this information vacuum, the powerful do as they please. Lawyer Kachkol Ali witnessed security forces drag three men from his office in April 2009. Their bodies turned up five days later, dead and decomposed. After telling his story to the press, Ali was harassed by military intelligence, who warned him his life was in danger. He fled the country. “In Pakistan, there is only rule of the jungle,” he says by phone from Lørenskog, a small Norwegian town where he won asylum last summer. “Our security agencies pick people up and treat them like war criminals,” he says. “They don’t even respect the dead.”

Balochistan’s dirty little war pales beside Pakistan’s larger problems – the Taliban, al-Qaida, political upheaval. But it highlights a very fundamental danger – the ability of Pakistanis to live together in a country that, under its Islamic cloak, is a patchwork of ethnicities and cultures. “Balochistan is a warning of the real battle for Pakistan, which is about power and resources,” says Haris Gazdar, a Karachi-based researcher. “And if we don’t get it right, we’re headed for a major conflict.”

Before leaving Quetta I meet Faiza Mir, a 36-year-old lecturer in international relations at Quetta’s Balochistan University. Militants have murdered four of her colleagues in the past three years, all because they were “Punjabi”. Driving on to the campus, she points out the spots where they were killed, knowing she could be next.

“I can’t leave,” says Mir, a sparky woman with an irrepressible smile. “This is my home too.” And so she engages in debate with students, sympathising with their concerns. “I try to make them understand that talk is better than war,” she says.

But some compromises are impossible. Earlier on, students had asked Mir to remove a portrait of Muhammad Ali Jinnah, Pakistan’s founding father, from her office wall. Mir politely refused, and Jinnah – an austere lawyer in a Savile Row suit – still stares down from her wall.

But how long will he stay there? “That’s difficult to say,” she answers.

• guardian.co.uk © Guardian News and Media Limited 2011

 

 

Drama Bazee Ends with the PPP Government

The mainstreaming of Balochistan remains a far cry even 15 months after the government initiative called Aghaz Huqooq-i-Balochistan was launched, with most of policy decisions awaiting implementation because of procedural and administrative red tape.

Of the 61 major steps envisaged in the package, only 15 have reached the stage of the full implementation despite more than a dozen high-profile meetings, two of them presided over by PM Gilani, says an official report finalised in mid-January 2011.

Most of the policy decisions stood finalised as part of the 18th Amendment and the 7th National Finance Commission award.

The constitutional and economic package was announced in Nov 2009 to undo a deep-rooted sense of alienation and deprivation among the people of Balochistan.

Interestingly, the measures on the political and constitutional front have failed to materialise at the administrative level.

The measures either directly fall under the NFC or were settled as part of the NFC award.

Some of them included enhanced resources under the NFC, revision of the gas royalty and surcharge formula, an agreement on phased payment of gas development surcharge arrears and relief in cases of natural calamities.

The report prepared by the establishment division which functions as a secretariat to the cabinet committee entrusted with implementation says that about a dozen policy proposals under the package are in advanced stages of implementation while 34 others trail behind.

The report is, however, silent on the question of forming a commission to determine circumstances leading to the death of Nawab Akbar Bugti, a judicial inquiry into allotment of land in Gwadar, takeover by the provincial government of 20 per cent shares in PPL, OGDCL and Sui Southern Gas Company Limited and payment of compensation to people returning to Sui and Dera Bugti.

The authorities have failed to revisit the role of federal agencies like Frontier Corps and Pakistan Coast Guards in the province.

The package envisaged civilian control over FC, particularly in matter of law and order and local operations to be conducted in coordination with the district administration.

Regarding jurisdictional limits during peace time, the report says the FC and Pakistan Coast Guards are required to operate within certain geographical limits – FC up to a certain distance from the international border for anti-smuggling and the PCG from the coast – while for all other posts permission is required from the provincial government. There has been no progress on this front.

One of the major initiatives in the package is replacement of army by FC in Sui and Kohlu and ending construction of cantonments in Kohlu and Sui.

The report says the “construction of cantonment at Sui and Kohlu has been stopped. Cantonment at Kohlu has been taken over by FC”. This has not happened in Sui.

“Approval for establishment of four wings and one corps headquarter of FC has been given” to replace army in Sui.

The report says the progress on resolving the missing persons issue also remains critical. The package envisaged persons with no charge be released, those charged be presented for trial and their families informed about their status.

The report said there were 183 cases pertaining to prisoners not involved in heinous crimes involving 681 persons. Of them, 172 cases involving 665 persons have been withdrawn and 11 cases were being looked into by the provincial government.

A committee headed by the Balochistan home secretary was currently in the process of examining cases against political prisoners.

Also, people arrested by the FC were required to be handed over to police or district administration and the role of FC and PCG should be as prescribed under the law.

The only progress on this front has been formation of a committee comprising senior officials of ministries of interior, defence, Balochistan government and Federal Board of Revenue to resolve issues relating to jurisdictions of respective agencies and issue of checkposts and operational control.

“The ministry of interior has asked the FC to assist the provincial government in matters of law and order and when asked and cautioned both the FC and PCG from setting up of new checkposts”. From the defence side, the progress has been limited to the extent that the defence secretary has assured “to look into all issues, hold in-depth meetings and come up with possible solutions”.

A total of 23 missing people from Balochistan have been traced as reported by the ministry of interior and the provincial government.

The conversion of B areas into A areas introduced by the previous government has been done away with and all such areas have been reconverted into B areas (as reported by the Balochistan government).