| Home > South-Asia >> Pakistan | |
Pakistan: Three political activists are found murdered after daylight abduction
Asian Human Rights Commission Urgent Appeal - April 9, 2009 (see sample letter below)
Urgent Appeal Case: AHRC-UAC-041-2009
Dear friends,
The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has been informed that the bodies of three prominent political activists of Balochistan province have been found partially decomposed in vats of chemicals. The men had been missing since 3 April, when they were abducted from their lawyer’s office by a group of armed men in civilian clothing.
Case details:
According to those dealing with the case, Mr. Ghulam Mohammad, 45, Chairman of the Baloch National Movement, Mr. Sher Mohammad Baloch, 35, Vice President of Balochistan Republican Party and Mr. Lala Munir Baloch, 50, General Secretary of Baloch National Front, had attended a Session Court in Turbat district, Balochistan province on 3 April to arrange interim bail, relating to charges in shooting and bomblast cases last year. After being granted bail the men were accompanied by their lawyer, Mr. Kachkol Ali to his chamber at around noon. Ali is a former opposition leader in the Balochistan assembly. According to the lawyer, more than a dozen persons in civilian dress then entered the office, ransacked it and abducted the men, driving away in four vehicles which bore no registration numbers. The attackers refused to identify themselves, or to tell Ali where his clients were being taken.
Ali immediately filed an application at the Turbat Police Station accusing military intelligence (M.I.) and Inter services Intelligence (I.S.I) persons of the abduction. The application mentioned his fear that the men would be tortured and killed by the military. However police refused to file a first information report (FIR), the basic document for police investigation; they said that they would consult their superiors in the police force.
Kachkol Ali then filed an application of Habeas Corpus for the three activists under section 491 CRPC. However the Judge of the Turbat session court, Mr. Pazeer Ahmed Baloch, refused to accept it, claiming it did not come under his jurisdiction, and told them to file in the Balochistan High Court. The lawyers, which included Mr. Fida Hussain, the president of Turbat Bar Association, then sent an application for sou moto action to Mr Iftekhar Choudhry, the chief justice of Pakistan’s Supreme Court. According to sources, Chief Justice Balochistan Sanaullah Yaseen of the Balochistan High Court has just taken the case, suo moto.
According to the lawyers, the three men’s bodies were found five days later on 8 April in Pidrak, 35 km from the place of arrest. They were almost unrecognizable due to the chemically-aided decomposition, but medical officers have concluded that the men were killed on the day of their arrest, and possibly thrown from a high place, such as a helicopter.
Civilians in Balochistan have tried to protest again the murders and are reportedly being pressured to stay inside by law enforcement agencies. Some gun shots and blasts have been reported.
Background information:
The Pakistan military has been conducting operations in Balochistan province since 2001, where a strong movement seeking greater autonomy has taken root. Many Balochis feel that they are not adequately represented in the country’s political centres, that they receive little financial support and that their rights are consistently violated. Around 3,000 people are estimated to have died in military and paramilitary operations and ‘disappearances’ and many others remain missing.
Suggested action:
Please write to the persons listed below to call for a thorough, speedy investigation into the abduction and murder of these three men, and the lapses in the complaint-receiving mechanism in Turbat police station that hampered their rescue. A public investigation should be launched into the illegal activities of military and paramilitary forces in the area.
Please be informed that the AHRC is writing a separate letter to the UN Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions calling for intervention in this case.
To support this appeal, please click here: http://www.ahrchk.net/ua/support.php?ua=UAC-041-2009
Dear _________,
Pakistan: Three political activists are found murdered after daylight abduction
Name of victims:
I am shocked and disturbed to hear of the abduction and murder of three political activists in Balochistan, allegedly by military or paramilitary forces. I am also concerned at the way the efforts of the men’s lawyers and friends were hampered by police and the judiciary, and by the lack of effort made to rescue of the men. I hear that the local police force is currently illegally pressuring Baloch civilians not to protest the murders in public.
According to those dealing with the case, Mr. Ghulam Mohammad, 45, Chairman of the Baloch National Movement, Mr. Sher Mohammad Baloch, 35, Vice President of Balochistan Republican Party and Mr. Lala Munir Baloch, 50, General Secretary of Baloch National Front, had attended a Session Court in Turbat district, Balochistan province on 3 April to arrange interim bail, relating to charges in shooting and bomblast cases last year. After being granted bail the men were accompanied by their lawyer, Mr. Kachkol Ali to his chamber at around noon. Ali is a former opposition leader in the Balochistan assembly. According to the lawyer, more than a dozen persons in civilian dress then entered the office, ransacked it and abducted the men, driving away in four vehicles which bore no registration numbers. The attackers refused to identify themselves, or to tell Ali where his clients were being taken.
Ali immediately filed an application at the Turbat Police Station accusing military intelligence (M.I.) and Inter services Intelligence (I.S.I) persons of the abduction. The application mentioned his fear that the men would be tortured and killed by the military. However police refused to file a first information report (FIR), the basic document for police investigation; they said that they would consult their superiors in the police force.
Kachkol Ali then filed an application of Habeas Corpus for the three activists under section 491 CRPC. However the Judge of the Turbat session court, Mr. Pazeer Ahmed Baloch, refused to accept it, claiming it did not come under his jurisdiction, and told them to file in the Balochistan High Court. The lawyers, which included Mr. Fida Hussain, the president of Turbat Bar Association, then sent an application for Sou Moto to Mr Iftekhar Choudhry, the chief justice of Pakistan’s Supreme Court.
According to the lawyers, the three men’s bodies were found five days later on 8 April in Pidrak, 35 km from the place of arrest. They were almost unrecognizable due to the chemically-aided decomposition, but medical officers have concluded that the men were killed on the day of their arrest, and possibly thrown from a high place, such as a helicopter.
According to sources Chief Justice Balochistan Sanaullah Yaseen of the Balochistan High Court has just taken the case, suo moto. I call on you to support this motion by launching an immediate investigation into the murder of these three men, and the violation of their rights to life, to arbitrary detention and to free speech. The failure of the men’s lawyers and friend’s to solicit help from the police or the legal system shows a malfunction in the complaint-receiving mechanism in Turbat district, Balochistan province, which must be immediately addressed. The difficulties experienced by the lawyers, and the political activism of the victims also points to a government-sponsored abduction and murder, which must be given serious attention. In order to safeguard the political freedom and right to safety of those in Balochistan, the collusion between the police and illegal operations by military agencies in Balochistan warrants very close and public scrutiny.
Yours sincerely,
Please send your letters to:
1. Mr. Asif Ali Zardari
President
President's Secretariat,
Islamabad
PAKISTAN
Fax: + 92 51 922 1422, 4768/920
1893 or 1835
E-mail: (please see and
post your appeal in the website - http://www.presidentofpakistan.gov.pk/WTPresidentMessage.aspx)
2. Mr. Syed Yousaf Raza Gillani
Prime minister of Pakistan
Prime Minister House, Islamabad
PAKISTAN
Fax: + 92 51 9221596
E-mail: webmaster@infopak.gov.pk
3. Federal Minister of Law
Justice and Human Rights
S Block, Pakistan Secretariat,
Islamabad
PAKISTAN
Fax: +92 51 920 2628
E-mail: minister@molaw.gov.pk
4. Nawab Aslam Raisani
Chief Minister of Balochistan
Chief Minister House, Quette,
PAKISTAN
Fax: +92 81 920 2240
Tel: +92 81 449582/440661
E-mail: mirlashkari@yahoo.com
5. Nawab Zulfiqar Magsi
Governor of Balochistan
Governor House Balochistan,
Quetta- Balochistan province,
PAKISTAN
Fax: +92 81 920 2992
6. Chief Secretary
Government of Balochistan
Quetta, Balochistan province
PAKISTAN
Fax: +92 81 9202132
Thank you.
Urgent Appeals Programme
Asian Human Rights Commission
(ua@ahrc.asia)
See also:
 |