AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL
Public Statement
AI Index: ASA 33/004/2006 (Public)
News Service No: 038
10 February 2006
Pakistan: Allegations of serious human rights violations in
Balochistan must be investigated
Amnesty International is concerned about reports of human rights
violations in Balochistan province which have escalated in the last two
months. Recent violations have occurred in the context of a security
operation in the province triggered by an attempt on President Pervez
Musharraf's life in December 2005. However the current intensification
of tensions also flows from long-standing grievances felt by the local
population in relation to severe economic underdevelopment and failures
to receive the benefits of large-scale exploitation of the province's
natural resources.
A non-governmental Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) report
released in late January 2006 found scores of cases of arbitrary arrests
and detention, torture, extrajudicial executions, “disappearances” and
use of excessive force by security and intelligence forces committed
since early 2005. Amongst the victims are women, children and many
political activists. In addition, the Commission noted with concern that
armed Baloch fighters opposing the army's presence in the province have
laid landmines as a result of which civilians have been indiscriminately
killed and maimed.
Though Amnesty International has not been in a position to visit
Balochistan to investigate these allegations of human rights violations,
the organisation considers the findings of the HRCP's report to be
credible, and strongly supports the Commission's demand that human
rights abuses be stopped forthwith and that all allegations of
violations of human rights, including civil, political and economic
rights, be independently and impartially investigated with a view to
bringing the perpetrators to justice.
Amnesty International also appeals to all armed fighters and armed
groups to abide by international humanitarian law, in particular the
rules that are binding on all parties to a non-international armed
conflict. These rules prohibit, inter alia, torture, hostage-taking,
deliberate killing of civilians and other non-combatants and
indiscriminate attacks.
The findings of the HRCP fact-finding mission corroborate a large number
of reports received by Amnesty International from Baloch activists and
civil society organisations since early 2005. According to a January
2006 statement by Senator Sanaullah Baloch, at least 180 people have
died in bombings, 122 children have been killed by paramilitary troops
and hundreds of people have been arrested since the beginning of the
campaign in early 2005. On 8 December 2005, the federal Interior
Minister stated that some 4,000 people had been arrested in Balochistan
since the beginning of 2005. The identities, whereabouts of and charges
against many of these detainees remain unknown. Having monitored some of
these cases of detention and "disappearance", Amnesty International
fears that some of the detainees may have been arbitrarily detained, or
held under preventive detention legislation or on politically motivated
criminal charges, in violation of Pakistan statutory law and
international human rights standards.
Since the HRCP concluded its fact-finding visit, further reports of
human rights violations have been received. Twelve men, arrested after
an attack on a Frontier Corps unit on 11 January 2006, were reportedly
extrajudicially executed killed in the Dera Bugti camp of the Frontier
Corps when news arrived that three of the injured soldiers had died. Two
elderly villagers sent to collect the bodies were also killed. On 16
January 2006, three children were reportedly killed in Kahan by aerial
bombardment. On 7 February, a bomb, possibly planted by armed fighters,
blew up a bus killing 13 people travelling in it.
Amnesty International is also concerned that the fact-finding team of
the HRCP and journalists accompanying them were attacked on 8 January
2006 when their cars were fired at for several minutes near Kashmore.
Although the HRCP team submitted an application to police in Rojhan to
file a complaint, police did not comply nor investigate the alleged
attempted attack.
Journalists have also been arbitrarily detained, harassed and threatened
by intelligence agencies if they continued to investigate incidents in
Balochistan. Amnesty International believes that it is important that
journalists and human rights defenders can pursue their legitimate roles
unimpeded and without fear, so that human rights violations can be
monitored and brought to public attention, Remedies may then be found to
ensure the protection and promotion of human rights in the province.
The following human rights violations have been documented by the HRCP:
Torture
Those who were released after arbitrary detention, often in undeclared
places of detention, or "disappearance" reported being subjected to
torture and ill-treatment.
* Chairman of the Balochistan Student Organisation (BSO) Dr Imdad Baloch
and six other BSO activists were arrested on 25 March 2005 in Karachi
after a rally protesting the security operation in Balochistan [AI
Index: ASA 33/006/2005, AI Index: ASA 33/014/2005 and AI Index: ASA
33/022/2005].
Their whereabouts remained unknown for two months until Dr Imdad Baloch
and three others were released on bail two months later, facing
politically motivated criminal charges. Dr Imdad Baloch then reported
that he and his fellow detainees had been detained incommunicado in
solitary confinement for 33 days in Karachi, where they were tortured.
He reported being hit on the soles of his feet making him unable to walk
and beaten all over his body, including on his kidneys, with leather
straps while forced to lie prone in fetters on the ground. The four
detainees were then taken to Quetta, where they were kept for 22 days
and threatened with death if they continued to participate in politics.
In August 2005, the other three detained BSO members re-appeared in a
police station in a village in Punjab province, held on charges of
robbery. While the other two were released in November 2005, Dr Allah
Nazar, still currently being held in Quetta Central Jail, is reportedly
partially paralysed and unable to speak or recognise anyone as a result
of torture.
The constitution of Pakistan provides partial protection against torture
in Article 14 which states that "no person shall be subject to torture
for the purpose of extracting evidence". International standards and
customary international law absolutely forbid torture and other
ill-treatment for any purpose.
Possible extrajudicial executions and other unlawful killings
* On 17 March 2005, some 62 persons, including 33 Hindu women and
children were killed at Dera Bugti when Frontier Corps personnel
shelled, bombarded and fired at them.
*On 17 December 2005, at least 22 persons, mostly women and children,
including infants, were killed in bombing, firing and shelling by armed
forces in the Marri area of Jabbar and Pekal, apparently in retribution
for rocket attacks on 14 December on a paramilitary camp on the
outskirts of Kohlu during a visit by President Musharraf and on 15
December on a helicopter carrying the Inspector General of the Frontier
Corps.
The use of force must be in line with the principles of necessity and
proportionality included in international standards on the use of force
by law enforcement officials. These stipulate that lethal force may only
be used in response to the imminent threat of death or serious injury
when strictly unavoidable and that the use of force must “minimise
damage and injury and respect and preserve human life” both of the
suspects and uninvolved persons.
Extrajudicial executions are strictly prohibited under the Constitution
of Pakistan which in Article 9 provides, "No person shall be deprived of
life and liberty, save in accordance with law". The Universal
Declaration of Human Rights provides in Article 3, "Everyone has the
right to life, liberty and security of the person". The Principles of
the Effective Prevention and Investigation of Extra-legal, Arbitrary and
Summary Executions provide that"Exceptional circumstances including a
state of war or threat of war, internal political instability or any
other public emergency may not be invoked as a justification of such
executions".
"Disappearances"
Since May 2005, Amnesty International has issued a series of urgent
actions relating to some of the large number of reported
“disappearances” in Balochistan. The organisation fears that people who
are "disappeared" are particularly at risk of torture as perpetrators
feel safe in the knowledge that their actions will not be made known and
that they will not face criminal charges
*On 9 December 2005, 18 members of the Pakistan Petroleum Workers' Union
from Balochistan who had gone to Karachi for negotiations with their
management were detained by security forces from their hotel. Their
whereabouts remain unknown.
*Dr Hanned Shareef, a writer, medical doctor and member of the BSO was
arrested on 18 November 2005 in Turbat by men in the uniform of the
paramilitary Frontier Corps. State officials have refused to confirm
that he has been arrested. When his family members attempted to file a
complaint against the Frontier Corps soldiers involved, police at the
Turbat city police station refused to accept it [AI Index: ASA
33/032/2005].
International standards and human rights guarantees in the Constitution
of Pakistan absolutely prohibit “disappearances”. The Constitution of
Pakistan provides in Article 10 that every detainee has the right to be
informed of the charges against them, to consult and be defended by a
lawyer of their choice and be brought before a magistrate within 24
hours of arrest. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights provides in
Article 7: "All are equal before the law and are entitled without any
discrimination to equal protection of the law ...". These provisions
guarantee that everyone including those persons who may be suspected of
offences against the state have a right to be treated in accordance with
law and not to be discriminated against on that account.
BackgroundIn Balochistan, the perception of the local
population that they have not benefited from the exploitation of the
extensive natural resources of the province, and their resentment at the
slow pace of provincial economic development and the influx of people
from other provinces, have led to social and political tensions. Four
waves of violent unrest took place in 1948, 1958-59, 1962-63 and
1973-77. In early 2005, tensions in Balochistan again increased, with
numerous clashes reported between security forces and Baloch tribesmen.
The rape in early January 2005 of Dr Shazia Khalid, a young doctor
employed at Pakistan Petroleum Limited at Sui, allegedly by an army
officer, who was publicly exonerated by President Musharraf prior to any
inquiry, exacerbated anger among the tribal population. Following a
rocket attack on President Musharraf on 14 December 2005 during his
visit to Kohlu, when he announced a large development package for the
region including the construction of roads, schools and health centres,
a security operation, assisted by paramilitary units, was launched in
the province. While the government portrays it as a law and order
operation against "miscreants", that is Baloch rebels, local people see
it as a crackdown on Baloch opponents of a development program which
will only benefit non-Baloch people migrating into the province. The
government claims that the resistance is encouraged by tribal leaders
who fear losing their hold on the region. The confrontation between
Baloch nationalists and the state is complicated by rivalries and
strategic alliances between tribes and sub-tribes and by human rights
abuses committed by all sides.
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