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Detained
Baloch students in poor health
The reports regarding the health and welfare of three members of the
Baloch Students Organization (BSO), currently being detained in Karachi,
are deeply worrying.
HRCP has been informed that the three men, Dr Allah Nazar, Mr. Nadim
Akhtar and Mr. Gohar Ali are in precarious mental and physical health.
The condition of Dr Allah Nazar is said to be especially grave. This is
indeed hardly surprising given the long and apparently illegal detention
of the men, and the physical and mental torture inflicted on them during
this period.
The three young men were among seven members of the BSO taken into
custody in Karachi in March. Four of them who were released in May
reported torture, degrading treatment and detention in isolation for
periods extending to a month. BSO leaders in Quetta have also stated
that while these three men have been produced before a court on August
13th and remanded in custody, other political activists including Ali
Asghar Bungulzai, Jan Mohammad Marri, Gohram and Saleh, picked up on
various occasions this year, remain in unexplained and unauthorised
detention.
It is also obvious that the illegal detentions and torture in custody
are one part of a broader strategy of intimidation and harassment being
pursued across the country. During the first seven months of the year,
political activists, journalists and other citizens expressing dissent
have all been picked up and subjected to similar intimidation. It also
seems personnel of agencies and police are acting with growing impunity
in carrying out such illegal acts.
HRCP demands all illegally detained people held in the country be
produced before courts, and charged if they are guilty of any unlawful
act. It also calls for civil society groups to be given access to
detained persons. The tactic of illegally arresting people can do
nothing to dampen dissent, but will only add to the anger and
frustration growing in the country, adding to the already existing
threat of further violence and mayhem. 20.9.05
Iqbal Haider
Secretary General |
