COMMISSION ON HUMAN RIGHTS
Fifty-seventh Session Geneva, 19 March -27 April 200l
Agenda Item No.14 Specific groups and individuals (b) Minorities
Statement By: Mehran Baluch
Mr. Chairman and Distinguished Delegates
The people of Balochistan, a national minority living in the valleys and rugged mountains of this southwest province of Pakistan. have avoided representation in this august body in the past, in the hopes of a democratic solution. Despite facing atrocities at home at the hands of Pakistan army in 1973 and now.
Mr. Chairman,
Having lost all hopes of a democratic solution, the people of Balochistan had no alternative but to bring their case to the Commission on Human Rights. They have pinned their hopes in its mechanism which could be instrumental in safeguarding their right to life, and save them from the wrath of the army of Pakistan dominated by the people of Punjab.
Mr. Chairman,
Our tragedy began in 1947, immediately after the creation of Pakistan. The colonialist army of Pakistani Punjab forcibly occupied the state of "Kalat" at gunpoint. Kalat is the heart of Balochistan. Thereafter, the whole of Balochistan, was occupied through connivance and machination.
After this forcible occupation, the Baloch have been reduced to the status of slaves in their own country and their land has become a colony. As a result of the usurpation of their rights, the Baloch have become oppressed and deprived, and forced to live in destitution.
Balochistan, because of its natural and mineral wealth, is an important region in the world. It has vast underground and coastal reserves of petroleum, gas, coal and minerals, while its long and wide coastal areas treasure innumerable types of wealth and natural resources. It has one of the largest uranium reserves in the world.
Before and particularly in 1973, the people of Balochistan waged a peaceful struggle for the realization of their rights and quest of living with honor and dignity as equal citizens of the country. The army, state intelligence agencies especially the I S I (Inter-Services Intelligence Agency) mobilized the army and Air Force against them.
Air Force fighters and bombers strafed and bombed innocent and unarmed Baloch civilians hiding in the mountains to save their lives. Terrified mothers with infants in their laps, and children under their arms, were mercilessly bombed. The army operation from 1973 to 1979 brutally suppressed the members of the Rights Movement of Balochistan, killing over 15,000 Baloch men, women and children.
Mr. Chairman,
My father, Nawab Khair Buksh Marri, a Nationalist leader of Balochistan belonging to the largest tribe of Balochistan, had to flee the country to Afghanistan in 1979 having being unlawfully incarcerated for six years. Consequently, I was only six years old when I had to live in exile. As a result of the forcible displacement, I was deprived of basic education until the age of twelve.
A fresh army operation in Balochistan has been launched since 6th. January 2000, the day,
I S I murdered Justice Nawaz Marri. My father is once again in unlawful detention since 11 th. January 2000, and kept in incommunicado for the past fifteen months on a false charge of the murder of Justice Nawaz Marri. Even, my brothers and I have not been spared, and have been falsely implicated in this murder case.
My father is a frail seventy-three years old man, denied all medical facilities and visits from relatives and friends. The Special Rapporteur of the Commission on Human Rights on Extra-judicial and Summary Execution, Ms. Asma Jahangir, faced acute difficulties in persuading the authorities to gain access to meet my father.
This murder conspiracy was hatched to blackmail nationalist leaders to allow the Government to exploit petroleum and gas from Balochistan for the benefit of Punjab, and without adequate dividends and environmental protection for the people of Balochistan.
The Natural Gas that was discovered in Sui, Balochistan, has not been made available to the people of Balochistan. It is, however, available in Punjab and the rest of the country. No adequate dividends are being paid for the benefit of the people of Balochistan. This happens despite the fact that the people of Balochistan are not against any exploration provided the dividends, and the rights of ownership of the people of Balochistan, are guaranteed. We call on this Commission to take measures to ensure that the Sui-Gas like plunder is not repeated.
Mr. Chairman,
Hundreds of Marri tribesmen and Baloch followers of Nawab Khair Buksh Marri have been unlawfully arrested by the army, and are being tortured by the state in custody. Scores of his tribesmen and supporters have "disappeared" since their arrest.
The Army has also launched operations in the areas of Baloch and Pushtun leaders of Balochistan like Sardar Ataullah Mengal and Mahmood Khan Achakzai. Glaring examples are the operations in Pushtunabad during which the army and the para- military killed and injured scores of supporters of Mahmood Khan Achakzai. In Hazarganji, approximately 15 kilometers from the capital, Quetta, the army and police opened indiscriminate fire on people participating in a peaceful March. If men have no rights, how could women have rights under this occupation.
Mr. Chairman,
The Government of Pakistan has no right to deprive people of Baloch and Pushtun tribes of Balochistan of their belongings. We as human beings have an obligation to protect our ancestral heritage, and we should not be reduced to unworthy sons and daughters of our ancestors. Talibanisation of Balochistan by the I S I will be detrimental for the whole region and the people of Balochistan will not tolerate it.
The recent nuclear test carried out in Chagi, Balochistan by the Government of Pakistan without consulting the people of Balochistan has further devastated our beloved land and people. The little water that we have has been contaminated by the radioactive radiation from the nuclear test. Balochistan suffers from water shortage and further contamination will create a dearth of water. Skin disease, ailments, mental and physical disorders have been recorded in Chagi and surrounding areas. The Government has refused to compensate, redress or provide medical facilities to the people.
The Pakistani Establishment has always resorted to military solutions to achieve its goals in Balochistan and urban Sindh, including Karachi and Hyderabad. What they do not realize is that there is no military solution against people struggling for their rights and freedom from oppression.
The answer lies in accommodating the aspirations of the people of the minority provinces. They are demanding the abrogation of the 1973 Constitution. and formulation of a new constitution in accordance with 1he spirit of the 1940 Pakistan resolution that envisaged fully autonomous status for the provinces. The Military should refrain from meddling in politics and the political process, because they are not trained for it.
Mr. Chairman,
The people of Balochistan and Sindh provinces will be grateful for all the moral support the Commission and the world community of nations can demonstrate in their quest for liberty and freedom from bondage and enslavement by Pakistan's Punjabi army and establishment.
Thank you
