News
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
murder.
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.
Background
In 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.
Source: AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL USA |