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PAKISTAN: A human rights defender and his friend are missing after their abduction by the officials of Frontier Corps in the presence of police

February 18, 2011

ASIAN HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION – URGENT APPEALS PROGRAMME

Urgent Appeal Case: AHRC-UAC-036-2011

 

18 February 2011
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PAKISTAN: A human rights defender and his friend are missing after their abduction by the officials of Frontier Corps in the presence of police

ISSUES: Enforced disappearance; arbitrary arrest; impunity; rule of law
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Dear friends,

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information that a human rights defender was abducted by the officials of the Frontier Cops (FC) while he was going to attend court proceedings in the session court on December 21, 2010 and has been missing since then. Before his abduction he had told his friends and relatives that he had been receiving threats from some officials and he feared that he might be abducted by the law enforcement agencies. He was abducted in the presence of five police officials who were escorting him to the court.

CASE NARRATIVE:

Mr Siddique Eido, 31, son of Mr. Eido Baloch, activist of Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP), was abducted from a check post of Frontier Cops (FC) in Karwat, on December 21, 2010, and his whereabouts have been unknown since then. On the day of his abduction, Eido went to the District and Session court of Gwader and was returning back to his home in sub-district Pasni, Gwader in the security of five policemen, including one Assistant Sub Inspector (ASI) and four police constables. As they reached the check post of FC in Karwat area on coastal highway, he was stopped by the officials of the FC and he with his friend, Mr. Yousuf Langove, were dragged into a van. The policemen tried to protect them but were severely beaten by the Frontier Cops and kept in custody for some hours. In the meanwhile, Eido and his friend were sent to an unknown location.

Before his abduction, Eido was receiving threatening calls from law enforcement agencies to stop his activities. He informed the local human rights organizations and lawyers about these threats and asked the local authorities to provide him security. The Pasni police provided him security to attend a trial in the session court, Gwader where a case of murder against him was pending. Because of his involvement in denouncing cases of human rights violations and in helping the HRCP to file cases of disappearances from Balochistan province in the Supreme Court of Pakistan, he was falsely charged of in a murder case of a coast guard of Pasni along with 10 other persons. At the time of murder, Mr. Eido was Punjab, another province, to attend an HRCP annual general body meeting.

On January 17, Eido's family members received a letter from the Supreme Court of Pakistan which read that the crisis management cell of the court has received his case of disappearance and that this case would be heard in the Supreme Court on February 25. The letter from the court also says that it confirms that Eido was in Punjab province to attend the HRCP meeting and was not in Balochistan when the murder of the coast guard was occurred.

The family members of the Eido are aware of a number of recent incidents of extra judicial killings after persons went missing. They are afraid that the same thing may happened to Eido and his friend and that FC and the other law enforcement agencies may kill him before the hearing of Supreme Court.

Since last year a new trend of enforced disappearances has been observed, with Baloch activists being abducted by law enforcement officials and kept incommunicado for several days. After a while, it is learnt that they had been extra judicially killed. This method makes it easy for the abductors to wash away all evidence of the disappearance: no question of FIRs, legal process or blame. Widespread disappearances at the hands of the state agents started at the time of former President Musharraf. Now under a civilian government, this phenomenon continued and the disappearances are followed by extrajudicial killings, in particular in the province of Balochistan.

SUGGESTED ACTION:
Please letters to the authorities to immediately take action for the safe recovery of Mr. Eido and his friend Mr. Yousuf. Please urge them to take details of Eido and his friend's abduction from the police officials who carried him to court proceedings and prosecute the officials of the FC who are responsible for his and his friend's disappearance.

The AHRC writes a separate letter to UN working group on disappearances calling for his intervention into this case.

To support this appeal, please click here:

SAMPLE LETTER:

Dear __________,

PAKISTAN: A human rights defender and his friend are missing after their abduction by the officials of Frontier Corps in the presence of police

Names of victims:
1. Mr. Siddique Eido, 31, son of Mr. Eido Baloch, resident of Ward No 6, Pasni, Gwader district, Balochistan province
2. Mr. Yousuf Langove, resident of Ward No 6, Pasni, Gwader district, Balochistan province
Alleged perpetrators: Officials of Frontier Corps, stationed at check post of FC at Karwat, Coastal Highway, Pasni, Balochistan province
Date of incident: 21 December 2010
Place of incident: Check post of FC at Karwat, Coastal Highway, Pasni, Balochistan province

I am writing to voice my deep concern regarding the disappearance of a human rights defender and his friend after their arrest by the officials of Frontier Corps (FC) from Balochistan province.

I am shocked to learn that Mr. Siddique Eido and his friend Mr. Yousaf Lagove were abducted by the FC officials while they were under police protection. Since their abduction on December 21, 2010, their whereabouts are unknown.

Mr Siddique Eido, 31, son of Mr. Eido Baloch, activist of Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP), was abducted from a check post of Frontier Cops (FC) in Karwat, on December 21, 2010, and his whereabouts have been unknown since then. On the day of his abduction, Eido went to the District and Session court of Gwader and was returning back to his home in sub-district Pasni, Gwader in the security of five policemen, including one Assistant Sub Inspector (ASI) and four police constables. As they reached the check post of FC in Karwat area on coastal highway, he was stopped by the officials of the FC and he with his friend, Mr. Yousuf Langove, were dragged into a van. The policemen tried to protect them but were severely beaten by the Frontier Cops and kept in custody for some hours. In the meanwhile, Eido and his friend were sent to an unknown location.

Before his abduction, Eido was receiving threatening calls from law enforcement agencies to stop his activities. He informed the local human rights organizations and lawyers about these threats and asked the local authorities to provide him security. The Pasni police provided him security to attend a trial in the session court, Gwader where a case of murder against him was pending. Because of his involvement in denouncing cases of human rights violations and in helping the HRCP to file cases of disappearances from Balochistan province in the Supreme Court of Pakistan, he was falsely charged of in a murder case of a coast guard of Pasni along with 10 other persons. At the time of murder, Mr. Eido was Punjab, another province, to attend an HRCP annual general body meeting.

On January 17, Eido's family members received a letter from the Supreme Court of Pakistan which read that the crisis management cell of the court has received his case of disappearance and that this case would be heard in the Supreme Court on February 25. The letter from the court also says that it confirms that Eido was in Punjab province to attend the HRCP meeting and was not in Balochistan when the murder of the coast guard was occurred.

The family members of the Eido are aware of a number of recent incidents of extra judicial killings after persons went missing. They are afraid that the same thing may happened to Eido and his friend and that FC and the other law enforcement agencies may kill him before the hearing of Supreme Court.

I am appalled to see that since last year a new trend of enforced disappearances has been observed, with Baloch activists being abducted by law enforcement officials and kept incommunicado for several days. After a while, it is learnt that they had been extra judicially killed. This method makes it easy for the abductors to wash away all evidence of the disappearance: no question of FIRs, legal process or blame. Widespread disappearances at the hands of the state agents started at the time of former President Musharraf. Now under a civilian government, this phenomenon continued and the disappearances are followed by extrajudicial killings, in particular in the province of Balochistan.

I therefore urge you to take immediate action for the safe recovery of Mr. Eido and his friend Mr. Yousuf. The provincial government should record the testimony of the police officials who carried him to the court proceedings and prosecute the officials of the FC who are responsible for his and his friend's disappearance.

I look forward to your prompt action in the case and to provide substantial and comprehensive policy responses on the cases of disappearances and killing of the disappeared persons.

Yours sincerely,

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PLEASE SEND YOUR LETTERS TO:

1. Mr. Asif Ali Zardari
President of Pakistan
President's Secretariat
Islamabad
PAKISTAN
Tel: +92 51 9204801/9214171
Fax: +92 51 9207458
Email: publicmail@president.gov.pk

2. Mr. Syed Yousaf Raza Gilani
Prime Minister
Prime Minister House
Islamabad
PAKISTAN
Fax: +92 51 922 1596
Tel: +92 51 920 6111/ +92 51 920 6111/ +92 51 920 6111/ +92 51 920 6111
E-mail: secretary@cabinet.gov.pk

3. Mr. Syed Mumtaz Alam Gillani
Federal Minister for Human Rights
Ministry of Human Rights
Old US Aid building
Ata Turk Avenue
G-5, Islamabad
PAKISTAN
Fax: +9251-9204108
Email: sarfraz_yousuf@yahoo.com

4. Dr. Faqir Hussain
Registrar
Supreme Court of Pakistan
Constitution Avenue, Islamabad
PAKISTAN
Fax: + 92 51 9213452
E-mail: mail@supremecourt.gov.pk

5. Nawab Aslam Raisani
Chief Minister of Balochistan
Chief Minister House, Quetta
PAKISTAN
Fax: +92 81 920 2240
Tel: +92 81 449582 / 440661
E-mail: mirlashkari@yahoo.com

6. Nawab Zulfiqar Magsi
Governor of Balochistan
Governor House Balochistan,
Quetta- Balochistan province,
PAKISTAN
Fax: +92 81 920 2992

7. Chief Secretary
Government of Balochistan
Quetta, Balochistan province
PAKISTAN
Fax: +92 81 9202132
Email: chiefsecy@balochistan.gov.pk


Yours sincerely,

Urgent Appeals Programme
Asian Human Rights Commission (ua@ahrc.asia)

Document Type :
Urgent Appeal Case
Document ID :
AHRC-UAC-036-2011
Countries :
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Extended Introduction: Urgent Appeals, theory and practice

A need for dialogue

Many people across Asia are frustrated by the widespread lack of respect for human rights in their countries.  Some may be unhappy about the limitations on the freedom of expression or restrictions on privacy, while some are affected by police brutality and military killings.  Many others are frustrated with the absence of rights on labour issues, the environment, gender and the like. 

Yet the expression of this frustration tends to stay firmly in the private sphere.  People complain among friends and family and within their social circles, but often on a low profile basis. This kind of public discourse is not usually an effective measure of the situation in a country because it is so hard to monitor. 

Though the media may cover the issues in a broad manner they rarely broadcast the private fears and anxieties of the average person.  And along with censorship – a common blight in Asia – there is also often a conscious attempt in the media to reflect a positive or at least sober mood at home, where expressions of domestic malcontent are discouraged as unfashionably unpatriotic. Talking about issues like torture is rarely encouraged in the public realm.

There may also be unwritten, possibly unconscious social taboos that stop the public reflection of private grievances.  Where authoritarian control is tight, sophisticated strategies are put into play by equally sophisticated media practices to keep complaints out of the public space, sometimes very subtly.  In other places an inner consensus is influenced by the privileged section of a society, which can control social expression of those less fortunate.  Moral and ethical qualms can also be an obstacle.

In this way, causes for complaint go unaddressed, un-discussed and unresolved and oppression in its many forms, self perpetuates.  For any action to arise out of private frustration, people need ways to get these issues into the public sphere.

Changing society

In the past bridging this gap was a formidable task; it relied on channels of public expression that required money and were therefore controlled by investors.  Printing presses were expensive, which blocked the gate to expression to anyone without money.  Except in times of revolution the media in Asia has tended to serve the well-off and sideline or misrepresent the poor.

Still, thanks to the IT revolution it is now possible to communicate with large audiences at little cost.  In this situation there is a real avenue for taking issues from private to public, regardless of the class or caste of the individual.

Practical action

The AHRC Urgent Appeals system was created to give a voice to those affected by human rights violations, and by doing so, to create a network of support and open avenues for action.  If X’s freedom of expression is denied, if Y is tortured by someone in power or if Z finds his or her labour rights abused, the incident can be swiftly and effectively broadcast and dealt with. The resulting solidarity can lead to action, resolution and change. And as more people understand their rights and follow suit, as the human rights consciousness grows, change happens faster. The Internet has become one of the human rights community’s most powerful tools.   

At the core of the Urgent Appeals Program is the recording of human rights violations at a grass roots level with objectivity, sympathy and competence. Our information is firstly gathered on the ground, close to the victim of the violation, and is then broadcast by a team of advocates, who can apply decades of experience in the field and a working knowledge of the international human rights arena. The flow of information – due to domestic restrictions – often goes from the source and out to the international community via our program, which then builds a pressure for action that steadily makes its way back to the source through his or her own government.   However these cases in bulk create a narrative – and this is most important aspect of our program. As noted by Sri Lankan human rights lawyer and director of the Asian Human Rights Commission, Basil Fernando:

"The urgent appeal introduces narrative as the driving force for social change. This idea was well expressed in the film Amistad, regarding the issue of slavery. The old man in the film, former president and lawyer, states that to resolve this historical problem it is very essential to know the narrative of the people. It was on this basis that a court case is conducted later. The AHRC establishes the narrative of human rights violations through the urgent appeals. If the narrative is right, the organisation will be doing all right."

Patterns start to emerge as violations are documented across the continent, allowing us to take a more authoritative, systemic response, and to pinpoint the systems within each country that are breaking down. This way we are able to discover and explain why and how violations take place, and how they can most effectively be addressed. On this path, larger audiences have opened up to us and become involved: international NGOs and think tanks, national human rights commissions and United Nations bodies.  The program and its coordinators have become a well-used tool for the international media and for human rights education programs. All this helps pave the way for radical reforms to improve, protect and to promote human rights in the region.