Home / News / Urgent Appeals / PAKISTAN: Two more disappeared persons are extrajudicially killed in Balochistan to destroy evidence of abduction by law enforcement agencies

PAKISTAN: Two more disappeared persons are extrajudicially killed in Balochistan to destroy evidence of abduction by law enforcement agencies

February 25, 2011

ASIAN HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION - URGENT APPEALS PROGRAMME

Urgent Appeal Update: AHRC-UAC-046-2011

 

25 February 2011
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PAKISTAN: Two more disappeared persons are extrajudicially killed in Balochistan to destroy evidence of abduction by law enforcement agencies

ISSUES: Extrajudicial killings; abduction; disappearance; impunity; rule of law
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Dear friends,

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information that the bodies of two disappeared persons have been found in a remote area. The bodies bore bullet wounds and marks of torture. Both victims were abducted from Karachi, Sindh province at different times but their bodies were found together 500 kilometers near the Gwader district, Balochistan province. Both the bodies were lying side by side in an abandoned place. It was witnessed that both were abducted by persons in uniformed and in plain clothes that identified themselves to the onlookers as being from the state security agencies.

Disappearances in Balochistan have become the routine work of the Frontier Corps (FC) and state intelligence agencies. Since last year the law enforcement authorities have introduced a new trend in which they kill the disappeared person extra judicially so as to destroy any possible evidence of their involvement.

CASE NARRATIVE:

On February 23, two bodies were found at Hadh Cross, Ormara town of Gwader district in an abandoned area. The bodies bore bullet and marks of torture. They were identified as Mr. Mehboob Wadhela and Mr. Arif Rehman who were missing after their abductions eleven and five months ago respectively from Karachi, the capital of Sindh province.

Mr. Mahboob Ali Wadela was a senior member of the Baloch National Movement (BNM) which is part of the Baloch National Front (BNF), a nationalist movement struggling for greater autonomy of the province. He had been traveling in a passenger vehicle in Karachi bound for Gwader, a port city in Balochistan on 2 April for just a few minutes when it was stopped by uniformed police from Maripur station in Yousuf Goth. According to passengers on the bus two vans resembling army vehicles arrived at the scene almost immediately and plain-clothed persons emerged and began to check the identity cards of the passengers. When they came upon Mahboob they reportedly pulled him from the bus with his luggage and drove him away in one of the unmarked vehicles. The passenger vehicle was then prevented from leaving the area by police for some time.

The AHRC issued an Urgent Appeal on the illegal arrest and abduction of Mahbub (For further details, please see our previous appeal: AHRC-UAC-046-2011). The police refused to file an FIR (First Information Report) for his abduction on the excuse that he was arrested by the state intelligence agencies.

Another missing person was allegedly extra judicially killed and his bullet riddled body was found on 23 February, 2011 near Hadh Cross of Ormara of District Gwader.

Mr.Arif Rehman was abducted on September 3, 2010 from Ranchore Line Karachi while he was returning home after some medical checkups of his relative from a local Karachi hospital. During his abduction onlookers tried to resist the abductors who were in police uniforms and plainclothes. The people who attempted to help were threatened and told not to interfere. Rehman was an activist of the Baloch Republican Party (BRP). His family staged a long hunger strike for his safe recovery which lasted for 100 days.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:

Since the year 2010, a new trend has been seen in the actions of the law enforcement and intelligence agencies in which they have started to extrajudicially kill the disappeared persons so as to ensure that there was no evidence linking the abductions to them. Since the beginning of 2010 to date more than 100 persons have been were killed extra judicially.

Many people have died at the hands of the security forces in extrajudicial executions and deaths in custody, and thousands of people are reported to have been subjected to enforced disappearance. The confrontation between Baloch nationalists and the state is characterised by human rights abuses. The following cases are but a few of those recorded:

On 11 July, Maula Baksh Dashti, a key figure in the Balochistan National Party and a former district Nazim (Chief Official) of Kech (Turbat) District was shot dead by unidentified gunmen in his native district.

On 14 July, former Senator Habib Jalib Baloch, Secretary General of the Balochistan National Party-Mengal (BNP-M) was assassinated in the Parkaniabad area of Quetta, by three gunmen on a motorbike. He received seven bullets in the neck and chest and had been receiving threats.

On 20 July, a leading member of the BNP-M, Liaqat Mengal, was shot dead on by three gunmen on a motorbike near his house in the Kalat district of Balochistan.

On 26 July, the bullet riddled bodies of two cousins, student Ashfaq Ahmed Mullahzai and Muhmmad Farooq Mengal, were recovered in Quetta, in the Kili Qambrani area. Their relatives claim they had been abducted in May 2010.

On 6 September, the body of Baloch lawyer Zaman Marri was found in Mastung. He had received a single bullet to his forehead and his body showed torture marks. The lawyer was reportedly abducted by intelligence agents near his place of work in Quetta on 18 August.

On 23 September, the bullet riddled body of missing Baloch lawyer Ali Sher Kurd was found in Khuzdar district. Kurd was reportedly abducted by Pakistani intelligent agents three days before. His neck was broken and he showed marks of torture.

BACKGROUND INFORMATION:

Balochistan has a history of insurgency with local groups advocating greater autonomy. Four waves of violent unrest took place in 1948, 1958-59, 1962-63 and 1973-77.

Local people in Balochistan are demanding a bigger share of the revenue generated by the province's natural resources, principally natural gas, which they believe now disproportionately benefit other provinces.

Cases of abduction and killing of children by the law enforcement agencies were also reported in the media. On October 18 a young man, Master Abdul Majeed, aged 14, son of Haji Mohammad Ramzan Zehri, a well known trader, was abducted, allegedly by the Frontier Corps, as claimed by his family, and on 24 October his body was found in Koshak river at Khuzdar district. There were bullet wounds on his head and chest. He was an activist of the Baloch Student Organisation Azad and was a student in class eight.

Another student, Master Mohammad Khan Zohaib, aged 14, also an activist of Baloch Student Organisation Azad, was abducted in July by plain cloth persons riding in a black coloured Sarf pickup, which is generally used for abduction by the state intelligence agencies. His bullet riddled body was found In Khuzdar, Balochistan province, on 20 October. His family members claim that he was arrested by the personnel from Frontier Corp (FC) for having links with militants who are fighting for the greater autonomy of the province.

Mr. Zaman Marri, aged 38, a lawyer by profession, was abducted on 19 August 2010 near his law office on Jinnah Road, Quetta, the capital of Balochistan province, while he was on his way home to Killi Kamaloo, in the outskirts of Quetta.

On 11 September, Alliya Marri's mutilated body was found in the same area where Zaman Marri's body had been found. According to his family Alliya Marri's body was mutilated and he had been brutally tortured. Nobody would have been able to recognise him if his Pakistani official captors had not put a letter in his pocket with his name written on it. The eye-witnesses said that the cause of death could well have been the result of brutal torture and it is suspected that the single shot to his head was post mortem.

SUGGESTED ACTION:
Please write to the authorities to conduct inquiries into the incidents of extra judicial killings of disappeared persons who were allegedly abducted by the law enforcement agencies and prosecute those who are responsible. The FC and other Para-Military forces should be withdrawn from the province of Balochistan and release all disappeared persons.

Please note that the AHRC has writen a separate letter to UN Working Group on Enforced and Involuntary Disappearances and Special Rapporteur on Extra Judicial, Summary or Arbitrary Execution calling for their intervention into this case.

To support this appeal, please click here:

SAMPLE LETTER:

Dear ___________,

PAKISTAN: Two more disappeared persons are extrajudicially killed in Balochistan to destroy evidence of abduction by law enforcement agencies

Name of victims:
1. Mr. Mahboob Ali Wadela, son of Baig Muhammad; resident of R- 9/10, Gulshane Munir, Malir district, Karachi, Sindh province
2. Mr. Arif Rehman, activist of Baloch Republican Party (BRP), resident of Gwader, Balochistan
Names of alleged perpetrators: Law enfoircement agencies
Date of incident: 23 February 2011
Place of incident: Hadh, Omara town, Gwader, Balochistan province

I am writing to voice my deep concern regarding the extra judicial killings of two disappeared persons. Mr. Mehboob Wadhela was abducted in April 2010 from Karachi by the uniform and un-uniformed persons and in the same way Mr. Arif Rehman was abducted in September 2010 from Karachi.

I am appalled to know that the persons who were allegedly disappeared by the law enforcement agencies were killed extra judicially so that no evidence should be found for their abduction and disappearance.

On February 23, two bodies were found at Hadh Cross, Ormara town of Gwader district in an abandoned area. The bodies bore bullet and marks of torture. They were identified as Mr. Mehboob Wadhela and Mr. Arif Rehman who were missing after their abductions eleven and five months ago respectively from Karachi, the capital of Sindh province.

Mr. Mahboob Ali Wadela was a senior member of the Baloch National Movement (BNM) which is part of the Baloch National Front (BNF), a nationalist movement struggling for greater autonomy of the province. He had been traveling in a passenger vehicle in Karachi bound for Gwader, a port city in Balochistan on 2 April for just a few minutes when it was stopped by uniformed police from Maripur station in Yousuf Goth. According to passengers on the bus two vans resembling army vehicles arrived at the scene almost immediately and plain-clothed persons emerged and began to check the identity cards of the passengers. When they came upon Mahboob they reportedly pulled him from the bus with his luggage and drove him away in one of the unmarked vehicles. The passenger vehicle was then prevented from leaving the area by police for some time.

Another missing person was allegedly extra judicially killed and his bullet riddled body was found on 23 February, 2011 near Hadh Cross of Ormara of District Gwader.

Mr.Arif Rehman was abducted on September 3, 2010 from Ranchore Line Karachi while he was returning home after some medical checkups of his relative from a local Karachi hospital. During his abduction onlookers tried to resist the abductors who were in police uniforms and plainclothes. The people who attempted to help were threatened and told not to interfere. Rehman was an activist of the Baloch Republican Party (BRP). His family staged a long hunger strike for his safe recovery which lasted for 100 days.

I urge you to conduct inquiry in to the incident of extra judicial killings of disappeared persons who were allegedly abducted by the law enforcement agencies and prosecute those who are responsible for the extra judicial killings. The FC and other Para-Military forces should be withdrawn from the province of Balochistan and make safe recovery of all 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


Thank you.

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

Document Type :
Urgent Appeal Case
Document ID :
AHRC-UAC-046-2011
Countries :
Issues :
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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.