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PAKISTAN: A student leader goes missing after his alleged arrest by state agents; a female student demonstrator is sentenced to three years in jail

June 9, 2009


ASIAN HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION - URGENT APPEALS PROGRAMME

Urgent Appeal Case: AHRC-UAC-058-2009



10 June 2009
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PAKISTAN: A student leader goes missing after his alleged arrest by state agents; a female student demonstrator is sentenced to three years in jail

ISSUES: Arbitrary arrest and detention; disappearance; military courts; freedom of assembly 
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Dear friends,

The Asian Human Rights Commission has received information that a student activist has been arrested by members of a military intelligence agency, and his whereabouts are still unknown. Another female student has been fined and sentenced to three years in prison on sedition charges by the Anti Terrorism Court for heading a demonstration against disappearances. The cases show that harsh crackdowns on free speech, association and assembly continue in the province, contrary to the claims of its democratically elected government.

CASE DETAILS: (According to information from the Baloch Students’ Organisation-Azad)

According to information we have received, activist student Mr. Zakir Majeed was allegedly abducted by intelligence agents on June 8, 2009 in Mastung, near Quetta. Majeed is the senior vice chairperson of the Baloch Student Organization-Azad (BSO) and was with two other members, Waheed Baloch and Basit Baloch, near a busy marketplace at around noon when they were stopped by plain-clothed men. The men, who had driven up in two cars without number plates, asked a few questions and said that they were intelligence agents working for the Pakistan army. They took Majeed away with them in the cars without making any charges. One car was a Toyota Vego, the other a Toyota Surf SSR.

The news of his illegal arrest has triggered violent protests in various cities across Balochistan, including Mastung and Quetta, with roads blocked, rallies held and slogans chanted against the Pakistan army. The AHRC is concerned that, like many arrested by state agents, Majeed will be tortured.

Meanwhile postgraduate student Miss Karima Baloch, 23, has just been sentenced to three years in prison and fined Rs 150,000 (US$ 1,875) after she and several other women demonstrated in August 2006 against disappearances. The charges were made in her absence since she has yet to be found and arrested, and they were based mainly upon the removal of a flag from a government building without authorisation (under section 123 B of Pakistan penal code). She has been charged with defiling the flag and with sedition, which under section 124 A of PPC means ‘whoever by words or by sign or by visible representation excite(s) disaffection towards the federal or provincial government.’ The sentence was given by the Anti Terrorist Court (ATC) in Turbat, Balochistan province on June 2, 2009.

BACKGROUND INFORMATION:

Karima Baloch has had personal experience with the disappearances she campaigned against. One of her uncles, Mr.Abdul Wahid Qamber Baloch, was arrested in March 2007, tortured and kept incommunicado in secret military cells for nine months. He was handed over to police on April 21, 2008 and acquitted of nine out of ten changes, but remains in custody charged with anti-state activities. Another of her uncles, Dr. Khalid Baloch, was killed in August 2007 in an alleged encounter, in which the Frontier Corps (FC), a paramilitary organisation, claimed to have been ambushed. According to reports by journalists and rights groups, encounter killings are often staged in Balochistan as a way of ridding the authorities of unwanted detainees. Considering the circumstances it is unsurprising that the student has not come forward for her sentence.

There is also widespread doubt regarding the validity of rulings made by the Anti Terrorism Court which was set up under former prime minister Nawaz Sharif. The court is notorious for its harsh judgments which are regularly overturned by the high court, and have often been followed by the accused disappearing into military custody regardless.

The Baloch Students’ Organization-Azad lobbies for the basic rights of the Baloch people in Pakistan, and is thought to be the largest platform for students critical of military action there. At the moment this mineral-rich province is experiencing its fifth large scale military operation since 1947, which has lasted eight years. Though the civilian government of President Asif Ali Zardari has stated that military operations were stopped when the new government was democratically elected in 2008, forces are still stationed there, military quarters continue to be built and reports of wide spread human rights abuse, particularly by the paramilitary Frontier Corps, constantly leave the province. These include the disappearances of over 350 persons after their arrest since Zardari came into power and about 4,000 in total, since military operations began. (Please see previous AHRC reports on disappearances and secret military torture centres: AHRC-UAC-041-2009, AHRC-STM-012-2009) Majeed was a member of the committee that worked for the release of victims of abduction.

ADDITIONAL COMMENTS:

The cases indicate a harsh crackdown on the freedom of speech, association and assembly in the province, enshrined in articles 16, 17 and 19 of the Pakistan constitution. They also demonstrate the continued omnipotence of the military in courts and squads in the province, in which due process is ignored and people continue to disappear without trace. This is despite the pledges made by the current government before the UN Human Rights Council in May 2008, to uphold the principles of the International Covenant of Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR) which it has ratified, and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) and the Convention against Torture (CAT) which it has signed.

SUGGESTED ACTION:

Please write letters to the authorities demanding the swift and safe release of Zakir Majeed and a thorough review of the charges levied against Karima Baloch. Please also demand that Wahid Qamber Baloch be released immediately and that those responsible for his illegal detention and torture be investigated and charged.

The Asian Human Rights Commission has written a letter to the Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances, and the Special Rapporteurs on the Question of Torture and on the Promotion and Protection of the Right to Freedom of Opinion and Expression.

To support this appeal please click here:

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SAMPLE LETTER

Dear ________,

PAKISTAN: A student leader goes missing after his alleged arrest by state agents; a female student demonstrator is sentenced to three years in jail

Name of victim:
Miss Kareema Baloch,
Resident of Turbat, Balochistan province
Date and location: Charged at the Anti-Terrorist Court of Turbat on June 2, 2009

Name of victim:
Mr. Zakir Majeed, vice president of Baloch Students’ Organisation-Azad
Resident of Mastung, Quetta, Balochistan province
Date and location: Abducted on June 8, 2009 at the Mastung market place near the Jungle Morh crossing, near Quetta.

Name of victim:
Mr. Abdul Wahid Qamber Baloch
Resident of Balochistan province
Date and location: Abducted from Makuran on March 14, 2007

I am writing to voice my deep concern for the welfare of two student activists in Balochistan, and of the rights of Baloch residents to freedom of assembly and of speech. According to information I have received Mr. Zakir Majeed has been arrested by the officials of a military intelligence agency, and his whereabouts are still unknown. Majeed is the vice chairman of the Baloch Students’ Organization, which lobbies for the basic rights of Baloch people in Pakistan and is thought to be the largest platform for Baloch students critical of military action in the province. He is also a member of the committee which works for the release of victims of abduction.

Another female student has been fined and sentenced in absentia to three years in prison by the Anti Terrorist Court on sedition charges for heading a demonstration against disappearances in 2006. Karima Baloch has had personal experience with the disappearances she campaigned against. One of her uncles, Mr. Abdul Wahid Qamber Baloch, was arrested in March 2007, tortured and kept in incommunicado in secret military cells for nine months. He was handed over to police on April 21, 2008 but remains in custody on other charges of anti-state activities. Another of her uncles, Dr. Khalid Baloch, was killed in August 2007 in an alleged encounter with the Frontier Corps (FC), a paramilitary organization.

Furthermore there is tremendous concern for the validity of rulings made by the Anti Terrorism Court which was set up by former president and army chief Pervez Musharraf. The court is notorious for harsh judgments which are regularly overturned by the high court, and are often followed by the accused disappearing into military custody regardless.

The cases indicate a harsh crackdown on the freedom of speech, association and assembly in the province, enshrined in articles 16, 17 and 19 of the Pakistan constitution. They also demonstrate the continued omnipotence of military courts and squads among Baloch civilians, in which due process is ignored and people continue to disappear without trace. This is despite the pledges made by the current government before the UN Human Rights Council in May 2008, to uphold the principles of the International Covenant of Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICSCER) which it has ratified, and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) and the Convention against Torture (CAT) which it has signed.

I request that you intervene immediately to secure the swift and safe release of Mr. Zakir Majeed and Mr. Abdul Wahid Qamber Baloch, and the investigation of those responsible their illegal arrest and detention, and in Baloch’s case, his torture. Please also initiate a thorough review of the harsh charges levied against Karima Baloch.

The Asian Human Rights Commission has written a letter to the Working Group on Involuntary and Enforced Disappearances and the Special Rapporteurs on the Question of Torture and on the Promotion and Protection of the Right to Freedom of Opinion and Expression.


Thank you,

Yours sincerely,

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PLEASE SEND YOUR LETTERS TO:

1. Mr. Asif Ali Zardari
President
President's Secretariat
Islamabad
PAKISTAN
Fax: + 92 51 922 1422, 4768/ 920 1893 or 1835
E-mail: (please see and post your appeal in the following website - http://www.presidentofpakistan.gov.pk/WTPresidentMessage.aspx)

2. Mr. Syed Yousaf Raza Gillani
Prime Minister
Prime Minister House
Islamabad
PAKISTAN
Fax: + 92 51 9221596

3. Mr. A Rehman Malik
Minister for Interior
R Block Pak Secretariat
Islamabad
PAKISTAN
Tel: +92 51 9212026
Fax: +92 51 9202624
E-mail: ministry.interior@gmail.com or interior.complaintcell@gmail.com

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

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

6. Chief Secretary
Government of Balochistan
Quetta
Balochistan province
PAKISTAN
Fax: +92 81 9202132

Thank you.

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

Document Type :
Urgent Appeal Case
Document ID :
AHRC-UAC-058-2009
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.