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PAKISTAN: Government shuts down websites in an effort to suppress news on Balochistan

May 1, 2006

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ASIAN HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION - URGENT APPEALS PROGRAMME

Urgent Appeal

2 May 2006
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UA-144-2006: PAKISTAN: Government shuts down websites in an effort to suppress news on Balochistan

PAKISTAN: Violation of freedom of information; government suppression
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Dear friends,

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has previously reported on the discrimination faced by people in Balochistan, the southern province in Pakistan. In the latest attack on this population by the Government of Pakistan, on 23 April 2006, the government shut down four websites offering information on this area saying that the websites were spreading misinformation.

Supporters of the websites, however, maintain that the websites have not been spreading hatred, religious intolerance or any other such information, as the government alleges, and therefore all four sites, they believe, should be reopened. The supporters also maintain that the reason the sites have been shut down is that the news offered on these sites detail military operations in Balochistan, showing photographs and videos of bombardments by fighter planes and the firing of live ammunition by gunship helicopters. This information, the supporters claim, shows the exploitation the people of Balochistan face and the geo-political situation of their province. Further, international news agencies are said to be taking their information from these websites and the government is apparently not willing to tolerate this.

The websites are as follows:
www.balochvioce.com
www.baloch2000.org
www.balochfront.com
www.sanabaloch.com


BACKGROUND INFORMATION:

Balochistan was incorporated into the new state of Pakistan, as the Indian subcontinent was split at the end of British rule in 1947. Since then, there have been continuous insurgencies by Baloch nationalists in the province seeking greater autonomy.

The Pakistan Army started military operations in Balochistan province in 2001 to construct the cantonments and to have full control over the sea port of Gwader and routes connecting Central Asian countries with those in South Asia. During this time, the clampdown in Balochistan has become serious. According to a January 2006 statement by Pakistani 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.

Baloch people also suffer from great poverty. According to the Karachi-based Social Policy and Development Centre (SPDC), poverty levels in Balochistan are the highest in the country. Every second person in Balochistan lives below the poverty line. Only 50 percent of the province's 7 million people have access to clean drinking water, only half the children attend primary schools and only a third of children between 12 and 23 months are immunised, according to the SPDC.

Balochistan has in fact very rich mineral resources. However, all the resources in the province are controlled by the federal government and no royalty or compensation has been paid to people in Balochistan. Also, the country's most populous province, Punjab, is controlling the military, the administration and utilises of all the resources. In addition, the government has provided little resources towards social welfare in comparison with other provinces. People in Balochistan blame the federal government for their plight and point out that the benefits derived from the province's natural wealth have not been returned to it.

SUGGESTED ACTION:

Please write to the relevant authorities in Pakistan asking that the five websites be re-instated and that freedom of information laws are respected.

Suggested letter:

Dear _______________,

PAKISTAN: Government shuts down websites in an effort to suppress news on Balochistan

I write to voice my condemnation at the Government of Pakistan’s action in shutting down four websites that offer news and information on the province of Balochistan.

According to the information I have received, on 23 April 2006, the Government of Pakistan shut down the four websites, which focus on the area of Balochistan, saying that the sites are spreading misinformation. To the contrary, supporters of the sites say that the reason the sites have been shut down is that the news offered on these sites detail military operations in Balochistan, showing photographs and videos of bombardments by fighter planes and the firing of live ammunition by gunship helicopters. This information, the supporters claim, shows the exploitation the people of Balochistan face and the geo-political situation of their province. Further, international news agencies are said to be taking their information from these websites and the government is apparently not willing to tolerate this.

The websites referred to are:
www.balochvioce.com
www.baloch2000.org
www.balochfront.com
www.sanabaloch.com

I ask that you take immediate measures to ensure that these websites are re-instated. The people of Balochistan, together with all concerned persons around the world, must be free to access information on this area and the violations that are taking place there.

Yours sincerely,

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PLEASE SEND YOUR LETTERS TO:

1. General Pervez Musharraf
President
President’s Secretariat
Islamabad
PAKISTAN
Fax: +92 51 922 1422, 4768/ 920 1893 or 1835
Email: CE@pak.gov.pk 

2. Mr. Muhammad Wasi Zafar
Minister of Law, Justice and Human Rights,
S Block,
Pakistan Secretariat,
Islamabad,
PAKISTAN
Fax: +92 51 920 2628
E-Mail: minister@molaw.gov.pk

3. Mr. Awais Ghani
Governor of Balochistan
Governor House,
Quetta,
Balochistan,
PAKISTAN
Fax: +92 81 920 2178/ 2992

4. Mr. Ambeyi Ligabo
Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression
c/o J Deriviero
OHCHR-UNOG
8-14 Avenue de la Paix
1211 Geneva 10
SWITZERLAND
Tel: +41 22 917 9177
Fax: +41 22 917 9006 (ATTN: SPECIAL RAPPORTEUR FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION)
Email: jderiviero@ohchr.org or urgent-action@ohchr.org 

5. Ms Gay Mcdougall
Independent Expert on Minority Issues
c/o Global Rights
1200 18th Street, N.W.  
Suite 602  
Washington, D.C. 20036
Phone: 202.822.4600
Fax:  202.822.4606
Email: gaym@globalrights.org


Thank you.

Urgent Appeals Programme
Asian Human Rights Commission (ahrchk@ahrchk.org)

Document Type :
Urgent Appeal Case
Document ID :
UA-144-2006
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.