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UPDATE (Pakistan): A politician allegedly abducted once again by secret service agents after giving his statement in Sindh High Court

January 4, 2007

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ASIAN HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION - URGENT APPEALS PROGRAMME

Urgent Appeal

4 January 2007
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UP-001-2007: PAKISTAN: A politician allegedly abducted once again by secret service agents after giving his statement in Sindh High Court

PAKISTAN: No rule of law; disappearance after arrest; torture; misuse of power by the secrete agencies and negligence on the part of judiciary
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Dear Friends,

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received the information that Mr. Salim Baloch, the acting president of Jamhoori Watan Party was allegedly abducted once again by secret service personnel on 31 December 2006 just 15 days after his release from an army torture cell. His present whereabouts are unknown. The AHRC has earlier reported on 23 December 2006 about his first arrest and subsequent disappearance (To see further: UA-413-2006). According to the information we have received, the victim was abducted within 36 hours after he gave his statement about his ordeal of 9 months of torture and illegal detention in military cells in different cities of Pakistan. In his statement made before the Sindh High Court, Mr. Salim Baloch believed that he would be rearrested by the secret military agencies as he was threatened by the military officers that it would happen if he told about his arrest and torture. Mr. Baloch requested the High court to provide protection but court did not pay any attention to his plea.

UPDATED INFORMATION:

Mr. Salim Baloch was arrested for the first time on 9 March 2006 and since then his whereabouts had not been known until he was released on 14 December 2006. On December 19 after his release he addressed a press conference on at the Karachi Press Club where he told how he was kidnapped and tortured in different military cells by the army personnel. The High Court disposed off his habeas corpus case saying that the case is no longer valid due to his release. The Court neither ordered an inquiry about his torture and illegal detention by the army nor took subsequent action to locate the disappeared persons, who are still detained in the military torture cells in Rawal Pindi. To see details of this matter, please go to: UA-413-2006.
 
According to the information we have received, on 31 December 2006, the members of the secret agencies allegedly approached to Mr. Salim Baloch by red colour Toyota Corolla with no registration number plate. They then forcibly pushed him into the vehicle and shortly after transferred him to a white coloured Vtx Cultus with registration number 7389 at around 6:30am. Mr. Salim Baloch was on his way back home from his morning prayers. Eye witnesses report that there was a small police vehicle along with the two cars when he was abducted. It should also be noted that the victim had been abducted persons in the same model of a red colour Toyota Corolla on 9 March 2006. 

Mr. Salim Baloch is the acting president of Jamhoori Watan Party after the killing of its president Mr. Sardar Akbar Bugti by a military operation at his hide out in Kohlo, Baochistan province on 30 August 2006.

On 29 December 2006, Mr. Salim Baloch appeared before the Sindh High Court comprising of a division bench headed by Judge Musheer Alam and elaborately explained the details of over 9 months of his incarceration by the secret agencies. He pledged that what he told the court is truth and requested security for his life by the superior court. It is regretted that he was allegedly abducted by the members of the secret agencies less than 36 hours after he requested this security. If the Sindh High Court had responded to his request, Mr. Salim Baloch would have not been abducted again.

The news of Mr. Salim Baloch's abduction was reported to the Lyari town police office shortly after the incident, and one of the officers informed Mr. Salim Baloch's brother at around 11:05am on the same day. The police officer Mr. Asif told the victim's brother that he had been abducted by several government personnel but refused to provide more information about the incident. Other family members of the victim also contacted Lyari town police immediately and the police officers denied their involvement into the victim's abduction. Mr. Salim Baloch's whereabouts remains unknown. 

The AHRC is gravely concerned for Mr. Salim Baloch's safety and security. We believe that he was abducted due to his brave appeal to the Sindh High Court and calling for justice. He might be tortured or even killed by the secret service agent this time. We also believe that Mr. Salim Baloch was kidnapped because the secret agencies wanted to show the people that anyone who dares to speak out against them will suffer severe consequences.

ADDITIONAL COMMENTS:

A few days after his release from the army torture cell, on 20 December 2006, Mr. Salim Baloch attended a court hearing relating to his habeas corpus case at the High Court of Sindh and testified about the torture.  He also gave names of persons who had been detained and tortured by the military in the army cells and sought the intervention of the court to release them. The names of the detained victims are listed in our previous Urgent Appeal (see UA-413-2006). Despite his statement, the High Court simply closed the disappearance case of Mr. Salim Baloch and another two persons, Mr. Saeed Barohi and Mr. Raus Fasoli who were released on the same day, saying that the case is not constituted because they are already released. The Court neither ordered an inquiry about his torture and illegal detention by the army nor took subsequent action to locate the disappeared persons, who are still detained in the military torture cells in Rawal Pindi.


SUGGESTED ACTION:
Please write to the concerned authorities listed below and urge them to take prompt and strong action to locate the victim, ensure his security and conduct an investigation into his abduction. If the victim is detained in the army torture cell, he should be immediately released without any condition. Please also urge them to locate and then release the disappeared persons who are believed to be detained in the military torture cells, according to Mr. Salim Baloch's testimony before Sindh High Court. Please urge them to establish an effectively mandated independent commission, which will inquire all the allegation of illegal arrests, detention, torture and forced disappearances committed by the military and the police. 

To support this appeal, please click:

Sample Letter:

Dear________,

PAKISTAN: A politician allegedly abducted again by the secret service agents after giving his statement in Sindh High Court

Name of victim: Mr. Salim Baloch, Acting President of Jamhoori Watan Party, Sindh Province, Pakistan
Alleged perpetrators: Several persons who are believed to be from the secret service agency. They came to abduct the victim in a red colour Toyota Corolla with no registration number plate and a white coloured Vtx Cultus with registration number 7389
Place of incidence: Near the victim's house in Mehrab Khan Road, Nawahlane, Shahjahan Pan House, Lyari, Karachi, Sindh province, Pakistan
Date of incidence: At around 6:30am on 31 December 2006

I am writing to request your immediate and strong action to locate Mr. Salim Baloch, the acting president of Jamhoori Watan Party, who was allegedly abducted by the secret service agents again on 31 December 2006 just after15 days of his release from his first arrest and illegal detention on 14 December 2006.

I want to inform you that his abduction took place within 36 hours after he gave his statement about his ordeals of 9 months torture in the military cells in different cities of Pakistan on December 29. The statement that Mr. Baluch had delivered before a division bench of Sindh High Court contained apprehensions that he would be arrested by the secret military agencies again as he was threatened by the military officers that on the pretext of his disclosures upon his release, he would be kidnapped once again and killed. Mr. Salim had also requested the High court to provide protection but court ignored his request.

Mr. Salim Baloch was abducted by several persons in red colour Toyota Corolla with no registration number plate and a white coloured Vtx Cultus with registration number 7389 when he was walking to his home from morning prayer at the mosque at about 6.30 am on December 30. I was also informed that a small police vehicle along with the two cars that abducted him. I also want to draw your attention that the same model of a red colour Toyota Corolla, which had been used for the victim's first abduction on 9 March 2006, was used again in this time. His whereabouts remains unknown.

Mr. Salim Baloch's abduction was reported to the Lyari town police in Karach, Sindh province on the same day and the police officer namely Mr. Asif reportedly confirmed the victim's brother about his abduction by several government personnel again but refused to provide more information about the incident. The police also denied their involvement into the victim's abduction but have not taken serious action to locate the victim despite the family's request.

It is sad to note that the victim's abduction was followed soon after High Court's refusal to provide protection to the victim, who requested safety and security of his life on December 29. If Sindh High Court had responded to his request, Mr. Salim Baloch would have not been abducted again. I condemn such great negligence of the High Court that has been mandated to provide a protection of the rights of citizens including the persons who were disappeared. Such attitudes of the judicial authorities have revealed the existence of no proper judicial system and no justice at the country. That would also severely disgrace the international reputation of Pakistan's judiciary.    

Under the circumstances, I strongly believe that the victim's life is in great danger. I also believe that the victim was abducted due to his brave appeal to the Sindh High Court calling for justice. I gravely worry that he might be tortured or even killed by the secret service agent this time.

In light of the above, I strongly urge your immediate intervention into this case including the following:

1. Conduct thorough and independent investigation into Mr. Salim Baloch's abduction without further delay;
2. Find Mr. Salim Baloch whereabouts, ensure his security and provide legal protection to him;
3. Inquire about the alleged involvement of the secret service agency and the police into the victim's abduction and bring those responsible to justice;
4. Locate and then release the disappeared persons who are believed to be detained in the military torture cells, according to Mr. Salim Baloch's testimony before Sindh High Court;
5. Establish an effectively mandated independent commission, which will inquire all the allegation of illegal arrests, detention, torture and forced disappearances committed by the military and the police;
6. Immediately ratify the major international covenants and conventions, in particular the International Covenant for Civil and Political Rights and Convention Against Torture (CAT) and implement into domestic laws in order to stop the human rights violations especially torture, illegal detention and abduction by state agents and eradicate all the criminal impunities widely enjoyed by them;
7. Effectively activate the judicial measures regarding cases of torture, forced disappearance and extra-judicial killing allegedly committed by the state agents. 

I look for your immediate intervention into this matter.

Yours Sincerely,


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PLEASE SEND YOUR LETTER TO:

1. General Pervez Musharraf
President
President’s Secretariat
Islamabad
PAKISTAN
Fax: +92 51 922 1422, 4768/ 920 1893 or 1835
E-mail: (please see - http://www.presidentofpakistan.gov.pk/WTPresidentMessage.aspx)

2. Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Choudhry
Chief Justice of Pakistan
Supreme Court of Pakistan,
Constitution Avenue,
Islamabad
PAKISTAN
Tel: + 92 51 9213767
Fax: + 92 51 921 3452
E-mail: cjpakistan@yahoo.com 

3. Dr. Faqir Hussan
Registrar
Supreme Court of Pakistan
Constitution Avenue, Islamabad
PAKISTAN
Tel: +92 51 921 3770
E-mail: registrar@supremecourt.gov.pk 

4. Mr. Aftab Ahmed Khan Sherpao
Federal Minister of Interior
Room#404, 4th Floor, R Block,
Pak Secretariat
Islamabad
PAKISTAN
Tel: +92 51 9212026
Fax: +92 51 9202624
E-mail: minister@interior.gov.pk 

5. 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 

6. Justice Sabih Uddin
Chief Justice of Sindh High Court
High Court Building
Saddar
Karachi
PAKISTAN
Fax: +92 21 9213220
E-mail: info@sindhhighcourt.gov.pk 

7. Dr. Arbab Abdul Rahim
Chief Minister of Sindh
Chief Minister House
Karachi
PAKISTAN
E-mail: cm.sindh@sindh.gov.pk

8. Ms. Louise Arbour
United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights
OHCHR-UNOG
8-14 Avenue de la Paix
1211 Geneva 10
Switzerland
Fax: +41 22 917 9012/0213
 
9. Ms Leila Zerrougui
Chairperson
Working Group on arbitrary detention
Attn: Mr Miguel de la Lama
OHCHR-UNOG
1211 Geneva 10
SWITZERLAND
Fax: +41 22 917 9006 (ATTENTION: WORKING GROUP ARBITRARY DETENTION)


Thank you.

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


Document Type :
Urgent Appeal Update
Document ID :
UP-001-2007
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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.