The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information that twenty four activists from separatist groups were extrajudicial killed in Sindh and Balochistan provinces while they were campaigning against the general elections. Among the dead many bodies were found with bullet and torture marks. Most of the bodies were found on the same day while one activist’s body was found some days before the major incident. The deceased persons were abducted by the police and rangers in uniform along with some in plain clothes and it is suspected that they are agents of intelligence agencies.
There is a strong movement in Balochistan province against the coming general elections by nationalist forces who think that Pakistan has occupied their land by force. The same situation is developing in Sindh province where a sizeable section feels that through general elections the Pakistan army and the largest province of Punjab, exploit the resources of Sindh and usurp the fundamental rights of the smaller provinces.
CASE NARRATIVE:
On April 24, twenty three bullet riddled bodies of activists were found in different parts of Balochistan and Punjab, whereas the body of another activist was found four days before the major incident in Malir, Sindh.
According to the information received from Asansol News, at Pashni area of Balochistan 21 bodies have been recovered among which 18 Baloch political activists have been recognized. The names of the Baloch nationalists whose mutilated bodies are found in interior Pashni are:
1.Mr Raza Khan, 2. Arif Badami, 3. Gulab Shambey, 4. Khalid Dukan Wala, 5. Meer Zubair, 6. Enzo Shahdad,7.Wasim Jamal 8. Yasin Meer Rahmat, 9. Hafeez Karachi Wala, 10. Siddique, 11. Junaid,12. Ali. 13. Janzaib, 14. Zubair, 15. Gaffar, 16. Rauof, 17. Salaam, 18. Musadiq. The names of three more persons were not identified.
These people were picked up by the military and police raiders in the area when these people were preaching to boycott the voting. They had terrorist charges framed against them and without being tried in any court of Pakistan they were punished in a way only Pakistanis can imagine. The Baloch political organizations are planning to call for a strike and ask the human rights organizations to take notice for the situations in Balochistan.
The abducted and killed persons were from a separatist group of Balochistan who are fighting for the separate land from Pakistan. These people were campaigning against the general elections and telling people that if they participate in the elections Pakistani occupational forces will again have their illegal power on the people of Balochistan.
In Sindh province, two tortured and bullet riddled bodies were found from K.N Shah; they were identified as Sajjad Markhand and Amir Khuhawar. They had been abducted from Larkana and were identified as Jeay Sindh Mutehda Mahaz (JSMM) activists. Their bodies were found on April 28. The two had been picked up by the personnel of the agency and Rangers from Larkana on April 24 when they were preparing for a public meeting to mark the 18th death anniversary of GM Syed, the founder of Jeay Sindh movement which espouses the cause of independent Sindh, according to a press release issued by the party. The bodies of the two activists, bearing marks of severe torture, were found on Chokhandi link road near Khairpur Nathan Shah.
The JSMM claims that both were killed by the intelligence agency, the ISI, and were picked by the police and Rangers before many witnesses from their city. Aamir Khuhawar was a JSMM activist from the Ghazi Khuhawar village and was spreading the anti-election boycott-vote messages to awaken the locals as to how on the name of democracy Pakistan is launching the autocratic atrocities on the people of Sindh. Remember that JSMM asked the people of Sindh not to be lured by the seduction of elections from the Pakistani state. Probably this is why the agencies kep their eye on him. Both were abducted from their homes on 24th April. After 4 days of unimaginable torture the two Sindhi freedom activists were released in a way that only Pakistanis can release. They were mutilated because when the Pakistanis pierce the bodies of the enemies, they put one more pillar up for the brand of Pakistan democracy.
One week before these events the Malir district secretary of Jeay Sindh Qaumy Mahaz (JSQM) was abducted and his mutilated body was found. The JSMM claim that he was killed by the members of Muttahida Qaumy Movement run by the Altaf Gang.
SUGGESTED ACTION:
Please write letters to the following addressees calling upon them to immediately stop the extrajudicial killings of the nationalists who are struggling for the rights of their provinces and campaigning for greater autonomy. Please urge them to initiate an enquiry into the extrajudicial killings and prosecute the responsible officials of the intelligence agencies and police.
The AHRC is writing a separate letter to the UN Special Rapporteur on Extra-judicial, Summary, or Arbitrary Executions calling for his intervention into this matter.