Human rights abuses in Balochistan

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Human rights abuses in Balochistan
Part of the Insurgency in Balochistan
Balochistan shown within Pakistan (hatched regions indicate claimed but not controlled territories)
LocationBalochistan, Pakistan
Date1948–present
TargetCivilians and combatants
PerpetratorsCombatants on either side of the conflict

Human rights abuses in the province of Balochistan refers to the human rights violations that are occurring in the ongoing insurgency in Balochistan. The situation has drawn concern from the international community,[1][2] The human rights situation in Balochistan is credited to the long-running conflict between Baloch nationalists (as well as Baloch militant organisations such as the Balochistan Liberation Army) and Pakistani security forces.

Brad Adams, director of the HRW Asia Branch, said that the Pakistani government has not done enough to stop the widespread human rights abuses in the region,[3] which include torture, forced disappearances of those suspected of either terrorism or opposition to the Pakistani military, ill treatment of captured combatants or criminals, and extrajudicial killings.[4] Separatist militants have also committed widespread abuse according to Human Rights Watch (HRW), The Baloch Separatists militants are responsible for several attacks on schools, teachers, and students in the province with the aim of ethnically cleansing the province.[5][6]

As of 2018, per The New York Times, the Pakistani deep-state was using Islamist militants to attack Baloch separatists.[7] Academics and journalists in the United States have been approached by Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) spies, who warned them not to speak about the insurgency in Balochistan or human rights abuses committed by the Pakistan Army, while also threatening to harm them or their families should they continue to investigate the conflict.[8]

Background[edit]

Main article: Balochistan conflict

Before joining Pakistan, Balochistan consisted of four princely states: Makran, Las Bela, Kharan, and Kalat. Three of these, Makran, Las Bela, and Kharan willingly joined Pakistan in 1947 during the dissolution of the British Indian Empire.[9] However, Kalat, led by the Khan of Kalat, Ahmed Yaar Khan, chose independence as this was one of the options given to all of the princely states by Clement Attlee at the time.[10] Muhammad Ali Jinnah persuaded Yar Khan to accept Pakistani rule but the Khan stalled for time. After a period of negotiations, Khan finally decided to accede to Pakistan on 27 March 1948.[11] The Khan's brother Prince Kareem Khan declared independence and fled to Afghanistan to seek aid and begin an armed struggle that failed. By June 1948, Baluchistan in whole became a part of Pakistan.[12]

There were a further three insurgencies in the region after 1948: 1958–1959, 1962–1963, and 1973–1977, and a fifth nationalistic movement which began in 2002.[13] The 1958–1959 conflict was caused by the imposition of the One Unit plan which had been implemented in 1955. This led to further resistance, and by 1957 Nauroz Khan announced his intention to secede; Pakistan declared martial law one day later.[14] Pakistan bombed separatist hideouts and deployed tanks with support from artillery. Nauroz was arrested and died while in prison; his family members were hanged for treason.[15] According to Dan Slater, pro-independence feelings in East Pakistan and Balochistan increased in parity with continuing military intervention in the political arena.[14]

Missing persons[edit]

Main article: Missing persons (Pakistan)

According to journalist Ahmed Rashid writing in 2014, estimates of the number of disappeared in Balochistan "are between hundreds and several thousand."[16] According to Voice for Baloch Missing Persons (VBMP) around 5,228 Baloch have gone missing from 2001 to 2017.[17] While according to a 8 December 2005, statement by the then Pakistani interior minister Aftab Sherpao, an estimated 4,000 people from Balochistan were in the custody of the authorities[18] having been detained in the province between 2002–2005.[citation needed] Of this number only 200 were taken to court and the rest were being held incommunicado according to author Manan Dwivedi writing in 2009.[citation needed]

In December 2018, Balochistan National Party (Mengal) (BNP-M) leader, Akhtar Mengal presented a list of 5,000 missing persons to the newly formed government of Imran Khan. BNP-M leaders claim that there has been a noticeable decline in enforced disappearances since BNP-M's agreement with Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI). BNP-M also claims that hundreds of alleged victims have been reunited with their families.[19]

A senior Pakistani provincial security official claims that missing person figures are 'exaggerated', that 'in Balochistan, insurgents, immigrants who fled to Europe, and even those who have been killed in military operations are declared as missing persons'.[17] Reports have shown that many people have fled the province to seek asylum in other countries because of the unrest caused by separatist militants.

Pakistani authorities have acknowledged that disappearances happen. In 2011, the government established a commission which registered 5,369 missing persons complaints. The commission claims to have traced more than 3,600 people.[19]

On June 3, 2012, Prime Minister Syed Yusuf Raza Gilani directed Balochistan's chief minister to take special measures to trace the missing persons.[20]

In October 2018, Balochistan National Party (Mengal) (BNP-M) claimed that around 300 missing persons had returned to their homes.[21] Similarly in January 2019, Voice for Baloch Missing Persons (VBMP) decided to suspend their protest after dozens of missing people returned to their homes. VBMP gave a list of 110 missing people which the VBMP expects the government to recover within two months.[22]

In 2016, based on government documents obtained by the BBC, nearly 1,000 dead bodies of suspected armed militants and political activists have been found in Balochistan from 2010 - 2016. The government states that the dumped bodies include those of insurgent groups who died fighting amongst each other. Activists said that the figures point to large-scale extrajudicial killings.[23] As of 8 December 2005, the federal Interior Minister announced that approximately 4,000+ individuals had been apprehended in Balochistan since the start of that year. However, the identities, whereabouts, and charges against a significant number of these detainees remain undisclosed.[24]

Abuses by Baloch insurgents[edit]

Baloch insurgent movements have also been accused by the Human Rights Organisation[which?] of grave human rights abuses in Balochistan, including targeted killings of ethnic non-Baloch civilians.[citation needed] This has caused an economic brain drain in the province. According to the Chief Minister of Balochistan, Nawab Aslam Raisani, "a large number of professors, teachers, engineers, and barbers are leaving the province for fear of attacks. This inhuman act will push the Baloch nation at least one century back. The Baloch nation will never forgive whoever is involved in target killings." Raisani noted that these immigrant settlers had been living in Balochistan for centuries and called their targeting by Baloch insurgents "a crime against humanity".[25]

Journalists, teachers, students, and human rights defenders have been targeted in Balochistan according to the South Asia Terrorism Portal.[26] According to Human Rights Watch (HRW), Baloch Separatist militants are responsible for attacks on schools, teachers, and students in the province.[27] As a result, many teachers have sought transfer to secure areas such Quetta or have moved out of the province entirely.[28] Moreover, Separatist groups have also claimed responsibility for killing Journalists in the province.[29][30][31][32]

Human Right Organisation have held Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA) responsible for ethnic cleansing in the province as Brahamdagh Bugti (alleged leader of BLA), during a TV interview on 15 April 2009, urged separatists to kill non-Baloch residing in Balochistan. His actions allegedly lead to the death of 500 non-Baloch citizens in the province.[33]

Apart from Human Right Organisations, Baloch separatists themselves have accused each other of being involved in human rights violations.[34] Separatists accuse each other of being involved in extortion, kidnapping, and even raping local Baloch.[34]

The U.S. Department of State estimates that in 2012 at least 690 civilians were victims of violence in Balochistan. A report from the Interior Ministry in 2012 stated that Lashkar-e-Jhangvi, Lashkar-e-Balochistan, Baloch Musalla Difa Tanzeem, and the Baloch Liberation Army were involved in violent disturbances. The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan estimates that these groups and others killed 2,050 innocent persons and injured another 3,822 in 2012.[26]

Military and paramilitary abuses[edit]

The Frontier Corps (FC), Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) agency,[35] and other groups have been accused of "a decade-long campaign" of "pick up and dump" in which "Baloch nationalists, militants, or even innocent bystanders are picked up, disappeared, tortured, mutilated, and then killed".[36] Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) agency has been accused of massive human rights abuses in Balochistan by Human Rights Watch, with the enforced disappearance of hundreds of nationalists and activists. In 2008 alone, an estimated 1102 people were disappeared from the region.[35] There have also been reports of torture.[37] An increasing number of bodies are being found on roadsides, having been shot in the head.[38] In July 2011, the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan issued a report on illegal disappearances in Balochistan which identified ISI and Frontier Corps as the perpetrators. According to journalist Malik Siraj Akbar, as of May 2015, "dozens of people are losing their lives every day" in "extra judicial killings committed by the Pakistani security forces" in the province of Balochistan.[39] However, Pakistan security officials have rejected all allegations against them.

In a 2012 statement to the Supreme Court of Pakistan, the Pakistani government denied allegations of the use of secret operations or death squads in Balochistan.[40] Major General Obaid Ullah Khan Niazi, commander of the 46,000 paramilitary Frontier Corps (FC) stationed in Balochistan, claimed that "militants are using FC uniforms to kidnap people and malign our good name."[41] Similarly, Baloch separatist militants have also been found using military uniforms which resemble the ones used by Frontier Corps while carrying out their activities.[42]

Balochistan's former chief minister, Sardar Akhtar Jan Mengal, in a statement to the Supreme Court, claimed that the current civil disturbances in Balochistan were a direct result of "enforced disappearances".[43]

Religious persecution of minorities[edit]

According to the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP)[44][45] and Al Jazeera,[46] there has been a surge in religious extremism in Balochistan, with banned terrorist organizations such as Lashkar-i-Jhangvi and Pakistani Taliban targeting Hindus, Shias (including Hazaras), and Zikris, resulting in the migration of over 210,000 Shias, Zikris, and Hindus from Baluchistan to other parts of Pakistan.[47] A further 90,000 ethnic Punjabis have also fled due to campaigns against Punjabis by Balochi militants.[48]

The Baloch Liberation Front has also targeted Zikris in the province.[49][50]

Hindus[edit]

In 2005, 32 Hindus were killed by shots fired from the government side near Nawab Akbar Bugti's residence during bloody clashes between Bugti tribesmen and paramilitary forces. The shooting left the Hindu residential locality near Bugti's residence badly hit.[51]

Shia[edit]

Main articles: Persecution of Hazara people in Quetta and Sectarian violence in Pakistan

Shia Muslims of various ethnic backgrounds make up at least 20% of the total population of Pakistan[citation needed]. The Hazara ethnic minority has been facing discrimination in Balochistan Province for a long time, and violence perpetrated against the community has risen sharply in recent years.[52][53][54] Since the year 2000, over 2000 Shia Hazara community members, including many women and children, have been killed or injured in Quetta.[55] Most of them have been the victims of terrorist attacks by Lashkar-e-Jhangvi and Sipah-e-Sahaba Pakistan, which is a Sunni Muslim militant organization affiliated with Al-Qaeda and Taliban.[56] Repression against the Shi'ite Muslims began in 1998 with the assassination of Gen Musa Khan's son Hassan Musa in Karachi,[57] and worsened in Pakistan after the September 11 attacks and the expulsion of the Taliban from Afghanistan.[58][59]

Shias have also been targeted by Baloch Separatist militants. Shia pilgrims passing through the rigid terrain of Balochistan are common targets for Baloch separatists. Shias are targeted mainly because they are not ethnically Baloch.[60] Moreover, it is reported that the Balochistan Liberation Army had formed an alliance with Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan. Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan is another terrorist group known for their attacks against Shia Muslims.[60]

In 2003, 53 people died and 150 were critically injured in a suicide attack on the main Shia Friday mosque in Quetta.[57] On March 2, 2004, at least 42 persons were killed and more than 100 wounded when a procession of Shia Muslims was attacked by Sunni extremists at Liaquat Bazaar in Quetta.[61] On October 7, 2004, a car bomb killed 40 members of an extremist Sunni organization in Multan. 300 people died during 2006.[62] On December 28, 2009, as many as 40 Shias were killed in an apparent suicide bombing in Karachi. The bomber attacked a Shia procession which was held to mark Ashura.[63]

Many youth from the Hazara community have had to flee to Europe and Australia, often illegally, in order to escape the oppression.[57]

International reactions[edit]

The US government has expressed alarm at the reports of thousands Baloch separatists and Taliban insurgents disappearing at the hands of Pakistan's security forces and possibly being tortured or killed. A 2010 State Department report said that the Pakistani government made "limited progress" in advancing human rights.[64] Member of the European Parliament Marc Tarabella, in an article in The Parliament Magazine in 2015, wrote, "The main victims of this violence are the people of Balochistan who are being systematically targeted by paramilitary groups, allegedly sponsored by the Pakistani authorities. Extra-judicial killings and enforced disappearances are the most common practices".[65]

During an all-party meeting in Delhi, Indian prime minister Narendra Modi said that Pakistan "shall have to answer to the world for the atrocities committed by it against people in Baluchistan."[66] Modi's remarks came during the backdrop of the unrest in Indian-administered Jammu and Kashmir, a territory disputed between both countries, where Pakistan condemned India for the human rights abuses in Jammu and Kashmir.[67] Former President of Afghanistan Hamid Karzai, also interviewed by the press while in India, appreciated Modi for his comments on Balochistan, and said that, "In Balochistan there is extreme suffering at the hands of extremists promoted by state structures in Pakistan. Therefore the people's concerns need to be addressed and aired."[68] Pakistan's foreign policy adviser Sartaj Aziz said Modi's statement was "self-incriminating", vindicating Pakistani accusations of Indian intelligence involvement in Balochistan's insurgency, and called it an attempt to divert attention from the Kashmir violence.[69] In the 33rd session of the United Nations Human Rights Council, India raised the issue of human rights abuses in Baluchistan, saying that "the people of Balochistan, amongst other provinces, have been waging for decades a bitter and brave struggle against their daily abuse and torture."[70]

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ Akbar, Malik Siraj (12 December 2011). "Balochistan – a human rights free zone". Dawn.
  2. ^ "Pakistan: Upsurge in Killings in Balochistan". Human Rights Watch. July 13, 2011.
  3. ^ Walsh, Declan (28 July 2011). "Pakistan's military accused of escalating draconian campaign in Balochistan". The Guardian.
  4. ^ World Report 2012. Human Rights Watch. 2012. p. 362. ISBN 978-1-60980-389-6.
  5. ^ "Human Rights Watch". Human Rights Watch. 13 December 2010. Retrieved 2018-11-29.
  6. ^ "Balochistan Liberation Army - Mapping Militant Organization". web.stanford.edu. Retrieved 2 July 2019.
  7. ^ Akbar, Malik Siraj (19 July 2018). "In Balochistan, Dying Hopes for Peace". The New York Times. Retrieved 25 September 2019. Increasing attacks by the Islamic State in Balochistan are connected to Pakistan's failed strategy of encouraging and using Islamist militants to crush Baloch rebels and separatists.
  8. ^ Mazzetti, Mark; Schmitt, Eric; Savage, Charlie (23 July 2011). "Pakistan Spies on Its Diaspora, Spreading Fear". The New York Times. Retrieved 25 September 2019. Several Pakistani journalists and scholars in the United States interviewed over the past week said that they were approached regularly by Pakistani officials, some of whom openly identified themselves as ISI officials. The journalists and scholars said the officials caution them against speaking out on politically delicate subjects like the indigenous insurgency in Baluchistan or accusations of human rights abuses by Pakistani soldiers. The verbal pressure is often accompanied by veiled warnings about the welfare of family members in Pakistan, they said.
  9. ^ Hasnat, Syed F. (2011). Global Security Watch—Pakistan (1st ed.). Praeger. p. 78. ISBN 978-0-313-34697-2.
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  12. ^ Singh, RSN (2009). The Military Factor In Pakistan. Lancer. p. 191. ISBN 978-0-9815378-9-4.
  13. ^ Rashid, Ahmed (2008). Descent into Chaos: How the War Against Islamic Extremism is Being Lost in Pakistan, Afghanistan and Central Asia. Allen Lane. p. 36. ISBN 978-0-7139-9843-6.
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  15. ^ Khan, Adeel (2004). Politics Of Identity: Ethnic Nationalism And The State In Pakistan. Sage. p. 116. ISBN 978-0761933038.
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  18. ^ Tarabella, Marc (23 June 2015). "EU cannot ignore dire human rights situation in Balochistan". The Parliament Magazine. Retrieved 24 June 2015.
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  20. ^ PM Gilani orders Balochistan CM to trace missing persons, The News, June 03, 2012
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  39. ^ Akbar, Malik Siraj (17 May 2015). "Betrayal in Balochistan". The World Post. Retrieved 25 June 2015. In Pakistan, everyone says they have incontrovertible evidence about India's involvement in destabilizing Balochistan. They only won't share the evidence with you because they insist that when evidence is already too evident then why should one make the evident, evident?
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  41. ^ Walsh, Declan (29 March 2011). "Pakistan's secret dirty war". The Guardian. Retrieved 24 June 2015.
  42. ^ "Gunmen kill 14 people after forcing them to disembark from buses in Pakistan's Balochistan". Gulf News. 18 April 2019.
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  45. ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on October 16, 2014. Retrieved October 14, 2014.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
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  49. ^ "Zikri community spiritual leader, Shia father-son duo killed in Pakistan". India.com. Retrieved 8 October 2016. Police said motor cycle-borne unidentified men opened fire on Mullai while he was returning home after solemnising the marriage of one of his devotees. The banned Balochistan Liberation Army claimed responsibility for the attack.
  50. ^ "Zikri leader shot dead in Kech". Retrieved 8 October 2016.
  51. ^ Abbas, Zaffar (22 March 2005). "Journalists find Balochistan 'war zone'". BBC. Retrieved 26 December 2016. The Hindu residential locality that is close to Mr Bugti's fortress-like house was particularly badly hit. Mr Bugti says 32 Hindus were killed by firing from the government side in exchanges that followed an attack on a government convoy last Thursday.
  52. ^ "Gunmen kill 11 in Pakistan sectarian attack". Samaa Tv. 2011-07-31. Retrieved 2012-12-24.
  53. ^ Saba Imtiaz (2011-09-21). "The Quiet Killing of Pakistan's Shi'a Continues". The AfPak Channel. Afpak.foreignpolicy.com. Archived from the original on 2011-09-27. Retrieved 2012-12-24.
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  55. ^ Siddique, Abubakar and Nasar, Khudainoor Pakistan's Tiny Hazara Minority Struggles To Survive October 04, 2011, Radio Free Europe Radio Liberty | RFERL.org
  56. ^ B. Raman (26 September 2011). "Pakistan: Another Massacre of Hazaras in Balochistan By Pro Al Qaeda Elements"
  57. ^ a b c "Insight: A brief history of Hazara persecution by Dr Saleem Javed". Thefridaytimes.com. Archived from the original on 2012-03-06. Retrieved 2012-12-24.
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  59. ^ "Pakistan's Shia-Sunni divide". BBC News. June 1, 2004. Retrieved 2010-08-24.
  60. ^ a b "BLA and beyond". Daily Times. 3 July 2019. Shia pilgrims passing through the rigid terrains of Balochistan became their common target because they were non-Baloch (considered hostile by the BLA) and Shia (deemed to be killed by Taliban). Before making a sort of a merger with Taliban, the BLA started attacking armed forces, prompting Pakistan to declare it a terrorist outfit in its early days in 2006.
  61. ^ "Carnage in Pakistan Shia attack". BBC News. March 2, 2004. Retrieved 2010-08-24.
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  63. ^ "Karachi in grip of grief and anger as blast toll rises to 43". S. Raza Hassan. Dawn News. December 30, 2009. Retrieved 2010-08-24.
  64. ^ Rights Groups Tie Pakistan to Militants’ Disappearances, International New York Times, 29 December 2010.
  65. ^ Johny, Stanly (16 August 2016). "Impoverished Balochistan bleeds through a thousand cuts". The Hindu. Retrieved 18 August 2016.
  66. ^ Venkataramakrishnan, Rohan (15 August 2016). "Independence Day speech: Narendra Modi brings up Balochistan in a clear signal to Pakistan". Scroll.in. Retrieved 18 August 2016.
  67. ^ "Aug 15 speech: While Kashmir burns, Indian PM rakes up Balochistan". Express Tribune. 16 August 2016. Retrieved 19 August 2016.
  68. ^ Krishnamoorthy, Nandini (20 August 2016). "Hamid Karzai, former Afghan president, backs India's views on Balochistan but warns against proxy war". International Business Times. Retrieved 24 August 2016.
  69. ^ "Modi's Balochistan reference self-incriminating: Aziz". Express Tribune. 16 August 2016. Retrieved 19 August 2016.
  70. ^ "India raises atrocities in Balochistan; persecution of Hindus". The Economic Times. Geneva. 19 September 2016. Retrieved 20 September 2016.

External links[edit]

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