Inside Balochistan's Forgotten Conflict

Inside Balochistan’s Forgotten Conflict

Understanding Pakistan’s Repressive Policies & Human Rights Violations

Balochistan’s Forgotten Conflict

Pakistan’s Repressive Policies & Human Rights Violations

Balochistan’s Forgotten Conflict

Overview:

I. Balochistan: An Introduction 07

II. Human Rights Violations in Balochistan 09

III. Enforced Disappearances 14

IV. Political Assassinations and Targeted Killings 28

V. Mass Killings 38

VI. Abduction, Arrests & Detentions 39

VII. Displaced Baloch 45

VIII. Restrictions on Freedom of Expression 48

IX. Restrictions on Freedom of Association 53

X. Gender-Based Human Rights Violations 56

XI. The Neglected Region 59

XII. Development & Militarization 65

Balochistan’s Forgotten Conflict

Balochistan: An Introduction

Balochistan is divided between Pakistan, Iran and Afghanistan. It strategically bridges the Middle East and Southwest Asia to Central Asia and South Asia, and forms the closest oceanic frontage for the land-locked countries of Central Asia.

Balochistan is the largest among Pakistan's four provinces, comprising 43 per cent of land area. Around 13 million people inhabit Balochistan (both in Iran, Pakistan and Afghanistan). Despite being the richest province in terms of energy and mineral resources, Balochistan remains one of the most under- developed and impoverished regions. The Baloch therefore have long been demanding the national right to self- determination and control over their land and resources.

Although the Balochistan crisis pre- dates General Parvez Musharraf’s military regime, it still remains unaddressed. The denial of the fundamental right to self-determination has been a major cause of the ongoing conflict. Pakistani intelligence and security forces are using brute and suppressive policies to silence moderate Baloch nationalists. However, the military is providing comfortable support to pro-Taliban elements to reside, regroup, recruit and plan attacks against NATO forces in Afghanistan with which Balochistan shares a long border.

Balochistan’s Forgotten Conflict

Human Rights Violations

Balochistan’s Forgotten Conflict

Human Rights Violations in Balochistan:

Human rights situation in Balochistan continues to deteriorate. The Pakistani authorities continuously suppress, violate and subdue the Baloch people’s right to self-determination and development.

Grave human rights violations have been documented by reputable organizations during the on-going military operation (2004-2010) against moderate Baloch nationalists in Balochistan. These include indiscriminate and disproportionate use of force against civilians, target killings, displacement and disappearances of political activists and journalists.

Security forces in Balochistan have committed hundreds of unlawful killings 1. Islamabad is using brute force and intimidation, harassment, arrests; torture is a common practice by the military and intelligence agencies against dissident Baloch. Peaceful protestors have been suppressed, political representatives are being killed with frequency, activists are detained unlawfully, and freedom of expression and assembly is totally restricted.

Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) Balochistan office chief Zahoor Ahmed Shahwani said in a public meeting that “The Commission has evidence that several human rights violations are taking place here and prisoners jailed by the Anti-Terrorist Force are being treated shockingly” He further added: “The number of extra-judicial arrests

1 http://www.hrcp-web.org/images/publication/balochistan%2520report/pdf/balochistan_report.pdf

Balochistan’s Forgotten Conflict

(disappearances) of political activists is increasing, but the government is silent over such violation. Nothing is being done to dispense justice to the victims’ relatives 2.”

A climate of political repression:

Balochistan’s crisis is a political problem which could only be resolved through dialogue. By using brute force, the government of Pakistan has been trying to bulldoze provincial autonomy. Hundreds of Balochs are being detained without having undergone fair trials at court.

Arbitrary arrest, illegal detention and torture:

A fact-finding team of the HRCP, which visited Balochistan in December 2005 - January 2006, reported disappearances, torture, and other rights violations by the security forces.

Political leaders and party activists were often the targets. According to a report released on 12 December 2006 by the Balochistan National Party-Mengal (BNP-M), around 4,000 Baloch youths, mainly political activists were in custody of Pakistani intelligence agencies. They were allegedly tortured by electric shocks, cigarette and candle burns, blows to sensitive parts of the body and various other methods. The report further alleged that torture cells and illegal detention centres were run by the intelligence agencies. Although the government has reportedly admitted that a few Baloch have been detained, it has refused to give the exact figure of those detained and their whereabouts.

2 http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2006\05\29\story_29-5-2006_pg7_26

Balochistan’s Forgotten Conflict

Some of the political leaders and activists arrested include Sajid Tareen, acting chief of Balochistan National Party (BNP) who was detained by police under the Maintenance of Public Order Ordinance (MPO) from the Quetta Press Club premises on 1 December 2006; Gulam Mohammad Baloch, chairman of Baloch National Movement, and Sher Mohammad Baloch, a central leader of the Jamhoori Watan Party, who were arrested on 3 December 2006 by law enforcement agencies while trying to organize a public meeting near Juna Masjid, Shah Latif Bhitai Road to condemn the killing of Nawab Akbar Bugti; 26 members of the Balochistan National Party (Mengal), the Jamhoori Watan Party and the National Party who were arrested by police from their houses in Killi Qamrani suburb in Quetta on 3 March 2005 for opposing the construction of large projects in Balochistan; and 13 leaders and activists of the Pukhtunkhwa Milli Awami Party (PMAP) who were arrested by the University Town police under the Maintenance of Public Order Ordinance during strike observed by the Pakistan Oppressed Nations Movement in Peshawar on 31 March 2005.

The relatives of the nationalist leaders and political workers of Balochistan also suffered violations of their rights by security agencies.

Balochistan’s Forgotten Conflict

Enforced Disappearances

14 Human Rights Balochistan’s Forgotten Conflict

Enforced Disappearances:

The problem of forced disappearances has been significant in Pakistan. The forced disappearance of political opponents by State intelligence services continues in spite of the end to Musharaf’s military rule.

The state agencies’ alleged involvement in cases of disappearance drew attention to a new form of criminal assault on citizen rights to liberty and due protection of the law 3.

Since the Pakistan People’s Party’s (PPP) ascent to power and restoration of the much talked-about judiciary, no credible and serious efforts have been made to address the grave human rights violation inflicted upon the ethnic Baloch population by the state authorities. Pakistan’s notorious Inter- Services Intelligence (ISI) and Military Intelligence (MI) agencies are largely responsible for the slow motion genocide (killing and disappearance) of more than On Pakistan’s Independence Day, 14 August 2010, the family members 4,000 Baloch political activists since 2001. of missing persons protesting on Quetta streets. In the early period of the PPP’s government only few people resurfaced but during the same period, about 52 persons went missing. Since the elections in February 2008, not much has improved for the “disappeared” or for their families in Pakistan.

3 HRCP 2005 reporte- page 6, http://hrcp-web.org/HRCP%20AR%202005.pdf

Balochistan’s Forgotten Conflict

The country is beset by grave and widespread human rights violations by various State-agencies and institutions, notably by the notorious ISI and the military. Thousands of persons are missing as the result of forced disappearances committed all across the country, in particular in conflict- affected areas, such as Balochistan province.

On 28 July 2010, a division bench of the Balochistan High Court consisting of Chief Justice Qazi Faez Isa and Justice Muhammad Noor Miskanzai expressed serious concern over media reports of the killing of two young missing persons, 25 year old Ashfaq Ahmed Mullahzai and 30 year old Muhammad Farooq Mengal. “We are extremely perturbed with the deaths of Ashfaq Ahmed and Muhammad Farooq Mengal and the same are of great concern.”

On 6 August 2010, the bodies of previously disappeared Ghulam Qadir Marri and Bahar Khan Bangulzai from Killi Khali area of Brewery Road Quetta were found. Baig Muhammad Bangulzai, Bahar Khan’s father, had filed a petition in the Balochistan High Court saying that his son was whisked away by security personnel on 31 June 2010. Ghulam Qadir Marri, detained twice before but released after severe torture, was a teacher at the Girl’s Primary School, New Kahan, and had been arrested a month earlier.

Nasrullah Baloch, Chairman of Voice for Baloch Missing Persons, says, “We have received six dead bodies of missing persons within a short span of two weeks and the issue of missing persons is obtaining a new dimension as they are being killed.”

Balochistan’s Forgotten Conflict

Particularly Baloch nationalists are targeted. Tariq Baloch of Baloch Student Organization (BSO)-Azad was abducted from Quetta and his kidnappers left him unconscious in an uninhabited place in Wadh on 7 August 2010.

In February 2009, the HRCP has called upon the government to immediately set up a high- powered and independent commission to deal with cases of enforced disappearances in Balochistan, to release any people in unacknowledged custody of state agencies, and to help secure the release of the UNHCR official, Mr John Solecki 4. *Pakistan: In rest of three provinces (Punjab, Sindh, WFP) there have been only 200 cases of disappearances The case of the abduction of UNHCR official Mr Solecki by a militant Baloch group reported, however only in Balochistan demanding the release of a large number of Balochistan citizens assumes serious dimensions. province more than 4000 man, women and children have been reported missing. At the same time, the group, that claims to be holding Mr Solecki, issued a list of 867 involuntarily disappeared people, including over a hundred women. They further produced a separate list of 138 women, containing addresses and dates of ‘arrests’ for 76 of them.

Whatever one may think of the authenticity of these lists, it is obvious that the situation created by the claim of disappearance of so many women is far more serious than previously assumed. It is the first time the people, at least outside Balochistan, have learnt of the enforced disappearances of Baloch women. Even in case of the lists’ partial inaccuracies, their existence should make all politicians and civil society defenders of the oppressed “hang their heads in shame”, the HRCP stated.

In this situation, the government has to take action. Every effort must be made to counteract the Baloch people’s feeling of outrage. This should have been a top priority issue even if Mr Solecki had not been abducted, and it should

4 http://www.hrcp-web.org/showprel.asp?id=60

Balochistan’s Forgotten Conflict

remain so after his case is solved.

The federal government must immediately set up a high powered and independent commission with adequante Baloch representation to investigate the cases of all missing persons and to secure the release of all those who are found in unauthorized detention.

Amnesty International (AI), in its July 2008 finding report on Pakistan’s disappearances, calls on the new government for immdiate action to end this grave human rights violation. But AI, in its 25 February 2009 statements, stated that “Pakistan's new civilian government has failed to provide information about hundreds of cases of people believed to be held secretly by the government. Hundreds of people have been detained as part of the so-called war on terror, or in response to internal opposition, for instance in Baluchistan. Their failure comes despite several pledges to resolve the country's crisis of enforced disappearances. The Chief Minister of Baluchistan pledged in April 2008 that resolving the cases of enforced Baluch disappearances would be a priority” 5.

In 2006 the Supreme Court took up regular hearings of petitions filed on behalf of Pakistan's 'disappeared'. However, in November 2007, Pervez Musharraf imposed a state of emergency and deposed the majority of judges.

According to HRCP, the ethnic Baloch population is the prime victim of enforced disappearances in Pakistan. Practice of enforced disappearences has created unprecedented level of fear in the society and people are living in state of shock. This fear of abduction prevents the population from standing up for their legitimate basic human, political and economic rights.

5 http://www.amnesty.org/en/news-and-updates/news/pakistan-fails-come-clean-secret-detentions-20090225

Balochistan’s Forgotten Conflict

The nationalist forces of Sindh province claim that about 100 persons have disappeared, some of whom were later released following the intervention of the Supreme Court and the Sindh High Court.

In Balochistan province there are dozens of military detention centers, where people are detained and tortured to obtain confession statements about their alleged activities against the provincial army. These centers supposedly include the safe house of the ISI at Khuzdar Cantonment area. The Khuzdar district is located in the southeast of the province and all persons from the southern districts, who are detained or arrested by the state intelligence agencies, are reportedly brought and kept there.

OTE O UMBERS : Enforced disappearances are subject to a high level of secrecy. As a result, it is difficult to determine how many people the Pakistani government has subjected to enforced disappearance. Many people remain silent about their relatives’ disappearances for fear of repercussion – either affecting the “disappeared” or themselves. Their cases neither reach the courts nor attract media attention. 6

The exact number of missing persons and victims of forced disappearance are difficult to independently verify, notably due to problems regarding access and security considerations and the country’s high number of regions. However, different estimates by nationalist groups, fundamentalist religious organizations and different human rights organizations, consistently claim that as many as 8000 cases of missing persons have been reported since the start of the war on terror in different parts of the country. In Balochistan province alone, over 4000 persons are reportedly missing and disappearances continue to occur, frequently executed by paramilitary forces. Disappearences are also common in Pakistan-controlled Kashmir, Azad Kashmir, where state intelligence agencies allegedly arrest and detain persons who refuse to join the “Jihad” against Indian- administrated Kashmir.

6 Amnesty International July 2008 report on Pakistan Disappearances “Denying the Undeniable”

Balochistan’s Forgotten Conflict

There are hundreds of complaints concerning missing persons before the higher courts, including the Supreme Court of Pakistan, listing particular cases of persons who have allegedly been abducted by state intelligence agencies – notably the ISI and military intelligence agencies. They are thought to be held in torture cells for durations of many months, accused of treason including collaboration with Indian state intelligence agencies, or of involvement with banned militant groups. The Pakistani intelligence agencies effectively operate beyond the jurisdiction of the courts, which fail to inquire about the fate of missing persons. Suspections by the relatives of missing persons regarding the state intelligence agencies’ involvement are frequently confirmed in cases of reappearances. Despite testimonies by resurfaced people, reporting detainment in various torture cells run by state intelligence agencies, the courts have repeatedly failed to hold the perpetrators accountable.

Balochistan’s Forgotten Conflict

The HRCP’s January 2006 report 7 expressed deep concern over "widespread instances of 'disappearance' and of torture inflicted on people held in custody”. The report noted that the government of Islamabad acknowledged the 4,000 arrests in Balochistan. In its report, the HRCP recommended that “all places of irregular detention be immediately closed down”.

Rehman Malik, adviser to the Prime Minister of Government of Pakistan for Interior Affairs, who commented on the issue of missing people during his visit to Quetta on 27 August 2008, stated his possession of a list of 1,102 arrested people from Balochistan. Balochistan’s political parties, human rights organizations and families, however, claim that more than 6000 men, women and children have been missing since 2004 following the military offensives against Baloch political and human rights activists. "The Herald (a renowned magazine) reported that there had been more than 6,000 disappearances in Balochistan from the beginning of the hostilities until August 2006. In the town of Dera Bugti alone, there were an estimated 24 disappearances in 2005, although the figure may be higher, as "families are often hesitant to come forward because of threats by intelligence agencies warning them to remain silent."

7 http://www.hrcp-web.org/images/publication/balochistan%2520report/pdf/balochistan_report.pdf

Balochistan’s Forgotten Conflict

The Asian Legal Resource Centre (ALRC), its sister organization, the Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC), and a local organization, the Anjumane Ettehad e Marri, have produced a list of missing persons from the province of Balochistan, which details the cases of 872 missing persons from different districts including 81 women, 151 school girls and 3 infants. Amnesty International, in its December 2006 statement, 8 said that “despite growing anger in Pakistan at the practice of enforced disappearances, the government has still not acknowledged its responsibility for hundreds of people arbitrarily detained in secret locations, and reports of enforced disappearance continue to emerge”. The families of the missing persons have resorted to different types of protest. For instance, eight children of a missing tailor master named Ali Asghar Bungulzai, all under 20 years of age, started a hunger strike in the Baloch capital Quetta after their father’s disappearance for 371 days. They marched to the Governor's House and the Chief Minister's House but did not have any success.

Among those missing are people of different age groups and varied professions. Haji Jan Mohmmad Marri, 80, a Marri tribal elder of reportedly poor health, has been missing since July 6, 2005. His family petitioned the Balochistan High Court but are still waiting for consequences.

8 http://www.amnesty.org/en/news-and-updates/feature-stories/anger-grows-at-enforced-disappearances-in-pakistan-20071208

Balochistan’s Forgotten Conflict

As previously mentioned, thousands of disappearances in Balochistan province were allegedly carried out within the context of the internal conflict between the armed forces of the governmental and those of Baloch nationalists.

Of particular note is the disappearance of over 168 children and 148 women listed by the NGO Voice for Baloch Missing Persons (VBMP). These were reportedly arrested by the Pakistani intelligence agencies for interrogation regarding alleged links to Baloch separatists and militant groups. The Provincial Interior Ministry of Balochistan issued a list of 992 missing persons on 10 December 2009, as part of reconciliation efforts by the federal government. The Chief Minister of Balochistan province, Sardar Aslam Raisani, said on 13 January 2010, that there were 999 people officially missing in Balochistan, only four of whom have resurfaced to date.

Mr. Zakir Majeed, a student leader, was supposedly abducted by state intelligence agents on June 8, 2009 from Mastung, near Quetta. Majeed is the senior vice chairperson of the BSO-Azad. The National Crisis Management Cell (NCMC) claimed to have effectuated his subsequent release. The government of Balochistan officially confirmed his release dated back to 22 January 2010, but his family are still waiting for him to return home.

Mr. Murad Khan Marri resurfaced after a forced disappearance for eight months, effectuated by the Pakistan Frontier Corp (FC). The FC claim they arrested Mr. Marri on 27 March 2010, although it is believed he was in fact abducted in June 2009. His subsequent release was supposedly motivated by the interest in the Rs. 3 Million (USD 36,585) reward for his safe return. The government of Balochistan, however, refused to pay the reward and a wrangle ensued between the two.

Munir Mengal, managing director of a to-be-launched Balochi channel, Baloch Voice, was intercepted at Karachi airport on 4 April 2006, on his return to Pakistan from Bahrain. His alleged crime was to have established a channel for the promotion of Baloch culture.

In its report, the HRCP noted that among the most disturbing accounts of disappearances was that of 18 labour leaders of Pakistan Petroleum Limited (PPL) on 9 December 2005 from Karachi.

Balochistan’s Forgotten Conflict

Articles 1 to 4 of the Charter of the United Nations, clearly said that “Any act of enforced disappearance is an offence to human dignity and is a violation of Human Rights and fundamental freedoms as proclaimed in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

The AHRC, in a report issued on 5 June 2008, documented the fact that the Pakistani military is running at least 52 torture and detention centers throughout the country, where people are detained incommunicado for several months and tortured severely, leading to deaths or disappearances. Every military cantonment area has at least one torture cell which is directly run by the state intelligence agencies. The new government of Mr. Asif Zardari, the president of Pakistan, has not initiated any serious effort to secure the release of the missing persons, who are thought to be kept in military torture cells.

Balochistan’s Forgotten Conflict

Ms. Zarina Marri, a 23 year old schoolteacher from the Government Middle School in Kahan, Balochistan province, was arrested in late 2005, and has been held incommunicado in an army torture cell in Karachi, the capital of Sindh province. Unofficial reports have emerged about her repeated sexual abuse by military officers and her use as a sex slave, in order to induce arrested nationalist activists to sign confessions drafted by Islamabad.

Ms. Marri was among 429 men, women and children who migrated from their homes in Kahan, Kolu district, Balochistan province, after the October 2005 Pakistani military and air force bombardments. It was believed that many men, women and children were killed in that fighting, and Ms. Marri was then arrested and detained by the State.

The current whereabouts of the young woman are not known. It has been asserted that female activists fighting for greater autonomy of Balochistan continue to get arrested by the state agencies and forced into sex slavery as part of their custody.

Balochistan’s Forgotten Conflict

The government of Pakistan has still not initiated investigations regarding these allegations of sex slavery against the Pakistani military or regarding the wider problem of forced disappearances.

Recommendations:

The government is failing to take appropriate actions concerning the many cases of disappearance across the country, even in cases of high-profile persons, including Dr. Lutfullal Kakakhel, a renowned scientist and university vice chancellor, who was abducted on 6 November 2009, and who remains missing.

The ALRC urges the government of Pakistan to begin taking all necessary measures to guarantee the right to truth to the relatives and representatives concerning the fate of all missing persons. Beyond this, the government, judiciary and judicial commission on disappearances need to ensure that justice is restored in these cases of grave human rights violations, by effectuating effective, impartial investigations and prosecutions; appropriate punishment of those responsible; and adequate reparation to the victims and/or their families. The government of Pakistan can provide a clear signal of its intention to take necessary action concerning this widespread problem by ratifying the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance, by criminalizing enforced disappearances in its domestic legislation and by fully implementing the consequent laws. The government of Pakistan is also urged to cooperate with the United Nations Human Rights Council and its expert mechanisms, notably by issuing a standing invitation to the Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances to conduct a country visit.

The HRCP has called upon the government to immediately set up an independent commission to deal with the cases of enforced disappearances in Balochistan 9.

9 http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2009\02\21\story_21-2-2009_pg7_28

Balochistan’s Forgotten Conflict

The United Nation Human Rights Council must intervene immediately and effectively to ensure that the government of Pakistan:

1- Constitutes a high-level judicial commission with wide-ranging powers to investigate the cases of disappearances throughout Pakistan. All allegations of arbitrary and/or incommunicado detention, sex slavery, torture, extra-judicial killings and/or disappearances must be investigated without delay by an independent and well-resourced body, and all persons found responsible should be tried, with adequate reparation to the victims and/or their families 2- Ensures the immediate release of all disappeared persons. 3- Ensures access to all places of military detention, and ISLAMABAD, PAKISTA APRIL 02: yla, age 5, attends a protest with closes the minimum of 52 illegal torture cells which are family members of alleged victims of forced disappearances in front of the thought to be operating . Pakistani Supreme Court, 2 April 2007, in Islamabad, Pakistan. The group was protesting against forced disappearances by Pakistani intelligence agencies, and against the dismissal of the Chief Justice, Iftikhar Mohammed Chaudhry, on 9 March 2007. Chaudhry had ruled against the government in a key case concerning forced disappearances and man y Pakistanis speculate that the verdict lay at the root of his dismissal my President Pervez Musharraf. (Photo by John Moore/Getty Images)

Balochistan’s Forgotten Conflict

Political Assassinatio ns &

Targeted Killings

Balochistan’s Forgotten Conflict

Political Assassinations and Target Killings:

Pakistan has a history of committing crimes against humanity. Millions of innocent unarmed Bengali man and women, for example, were killed in the past. The Pakistani authorities are currently replicating these crimes in the cases of innocent and unarmed Baloch people, who peacfully demand equal rights and freedom.

In East Pakistan, these crimes began with Operation Searchlight , a planned military operation initiated by the Pakistan Army on 25 March 1971 to undermine the Bengali nationalist movement. It took control of the major cities on 26 March and then eliminated all opposition, political or military, within one month. Prior to the operation, all foreign journalists were systematically deported from Bangladesh. Operation Searchlight’s main phase ended with the fall of the last major Bengali town in mid-May 1971.

Pakistan’s persistent policy to physically eliminate moderate Baloch political representatives is alarming. The unrelenting killing of Baloch political leaders demonstrates the State’s refusal to use logic arguments and political means in response to Baloch grievances.

Balochistan’s Forgotten Conflict

Over the last five years (2005-2010) the conflict has resulted in more than seven thousand deaths of innocent civilians and in those of more than a dozen top Baloch leaders, who were killed systematically by the state authorities.

On 14 July 2010, a prominent Baloch leader and Central Secretary-General of the Balochistan National Party (BNP) and former senator Habib Jalib Baloch was shot dead in Quetta. Jalib had previously escaped a similar assassination attempt when unidentified men had opened fire on a BNP rally in Quetta. Moscow-educated Jalib was a prominent Baloch intellectual and a former chairman of the Baloch Students Organization (BSO).

On 12 July 2010, Mula Bakhsh Dashti, a central leader of the National Party and former district Nazim of Turbat, was shot dead in Turbat. Police officials reported that Mr Dashti was on his way home when armed men on a motorcycle opened fire, causing serious injuries to Mr Dashti and his driver.

On 20 July 2010, Haji Liaquat Ali Mengal, a leader of the Balochistan National Party, was shot dead near his house in Kalat. The killing of a second BNP leader in a week — Habib Jalib Baloch had been gunned down on 14 July — sparked protests in the provincial capital and activists of the party held a demonstration near the press club.

Balochistan’s Forgotten Conflict

Addressing the protesters, BNP-M leaders Agha Hasan Baloch, Akhtar Hussain Lango and Ghulam Nabi Marri said the killings would fail to force the party leadership to abandon their struggle against ‘usurpers’. They further stated the deaths of important leaders were big losses but that no nation could achieve justice without making sacrifices.

The leaders appealed to party workers and sympathizers to remain peaceful and said that anti-Baloch forces were employing the means of provocation to fuel violence and thereby weaken their organization.

On 9 July 2010, unidentified gunmen shot and severely injured Vice-Chairman of the BSO, Mr. Rashid Baloch, in Khuzdar. On his way to the hospital, armed assailants riding motorbikes ambushed him a second time. He obtained multiple bullet wounds and only arrived in Divisional Headquarters Hospital through the fortunate help of passers-by.

Balochistan’s Forgotten Conflict

A mindset to indiscriminate killings:

On 21 August 2009, a high-ranking Pakistani police official announced the beginning of indiscriminate killings in a press conference in Balochistan’s capital city Quetta.

Mr. Ghulam Shabbir Shiekh, the deputy police inspector of the Naseerabad range, warned that the police would kill 40 local persons in revenge for the alleged abduction and murder of 20 policemen in July and August 2009 by militant activists 10 . No targets were specified, and Mr. Shiekh further threatened that any bullet fired at the police would be retaliated with 100 bullets indiscriminately fired back. If any rocket was fired at police stations, the police would fire 10 rockets back. Mr. Shiekh’s announcement was the most recent attempt by Pakistani state agencies to spread fear among Baloch nationalists, and it clearly exemplifies the police’s mindset as one favourable to violent action enacted indiscriminately and with impunity.

10 http://therearenosunglasses.wordpress.com/2010/05/09/quetta-policeman-calls-for-tit-for-tat-killings-against-sectarian-killers/

Balochistan’s Forgotten Conflict

In January 2009, journalists received threats from the Director of the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) for writing editorials demanding investigations into the army’s alleged running of torture cells and detainment of female prisoners. The Director, also holding the rank of the Major General, threatened to withhold official advertisements and payments from public newspapers should they continue their “malicious” campaigns against the army. When television channels broadcast these threats publicly, the Federal Minister for Information simply denied that the ISPR Director had ever made any such announcements.

These developments reflect the situation of serious human rights abuse in Balochistan, which continues to deteriorate despite the government’s promise to reinstate law and order. After the removal of General Musharraf, the newly elected government of Asif Zardari announced the halt of military operations in Balochistan in 2008. Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani and government parties apologized before the parliament for previous military operations in the region.

On 7 November 2009, a Baloch human rights and social activist was killed in Karachi. Mr. Nisar Baloch was associated with several NGOs as renowned social worker, and was a school teacher by profession.

Apart from his involvement in educational activities, Mr. Baloch played a vital role in serving the old settlers of Karachi. At the time, he was campaigning against the land mafia for occupying the Tran-Lyari Park (Gutter Baghicha) land in Site Town. He had launched several related protest events under the banner of the Gutter Baghicha Bachao Tehreek, Shehri-Citizens for a Better Environment and the Karachi NGOs Alliance. Balochistan ational Party activists protesting in front of Karachi press club against the killing of Zaid Baloch, a prominent political activist 33

Balochistan’s Forgotten Conflict

In his struggle to protect land from encroachers, Mr. Baloch had been imprisoned on several occasions; numerous charges were registered against him at various police stations, mainly accusing him of inciting violence and damaging public property.

On 4 April 2009, Mr. Ghulam Mohammed Baloch, President of Baloch National Movement, was abducted along with two colleagues. Their dead bodies were recovered on 9 April 2009, leading to riots all across Balochistan. Due to his political activities, Mr. Baloch had been detained several times in the past as part of Pakistani intelligence activities. He had for example played an important role in securing the release of abducted American UNHCR official John Solecki just days before his death.

The Pakistani military further threatened several journalists who recently wrote about the fate of Baloch women, including Zarina Marri, who had gone missing. Jan Muhammad Dashti, a Baloch newspaper editor and prominent Baloch writer, was seriously injured in a targeted killing attempt on 23 February 2009.

The international body for journalist Reporters Without Borders (RSF) was outraged by the attack. “The current level of violence against Baloch journalists and news media is unacceptable,” RSF said. “This shooting attack on a newspaper owner known for defending Baloch rights highlights the government’s inability to protect journalists. We call for an investigation and the arrest of those responsible for the attack.” 11

Known for supporting Baloch nationalism and opposing the province’s Islamisation, Dashti had been dismissed as a civil servant by General Pervez Musharraf in 2000 but was subsequently reinstated by a court. The provincial government put him in charge of managing the province’s mines in 2008.

11 http://www.rsf.org/article.php3?id_article=30388

Balochistan’s Forgotten Conflict

He had launched the newspaper Asaap in 2001 to defend Baloch rights. It achieved high popularity despite having been subject to a federal government advertising boycott for the past five years.

Zahid Baloch, Balochistan National Party (BNP) Karachi President, was killed by two unidentified armed men riding a bike on 1 November 2008. President Baloch was a social worker and the Veteran Baloch leader, awab Akbar Khan Bugti, chairman of an NGO, killed by Pakistani Military on 26 August 2006. the Baloch Tibet Foundation.

The continued killings of Baloch political leaders powerfully demonstrate the government’s hostility towards Baloch nationalism and sentiments. Instead of using rational arguments and civilized responses to Baloch grievances, the state has pursued a strategy of eliminating politically conscious Baloch leaders and activists.

On August 26, 2006, indiscriminate and disproportionate use of force by the military resulted in the killing of hundreds of civilians including 75 year old Baloch leader, Nawab Mohammed Akbar Khan Bugti in Balochistan 12 . In

12 http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/5289880.stm

Balochistan’s Forgotten Conflict

November 2007, another Baloch leader, Balach Marri, was killed by the Pakistani forces in Balochistan. BNP Chief Sardar Akhter Mengal was detained illegally and kept in an iron cage for one and half year 13 .

The establishment uses brutal methods to create fear and insecurity among the political activists and intellectuals; it supports criminal gangs and religious extremists against Baloch nationalists.

Only in January 2009, forty five prominent people have been killed including the party head of the Hazara Community, a moderate Baloch religious leader, bank manager and business man. 14

On 17 September 2007, the trussed-up body of a leader belonging to the Baloch Republican Party was found in Lea Market. Police said the body, stuffed in a gunny bag and dumped near the Lea Market bus terminal, was spotted by some pedestrians in the early morning hours. Subsequently, the police were informed, who removed the body to the Civil Hospital for a post-mortem examination.

At the hospital, the victim was identified as Saleem Afshani, a local leader of the BRP. Hospital sources said the body bore many torture marks. 15

13 http://www.dawn.com/weekly/cowas/20070114.htm

14 http://www.bbc.co.uk/urdu/pakistan/story/2009/02/090227_baluch_target_killings.shtml 15 http://www.dawn.com/2008/09/18/local13.htm

Balochistan’s Forgotten Conflict

Mass Killings

Balochistan’s Forgotten Conflict

Mass Killings :

Pakistan’s military and paramilitary troops, including the Air Force, have been using Western-supplied military hardware against unarmed civilians in Balochistan. Indiscriminate and disproportionate use of force has resulted in hundreds of unreported killings of Baloch civilians in remote parts of Balochistan.

In a media statement, the Pakistani Air Force chief Tanwir Mahmood Ahmed confirmed that military jets have been used against tribal rebels and militants in Balochistan province. He further announced that the Air Force would continue to be used whenever and wherever the government desired. Baloch leaders reported that over the past few months civilians were targeted by the Air Force, but the government always rejected such claims.

Central spokesman of the BRP, Mr. Sher Mohammad Bugti, has strongly condemned the killing of innocent women and children in Dera Bugti, by Pakistan air and ground forces. He appealed to the United Nations and other international organizations to take notice of the human rights violations in Balochistan.

He said that the government’s reform packages and attempts of reconciliations were nothing but drama and empty slogans. According to Mr. Bugti, the government force has been carrying out barbaric acts in Sui, Sori, Azmerdan, Khajori and surrounding areas. “These peoples’ only fault is being Baloch.” said Mr. Bugti. In the Neelagh region, too, the Pakistani security forces killed four persons including women. Another seven innocent people including women and children were killed close to Punjab’s bordering area of Nithal. These families were moving to safer places, where they were planning to work hard in order to support their children.

Balochistan’s Forgotten Conflict

The AHRC has obtained information that military officers arrested four people on 5 April 2008. After refusing to confess, they were put into hot coal tar. There of them died immediately, whilst the fourth died in custody in the Zainkoh area of the Dera Bugti district. This was yet another tragic consequence of military operations contrary to the prime minister's public apology and decision not to take military action in the Balochistan province 16 . During 2008, security forces killed around 96 persons only in month of July in Dera Bugti district.

Large numbers of civilian mass killings by the troops were reported from restricted and military-controlled districts of Dera Bugti, Kolu, Gwadar, Khuzdar, Awaran, Nushki and Bolan of Balochistan province.

On 17 March 2005, the Pakistan paramilitary troops (Frontier Corps) started indiscriminate bombing and firing in the district of Dera Bugti, Balochistan, which resulted in the killing of more then seventy innocent civilians of the Hindu community. 17 The target was Baloch leader Nawab Akbar Bugti who was sitting in his guestroom with one guest. His one bodyguard died on the spot.

As a result of the attack, a total of 19 children died. Their names were documented on the List of Martyred Persons of Hindu Minorities on 17 March 2005 at Dera Bugti:

Child’s name, parentage, age 1 Atti Divi D/O Bacha Mal, 1.5 years 2 Quvita Devi D/O Dewan Chand, 3 years 3 Sarkasha Devi D/O Saroon Kumar, 2.5 years 4 Amar Devi D/O Rajesh Kumar, 1.5 years

16 Asían Human Rights Comisión http://www.ahrchk.net/ua/mainfile.php/2008/2980/ 17 http://www.dawn.com/2005/03/18/top8.htm

Balochistan’s Forgotten Conflict

5 Deepak Kumar S/O Narenjan Kumar, 1.5 years 6 Vicky Kumar S/O Tara Kumar, 1.5 years 7 Ajeet Kumar S/O Vicky Kumar, 2 years 8 Washal S/O Manoher Lal, 5.5 years 9 Raveet S/O Manoher Lal, 2.5 years 10 Rekha Devi D/O Rukan Chand, 5 years 11 Ameer Chand S/O Rukan Chand, 2 Years 12 Sant Kumar S/O Nand Lal, 5 Years 13 Sangeeta Davi D/O Nand Lal, 3 Years 14 Narmeeta Devi D/O Moti Lal, 7 Years 15 Vikram S/O Sant lal, 9 Years 16 Barkha Devi D/O Luchhman Singh, 3 Years 17 Ramesh Kumar S/O Preetam Kumar, 1 Year 18 Ravi Kumar S/O Ramesh Lal, 5 Years 19 Ameet kumar S/O Dewan Chand, 16 Years

The casualties also included women whose names were as follows:

1 Zarka Devi W/O Manoher Lal Women and children protesting against killings in Dera Bugti, Balochiostan 2 Sharmeela Deve W/O Rukan Chand 3 Mai Conish Devi W/O Moti Lal

Balochistan’s Forgotten Conflict

Furthermore, 11 innocent men lost their lives:

1 Mukhi Mohan Mal S/O Bharma Mals 2 Dewan Chand S/O Tara Chand 3 Saroom Kumar S/O Deyal Dass 4 Laloo Mal S/O Deyal Dass 5 Ram Lal S/O Chander Lal 6 Rajesh Kumar S/O Chander Lal 7 Narjen Kumar S/O Ranjhan Dass 8 Nand Lal S/O Sobha Singh 9 Resha Dass S/O Nand Lal 10 Bacha Mal S/O Mokhi Mohan Mal 11 Suresh Kumar S/O Santu

Many other people were injured but the law enforcement officials did not allow patients to hospitals located in other towns. The names of the injured are: Members of Bugti Tribe and political activists protesting against killings and military operation in Men: front of Karachi press club. 1 Ashok Kumar S/O Tara Chand 2 Ghulshan Kumar S/O Sunder Lal 3 Jaspal S/O sunder Lal 4 Santosh Kumar S/O Moti Lal 5 Govind Ram S/O Rukan Chand 6 Ramesh Kumar S/O Moti Lal 7 Naresh S/O Tara Chand 8 Mankoo S/O Deyal Dass

Balochistan’s Forgotten Conflict

9 Krin Kumar S/O Lal Chand 10 Pond Kumar S/O Deyal Dass 11 Bhagwan Dass S/O Meechal Ram 12 Sham Lal S/O Nama Mal 13 Bhagoo Mal S/O Chon Lal 14 Rohan Kumar S/O Moti Lal 15 Vicky S/O Doulat ram 16 Navend lal S/O Mohan Ram 17 Darshan Kumar S/O Bhagwan Dass 18 Jewat Lal S/O Lal Chand 19 Sanjeet S/O Anand Lal

Women: 1 Atti Devi W/O Chander Lal 2 Anjna Devi W/O Rajinder Kumar 3 Aasha Deve W/O Dewan Chand 4 Daughter of Chander Lal 5 Mai Laila W/O Santoo Mal

During this operation, which took place very suddenly, many innocent tribal men were also killed by the bullets of the FC.

1 Yar M. Karmanzai S/O Hazar Khan 2 Gulzar S/O Raitag Dodazai 3 Shah Jamal alias Tota S/O Molha Moondrani 4 Ali Mohammad S/O Eido Karmanzais 5 Murad Bakhsh S/O Moula Bakhsh Karmanzai 6 Murid S/O Zarak Kmaranzai Saleem Ashani, a Baloch activist, on 17 September 7 Sharif S/O Shahwano Phoonja 2007; the trussedup body of a leader of the Baloch Republican Party was found in Karachi after he had been abducted by the security forces. 43

Balochistan’s Forgotten Conflict

8 Ghouso Ramezai S/O Jango 9 Amin Mandwani S/O Dina Moondwani 10 Janga S/O Mast Ali Chandrazai 11 Wali Dad Marhata 12 Malook Masoori S/O Daryan 13 Ghulam Ali Ranazai S/O Ramoo 14 Udo Sandrani S/O Tangi 15 Nasiban S/O Namal Kamanzai 16 Raman Nothani 17 Gul Bahar Nothani 18 Mohammad Din Joz 19 Ilmuddin Shambani 20 Yar Khan Sianzai 21 Wushdal Dom 22 Amiruddin Dangi 23 Taj Kohli 24 Kool Mir 25 Wasyak Pirbur 26 Nawabuddin Hamzani 27 Gohram Marhata 28 Bari Pahi S/O Raman

To hide this mass killing of innocent people, the roads of the Dera Bugti were blocked by the government officials, and nobody was allowed to visit the area. Even the media, lawyers, and social workers were not permitted to enter. Even the people who were going to the Fathia prayer for the souls of the innocent people were stopped.

Balochistan’s Forgotten Conflict

Abductions, Arrests and Detentions

Balochistan’s Forgotten Conflict

Abductions, Arrests and Detentions:

Mass arrests of political and human rights activists by the police and security forces continue unabated. The police frequently harass and carry out mass arrests in Baloch populated areas. Countless cases have been witnessed and reported in newspapers. In remote areas, however, the majority of cases remain unreported. The Pakistani constitution and international law oppose any mass harassment and arrests of innocent citizens. In Pakistan, however, it is a known practice to suppress dissent.

As already noted, on 28 July 2010, Chief Justice Qazi Faez Isa and Justice Muhammad Noor Miskanzai declared themselves “extremely perturbed with the deaths of Ashfaq Ahmed and Muhammad Farooq Mengal and the same are of great concern” and the reports carried in the Pakistani media.

According to the Quetta police chief Suleman Sayed, 450 people were arrested in Quetta on 28 August 2006. Security forces tried to crack down on violence, which spread after the killing of Baloch nationalist leaders by the military. 18

On 27 November 2006 more than 400 activists were arrested within 72 hours prior to President Musharaf’s visit to Quetta. 19

18 http://www.arabnews.com/?page=4§ion=0&article=78518&d=28&m=8&y=2006 19 http://www.ahrchk.net/ua/mainfile.php/2006/2097/

Balochistan’s Forgotten Conflict

A year and a day later, on 28 November 2007 the police arrested 150 Baloch youths from different areas of the provincial capital and humiliated people during raids on their homes. 20

Torture :

Widespread torture by the state security agencies against innocent political and human rights activists is a common practice in Balochistan. According to the HRCP, torture is “committed with impunity”.

Article 10 of Pakistan’s Constitution guarantees that “No person who is arrested shall be detained in custody without being informed, as soon as may be, of the grounds for such arrest, nor shall they be denied the right to consult and be defended by a legal practitioner of their choice. Every person who is arres-ted and detained in custody shall be presented before a magistrate within a period of twenty-four hours of such arrest...” 21

Despite national and international instruments, Baloch political activists have been victim of state torture. Seven members of the BSO were arrested during the night of 24 March and the early morning of 25 March 2004 from Karachi after attending a peaceful protest rally against the army operations in Balochistan. They were kept in an illegal confinement and tortured by intelligence agencies for more than seven months.22

Sattar Baloch, a school teacher, was arrested and severely tortured. When released in 2010, he was paralyzed and unable to walk. Local HRCP representatives interviewed him and released a videotape of the tortures he had to endure. 23

20 http://www.dawn.com/2007/11/29/nat31.htm 21 Constitution of Pakistan Article 10(1) and (2) 22 HRCP detail reporte on disappearances and tortures in Balochistan , http://www.hrcp-web.org/images/publication/balochistan%2520report/pdf/balochistan_report.pdf 23 Sattar Baloch video recorded by an HRCP activist, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0OrRI7ZIkZs&feature=related

Balochistan’s Forgotten Conflict

Displaced Baloch

Balochistan’s Forgotten Conflict

Balochistan Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs):

Due to indiscriminate and continuous air and ground offensives by the Pakistan Air Force 24 and military, hundreds of thousands of people were displaced from the districts of Dera Bugti and Kolu. 25 Recent floods in June- August 2010 in conflict-stricken districts have increased the vulnerability of tens of thousands of poor families who were forced to leave their home towns.

The plight of displaced Baloch:

Pakistan's government estimates over one million people are on the move in Sindh and Balochistan in search of safety. The waters of the river Sindh keep on rising, causing some of the worst flash floods the region has ever seen.

According to the United Nations 2006 report, there were 84,000 Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) in Balochistan of which 26,000 were women and 33,000 were children as of December 2006. According to the statistics of the HRCP, about 50,000 people have fled their villages and settlements from Dera Bugti as of July 2006. Government officials have not provided relief due to claims that the refugees from Dera Bugti were not in immediate need.

24 http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/5188830.stm 25 http://www.internal-displacement.org/8025708F004CE90B/%28httpCountries%29/D927619B0A8659BB802570A7004BDA56?OpenDocument

Balochistan’s Forgotten Conflict

Because of the total blockade of the Marri and Bugti areas by the Pakistani army, approximately 8,000 to 10,000 died due to malnourishment, lack of shelter and disease. They had reportedly been living under deplorable conditions in makeshift camps with no access to potable water, food, and other basic necessities. No medicine or medical instruments, doctors, electricity or even fuel to run water pumps were provided to these areas. The government allegedly offered goats to those who agreed to return to their damaged homes and leave the overcrowded camps. Unfortunately the plight of the displaced has been overshadowed by the conflict in the region, which was aggravated by the killing of Baloch chief Akbar Bugti. The government of Pakistan failed to respond the demands for help by the displaced population due to its occupation with the operation against the tribal militias. It exacerbated the humanitarian crisis by not even recognizing the presence of IDPs in the province. When the government finally asked for the intervention of the United Nations to avert the humanitarian crisis on 21 December 2006, it was already too late.

The situation was further aggravated as the government prevented journalists and aid groups to reach the affected areas.Even the assistance sought from the UN was allegedly conditional as only three districts of Naseerabad, Jaffarabad and Quetta, which housed the majority of the IDPs, were given permission.

The other districts, Sibi and Bolan, were not considered. Furthermore, the UN was asked to carry out its relief operation through health facilities in the districts and under the supervision of local authorities. The aid workers, who had visited the area earlier, reported that military trucks rounded up displaced people and hid them before their visits.

There have been reports of severe malnutrition crises among the IDPs. UNICEF in its internal assessment report on nutritional status of women and children among the IDPs revealed that 28% of the children under the age of five were ‘acutely

Balochistan’s Forgotten Conflict

undernourished'. Out of those, six per cent were in the state of ‘severely acute malnutrition', and eighty percent of the deaths among the IDPs were children under the age of five. Six percent of the children were so underfed that they would die without immediate medical attention.

In December 2006, the United Nations approved a $1 million humanitarian relief package for six months to address this crisis. The package included the immediate establishment of 57 supplementary feeding centers and three therapeutic feeding centers in the three districts, provision of food, medicine and special nutrition for children, blankets, water purification and sanitation equipment, and technical assistance. However, the relief package was insufficient considering the large presence of IDPs.

Besides, development projects in the Gwadar area could also result in the displacement of about 70,000 people. Given that those who have A displaced Baloch family – Security forces banned all aid been displaced by previous development projects organization to provide shelter and relief to the displaced population. like those in Mangla Dam and Tarbela Dam, have not been rehabilitated, it is highly unlikely that any future IDPs will be adequately rehabilitated.

Balochistan’s Forgotten Conflict

According to international law it is the government’s obligation to take care of the humanitarian needs of the region’s displaced population, but security forces denied any access to local and foreign agencies including UN humanitarian aid agencies to assist the homeless Baloch people. 26

Due to constant shelling and bombing, people are forced to live in small groups and moved to the neighboring province of Sindh.

UN agency assessments also revealed that 80 percent of the hundreds of deaths among the IDP’s were those of children under the age of five. The report concluded that, according to World Health Organization (WHO) standards, the "situation is critical.” The government of Pakistan has failed to respond adequately to this humanitarian crisis. People are willing to move back to their houses, but there is no standard policy or system in place to encourage, assist or rehabilitate victims of military operations.

26 http://www.csmonitor.com/2006/1221/p01s04-wosc.html

Balochistan’s Forgotten Conflict

Restrictions on Freedom of Expression

Balochistan’s Forgotten Conflict

Freedom of Expression:

Freedom of expression is guaranteed in domestic and international charters but denied in Balochistan. Although signatory to international covenants, domestic laws and guarantees, the government of Pakistan has nevertheless blocked almost all of Balochistan’s 34 websites, 27 which contain social, cultural and political information about Baloch people and their region. Pakistan telecommunication authorities also banned the websites of elected political representatives of Balochistan without any justification. 28

The Pakistani military has threatened several journalists who wrote about the fate of Baloch women, including Zarina Marri, recently gone missing. Jan Muhammad Dashti, a Baloch newspaper editor and prominent Baloch writer, was seriously injured in a targeted killing attempt on 23 February 2009. Two Baloch journalists have been killed and several news media have been attacked in Quetta since the start of 2008.

The international body for journalists, Reporters Without Borders, was outraged by the attack: “The current level of violence against Baloch journalists and news media is unacceptable…This shooting attack on a newspaper owner known for defending Baloch rights highlights Baloch childre n protesting against ban on Baloch website and the government’s inability to protect journalists. We call for an investigation arrests of Baloch writersQuetta, Balochistan and the arrest of those responsible for the attack.” 29

27 http://www.rsf.org/article.php3?id_article=18539 28 http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2006%255C07%255C11%255Cstory_11-7-2006_pg7_10 29 http://www.rsf.org/article.php3?id_article=30388

Balochistan’s Forgotten Conflict

A Baloch journalist, Munir Mengal, disappeared for one and a half years because of his efforts to establish a Baloch language TV channel in Pakistan. 30 Mubarak Qazi, a renowned Balochi poet, was detained for several months for writing a national poem in the Baloch language. 31 The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) in its May 2007 news report also mentioned the details of hundreds of missing people including the Baloch short story writer Hanif Sharif, who disappeared for two years. 32 Samiullah Baloch, brother of the senior Baloch politician Senator Sanaullah Baloch, disappeared because of his brother’s human rights campaign and meeting with senior OHCHR officials in Geneva in July 2006. 33

Numerous other cases were documented by Amnesty International, the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan and the Asian Human Rights Commission of Hong Kong, where journalists, human rights activists, opposition party members and peaceful demonstrators faced arrest, arbitrary detention, abduction, ill-treatment and other forms of human rights abuse. There are systematic restrictions on independent local and foreign broadcast media to visit Balochistan and parts of regions that are badly affected by military operations.

30 http://www.amnesty.org/en/report/info/ASA33/011/2006 31 http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2007%255C01%255C21%255Cstory_21-1-2007_pg7_10 32 http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=72078 33 http://www.amnestyusa.org/urgent/nl0107.pdf

Balochistan’s Forgotten Conflict

Restriction on

Freedom of Association 56

Balochistan’s Forgotten Conflict

Freedom of Association:

In Balochistan, Baloch nationalists are not allowed to hold rallies and processions, 34 but pro-Taliban groups, who receive support from state authorities, are permitted to freely campaign and promote fundamentalist ideas.

The Balochistan National Party’s (BNP) peaceful long march against the ongoing military operations, establishment of military cantonments, killings and the humanitarian crisis was disrupted by the authorities. 35 Police and military personnel arrested more than 400 activists within 72 hours on 27 November 2006. 36 Over the last three years, moderate Baloch nationalist parties have been barred from freedom of assembly and association. Political activists have been tortured and jailed for political mass mobilization to promote their rights.

Taliban and AlQaeda supporters are allowed to run religious schools, training camps, and protest rallies. Baloch nationalists, however, are restricted from holding peaceful political processions. 34 http://www.dawn.com/2007/06/19/top17.htm 35 http://www.dawn.com/2006/10/30/nat1.htm 36 http://www.ahrchk.net/ua/mainfile.php/2006/2097/

Balochistan’s Forgotten Conflict

Gender -Based Human

Rights Violations

Balochistan’s Forgotten Conflict

Genderbased Human Rights Violations:

The conflict in Balochistan has shattered the lives of women and children; 58 percent of those displaced are women and 26 percent are children. Women have been reported missing and arbitrarily detained. Hundreds of women protest and are on hunger strikes in Quetta and Karachi to effectuate the release and recovery of their love ones. 37

Ms. Zarina Marri, a 23-year-old schoolteacher from the Government Middle School at Kahan, in Balochistan province, was arrested in late 2005, and has been held incommunicado in an army torture cell in Karachi, the capital of Sindh province. She has allegedly endured repeated sexual abuse by military officers and is being used as a sex slave to induce arrested nationalist activists to sign state-concocted confessions.

The current whereabouts of the young woman are not known. It has been asserted that women who are campaigning for the greater autonomy of Balochistan are being arrested by the state agencies and forced into sex slavery during their custody.

37 http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2007%5C07%5C31%5Cstory_31-7-2007_pg7_24

Balochistan’s Forgotten Conflict

The Neglected Region

Balochistan’s Forgotten Conflict

Social and Economic Discrimination:

The resource-rich province today is marked by a high rate of poverty, illiteracy, unemployment, and infant and maternal mortality. In addition to the years of military operations, ill-conceived and discriminatory policies and poor governance have resulted in extreme underdevelopment of the region.

Islamabad’s neglectful policies have deteriorated the lives of a helpless population. Meaningful development can only occur if there is political empowerment, local participation, adequate healthcare, sufficient educational and vocational opportunities, reasonable income levels, and peace in the region. However, the elite in Islamabad seems to support a controlled model of development which is in conflict with the globally accepted idea of participatory development.

The establishment’s development plans with regard to Balochistan emphasizes troop deployments, military and paramilitary cantonments check posts and policing to suppress politically active Baloch people.

The insufficiency of Islamabad’s policies for development is obvious. The Human Development Index (HDI) is the best-known measure of development and has three basic dimensions: (i) a long healthy life, as measured by life expectancy at birth; (ii) knowledge, as measured by the adult literacy rate; and (iii) a decent standard of living, as measured by GDP per capita.

According to the Pakistan National Human Development Report 2003, conducted for the first time by the UN Development Programme (UNDP), wide variations in HDI measures exist across the provinces and districts. According to the report, there is considerable variation across provinces with respect to literacy rates, ranging from 51 percent in Sindh to 36 percent in Balochistan. Across the districts, Jhelum has the highest HDI rank (0.703) and Dera Bugti the lowest (0.285).

Balochistan’s Forgotten Conflict

Not surprisingly, Balochistan and its districts were assessed to be the least developed in Pakistan. Among the top 31 districts with the highest HDI, Punjab had by far the largest share at 59 percent, while Balochistan lagged far behind with 9 percent. To compare, Sindh had a 13 percent share and NWFP 19 percent.

According to the Social Policy and Development Centre (SPDC), the developmental overview of Balochistan is very worrying and the extent of relative deprivation in the province is extremely high. 92 percent of Balochistan’s districts are classified as highly deprived compared to 50 percent in Sindh and 29 percent in Punjab.

The situation at the population level is equally alarming. The Pakistan Integrated Household Survey 2001-02 revealed that Balochistan had the highest proportion of poor people (48 percent of the province population) and the highest level of rural poverty (51 percent). According to a study conducted by Dr. Talat Anwar, a senior development expert, rural poverty in Balochistan increased by 15 percent between 1999 and 2005. This contrasts for example with the experience of urban Punjab, which saw a nearly four percent drop of poverty between 1999 and 2005, with a current proportion of 20.6 percent. Sindh and the North-West Frontier Province (NWFP), however, also experienced growing poverty during this period.

The most devastating consequence of underdevelopment in any society are high death rates. Balochistan has the highest infant and maternal mortality ratio in South Asia. According to a Ministry of Health policy paper, the Gender Awareness Policy Appraisal 2006, one of the main reasons for this high maternal mortality rate is hunger and malnutrition, which affects 34 percent of pregnant women.

The infant mortality statistics are equally disconcerting. Successive findings indicate that infant mortality in Balochistan has reached the number of 130 deaths per 1,000 live births. Compared to the Democratic Republic of Congo’s average of 126 and Pakistans national average of 70, the statistics convey a worrying picture. Only 25 percent of the population have access to

Balochistan’s Forgotten Conflict

electricity (national average, 75 per cent). The male literary rate is 18.3 percent and the female literacy rate 7 percent (Punjab, overall: 63.6 percent).

The regional gender disparity regarding educational institutes is high. Punjab has 111 vocational institutes for women; Balochistan has one. Only 23 percent of girls in rural areas in Balochistan are fortunate enough to be enrolled in primary schools, compared to twice this ratio in rural Punjab. This discriminatory policy is not only resulting in a slowdown of female empowerment but is also affecting the overall development of the province.

Even the existing educational institutions suffer from an acute lack of resources. 67 percent of schools in the province have no adequate building, while 60 percent of primary schools are restricted to one untrained and unqualified teacher. What has grown, is the number of religious schools in the province during the tenure of the Pakistan Muslim League (Q) (PML-Q) and Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA) coalition government.

The Baloch youth have been deliberately deprived of all forms of contemporary education. Compared to the 340 polytechnic, computer science, women vocational institutes and commercial and law colleges in Punjab, Balochistan has only nine such centres, all poorly developed and limited to urban areas. Hence, rural Baloch youths are completely deprived of modern practical education.

The systematic denial of basic education and education-related facilities in Balochistan indicates disrespect and discriminatory policies of Islamabad. The only development Balochistan has witnessed during Musharraf’s regime is the 62 perccent increase of police stations in the province to suppress the Baloch people’s activism. A Baloch family in Pakistan’s gasrich Dera Bugti district

Balochistan’s Forgotten Conflict

Development and

Militarization -

A Carrot and Stick Approach

Balochistan’s Forgotten Conflict

Development and Militarization A Carrot and Stick Approach:

Regional tensions were provoked by President Pervez Musharraf’s determination to develop the area's oil and gas fields and his establishment of new army cantonments in the province without taking into account local and provincial circumstances. General Musharaff adopted a ‘carrot and stick' policy to increase the military’s presence and the pace of development in the province in an effort to weaken political resistance.

The Federal government has been using regular troops and paramilitary forces for “strengthening the federation,” Islamabad reportedly established one paramilitary post for every 500 people. Overall, four major military cantonments, 52 paramilitary cantonments, five naval bases, including the Jinnah naval base in Gwadar and six missile-testing ranges in Balochistan, were instated. Balochistan continues to be under siege due to the building of army cantonments that began in 2006.

Balochistan’s Forgotten Conflict

In January 2005, a military operation was carried out to suppress the armed protests by the tribal militias following the alleged army gang rape of female doctor Shazia Khalid on 7 January 2005. However, the Balochistan crisis intensified after Pakistan’s government launched full-scale military operations in December 2005 following the firing of eight rockets at a paramilitary base on the outskirts of the town of Kohlu, a stronghold of the Marri tribe during President Musharraf’s visit to the area on 14 December 2005. On 17 December 2005, paramilitary forces began air force bombardments in Kohlu. By mid-June 2006, about 400 to 500 innocent Baloch people had reportedly been killed as a consequence of the army operations including the air raids, especially in the Marri and Bugti areas.

About 80-85 percent of those either killed or injured were women and children. The fighting caused widespread damage to buildings, and 85 percent people of Dera Bugti were forced to flee the town. The Pakistani Air Force chief Tanwir Mahmood Ahmed stated that the air force would continue to be used whenever and wherever considered necessary. The killing of Nawab Akbar Bugti, president of the Jamhoori Watan Party (JWP) during a massive military operation in the Bhambore Hills between Kohlu and Dera Bugti districts on 26 August 2006 further escalated the spate of violence. In July 2006, Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz ruled out a general amnesty for “miscreants” in Balochistan.

Balochistan’s Forgotten Conflict

In 2005, Baloch leaders presented a 15-point agenda to the government that included greater control of resources, protection for the Baloch minority and a halt to the building of military bases. President Musharraf , however, showed little interest in their concerns. In 2006, shares of Rs 4 billion under the interim National Finance Commission were consumed by additional expenditure on law and order, reduction in oil and gas production and higher pay and pension bills imposed by the federal government.

Lack of development:

The government of Pakistan claimed that ongoing development projects will benefit the Baloch in addition to creating job opportunities for them. However the government’s track record does not evoke any confidence.

On 28 August 2006, General Pervez Musharraf warned that any opposition to the Balochistan development plans would be defeated. Monitoring cells were established in the Planning Commission of Islamabad and Quetta to follow the projects. Several major projects in Balochistan including the Gwadar deep sea port, coastal highways between Karachi and Gwadar, Mirani and Subakzai dams, costing more than Rs 135 billion were started.

The Baloch population, however, fears that most of the jobs created as part of the new port city of Gwadar and the Saindak copper mining project will be given to non-Balochis. They reported that 75% of their lands had been given to serving military officers at throwaway prices. Furthermore, Balochis continue to miss out on the huge reserves of mineral resources despite Balochistan’s production of about 36 percent Pakistan’s total amount of natural gas.

Balochistan’s Forgotten Conflict