AHRC concerned over Balochistan situation | Pakistan Press Foundation (PPF)

Pakistan Press Foundation

AHRC concerned over Balochistan situation

LAHORE: Balochistan is a land where the rule of law is not allowed to operate and any and all law enforcement is left to killers, the Asian Human Rights Commission said in a statement issued on Tuesday.

The regional non-governmental organisation that monitors human rights in Asia termed the situation in Balochistan “the best example of the chaos of the rule of law”.

It said that the people of Balochistan had to bury the mutilated bodies of their loved ones almost every day of the week.

It said that 56 more bullet-riddled bodies of disappeared persons were found in Balochistan during the last six months.

“The disappearances and extra-judicial killings of Baloch activists continue, despite claims from the government and security forces that extra-judicial killings have been stopped. The writ of the state is at its minimal and all the responsibilities of maintaining law and order have been left with security forces and banned militant groups,” the statement read.

It said that a new civilian organisation with the name of Tehreek-e-Nefaz-e-Aman Balochistan (TNAB) was allegedly established by the state intelligence agencies, which claimed the killings of political workers and students in the name of maintaining peace.

It said that the total number of extra-judicial killings of disappeared persons since July 2010 had reached 271. The rights group said that with the introduction of the TNAB, “security forces are shifting the blame of killing to the TNAB” to imply that they were being done by different civilian groups. The group said that extra-judicial killings and disappearances in Balochistan had become so endemic by the influence of the military and its spy agencies that the government was hesitant to take any action to stop it.

“The only hope for the people of Balochistan was with the judiciary, but that course has also been denied to them, as the judiciary was careful to avoid any possibility of upsetting the military’s illegal and supra-constitutional actions.”

The NGO said that the judiciary proved that it would not go against its “past masters” who still ruled.

“That is why the military and its spy agencies have supra-constitutional authority to deal with the Baloch people, who are struggling for their constitutional rights of self rule in the province,” the statement said. “The judiciary has totally failed them, not only in bringing the disappeared persons to the surface but also has turned a blind eye to the abductions and killings in the province.”

The statement said that the federal government had also appeared to be unconcerned about the killings of students, intellectuals, journalists and political workers and had left all the responsibility of the law and order on the military and the Frontier Constabulary (FC), who virtually enjoyed absolute power.

The Balochistan province had been completely neglected by the provincial and federal governments as it was during the military governments, it said, adding that the province had become point of prestige for the army that wanted to have control over the natural resources at any cost, including targeted killings.

“ …the government does not have the courage to stop the military and its forces from their blood-thirsty activities,” the rights group claimed.

It said the Balochistan government had been restricted by the military and the federal government to just enjoy the benefits of an elected government, but cannot interfere in the affairs of the military. “The federal minister for interior affairs is always trying to prove the interference of India in the self-reliance movement of the people of the province.

Source: Daily Times