PAKISTAN: For the arrest of one guerilla leader, military units kill more than fifty innocent citizens, including women and children

Dear friends,

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information that military units have bombarded more than a dozen villages in three districts of Balochistan based on information about the presence of a guerilla fighter fighting for the independence of Balochistan. Independent sources claim that more than 50 persons, including women and children, were killed. In just one district, more than 32 villagers were killed and many persons were displaced as their houses were completely destroyed. The military and one of its units, the Frontier Corp (FC), have arrested many persons for interrogation to try to learn the whereabouts of the guerrilla leader, Dr. Allah Nazar, and shifted them to unknown places. Units have made torture cells in the affected areas and within two days the mutilated bodies of two persons were found, bearing marks of torture. The children and mother of Dr. Allah Nazar were also badly injured during the military action.

Please sign the following urgent appeal to stop the military action against innocent villagers in Balochistan, who are also suffering under severely cold temperatures. The AHRC will also send copies of the urgent appeals to the different Special Rapporteurs of the UN and different international organizations to raise the issue at the international level.

CASE NARRATIVE:

In the middle of the night of Dec 24-25, more than 12 gunship helicopters started shelling on Mehi village, in the area of Mashkay in Awaran district, Balochistan. About 100 homes were destroyed. Another village, Gajli, was bombarded by jets on Dec. 26 and around 90 homes were destroyed. 32 civilians were reported to have been killed but available data is insufficient because the Pakistan army is not letting anyone leave or enter the area. The military action was taken on information about a guerrilla fighter, Dr. Allah Nazar, and his associates hiding at his house.

The villagers, including injured women and children, have taken shelter in a school building without food or medicine. The army is conducting torture and killing people on the roads of Mashkay and in Gajjar bazaar, in an effort to get information about the Baloch freedom fighters. The reports of bombardment on Tank in Mashkay district say they continued for more than two days. A group of doctors were harassed and sent back by the military and FC units, who volunteered to treat the injured from the bomb attacks. In the village of Jabri in Mashkay, the army broke into three shops and looted everything. According to the information gathered by websites from an exiled Baloch organization, the military units looted homes, burning many of them, and established torture cells in Parpuki, Nokjo, Shairgi, Lakhi, and Manguli villages of Mashkay. Hundreds of the civilians who were arrested during the last three days are missing. Two of them have been thrown back as mutilated bodies. One is named Arz Mohammad, and the other’s name is still unknown. Jets and helicopters are still roaring in Mashkay’s sky.

The military action has also been extended to two more districts, the Makran and Panjur areas, and many villages are also under siege by military units, who do not allow the villagers to leave their villages. The house to house searches are continuing and people are without food or water. In these villages, military action was carried out with the help of aircraft and aerial bombing and a fleet of 70 army trucks. The villagers of Balochistan have to carry water from the rivers, which they carry for almost three to four kilometers. Peaceful protests continue in different cities of Balochistan, including shutter down and wheel jam strikes.

Here is a list of some of the persons killed, including women and children;Mir Saho s/o Mir Rahmat, 2. Khuda Bakhsh s/o Noor Mohammad, 3. Jamil Baloch, 4. Ali jan s/o Mir Saho, 5. Khair Bibi (70 years), 6. Lal Bibi w/o Dinar, 7. Nazal d/o Dinar, 8. Halima w/o Kadok, 9. Ganj Khatoon w/o Ali jan, 10. Sad Ganj w/o Mir Saho, 11. Sakhi dad (2 year old boy), 12. Labo (1 year old girl), 13. Bakhshi (4 yr boy), 14. Mahnaz / Noor Mohammad, 15. Gul bibi, 16. Sara d/o Ali jan, 17. Sher jan, 18. Karim jan, 19. Bakhsha, 20. Unrecognized boy, 21. Unrecognized boy. Moreover, Mr. Arz Mohammad was tortured to death along with another unknown person in military custody.

SUGGESTED ACTION:

Please write letters to the following authorities calling on them to stop the military action in three different districts of Balochistan. Please urge them to withdraw the siege of villages under the control of different units of the army, hand over the bodies of the those villagers who were killed during the aerial bombardments and land actions to the bereaved families, release the persons arrested by the military units, pay compensation for the houses affected by bombardment, provide the best medical treatment to the injured persons and make quick arrangements for the provision of food and water to the affected villages.

Please also urge them to conduct a judicial inquiry and prosecute the military personnel who were involved in the killings.

The AHRC also writes a separate letter to the UN Special Rapporteurs Torture and other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment and on Extrajudicial, Summary or Arbitrary Executions calling for their intervention into this matter.

To support this case, please click here: SEND APPEAL LETTER