PAKISTAN: A man is missing for the second time along with his nephew after being abducted by the law enforcement agencies

Dear friends,

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information that a man who was kept in army detention centers for more than nine months after his abduction by secret agencies and the Frontier Corp (FC) was again abducted, this time with his nephew and both of them remain missing. The police refused to file a First Information Report (FIR) despite strict orders of the Supreme Court to do so in cases of missing persons. He had just recovered from his wounds of torture inflicted during the illegal detention in army torture cells. He and his nephew were the only bread winners of their families. 

It is feared by the family members that the victims would be killed following their disappearance and illegal detention by the FC as it is a common phenomenon in Balochistan that after abduction the torture-mutilated bodies are found on the road side. 

CASE NARRATIVE:

Mr. Illahi Bux Bugti (40) son of Bayar Khan Bugti, resident of Haji Murad Gujjar Goth, Hub Chowki, Balochistan province, was abducted in presence of many witnesses on June 26, by persons from the Frontier Corps (FC), police and plain clothed men, suspected of being from state intelligence agencies, and was taken along with his nephew in an FC armoured car. He was coming from Karachi, 30 kilometers from Hub Chowki, on a motorbike with his nephew, Shah Murad Bugti son of Jhanda Khan Bugti, who is employed as guard on a private plot. As they reached on the bridge connecting Karachi city, capital of Sindh provice, at the check post of the FC, there were more than 20 officers of the FC, police and persons in plain clothes. There was also an armoured car and other army jeeps. They were stopped and blind folded before being thrown in an armoured car and taken away to an unknown destination. 

The father of the Illahi Bux says that he received a phone call at 5.30 pm from his mobile phone that they have reached the Hub Chowky and that within no time they would reach home. But the whole night the family members waited for them and the second day they went to report to the police at Hub Chowki Police Station where the same station house officer (SHO), Mr. Amin Lasi was also present who was also with the abducting party. He refused to entertain them. Again on June 30 the mother of Illahi Bux, Laal Bibi, went to file a formal FIR but the SHO and Investigation officer of the station, Mr. Mahi Wal, refused to file the FIR saying the matter concerns the FC and intelligence agencies so they cannot help. The police entered their complaint in the Roznamcha (daily diary) and wrote that complainant suspect the involvement of the FC. On the next day when the women went to get the FIR the SHO and other officials behaved violently and ordered them to leave the place. 

The family members have also written letters on July 8, to the president of Pakistan, Prime Minister, Chief Justice of Pakistan, Chief of Army Staff, Chief Justices of Sindh and Balochistan High Courts and Hub police officers mentioning the abduction by the FC, police and plain clothed persons from the intelligence agencies but have received no response.

Illahi Bux, was also abducted in 2007 by the persons from the army in their uniforms and police and was missing for nine months. After nine months he was thrown in an injured condition on the Netti Jetty Bridge at Karachi. He told his family members that he was kept in different torture cells, blind folded and army officers were investigating him about the nationalist movement in Balochistan and about some militant groups including Baloch Liberation Army (BLA). He was tortured in army detention centers by army officials. After the new government came into power he was thrown on the road side.

His body clearly showed signs of torture, his kidneys were damaged and he was severely traumatized. The family members admitted him to hospital. Since March 2011 he was recovering and allowed to do light jobs. He is an employee of Department of Food as a guard. 

It is feared by the family members that the victims would be killed during the illegal detention by the FC as it is common phenomenon in Balochistan that after disappearance and abduction the torture-mutilated bodies of the victims are found on the road side. 

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:

Enforced disappearances are common in Balochistan province since 2002 and were introduced by the then military dictator Pervez Musharraf to suppress the movement of Balochis for the autonomy on their natural resources. The Baloch nationalist groups claim that more than 8000 persons have been disappeared since 2002.

The enforced disappearances in Balochistan are not being tackled properly by the government and even not by the judiciary, which claims itself as an independent judiciary after its restoration on March 2009. Cases of disappearances are pending before the higher courts since 2005 but not a single person was released by the efforts of the courts. Some Baloch nationalists who were dumped on the road after being kept incommunicado testified before the courts that they were kept in military torture cells in different cities, particularly of Punjab province, but the courts have not tried to ask the military or intelligence officers about their torture. The Supreme Court is much more interested in locating those persons who were involved in Jihad and were militants trained by the intelligence agencies but do not look at the Balochi people, including some Pushtuns and Hindus. The courts are relying on threatening the intelligence agencies of the military for media consumption and not more than that. 

During the civilian government a new phenomenon is introduced in the abduction and disappearance that after the abduction the disappeared persons’ bodies are found on the roadsides. In one year more than 200 bodies of such persons were found after their abduction by the law enforced agencies. It is said that the killing of the persons after their abduction is to destroy the evidence and not to face the courts or media. 

The government of Pakistan formed a judicial commission on disappearances but there is no head of the commission since many months. 

SUGGESTED ACTION:
Please write the letters to the authorities for the immediate release of Mr. Illahi Bux and his nephew Mr. Shah Murad who are in the custody of Frontier Corps after their abduction. Please urge them stop the enforced disappearances of people from Balochistan and prosecute those atate organs who are responsible of abduction and disappearances.

The AHRC is writing a separate letter to the UN Working Group on Involuntary and enforced disappearance calling for his intervention into this matter.

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