Dear Friends,
The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received updated information regarding the enforced disappearance of a Baloch publisher and employee of Civil Hospital Karachi, Sindh by plainclothes persons impersonating as state intelligence officers. Since July 26 his whereabouts are unknown. He was offloaded from a passenger a check of passenger identity cards found Baloch written after his name, and taken away to an unknown place.
Police refuse to file any FIR, saying that they will do so after one month if he was not released by the intelligence agencies, and only on the condition that the FIR must be against unknown persons, and not against state agency officers.
The family members of the missing person have filed a petition in the Sindh High Court.
CASE NARRATIVE:
Mr. Abdul Wahid Baloch, 50, and his friend Mr. Sabir Naguman, a Balochi poet, were coming from interior parts of the Sindh province on July 26 after attending the marriage of a common friend, when they reached a Toll plaza on a highway connecting Karachi with the cities of Sindh, which remains under surveillance of the Rangers and other intelligence agencies.
Their passenger van was stopped and two men in plain clothes started checking the identities of all passengers. When they found Baloch written at the end of Abdul Wahid, they quickly held him and took him to their van. When Sabir Naguman tried to ask the reason for arresting Baloch, he was also dragged to the blue car without number plates. After some time, Naguman was released as the name Baloch was not written on his national Identity Card. Wahid’s backpack was thrown at Naguman, which held some Balochi books for leisure reading on the bus, a Balochi magazine which he helped publish and some clothes.
Baloch’s daughter and family members tried to file a case of abduction at the Gadap police station, Karachi, but they were refused and only a complaint against unknown persons was registered in the police’s daily diary.
Wahid Baloch is a Baloch literary and social activist. He organized several press conferences, protests, gatherings and marches against the enforced disappearances of Baloch people. Apart from his activism, Wahid Baloch adored books. He organized all kinds of Balochi literary, musical and cultural events. No event was complete without him. Currently, he is the head of the Sayad Hashmi Reference Library in Malir, Karachi.
Baloch has seven children; the youngest is a 12 year old boy. In the closed Baloch society, he openly brought his daughters to participate in different Balolch social and literary events.
He has been working as a telephone operator at the Civil Hospital Karachi for the last 25 years. He assisted patients from interior Sindh and Balochistan in acquiring proper care. Often he was seen guiding patients to the relevant medical department. Due to his dedication to his work, he was elected as the president of the Karachi Civil Hospital Employees Union.
A man who fought to eradicate the menace of enforced disappearances became a victim of that very crime. According to his family, there are thousands of cases wherein activists were arrested by plain clothed persons in the same way as Baloch, in a non-registered car, and disappeared. They were severely tortured and extra judicially killed. The bullet ridden bodies were found or dumped on the road side.
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:
Disappearances after arrest have become a part of law enforcement in Pakistan. No inquiry from the government starts. Although courts take up some of the cases and certain persons were thus recovered, not a single person has been tried for the crime of enforced disappearances because of the absence of any law against disappearances.
The UN Working Group (WGEID) has asked the government of Pakistan to criminalise enforced disappearance and government of Pakistan promised in 2012 to make a law. However, the government betrayed UN because of pressure from military establishment who is itself involved in disappearances. The reality is Pakistan military has introduced phenomenon of disappearances after arrest during the military regime of General Pervez Musharaf.
The disappearances and extra judicial killings have become endemic and are seen by the state as the best solution to deprive the people of their fundamental rights and right to life. The “disappeared” individuals are not charged with any crime, and they never appear before any magistrate to challenge their detention or plead their innocence. They are not registered by State authorities, their whereabouts are kept unknown, each intelligence agency is unaware about the people disappeared by the other, and the victims are held indefinitely.
SUGGESTED ACTION:
Please write letters to the following authorities calling on them to immediately recover Abdul Wahid Baloch, who was disappeared after being taken away by plain clothed persons who claimed to be from a state intelligence agency. The state and its intelligence agencies will be solely responsible for anything untoward that happens to Baloch, for keeping him in incommunicado, as well as the Karachi police for not investigating his whereabouts.
The government must not deal with Baloch citizens as the enemy.
The AHRC is writing a separate letter to the UN Working Group on Enforced and Involuntary Disappearances (WGEID) calling for its intervention into this matter.
To support this case, please click here: SEND APPEAL LETTER
SAMPLE LETTER
Dear ___________,
PAKISTAN: Call to release missing employee of civil hospital arrested for holding Baloch identity
Name of victim:
Mr. Abdul Wahid Baloch, resident of Shero Line, Klakoat, Lyari, Karachi, Sindh
Names of alleged perpetrators:
The persons from state intelligent agency who are deputed to check the passengers at Super High Way, Toll Plaza, Karachi, Sindh
Date of incident: July 26, 2016
Place of incident: Toll Plaza, Super highway, Karachi
I am writing to voice my deep concern regarding the enforced disappearance of a Baloch publisher and employee of Civil Hospital Karachi, Sindh by plainclothes persons impersonating as state intelligence officers. Since July 26 his whereabouts are unknown. He was offloaded from a passenger a check of passenger identity cards found Baloch written after his name, and taken away to an unknown place.
Police refuse to file any FIR, saying that they will do so after one month if he was not released by the intelligence agencies, and only on the condition that the FIR must be against unknown persons, and not against state agency officers.
The family members of the missing person have filed a petition in the Sindh High Court.
Mr. Abdul Wahid Baloch, 50, and his friend Mr. Sabir Naguman, a Balochi poet, were coming from interior parts of the Sindh province on July 26 after attending the marriage of a common friend, when they reached a Toll plaza on a highway connecting Karachi with the cities of Sindh, which remains under surveillance of the Rangers and other intelligence agencies.
I am appalled to know that their passenger van was stopped and two men in plain clothes started checking the identities of all passengers. When they found Baloch written at the end of Abdul Wahid, they quickly held him and took him to their van. When Sabir Naguman tried to ask the reason for arresting Baloch, he was also dragged to the blue car without number plates. After some time, Naguman was released as the name Baloch was not written on his national Identity Card. Wahid’s backpack was thrown at Naguman, which held some Balochi books for leisure reading on the bus, a Balochi magazine which he helped publish and some clothes.
Baloch’s daughter and family members tried to file a case of abduction at the Gadap police station, Karachi, but they were refused and only a complaint against unknown persons was registered in the police’s daily diary.
Wahid Baloch is a Baloch literary and social activist. He organized several press conferences, protests, gatherings and marches against the enforced disappearances of Baloch people. Apart from his activism, Wahid Baloch adored books. He organized all kinds of Balochi literary, musical and cultural events. No event was complete without him. Currently, he is the head of the Sayad Hashmi Reference Library in Malir, Karachi.
Baloch has seven children; the youngest is a 12 year old boy. In the closed Baloch society, he openly brought his daughters to participate in different Balolch social and literary events.
He has been working as a telephone operator at the Civil Hospital Karachi for the last 25 years. He assisted patients from interior Sindh and Balochistan in acquiring proper care. Often he was seen guiding patients to the relevant medical department. Due to his dedication to his work, he was elected as the president of the Karachi Civil Hospital Employees Union.
A man who fought to eradicate the menace of enforced disappearances became a victim of that very crime. According to his family, there are thousands of cases wherein activists were arrested by plain clothed persons in the same way as Baloch, in a non-registered car, and disappeared. They were severely tortured and extra judicially killed. The bullet ridden bodies were found or dumped on the road side.
I am aware that disappearances and extrajudicial killings have become endemic in the country, and it is outrageous that the state takes no action to end this phenomenon. The “disappeared” individuals are not charged with any crime, and they never appear before any magistrate to challenge their detention or plead their innocence. They are not registered by State authorities, their whereabouts are kept unknown, each intelligence agency is unaware about the people disappeared by the other, and the victims are held indefinitely.
I, therefore, urge to take all steps necessary to recover Abdul Wahid Baloch and ensure his safety. The government must stop treating Balochi citizens as the enemy, and should hold the perpetrators of this crime to account.
I also warn you that if anything goes wrong against Wahid Baloch the state and its intelligence agencies will be held sole responsible for keeping person in incommunicado and passed through torture and extra judicial killings. If there is any charge against him those should be produced before the court of law.
The government must not deal with Baloch citizens as the enemy and punishing them because of their Baloch identity, government must come out from the hate against Baloch population.
Yours Sincerely,
……………….
PLEASE SEND YOUR LETTERS TO:
1.Mr. Mian Nawaz Sharif
Prime Minister
Prime Minister House
Islamabad
PAKISTAN
Fax: +92 51 922 1596
Tel: +92 51 920 6111
E-mail: pspm@pmsectt.gov.pk, Email: info@pmo.gov.pk
2.Mr. Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan
Federal Minister for Interior
Ministry of Interior of Pakistan
R Block, Pak Secretariat
Islamabad
PAKISTAN
Tel: +92 51 9212026
Fax: +92 51 9202624
Email: interior.complaintcell@gmail.com,
ministry.interior@gmail.com
3.Mr. Zahid Hamid
Federal Minister for Human Rights
Ministry of Human Rights
State Life Building No. 5, Blue Area,
Jinnah Avenue, China Chowk, Islamabad
Fax: +92 51 9204108
Email: contact@molaw.gov.pk
4. Mr. Syed Murad Ali Shah
Chief Minister of Sindh
The Government of Sindh Province
Karachi, Sindh Province
PAKISTAN
Fax: +92 21 920 2000
Email: pressecy@cmsindh.gov.pk
5. Mr. Sohail Anwar Khan Siyal
Minister for Home
Government of Sindh
Barrack 79, Pakistan Secretariat
Near MPA hostel
Karachi, Sindh Province
PAKISTAN
Fax: +92 21 9204456
Tel: +92 21 9201920-1
E-mail: secy.home@sindh.gov.pk
6. Mr. Tahir Shahbaz
Registrar
Supreme Court of Pakistan
Constitution Avenue, Islamabad
PAKISTAN
Fax: +92 51 9213452
Email: mail@supremecourt.gov.pk
7. Chief Justice of Sindh High Court
High Court Building
Saddar, Karachi
Sindh Province
PAKISTAN
Fax: +92 21 9213220
E-mail: info@sindhhighcourt.gov.pk
8. Ms. Justice Majida Rizvi
Chairperson Sindh Human Rights Commission
Government of Sindh
Room No’s 408 & 414,
Sindh Secretariat Building No-03, (Old KDA Building),
Kamal Ata Turk Road, Karachi- 74200.
Tel: 021-99217318
Fax: 021-99217317.
Email: shrcommission@gmail.com
9. Inspector General of Police
Police Head office
I. I. Chundrigar Road
Karachi, Sindh Province
Pakistan
Fax: +92 21 9212051
E-mail: ppo.sindh@sindhpolice.gov.pk
