Balochistan observes shutter-down strike on the call of the Baloch National Front.

 

Strike was observed against the forced disappearances, offensive of forces and extra judiciary murder of Haji Abdul Razzaq Baloch and other Baloch Activist.

BALOCHISTAN:  A complete shutter-down and wheel jammed  strike on Saturday  was  observed in different parts of Balochistan on the call of the Baloch National Front (BNF) against the forced disappearances , offensive of forces and extra judiciary murder of Haji Abdul Razzaq Baloch and other Baloch activists .

Shops and business centers were closed in various parts of Balochistan. Khuzddar, Kallat, Kharan, Panjgoor , Mastong, Pasni, Turbat, Noshki, Tump, Mand, Awaran, Mashkey, Gwadar and overall  Baloch dominated areas of Balochistan.

BNF expressed thanked to transporters, shopkeepers on the accomplishment of successful strike to show their abhorrence against atrocities of occupant state of Pakistan. BNF further said forced disappearances; extra judiciary murder of activists and dumping their mutilated bodies can never put down the spirit of national freedom amongst Baloch nation.  BNF appealed to the international human rights organizations to play immediate role to stop the ongoing genocide and human rights abuses against Baloch nation.

Human rights violations in Balochistan: BNF letter to UN.

Your Excellency
Mr. Ban Ki-moon
Secretary General
United Nations
Subject: Human rights violations in Balochistan

Dear Sir,

The Baloch National Front (BNF), an alliance of Baloch nationalist parties, would like to draw Your Excellency’s attention towards your recent visit to Pakistan which caused heartbreaks among the Baloch people.

Your Excellency, in a speech delivered on August 30 in Switzerland, had said:

“We must ensure that anyone, on any side, who commits war crimes, crimes against humanity or other violations of international human rights or humanitarian law is brought to justice. This is a shared responsibility for this Council, for United Nations Member States, for the international community as a whole. We must use all our many tools to shine the light of human rights everywhere.”

When Your Excellency was in Islamabad on August 13, relatives of hundreds of Baloch missing persons were protesting outside press clubs in Quetta, Karachi and Turbat cities. As we presume that Your Excellency is aware of the missing persons’ phenomenon in Balochistan, we will not indulge into its details. In short, human rights groups have confirmed that thousands of political activists, writers and common Baloch have been abducted by Pakistan’s security forces whose whereabouts are unknown to their families and rest of the world.

Pakistan’s top judge has said they have evidence of Pakistan’s paramilitary troops’ involvement in these abductions. According to Human Rights Watch, tortured bodies of 300 of these missing persons have been found dumped in deserted parts of Balochistan and Karachi. International media calls this kill-and-dump phenomenon Pakistan’s ‘dirty war’.

The BNF and the relatives of missing persons were hoping that Your Excellency will use the influence of his office during his visit to press Pakistani government to stop this ‘dirty war’ against the Baloch people, who are struggling for their right of national independence – a right that is enshrined in the United Nations’ Charter.

However, Your Excellency didn’t say a single word about the issue of Baloch missing persons. A single sentence from Your Excellency’s mouth could have saved several innocent lives, who are in the custody of Pakistan’s security forces. At least, that’s what the relatives of missing persons believe.

We understand that the purpose Your Excellency’s visit was to witness Pakistan’s independence day flag hoisting ceremony on August 14. However, it might not be in Your Excellency’s knowledge that on the same day, on August 14, Pakistan’s security forces raided a house in Turbat city and killed two Baloch youngsters — Reza Jehangir, the Secretary General of the Baloch Students Organization; and Imdad Baloch, a senior member of the Baloch National Movement.

When Your Excellency was attending Pakistan’s Independence Day celebrations, hundreds of Baloch women were protesting in Balochistan’s Turbat city to observe August 14 as a black day. Pakistan’s paramilitary troops fired tear-gas shells and baton-charged the protesters to disperse their rally.

In the night between August 14 and 15, Pakistani forces set on fire a hunger strike camp set up by the relatives of Baloch missing persons outside the Quetta Press Club.

Just two days ago a prominent Baloch journalist and the leader of BNM Haji Razzaq was brutally murdered. He was abducted by security forces 4 months ago.

We don’t know if you should have attended the independence day ceremony of a state that is blamed by human rights groups of mass murdering people living there, but we did see your visit as an opportunity to highlight the issue of human rights abuses in Balochistan. Being the custodian of the UN and the guardian of international laws and instruments, we hope that Your Excellency will play his role in putting an end to human rights violations in Balochistan.

At the end, we want to apologize for some candid remarks we made in this letter, but Your Excellency should know that we, the Baloch people, are really in a messed-up situation.

Thanking

Yours Truly

Dr. Mannan Baloch
Secretary: Baloch National Front

70 bodies had been found during the tenure of the incumbent government: Nasrullah Baloch

BALOCHISTAN: Voice for Baloch Missing Persons Chairman Nasrullah Baloch said that around 70 bodies had been found from different areas of Balochistan during the tenure of the incumbent government.

Addressing a press conference along with VBMP Vice Chairman Mama Qadeer Baloch at a hunger strike camp outside the Quetta Press Club for the recovery of Baloch missing persons, he said that 26 missing persons’ bodies had been found from different areas of Karachi.

He claimed that missing persons were being killed in fake operations in Bolan,Espalinji and other areas. “We will admit the government’s seriousness [on the issue] after [seeing] their practical steps against the officers who were involved in the kidnapping of Baloch political activists.”

He said his organisation had also provided evidence in the Supreme Court in this regard, and the apex court had passed orders, but no step were taken by the government for the arrest of those involved in enforced disappearances of Baloch missing persons. He urged the United Nation and other international organisations to take notice of human rights violations in Balochistan.

Rehana Baloch and her Husband Qasim Baloch was member of BNM . He killed by Pakistani Army .

شہیدریحانہ بلوچ،گوں وتی لوگواجہ قاسم بلوچ کہ بی این ایم ءِ ممبربوتگ،گوستگیں ماہءَ پاکستانی یذیدی فورسءَ ماں بسیمہءَ ماں اشانی لوگءِ سرا اُ:رش کتءُ شہید کت انت
Rehana Baloch and her Husband Qasim Baloch was member of BNM . He killed by Pakistani Army . Shame on Pakistani army killed innocent political women.

Pakistan should immediately investigate the murder of a Baluch journalist: CPJ

“Haji Abdul Razzaq Baloch’s disappearance and death is another grim reminder of the precarious conditions Baluch journalists face in Pakistan.” – said CPJ’s Asia program coordinator, Bob Dietz.

  

New York, August 22, 2013– Authorities in Pakistan should immediately investigate the murder of a Baluch journalist whose body was found in Karachi on Wednesday, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. Haji Abdul Razzaq Baloch had been missing since March, according to news reports.

Razzaq’s face was mutilated, and his body showed signs of strangulation and torture, according to Agence France-Presse. Razzaq’s family initially denied that the body was that of the journalist, but then later confirmed his identity, reports said.

The journalist’s body was found in the Surjani Town area alongside that of another man from Baluchistan, according to news reports. Unnamed police sources said they found paper slips with the names of both victims along with the bodies, news reports said. At least 16 bodies of Baluch individuals have been found in the Surjani Town area of Karachi in the past six months, according to news reports.

Razzaq, 35, worked as a copy editor for the news desk of the Urdu-language pro-Baluch nationalist newspaper Daily Tawar. He was last seen leaving his friend’s house in the Liyari neighborhood of Karachi on March 24, according to newsreports.

Daily Tawar is known for its coverage of the many conflicts between rival groups and the government. Razzaq was also a supporter of the Baluch National Movement, a nationalist political organization.

Razzaq, who had worked for the Daily Tawar since 2009, briefly left the newspaper after another Daily Tawar journalist was found dead after being reported missing, according to Razzaq’s friend, who spoke to CPJ by email.Javed Naseer Rind was found in November 2011 with multiple bullet wounds in his head and chest, and his body showed signs of torture, news reports said. Rind had been missing for two months.

Razzaq resumed his work at the paper in December 2012.

“Authorities must do everything in their power to thoroughly investigate the motive behind this death and bring the perpetrators to justice to help end this deadly cycle of impunity,” said CPJ’s Asia program coordinator, Bob Dietz. “Haji Abdul Razzaq Baloch’s disappearance and death is another grim reminder of the precarious conditions Baluch journalists face in Pakistan.”

In a press conference at the Karachi Press Club following the journalist’s disappearance in March, Razzaq’s family members accused Pakistani intelligence agencies of being responsible for the abduction, but did not elaborate. CPJ research shows that Pakistan’s intelligence agencies are suspected in a number of disappearances, including the 2011 abduction and murder of Saleem Shahzad.

Journalists from Baluchistan face pressure from a number of sources: pro-Taliban groups and Pakistani security forces and intelligence agencies, as well as Baluch separatists and state-sponsored anti-separatist militant groups.

In May, CPJ published a report, “Roots of Impunity: Pakistan’s Endangered Press and the Perilous Web of Militancy, Security, and Politics,” which found that Pakistani journalists are targeted not only by militants, criminals, and warlords, but also by political, military, and intelligence operatives. Pakistan is ranked one of the deadliest in the world for the press, according to CPJ research.

http://baluchsarmachar.wordpress.com/2013/08/23/pakistan-should-immediately-investigate-the-murder-of-a-baluch-journalist-cpj/