AHRC Statement on State-sponsored Disappearances

*PAKISTAN: Thirty nine persons recorded disappeared during the first quarter
of 2008*

*FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
*AHRC-STM-085- 2008
April 03, 2008

*A Statement by the Asian Human Rights
Commission
http://www.ahrchk. net/statements/ mainfile. php/2008statemen ts/1454/
*

Thirty nine (39) persons, mostly young people, remain missing after arrest
during the first quarter of 2008; their whereabouts are unknown to their
families. The state intelligence agencies are still operative in arbitrarily
arresting people, keeping them in custody for several months and torturing
them to confess their involvement in crimes against the state. After the
general elections of February 2008, about 27 persons disappeared after
arrests by the Elite Force, a state intelligence agency working under the
Pakistan Army. According to the reports collected by the Defence of Human
Rights, an organization working on the recovery of disappeared persons, and
Baloch Rights Council, an umbrella organization of several Baloch
nationalist organizations, more than 65 persons have been disappeared after
the imposition of the state of emergency by President Musharraf, (who was
then General Musharraf) on November 3, 2007.

The latest disappearance is that of Mr. Asad Ali Shah, a 24 year old teacher
of Saint Paul, Rawalpindi, who was arrested on March 22, 2008, just two days
before the new elected assembly took oaths. Mr. Shah's mother and father who
were interviewed by the BBC said he was arrested by the Elite Force. He was
taken from his home in the early hours of the morning by personnel from the
Elite Force who told his parents that they would return him within 15
minutes as they wanted him to support a statement. However, until now there
is no news about him. His family is afraid that wherever he is, he is being
severely tortured. The Baloch Rights Council claims that 23 persons are
missing from districts of Dera Bugti and Sui, Balochistan province after
their arrest by plain clothes men driving in police vans since the start of
March 2008, just weeks after the general elections of February 18.

Since 2001, when the war on terror began, it is reported by the several
nationalists and religious groups that about 5000 persons remain disappeared
after arrests. In the southern province of Balochistan, nationalist groups
and political parties are claiming that about 4000 persons are missing since
the military operation began in the province in year 2001 and that the
Pakistan Army has killed several hundred persons in aerial bombardments. In
the North Western Frontier Province, where the Pakistani military and
foreign forces are carrying out operations against militants, the media and
political parties are claiming that more than 1000 persons are missing and
that their whereabouts remain unknown. The nationalist forces of Sindh
province claim that about 100 persons have been disappeared but that some of
them were released after the intervention of the Supreme Court and Sindh
High Court. In Punjab province most of those arrested were from some
religious groups working in southern and north western areas of the Punjab
province. The figure goes to more than 100 persons.

The newly formed civilian government of Pakistan particularly, the Prime
Minister Syed Yousaf Raza Gillani have still not mentioned about the fate of
disappeared persons after their arrests by the state intelligence agencies.
The issue of the disappearances was one of the main issues which caused the
dismissal of the deposed Chief Justice and whole higher judiciary by the
military rulers. The state agencies are still operating freely to arrest any
one with out any legal authority and keeping persons incommunicado for
several months during which time they are tortured. The new government must
realise that their indifferent attitude towards the issue of disappearances
will only strengthened the resolve of the intelligence agencies of the army
to run a parallel rule of law contrary to constitution and civilian laws.

This is the time for the newly formed coalition government to take the issue
of disappeared person as one of the priority issue for their government's
100 days task, which was announced by the prime minister after formation of
his government. The government of Prime Minister Syed Yousaf Raza Gillani
should announce policy statement about the fate of disappeared persons and
their release and make a committee of parliamentarians to record statement
from all those persons who were released from the captivity of intelligence
agencies. The government should also seriously take the notice of the
testimonies of the released persons about the military torture camps in all
big cities of the country and immediately start a probe of them.

# # #

*About AHRC: The Asian Human Rights Commission is a regional
non-governmental organisation monitoring and lobbying human rights issues in
Asia. The Hong Kong-based group was founded in 1984.*