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print versionThe Friday Times, July 8 -14, 2011
Sliding into chaos
The HRCP fact-finding mission found the situation in Balochistan to be extremely precarious. The key findings of the mission are:
1. Agents of the state, as well as the insurgents and extremists operating in the province share a common disregard for rights of the citizens. The insurgents have murdered ’settlers’ in targeted killings with impunity. A few amongst the Baloch nationalist elements tacitly condone these killings and others do not condemn them openly. The extremists have treated members of religious minorities as fair game. The state, which is expected to hold itself to a higher standard, does not seem to be perturbed by actions of its agents, something that is apparent from a lack of investigation into allegations of serious human rights violations.
2. Enforced disappearances continue to be reported from all parts of the province. Little headway has been made in ensuring the release of a large number of missing persons from unacknowledged custody of security agencies. The Commission set up to investigate the cases of enforced disappearance has been largely ineffective, leading to people’s frustration.
3. In a new and worrying trend mutilated bodies of victims of enforced disappearance have started turning up by the roadside and in desolate places. These include several cases where witnesses had held agents of the state responsible for the disappearance. Not a single case has been investigated.
4. All authority in the province seems to vest with the security forces which enjoy complete impunity.
5. There have been widespread complaints against the attitude of the FC personnel at checkpoints.
6. The security forces in Balochistan do not consider themselves answerable or accountable to the political government or judiciary, nor feel compelled to cooperate with the civil administration.
7. The provincial government is seen as powerless and irrelevant and is accused of failing to raise issue of critical concern to the people, of a general inability to govern and of total subservience to military authority in the province.
8. Use of force rather than political engagement or dialogue remains the preferred approach. Promises made in the Balochistan package about concrete reform, inquiry into the murder of Baloch leaders, release of missing persons, economic opportunities for the people, and rehabilitation and settlement of the internally displaced persons in Balochistan remain little more than promises.
9. There is an acute sense of fear in the province. People are hesitant to pursue the cases for fear that other members of their family might be targeted.
10. Targeted killings on the basis of ethnicity and belief are rampant. Those targeted include professionals such as teachers and doctors, as well as traders.
11. Members of religious minority communities speak of a heightened sense of insecurity amid targeted killings and kidnappings for ransom. In some instances, children have been taken out of school because of safety concerns.
12. Rights of minority groups, women, children and workers have been neglected.
13. Those who have the misfortune of being non-Baloch "settlers" in Balochistan have been doubly victimised. In a number of districts, large areas have been cleansed of "settler" populations.
14. Lawlessness has proliferated at an alarming rate and has brought normal life and economic activity to a halt. At least 78 organised gangs are reported to be involved in abduction for ransom in the province. There is a widespread perception that criminal gangs and individuals involved in heinous crime enjoy support of politicians and security forces.
15. Human rights defenders and political activists have been targeted for no reason other than for raising their voice for people’s rights and exposing violations of human rights.
16. Involuntary displacement continues in the province many years after the people were uprooted because of conflict and natural and man Recommendations
Recommendations
The mission found that all the recommendations made by an earlier HRCP fact finding mission to Balochistan, in 2009, remain valid but unimplemented. It, therefore, reiterated all those recommendations and hoped that this time the recommendations would receive more serious consideration and would be implemented. Additionally, the mission made the following recommendations:
1. The illegal practice of enforced disappearances represents a complete negation of rule of law and must stop forthwith.
2. All security forces operating in the province should be brought under civilian control. Any operation conducted by law enforcement agencies must be within the framework of rule of law, and under civilian oversight. The Frontier Constabulary should act only in aid of the civilian forces and under civilian control.
3. The task of policing in the province should be restored to the police, which must be properly trained, equipped and sensitised to ensure restoration of law and order and respect for people’s rights. The police must exercise their responsibility of recording FIRs and actively investigating cases of enforced disappearances, targeted killings, discovery of mutilated bodies, and kidnappings for ransom. They should be given confidence to investigate complaints lodged against personnel of security forces involved in policing duties, irrespective of the rank of the accused or his affiliation with a security force.
4. A formal mechanism should be established to systematically hold the law enforcement and security forces personnel accountable and probe any complaints made against by the people. Such a mechanism must inspire the people’s confidence and must be convenient and accessible.
5. No one other than the authorities authorised by the law should take a person into custody. A detained person must be promptly informed about the charges against him, in accordance with the constitutional guarantees, should be produced in a court within 24 hours and his due process rights should be respected and facilitated. Failure to observe these rights should be vigorously prosecuted.
6. It is a matter of grave concern that victims of enforced disappearance are now reappearing as mutilated dead bodies thrown in desolate places rather than being produced before courts of law. Every single instance where a missing person’s body is found must be judicially probed and the report made public. Families of the victims should also be given compensation.
7. The powers of decision-making and governance must be restored to civil political authorities in the province. The provincial government needs to assert its authority and act in the interest of the people. The rights of all the people, including the so-called settlers, must be protected and violators brought to justice.
8. The higher judiciary may instruct the subordinate courts to actively pursue cases of rights violations. The judiciary should also be more assertive in ensuring compliance with its orders.
9. Complaints of support and patronage of elements involved in heinous crime, such as targeted killings and kidnappings for ransom, by politicians and security forces must be thoroughly probed, the findings made public and any individual found guilty prosecuted province remain uprooted and uncared for.
10. The government must ensure, in consultation with the targeted communities, that all possible measures are taken to prevent targeted killings, to effectively investigate the cases and prosecute those accused. Proactive steps to increase religious, communal and ethnic harmony are in dire need and must be taken on priority.
11. Places of worship and gatherings of minority religious communities must be protected and the communities assured of their safety.
12. It is entirely unacceptable that a substantial number of internally displaced persons in the
13. All victims of violence perpetrated by agents of the state must be compensated adequately and promptly.
14. The government must recognise and prevent the great personal risks that human rights defenders face in the province.
15. There is a dire need to end the climate of fear in the province and to reassure the people. Unless that happens the people would not pursue legal remedies against agents of the state that they hold responsible for violating their rights, especially in the face of a state that has long looked the other way when it should be focussed on protecting rights.
16. The political parties and the larger civil society in Balochistan should hold wider consultations on the way forward.
17. Improvement in the law and order situation is imperative for economic activity, which is vital to overcome poverty and large-scale unemployment in the province.
18. The steps announced by the government with the stated aim to empower and reassure the people in Balochistan have not had the desired effect. Measures in the spirit of ameliorating the lot of the people must continue to be pursued and implemented.
Excerpted from "Blinkered slide into chaos"published by HRCP (June 2011)
