Half-truths: ‘Hina Khar downplayed human rights abuses in Balochistan’
Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar and her delegation tried to downplay the grave human rights situation in Balochistan during her presentation on October 30 to the United Nations (UN) Universal Periodic Review (UPR) of Pakistan, civil society representatives told a press conference on Tuesday.
Sharing their critique of Pakistan’s submissions to UN in Geneva before the Working Group of Human Rights Council, they said people continue to protest against the many people missing in Balochistan while arrests and human rights abuses continue.
“The Supreme Court has held military and the Frontier Corps answerable for extrajudicial executions and enforced disappearances,” they added.
“Since July 2010, more than 400 bodies of missing persons have been found in Balochistan.
Nationalist groups claim that more than 100 children are being illegally detained by the military. Cabinet members from the province all live in Islamabad and visit the province only on rare occasions.
The government has constituted two commissions to investigate the causes behind the extrajudicial executions and enforced disappearances in Balochistan. One of the commissions asked to complete its report within three months has still not been presented it.
The other commission has also taken well over a year but failed to present its conclusions,” they said.
“The report presented by Pakistan was disappointing. Member states have recommended that military operations should be halted in Balochistan and government should ensure that those responsible for torture, extrajudicial executions and enforced disappearances are prosecuted.
The impunity offered to the offenders should be withdrawn immediately. Amongst other recommendations was that adequate resources must be provided to the National Commission on Human Rights to enable it to perform its duties,” they added.
The civil society representatives also shared 4,000 words paper with the media on the subject.
The press conference was attended by IA Rehman from Human Rights Commission of Pakistan, Mohammad Zubair from South Asia Partnership (SAP-PK). Fauzia Viqar from Shirkat Gah, Nasreen Zehra from Aurat Foundation, Sajjad Cheema from SPARC and Peter Jacob from National Commission for Justice and Peace.
Published in The Express Tribune, November 14th, 2012.
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Successful presentation of Pakistani case and then its selection on the forum all speaks how ill informed are those who decide important issues. If on one side oratory of Ms Khar though has yielded paper respect to country then on the other side activities of Human right organisation have totally failed. Any way facts on ground are different and will remain so. How long Nation will smell the scent of paper flowers no one knows.Just a bad luck.
With what moral and face does Pakistani justify their cause for Kashmir when they cannot fulfill their promise to Balochistan.
The human rights champions are not been able to tell that many bodes that have been found are not of the Baloch Separatists but of settlers as well who are being killed on a daily basis there since 2008. In the last two months more than 20 settlers have been killed and why their blood is unaccounted for????. Also many local tribes are killing each other on personal enmity basis and then blaming the armed forces as an escape and it must be kept in mind. Human rights Organizations of Pakistan only give importance to those topics where Western Governments can give them a pat and that is why they have very selective response on all issues. When recent Burma incident occured then our Human rights champions were gone. Similarly on Karachi killings that are more than 1000 a year our Human rights Champions are nowhere to be found at all.
Regarding to the Bangladesh issue i must say Also why Ordinary Pakistanis will say sorry for atrocities of selective people??. Mushaaraf did say sorry and it is enough as thousands of Pakistani families were Slaughtered by Mukti Bahnis as well and Biharis were targetted and their nationalities were cancelled and many remained stranded until now so did Bangladesh ever said sorry for their acts?? Playing the victim card should have some limits in my view as in any mutual Conflict not a single party can claim to be angel.