Karachi operation: MQM calls for body to check ‘rights abuse’

Senator Nasreen Jalil unveils list of detained and missing party workers.

ISLAMABAD:

The Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) has reiterated its demand for an oversight body to check cases of human rights violation in the ongoing operation in Karachi.

MQM Senator Nasreen Jalil on Saturday drew the attention of the Senate Standing Committee on Human Rights towards the alleged abduction and extrajudicial killing of MQM workers during the operation.

She agreed with a proposal of Senator Mushahid Hussain Syed that a subcommittee formed to check abuses of human rights and minorities’ rights in Sindh should investigate the allegations of rights violations committed during the Karachi operation.

Senator Nasreen Jalil unveiled a list containing details of alleged rights violations by Rangers during the operation. According to the list, law enforcers had taken 1,087 MQM workers into custody since August 28, 2013.

Of them, 861 were released after identification parade, 176 were released from jail, while 11 are still in police custody. According to the list, 27 MQM workers are still missing, while 25 are in Rangers’ custody for 90 days on judicial remand.

The MQM alleged extrajudicial killing of 12 workers from February 2013 to January 2014, while five workers were abducted from March 2013 to August 2013.

The committee chairman, Senator Afrasiab Khattak, said the MQM’s concerns were genuine. Other committee members, including Mushahid Hussain Syed and Farahatullah Babar, also said that an oversight body was necessary for checks and balances.

Minorities’ rights abuse

A subcommittee was also formed to check violation of minorities’ rights and human rights particularly in Sindh. Senator Raza Rabbani will be convener of the subcommittee, while Senator Heman Dass and Senator Nasreen Jalil will be its members.

The subcommittee will make recommendations to the federal and provincial governments for protection of minorities’ rights, particularly of the Hindu community, in Sindh and Balochistan.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 19^th, 2014.