By: Jessica Ties
Impunity Watch, Asia

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan – Pakistani security forces are holding and torturing political activists in the Pakistani province of Balochistan in an attempt to derail the separatist movement in that region.

Human Rights Watch Asia Director Brad Adams has stated that “Pakistan’s security forces are engaging in an abusive free-for-all in Balochistan as Baloch nationalists and suspected militants ‘disappear’ and in many cases are executed…the national government has done little to end the carnage in Balochistan, calling into question its willingness or ability to control the military and intelligence agencies.”

The Pakistani government has cracked down on the separatist movement in Balochistan since 2004 when rebels emerged to demand autonomy and a share of the profits from the region’s oil, gas and mineral sources. As a result, those who “disappear” are generally Baloch nationalist activists or suspected Baloch militants.

In a 132 page report by Human Rights Watch, “We Can Torture, Kill, or Keep You for Years: Enforced disappearances by Pakistan Security Forces in Balochistan”, it is stated that the government is responsible for most of the abductions and detainees are rarely, if ever, charged with any crime.

The report is comprised of over 100 interviews with former detainees, witnesses, lawyers, family of the “disappeared” and local human rights activists.

While the exact number of enforced disappearances is unknown Human Rights Watch reported that in 2008 Interior Minister Rehman Malik said at least 1,000 victims had disappeared in Balochistan. There is increasing evidence to suggest that many of those who have disappeared have suffered extrajudicial execution while in the custody of the government.

One former detainee, Mazhar Khan, described his abduction from a friend’s home in 2009 when armed men stormed into the home blindfolded both men and drove them to separate locations. Khan was questioned about the Baloch party and then held alone in a dark room for two months before being released on the side of a road. The fate of his friend is still unknown.

Another former detainee, Bashir Azeem, was detained on three separate occasions between 2005 and 2009.  He states that on one occasion his abductors “pushed pins under my nails, put a chair on my back and sat on top of it, and put me for 48 hours into a room where I could only stand but not move. When they took me out, my legs were so swollen that I collapsed on the floor and fainted.”

In some cases witnesses alleged that the detainers wore the same uniformed donned by members of various Pakistani intelligence agencies.  The arresting agency never identified themselves or informed the detainee of the basis for their arrest. Often, the abductors would beat, handcuff, blindfold and then drag the detainee into a vehicle before taking them to an unknown location. In each and every case investigated by Human Rights Watch, detainees who were released and their relatives reported torture and ill treatment while detained. Torture often included beatings with sticks or leather belts, hanging detainees upside down and prolonged sleep and food deprivation.

For more information, please see:

AFP – Pakistan Accused Over Separatists who ‘Disappear’ – 28 July 2011

BBC News – Pakistan Torturing Balochistan Activists, Report Says – 28 July 2011

Human Rights watch – Pakistan: Security Forces ‘Disappear’ Opponents in Balochistan – 28 July 2011

MSNBC – HRW: ‘Disappeared’ Still Haunt Pakistani Province – 28 July 2011

by Hibberd Kline
Impunity Watch, Asia

BEIJING, China — In a statement released on the 27th of July by a human rights group based in China (HRIC), a call for a “full and transparent investigation” for the July 18th violence that rocked the city of Hotan in China’s northwestern Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region was made.

HRIC’s statement follows nine days of inconsistent reports detailing the nature of the incident. Officials initially placed the death toll at “at least 4.” However, China’s state media later reported that Chinese security forces had since raised the figure to 18. Official government sources and state media maintain that the violence occurred when a group of ethnic minority Uyghurs attacked a local police station. Official sources have alternatively referred to the alleged attackers as “Thugs,” perpetrators of an “organized terrorist attack,” “rioters,” “separatists” and “religious extremists.”

The latest official report was released on July 26 in a statement by the Chinese embassy in Turkey. The embassy put the number of attackers at 18. The embassy further alleged that the 18 were “radical religious fundamentalist and violent terrorists” armed with Molotov cocktails, knives and axes.

According to the embassy, one police officer and a few hostages were killed in the attack. China’s official Xinhua news agency reported that police gunned down 14 attackers.

World Uyghur Congress (WUC), a Uyghur exile group based in Germany, tells an entirely different story.

WUC claims that security forces beat 14 people to death and gunned down six others. WUC further suggests that the incident did not take place at the police station, but at a nearby Bazaar where Uyghurs had peacefully gathered to demand the release of previously detained family members. WUC reports that at least 70 people have been detained since the violence began. WUC claims to possess several eye-witness accounts of the incident. This claim is a key factor behind HRIC’s call for a full independent investigation.

The Uyghur population has long chafed under restrictions on their religion and other rights. However, tensions between Xinjiang’s Uyghur ethnic minority and China’s ethnic Han majority have grown markedly strained in recent years.

Xinjiang is currently experiencing significant ethnic Han migration and a coordinated effort by the Chinese government to develop the region’s rich oil and natural gas reserves, which are seen as crucial to China’s economic development.

Was the violence in Hotan an organized terrorist attack, a riot, or a peaceful protest turned violent at the hands of government security forces? With heavy domestic censorship and a foreign media blackout, it is hard to tell, many argue that China’s lack of transparency and consistency in its accounts of the 18 July event do not aid beneficial dialogue.

For more information please see:

Today’s Zaman – China criticiszes press coverage of Hotan incidents – 29 July 2011

World Uyghur Congress – Uyghurs to Stage Demonstration in Vienna to Protest Hotan Incident – 28 July 2011

HRIC – HRIC Calls for Full and Transparent Investigation of July 18 Incident in Hotan – 27 July 2011

Voice of America – Details of Alleged Xinjiang ‘Terrorist Attack’ Still Sketchy – 27 July 2011

China Daily – 14 rioters shot down in Xinjiang attack – 20 July 2011

Global Times – Hotan on high alert after attack – 20 July 2011

Guardian – China raises Xinjiang police station death toll to 18 – 20 July 2011

BBC – Xinjiang police attack was terrorism, China says – 19 July 2011

Sunday Times – China blames ‘terrorists’ for attack in Xinjiang: report – 19 July 2011

Yahoo News – Clash in China’s Xinjiang killed 20: exile group – 19 July 2011