Sectarian outfits, militants behind Balochistan killings: AI

LONDON: Amnesty International (AI) has said that both sectarian groups such as anti-Shia Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (LJ) and their ideological partners and ethnic Baloch groups have been involved in widespread killings of civilians on account of their faith, ethnicity and origin during the course of last year.
Amnesty’s annual report ‘The State of the World’s Human Rights’ was released Monday at its London headquarters by Salil Shetty, Secretary General of Amnesty International, in the presence of campaigners from various countries.
Amnesty report noted that killings remained “particularly prevalent in parts of the northwest and the city of Karachi”. It said, “Ethnic Baloch armed groups calling for a separate state of Balochistan were implicated in the killing and abduction of security forces and others on the basis of their ethnic or political affiliations, and carried out attacks on infrastructure. The anti-Shia armed group Lashkar-e-Jhangvi claimed responsibility for a series of assassinations and other attacks on the Shia Muslim population, particularly in the province of Balochistan and the cities of Karachi and Lahore.”
Amnesty said that at least eight journalists were killed across Pakistan during the year in direct response to their work, marking the country out as “one of the most dangerous in the world for the media profession”. It gave example of high profile Geo and Jang journalist Hamid Mir who was ambushed in Karachi last year by unknown men.
The report said that Jang and Geo journalists were victimised throughout the year as “several journalists associated with the outlet received daily threats and harassment by unidentified individuals by phone and in person. Many refused to enter their offices or identify themselves as belonging to Geo TV or associated media for fear of being attacked”.
The report condemned the suspension of Geo News for two weeks by Pemra and labelled it as harassment and attack on media freedoms.
Amnesty report said that hearings in the treason trial of former military ruler General Pervez Musharraf continued to be delayed, creating tensions between the democratically elected government of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and the powerful military.
The report regretted that despite clear rulings by the Supreme Court to the government in 2013 demanding he recovery of victims of enforced disappearances, “the authorities did little to meet its obligations under international law and the Constitution to prevent these violations”. It said that “men and boys” were subjected to enforced disappearance across Pakistan and particularly in the provinces of Balochistan, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Sindh.
The report added several victims were later found dead, bearing what appeared to be bullet wounds and torture marks. The government did not implement the Supreme Court orders calling for bringing the responsible to justice.
Amnesty noted that religious minorities continued to face laws and practices that resulted in their discrimination and persecution. “Dozens of ethnic Hazaras were killed in attacks in Quetta and other parts of Balochistan; the armed group Lashkar-e-Jhangvi claimed responsibility for many of these, saying they were because the Hazaras were Shia Muslims. Members of the Sikh religious community staged several protests throughout the year against killings, abductions and attacks on their places of worship in different parts of the country.”
“Abuse connected with the blasphemy laws occurred regularly during the year as demonstrated in several high-profile cases,” the report said mentioning the killing of renowned human rights lawyer Rashid Rehman in the city of Multan.
Speaking to The News, Amnesty International spokesperson Mustafa Qadri condemned attacks on journalists and media houses by both state and non-state actors, including political parties who boycott media houses to pressurise them. “2014 was a very difficult year for media in Pakistan. Journalists faced violent threats and harassment in various forms. Pakistan’s highest profile journalist Hamid Mir was ambushed in April last year but his attackers are still free and no one has been brought to justice.”
Qadri said that there were “lots of challenges dealing with threats to journalists but media community also must address the failure of media houses to protect its own staff which is particularly important given how politicised Pakistani media landscape is.”
He called on Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s government to, as a first step, focus on investigating high profile cases such as that of Hamid Mir, Raza Rumi, Saleem Shehzad, Musa Khankhel, Hayatullah Khan, Irshad Mastoi, Abdul Haq Baloch and other journalists whose killers have not been brought to justice. He said that “unprecedented pressure” had been put on media houses last year by political parties as well as militant groups and particularly mentioned Geo TV which faced well-organised campaigns.
“This is an attack on the freedom of expression. It’s a threat to the eyes and ears of the nation. Free media plays a key role in exposing human rights abuses. No militant or political group should attack media freedoms for its political and strategic goals,” Qadri said.