Tag: enforced disappearances

After Enforced Disappearances, Targeted Killings Push Baloch Youth into State of Fear

Balochs who were relieved after their male kin were recently released after being forcibly picked up by the authorities are now fearing for the lives of their children.

Abid Washdil, an 18-year-old young man, works at his father’s puncture shop in Turbat. On Friday, August 24, while he was at the shop, a masked individual entered, pulled out a pistol, and attempted to shoot him. “But the pistol malfunctioned,” his cousin, who wishes to remain anonymous, told The Wire. “The attacker then put the faulty pistol back in his pocket, took out another one, and fired at Abid.”

His bullet-riddled body was initially brought to the hospital. “At first, we were told that he had succumbed to his injuries, and even the local media reported him as dead,” his cousin recounted. “But then a doctor informed us that he had survived and needed to be taken to Karachi immediately, as the hospitals in Turbat lack the necessary facilities.”

The victim’s cousin told The Wire, “When we brought him to the hospital, some men in civilian clothes, armed with guns, suddenly appeared and began taking pictures of him.”

Abid Washdil. Photo: By arrangement.

“I was afraid they might harm him by injecting something lethal,” he added. “I told them to leave and let the doctors attend to him because he was in a very serious condition.”

Abid is currently admitted to a hospital in Karachi, his family told The Wire.

Abid’s family reported that he was just a matriculation student when he became a victim of enforced disappearance on March 21, 2023. He was taken from his home in Aapsar in front of his family members at around 2:30 pm, in broad daylight.

His family staged numerous protests and launched social media campaigns for his return. On February 1 this year, Abid’s family, along with others whose loved ones had been forcibly disappeared, blocked the D Baloch Road, demanding their safe release. In April this year, Abid was handed over to the Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD) and was then later released. However, he was required to appear in court before the CTD in Gwadar, where his trials were ongoing. Six to seven hearings had already taken place.

According to his family, Abid was present in court before the CTD in Gwadar on August 22, and his final hearing was scheduled for August 28. “We were finally beginning to sigh with relief, thinking our son would be freed from this CTD ordeal, but now our hopes have been shattered. Our son is once again fighting for his life,” his family shared.

Additionally, it is important to note that in the past few weeks, locals in Turbat have reported six similar incidents involving victims of enforced disappearances who were previously in CTD custody. These individuals, after being released or completing their court hearings or appearances before the CTD, were later targeted. Some escaped, some were severely injured, and even were killed.

Imtiaz Iqbal is one such case. He was forcibly disappeared by the CTD on May 17, and later released on June 8 without any post-release court appearances required by the CTD, according to his family.

On August 17, while Imtiaz and three friends were riding on two bikes to attend a wedding, two masked gunmen attacked them just a minute away from Imtiaz’s house. Imtiaz was killed in the attack, and his friend Khalil was injured.

Family of Imtiaz Iqbal protest at Turbat press club after he was abducted. Photo: By arrangement.

Imitiaz’s brother said, “We are deprived of a fair life. In the past, when someone was forcibly disappeared, we had two options: either to wait indefinitely or to receive a mutilated body. It was considered a miracle when someone returned home after being forcibly disappeared. We experienced that miracle when Imtiaz was released.” “But now,” his brother said, “I have no words or feelings to describe what it’s like to receive your brother’s mutilated body right after he’s been released.”

In another case, on July 13, Hayat Aslam stepped outside his home and noticed a Corolla car following him. When he tried to flee, he was shot at three to four times, but only one bullet hit him. Despite this, he survived.

Hayat Aslam. Photo: By arrangement.

Hayat was forcibly disappeared on October 13, 2022, presented to the CTD custody on October 21, 2022, and was later released, according to his family.

Sarfaraz and Yousuf are also notable cases reported by their families. Two days before Abid’s incident, they had a narrow escape. While sitting at a French fries stall, Sarfaraz noticed a masked man staring at them suspiciously. When Sarfaraz saw the man with a pistol, he signalled to Yousuf, and both rushed to Yousuf’s nearby house.

Sarfaraz Ayub was forcibly disappeared on October 24, 2023, and Yousuf Baloch on October 25, 2023, by the CTD, but both were later released. They are neighbours in Turbat.

Sebghatullah Baloch, a central organising member of the Baloch Yakjehti Committee and a resident of Turbat Kech, told The Wire that many families of forcibly disappeared individuals in Turbat are now in severe trauma.

“These families have called me and told me they have no place to go. Their sons’ cases are still on trial by the CTD, and they are appearing in court. If they leave the city, they risk being re-arrested, but if they stay, they face the threat of being shot.”

He added that these incidents have created chaos even after the release of their children. “Another tactic is now being added to the Baloch genocide under the guise of target killings. Death squads are operating freely. If the CTD, under some pressure, cannot kill a Baloch, the death squads will do it. The Baloch genocide continues.”

Dr. Sabiha Baloch, a political leader, told The Wire that what is happening in Balochistan is not merely a human rights or civil rights issue, but rather a Baloch genocide.

“We are running movements against enforced disappearances, yet even when people are released, they are being killed by state-backed entities like Death Squads, who can target anyone,” she claimed. “The tactics used to kill Baloch people may change, but the intent remains the same,” she expressed.

As SC Gives Punjab Ex DGP Protection, More Fake Encounter Victims’ Families Seek Justice

Former DGP Sumedh Singh Saini has been accused of torture, ordering enforced disappearances and fake encounter killings.

Jalandhar: As expected, the Supreme Court granted interim protection from arrest to former DGP Sumedh Singh Saini in the 1991 Balwant Singh Multani disappearance and alleged killing case. But that hasn’t dampened the victim’s family’s spirits; they have vowed to fight this case till the very end.

The Supreme Court’s move has also given courage to other victims’ families, who were not speaking out earlier, to come forward. Apart from Multani’s family, another alleged fake encounter case from Ropar near Chandigarh has also come to fore. The brother of a man named Gurmeet Singh has alleged that Gurmeet, too, was illegally detained and killed in custody.

The twist in the Multani case came ten days before Saini was to be presented in the Punjab and Haryana high court. The apex court on September 15 issued a notice to the Punjab government on Saini’s petition seeking anticipatory bail and asked it to respond within three weeks. It also included another one week for Saini to file his rejoinder.

The apex court has asked Saini to cooperate with the Punjab Police in the investigation.

A 1982 batch Indian Police Service (IPS) officer, ex-DGP Sumedh Singh Saini is wanted in the 29-year-old case on the murder of Balwant Singh Multani, the son of former Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer Darshan Singh Multani, on December 18, 1991, during the dark days of militancy in Punjab.

Talking to The Wire, Pradeep Virk, an IPS officer turned lawyer who is the counsel for the complainant, said, “Those who have waited for 29 long years can wait for a few more days, too. It is a long battle. It is because of our faith in the almighty that I and Balwant Singh Multani’s family did not lose hope. We are sure that justice will prevail, as I believe in Satyamev Jayate.”

Virk pointed out that there was a time when this case was nearly closed, but then an FIR was registered and raids were conducted against Saini.

“Balwant Singh Multani was not a terrorist, he was an innocent man. But still he was picked up by the police, illegally detained and tortured. Now, the apex court has asked Saini to cooperate with the Punjab Police in investigation. If he does not cooperate, the SIT heading the case will approach the court for further action,” he said.

The lawyer also said that if people know anything about such forced disappearance or fake encounter cases, or want to come forward, then they should.

Virk is the son of former Punjab DGP S.S. Virk, who served during the previous tenure of chief minister Captain Amarinder Singh from 2002 to 2007. He had quit IPS training just before he finished to pursue law.

What is the case?

A militant attack took place in 1991, in which Saini was injured and three policemen deployed for his security died. Saini believed that Balwant Singh Multani knew the whereabouts of Devinder Pal Singh Bhullar, the suspected mastermind behind the attack. At present, Bhullar is serving life imprisonment in the 1993 Delhi bomb blast case.

In the FIR, Multani’s Jalandhar-based brother Palwinder Singh has stated: “My brother Balwant Singh Multani was employed as Junior Engineer with Chandigarh Industrial and Tourism Development Corporation Limited (CITCO) and resided at Mohali. He was picked by a team of Chandigarh police from his house on December 11, 1991 and taken to sector-17 police station on the orders of the then SSP Chandigarh Sumedh Singh Saini. My father left no stone unturned to secure the release of my brother but to no avail. It was during the police torture that Balwant Singh Multani succumbed to the third-degree treatment of the police.”

Also read: Vikas Dubey’s Killing Reminds Punjab of 2,000+ ‘Disappearances’ During Insurgency

Saini allegedly falsely depicted that sub-inspector Jagir Singh had taken Balwant to Qadian in Batala district on December 18, 1991, where the deceased was shown as a proclaimed offender (PO).

Palwinder Singh approached a Mohali court to reopen the case when two former Punjab Police cops – Jagir Singh and Kuldeep Singh – in their statement to the high court stated that they witnessed how Sumedh Singh Saini tortured Balwant Singh Multani and then shifted him to a vehicle in unconscious state. The cops also claimed that they declared Multani as missing and absconding following Saini’s orders.

An FIR under Sections 364, 201, 344, 330, 219 and 120B of the Indian Penal Code for illegal abduction, inhuman torture leading to elimination and fake disappearance of Balwant Singh Multani was registered at the Mataur police station in district SAS Nagar, Mohali on May 6, 2020.

However, it was after the addition of Section 302 of the IPC (punishment for murder) on August 21, 2020 that Saini fled, leaving behind his Z-plus security while police raids were conducted in Punjab, Chandigarh, Himachal Pradesh, Haryana and Delhi to nab him.

Gurmeet Singh case

On May 4, 1991, Gurmeet Singh (21), a Government College, Ropar student, was picked from outside his college allegedly at the behest of the then SSP Chandigarh, Sumedh Singh Saini.

Ranjit Singh showing a photograph of his brother Gurmeet Singh.

Gurmeet Singh’s younger brother Ranjit Singh (now 45), from Pucca Bagh in Ropar near Chandigarh, said, “As a 16 year old, I too was kept in illegal custody and tortured brutally for 17 days. I still remember how Saini came in the room and told me that he has killed my brother. Saini told me that ‘If you want to remain alive, tell your uncle to stay in his limits, or else get ready to move on to the other side of this world.’ My sisters and mother were beaten too. Till date we remained silent due to fear, but Multani’s case has given us the courage to speak against DGP Saini.”

Ranjit Singh also wrote a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union home minister Amit Shah, the chief justice of India and the chief justice of the Punjab and Haryana high court seeking an inquiry from an impartial investigating agency on Gurmeet’s murder, which had officially been called an ‘encounter’.

Ranjit said that his uncle, Sadhu Singh, started approaching the senior police officials for justice, which irked Saini and their troubles began. “In college, my brother was associated with the All India Sikh Student Federation. He was picked for organising the ‘Akhand Path’ of one of his friends, who too was killed by the police during militancy,” he added.

He said that once they were informed that his brother was alive, his uncle Sadhu Singh reached CIA Staff Patiala to see Gurmeet. “When he saw Gurmeet, he was so brutally tortured that neither he was able to walk, nor talk nor eat anything. That was the last time he saw my brother. Saini is a blot on the police,” he said in a choked voice.

Advocate Kulwant Singh from Ropar

Ranjit Singh alleged, “Advocate Kulwant Singh from Ropar, his wife and son were also allegedly eliminated by Saini. Kulwant’s car was found abandoned near Bhakra Canal and there was no trace of him and his family. Ranjit was supporting our case in the initial days.”

Vinod Kumar case, Ludhiana

Former DGP Saini is also accused of another case of disappearance in which he is facing trial in a special CBI Court in Delhi. On March 15, 1994, Ludhiana-based businessman Vinod, his brother-in-law Ashok Kumar and their driver Mukhtiyar Singh were abducted and illegally detained. Their bodies were never found. Vinod’s mother fought the case till her death at the age of 102 in 2017.

Behbal Kalan firing, 2015

Another case under investigation against DGP Saini is the Behbal Kalan firing incident of 2015. Saini was serving as DGP Punjab, when police opened fire at a crowd protesting against the desecration of the Guru Granth Sahib, killing two Sikh youth in Behbal Kalan village on October 14, 2015.

Also read: Book Review: Exploring Punjab’s Convoluted Past

Punjab chief minister Captain Amarinder Singh constituted an SIT led by inspector general of police Kunwar Vijay Pratap Singh. Recently, Kunwar Vijay Pratap stated that DGP Saini and another suspended IGP, Paramraj Singh Umranangal, were the main conspirators of the Behbal Kalan firing episode, hence adding further trouble for Saini.

Opposition to Saini and the government’s silence

Kanwarpal Singh Randhawa, the spokesperson of Dal Khalsa, a Sikh organisation said, that though the Supreme Court order is a big jolt for the victims, they will continue to fight. “After 29 years, there was a ray of hope in the Balwant Singh Multani case, but the Supreme Court completely overlooked the human rights violations and the rule of law. The court treated Saini with velvet gloves while the executive, judiciary and legislature gave him a free run to get legal reprieve. We are hopeful that the stay will be vacated and he will be arrested,” he said.

Randhawa said that Dal Khalsa leaders were in touch with other victims and would bring them to the fore. “One such victim was Babbar Khalsa militant Balwinder Singh Jattana, whose entire family was burnt alive at night by a close aide of Saini’s,” he added.

Dal Khalsa had also put up posters of ‘Killer ex-Cop wanted’ in Amritsar and at Saini’s native village Kurala in Hoshiarpur district.

Dal Khalsa members putting up posters against Saini in Kurala village, Hoshiarpur.

Even Shiromani Akali Dal’s Amritsar president Simranjit Singh Mann, who is an IPS officer turned politician, said, “Had I been an IPS officer today, I would have arrested DGP Saini and set an example. Saini is a genocidaire.”

Notably, the SAD in its election manifesto of 1997 had announced that it would take up cases of fake encounters and forced disappearances after coming to power. “Leave justice and fighting our cases, the SAD-BJP alliance appointed Sumedh Singh Saini as DGP Punjab in 2012. It was like rubbing salt in our wounds. But then the Akalis had to remove Saini following mass protests in the Behbal Kalan firing case,” Ranjit Singh said.

“The public taught a lesson to Akalis in the 2017 Punjab assembly elections and they failed to even emerge as the main opposition in the state,” said a SAD party worker, requesting anonymity.

Voices Against Enforced Disappearances Echo Across Pakistan

Over 4,000 people have gone missing since 2011, and activists and family members are questioning the government’s silence.

Karachi (Pakistan): Even after being in the national and international news for years, the menace of enforced disappearances in Pakistan is far from over, thanks to the lackadaisical attitude – or even tacit involvement – of state authorities. More than 4,000 cases of enforced disappearances have been reported, and the victims and their families are still awaiting either recovery or justice, as the case may be.

Reports claim that those who have been harassed and have gone missing include activists, bloggers and journalists. Activist Raza Khan from Lahore, Punjab, went missing on December 2, 2017. He was a member of Aghaz-e-Dosti (Initiation of Friendship), an initiative that promotes peace between India and Pakistan.

Voices against enforced disappearances are being heard from various parts of Pakistan. For instance, the Voice for Baloch Missing Persons held a long march, led by Abdul Qadeer Baloch, also known as Mama Qadeer Baloch, on foot from Quetta to Islamabad in 2014.

Manzoor Pashteen from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa led the Tahafuz Movement for the Pashtun minority to raise their voice for missing persons in the country.

Sindhi women members of the forum Voice for Missing Persons of Sindh led a 72-hour hunger strike from May 20-22, 2018 in Karachi, the capital of Sindh, demanding the release of their abducted family members.

State police resorted to violence against a non-violent protest at the Karachi Press Club in order to remove a camp set up by the women. Local police were seen beating up protestors and behaving cruelly towards women. A young woman’s shirt was torn.

“We saw some people in civilian dress moving around the camp when one of them, whose face was covered with a piece of cloth, started chanting anti-state slogans. When I pointed out the man who was chanting the slogans, he went to stand behind the forces. I think authorities send such people to disturb the situation in such events. State police arrested protestors and misbehaved with young ladies,” said Assad Butt, focal person of the Sindh chapter of Human Rights Commission of Pakistan.

Butt added, “I begged them not to turn the situation into a war zone. These people were in anguish, and they wanted to know the whereabouts of their family members legally. It is not an unconstitutional demand, and the state ought to listen to them.”

Voices of missing persons’ families

“Hunger strike was our last option to shake the authorities who have not heard our cries for justice for 14 months,” said Sassui Lohar, daughter of Hidayat Lohar, a school teacher who was abducted on April 17, 2017 from school premises. “We moved from one police station to another to lodge a First Information Report (FIR).We were told by the police that our father had been taken by high authorities and that they could not register an FIR,” said Sassui.

After the abduction of her father, Sassui said, her family has been going through a tough time. “I and my sister, Sorath, who is with the forum for missing persons, stopped studying due to our worsening financial condition and started working to support our family and also to continue the struggle for Baba (father).”

“When your protector turns against you, what hope of protection can you have from the government?” asked Sassui.

“Our people were holding a peaceful protest; we did not even utter a harsh word against them. The authorities conveyed through their behaviour that something bad might happen to us,” Sassui said, narrating the situation at the hunger strike camp. “Even though we tried to avoid them, one man who was later identified as belonging to the forces, suddenly abused, beat and arrested our people,” she said.

“I refused to change my clothes which were torn by the police until the authorities came and we showed them how their men had behaved with us. We are not the only ones to suffer; many families from across the Sindh, as well as many other parts of Pakistan, are suffering,” Sassui continued.

Tanveer Areejo (R) and Sorath Lohar (C) seen at the hunger strike camp. Credit: Facebook

Tanveer Areejo (R) and Sorath Lohar (C) seen at the hunger strike camp. Credit: Facebook

Tanveer Areejo, whose father, Khadim Hussain Areejo, was taken on April 17, 2017 from Hyderabad, said, “My father, who works with the government, was abducted on his way to work along with my cousin. However, they later released my cousin, who told us how some people came in big cars, carrying guns. My cousin was told, ‘You could go now, and your uncle will come after investigation’.”

“There are people with different opinions in Pakistan. But that does not mean that they should be arrested for their beliefs. Moreover, my father was not affiliated with any political party. He was 57 years old,” said Areejo.

“I never imagined that one day I would become the leading voice of the missing persons’ forum, Sindh,” said Sorath, Hidayat Lohar’s other daughter and deputy convener of VMP Sindh. Initiated by all political parties of Sindh, the VMPS forum itself came under stress when its convener, Puhnal Sariyo, was also abducted. Sariyo was later released, but he could not continue his work at the forum due to health issues. So the responsibility of raising a voice for the 160 missing persons in Sindh fell on Sorath’s shoulders. “I told myself that I must accept it and challenge myself to fight for our fundamental rights,” she said.

Sorath complained that whereas internationally acclaimed terrorists such as Hafiz Saeed had the right to hold protests, those who expressed different opinions were being abducted.

“We are being punished for having views on human rights,” said Sorath.

She added, “We are not asking anything undemocratic. We are simply asking them to show us our family members and to present them in the court if they have committed any wrongdoing. If our demands our illegal, they should tell us that what we are demanding is unconstitutional. They don’t realise the sorrow, the struggle for survival and mental torture we are facing at the hands of state authorities.”

“I have felt that having an education gives me the strength to raise my voice for justice. But what happens to families whose children are being taken from villages and whose voices have fallen on deaf ears?” asked Sorath.

The family of Inaam Abbasi, a magazine editor who was also abducted, said that Abbasi was involved neither in any political activity nor in anti-state activities. Ironically, his magazine had taken projects from the Sindh cultural department. How was it then possible to go against the state with controversial political activities? they asked.

Contradictory data over enforced disappearances

The state is seen denying the number of missing persons as claimed by human rights organisations. The National Assembly standing committee on human rights claims a total of 4,608 missing persons from 2011 till December 2017.

This number is dismissed by activists as a gross underestimate. Wahab Baloch, president of the Baloch Rights Council, said that 14,000 people have been abducted from Balochistan and another 32,000 from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

Sorath Lohar (R) and Sassui Lohar (C)lead a protest. Credit: Sassui Lohar/Facebook

Sorath Lohar (R) and
Sassui Lohar (C) lead a protest. Credit: Sassui Lohar/Facebook

In Sindh, almost 200 persons are missing, of whom 160 are Sindhis, 24 belong to the Christian minority and 26 are Shia, said Assad Butt.

Butt added that the state authorities did not accept the numbers being provided to them. Unlike in other cases, there is CCTV footage in the cases of missing Shia persons which clearly show who had taken them away. Despite such proof, the judiciary and the authorities are still in denial.

In the case of Raza Khan, state authorities say that they have no idea about his whereabouts.

Missing persons’ families blackmailed into paying bribes

“I do not see a fair system in the society; we have to pay a bribe to get a hearing date. Otherwise, we are given a long list of pending cases. I personally hate paying a bribe, but I have no option but to approach the judiciary for recovery of my Baba. So I paid around 4,000-5,000 Pakistani rupees for each hearing date,” said Tanveer Areejo.

Many cases of enforced disappearances are still pending in the court due to the lack of seriousness on issues of human rights.

Sorath said that the family members of missing persons go through a difficult process during hearings. They are asked to pay money to the police for providing clothes to the missing ones. “When the abductees are not in the custody of the local police, how can they take money from the poor families?” she asked.

Government adds insult to injury of victims

Sindh’s minister for information Syed Nasir Hussain Shah and home minister Sohail Anwar Khan Siyal of the Pakistan Peoples Party-led provincial government visited the hunger strike camp. There, Siyal expressed his surprise that citizens were being disappeared forcibly.

According to Sorath, the home minister blamed dacoits, claiming that they could be behind the abductions. “But who is responsible for protecting us even if dacoits abducted our family members? Would those who blamed the dacoits for the disappearances give us justice?” she asked.

Shah was not available for a comment despite repeated attempts to contact him.

Missing persons’ voices united across Pakistan

“Sorath, Tanveer and Sassui are brave Sindhi women who have the courage to ask for their fundamental rights. HRCP always supports all victims, no matter where we have to hold protests, including in front of the offices of the security forces. Now the time has come to solve these issues according to human rights and constitutional laws,” said Assad Butt.

Sorath and Tanveer both seemed confident of getting justice. They said that they were humiliated during the hunger strike, but they were also getting more strength and support from various part of the society.

When they began to raise their voices, they were alone, with support from only a small number of people. “But things have changed now, and voices of support are coming in from Punjab,” said Wahab.

“Our movement will not stop until all our family members are released. We are asking for our fundamental rights that are written in the constitution of Pakistan,” said Sorath.

Veengas is a Karachi-based journalist who focuses on human rights and political issues. Twitter: @veengasj

Meet the Pakistani Journalist in Exile Documenting Censorship Across South Asia

An interview with Taha Siddiqui, who was forced to flee to France after a failed abduction attempt, brings to the fore how freedom of expression and speech is being curtailed in newsrooms across South Asia.

While Pakistan continues to cement its reputation as one of the world’s most unsafe countries for journalists, there has been a strong pushback from young media professionals like Taha Siddiqui who refuse to bow down to the diktats of the country’s powerful military and intelligence agencies.

Siddiqui, 34, who was based out of Islamabad until earlier this year, and has now moved to Paris, is an example of dogged resistance. He is an award-winning investigative journalist whose work has appeared in the New York Times, the Guardian, France24, Christian Science Monitor and various other international news organisations. He has also served as the Pakistan Bureau Chief of the television channel World Is One News (WION).

The knowledge that he could become just another number in the roster of journalists and activists who have been killed in Pakistan for raising their voice against the establishment has not softened his critique. Even a failed abduction attempt that brought him very close to losing his life could not shut him up. Siddiqui was emboldened to carry on his work but made the pragmatic choice of seeking safety in Paris.

In an exclusive interview with The Wire, he talks about all the travails he has endured to assert his personal and professional freedom and a new initiative called safenewsrooms.org that he launched recently to unearth and document stories of censorship from newsrooms in South Asia.

Siddqui also speaks about the story he was working on at the time he was attacked – the story of Pakistani activist Raza Khan who worked on building peace between Pakistan and India by facilitating Skype conversations between children of both countries. June 2, 2018, marked six months of Khan’s enforced disappearance, allegedly at the hands of Pakistan’s security agencies.

Excerpts from an email interview:

Leaving Pakistan must have been a painful decision for someone like you who seems so committed to improving the situation back home in terms of civil liberties and media freedoms. What made you decide/realise that continuing to live in Pakistan was no longer an option?

I met with Ahsan Iqbal, Pakistan’s interior minister a few weeks before I decided to leave with my wife and my four-year-old son. He advised that I write a letter to the army chief asking for forgiveness. Then, another journalist friend met with the Pakistani Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi and mentioned my case. He told him that, in such cases, the government is helpless.

That is when I realised that there is very little I can expect in terms of protection going forward. And since I wanted to continue speaking about freedom of expression, I chose to compromise my residency over compromising my right to speak freely. It has been a difficult period since I have moved, giving up the comforts of a settled life in Islamabad. But I wanted to tell the story, and live to tell it, and therefore the best option available was to relocate – at least for the time being.

How did you go about seeking asylum in France? What were the challenges that you and your family had to encounter during this time?

I have not yet gotten any asylum. I was offered a transfer by one of the news organisations I was employed with and that helped me. But it is a part time job and not a permanent one. I am looking for full-time work. Also, international journalist bodies and human rights organisations came forward to support me.

The challenges are numerous, from learning the language to adjusting to a different lifestyle, but that happens with anyone moving to a new country. In our case, the constant reminder when we encounter any problems is that this was not a choice – we were forced to move because of my work, and journalism is no crime.

A single day changed my life – from having a home to becoming homeless – uprooted from the country I was born in and that I have always called home. Fortunately, given my international connections, I was able to relocate and when I think of my journalist colleagues back home who are continuing to work in dangerous conditions, I at least feel a bit relieved that I no longer have to face the same.

Did you feel supported or let down by fellow journalists in Pakistan after you spoke publicly about escaping an abduction attempt and threats to your life? What kind of response were you expecting from your fraternity?

My peers were quite supportive but senior journalists in Pakistan disappointed me, especially those who I thought would stand by me in such troubling times. Most of these so-called senior journalists advised me to stay quiet, saying I had gotten a second chance.

Some advised having a reconciliation with the military through their contacts. Some even said that “I was asking for it” – so there was a lot of victim-blaming, especially by those who claim to be looking out for the journalistic community. It turned out that those who I knew well in the senior journalist community who, many a time I had even hosted at my house, totally disappeared on me. Instead, strangers among the journalist community came forward to support me – for example, the main journalist unions in Pakistan backed me and Young Journalists of Pakistan even held a protest against my failed abduction.

How would you describe the current environment in Pakistan as far as media censorship is concerned?

The space for independent and investigative media keeps shrinking in Pakistan. Mainstream media is being forced into censorship through threats, both physical and financial. I know of some cases where even advertisers are being asked to stop advertising with certain news organisations. The Pakistani military, which runs a shadow government, has managed to control all local Urdu news channels and newspapers, while the English medium papers are also slowly falling in line. So, coverage stories regarding the military’s excesses are never reported, and at the same time, the propaganda by the military’s media wing is reproduced.

Though you are thousands of miles away from Pakistan, your resistance to media censorship in the country has only grown stronger with your new initiative – SAFE Newsrooms. Could you please share a bit about why you decided to create this platform and what you hope to accomplish through it?

Safenewsrooms.org is currently a self-funded digital media initiative that I launched this World Press Freedom day, the May 3, 2018. The idea behind it is to give a voice to journalists in South Asia facing censorship. While the SAFE stands for safety, it also stands for South Asians for Freedom of Expression.

The website reaches out not only to those exercise censorship, i.e. the media, but also to the victims of censorship, since there are many topics that are not reported in South Asia. In future, we plan to partner with international and local media organisations to expand our outreach, and also conduct training and advocacy programs to build capacities of journalists to fight back the censorship, which many have internalised, or face from external actors on a daily basis.

I want to continue working on human rights in Pakistan and South Asia, and given my reporting experience in this region, and my own recent harrowing experience of surviving an abduction attempt, I aim to build safenewsrooms.org into a platform through which South Asian journalists continue to fight back, just like I am.

Instead of focusing only on Pakistan, you have a wider mandate to highlight media censorship in the entire region – India and Bangladesh in particular. What are the common trends that you see in these three countries in terms of media ownership, and regulation by the state?

Across South Asia, freedom of expression, press and speech is being curtailed in different ways. In Pakistan, it is the military, the militants and the powerful business elite. In India, the Narendra Modi-led government is harassing the media, while many media owners and editors are supporting flawed narratives of the state as we saw recently in the sting operation carried out by a local Indian news organisation that exposed the corruption among the senior hierarchy in news organisations.

In Bangladesh, we also see how secular voices and those speaking against the regime, the military, are silenced. Going forward, we plan to cover Sri Lanka as the media there is also not free. Also, Afghanistan and other countries in the South Asian region will be covered too. The scope we have in mind is quite large, and that is why I am actively looking for funding options, as I can only do very limited work currently with the resources I have, especially in the circumstances I am in – with no proper job, and being in exile, things are already difficult, but I am not the kind who gives up when it comes to continuing to exercise my right to freedom of expression. I am confident safenewsrooms.org will achieve what it intends to.

One of the issues that you have been very vocal about is that of enforced disappearances and extra-judicial killings by the Pakistani military. After you moved to France, a strong non-violent movement against these state-sponsored atrocities has arisen in the form of the Pashtun Tahaffuz Movement. How would you assess the gains it has made so far?

The Pashtun Tahaffuz Movement has been challenging the military, and they are gaining numbers, which is setting quite a precedent. The Pashtun community is the second largest ethnicity in the country. I feel the movement is growing so fast because the message it has resonates with many Pakistanis today who are tired of the atrocities being carried out by the Pakistani military. And this is despite the media blackout they face in Pakistan. Just to let you know, I recently interviewed one of the movement leaders for safenewsrooms.org because of this censorship they face and I have also done a few pieces on media attitudes towards Pashtuns.

Raza Khan. Credit: Facebook

Despite the wide attention given to cases of enforced disappearances – at least on social media – there has been no progress in the case of Pakistani activist Raza Khan who was abducted in December 2017. In fact, you kept speaking about his case even after you were attacked. What are the legal options left for those who are still awaiting his return?

The courts and the police are helpless. From what I know, some of the authorities actually have an idea where Raza is and how he is being kept in a secret military prison, but everyone is too afraid to intervene because of the repercussions they may face from the military.

From what I last heard, but please cross check – the case has been dismissed by the courts, and referred back to an ineffective organisation called The Commission of Inquiry on Enforced Disappearances, which has done nothing so far in recovering Raza or thousands of other Pakistanis who have disappeared and continue to disappear in Pakistan.

I would just like to mention here that these people are not missing, but are actually political prisoners who are even being denied the recognition of being prisoners. Here again, my project safenewsrooms.org comes into action as we recently carried an opinion by one of Raza’s friend about how Pakistani media censors stories when it comes to such abductions.

You were investigating Raza Khan’s case but apparently a lot of the material you had gathered was taken away by your attackers. What, according to you, remains unsaid about Raza’s story? What does the world need to know?

Yes, they took away my hard drive that had my story on Raza. As I mentioned, Raza’s story has not been covered extensively, especially in Pakistan, and therefore it needs to reproduced – that is the only tool we have to fight back and ensure that one day, the military releases him and others who they are reportedly keeping in illegal detentions.

On April 5, 2018, you wrote an open letter to the Army Chief, which was published in the Guardian. On February 20, you spoke at the Geneva Summit for Human Rights and Democracy about your life in exile. How does your voice at these international forums help to strengthen grassroots struggles back home?

Many internationally believe Pakistan is a democracy, ever since [Pervez] Musharraf was ousted in 2007, but very few know that since the restoration of a democratic setup, the military has actively continued to run the country, while putting up a facade of an elected government. Through my international activism I am trying to give a voice to the people of Pakistan who are oppressed on a daily basis by the Pakistan Army, and dare not to talk about them. Some even co-opt.

I get invited regularly to speak at different forums, and my aim is to not just raise awareness about human rights abuses in Pakistan but also remind the international community of its commitment in upholding values that modern civilised societies practice, and which are violated by Pakistan and therefore the global community has to speak up too instead of being silent spectators due to diplomatic or business concerns they might be engaged with when it comes to a relationship with Pakistan.

What are you planning to do in the months ahead, with Pakistan’s general elections round the corner, and your own challenges with adjusting to life in a new country?

I plan to resume my print and television reporting for different international outlets. My main focus is safenewsrooms.org and as I mentioned earlier, I am looking at ways to expand our coverage and resources so I am looking finding partners to work with me on this initiative.

With Nawaz Sharif being disqualified from contesting elections, and Imran Khan cosying up to the Taliban, what does the future hold for democratic institutions and processes in Pakistan?

As we are seeing, leading up to the elections Nawaz is even being censored on mainstream media – another issue that we have covered on safenewsrooms.org. There is a lot of pre-poll rigging on going right now and no one wants to report it as it is, and therefore the upcoming elections are unlikely to be fair or free if the situation remains the same. We have already seen a compromised media and judiciary. Next up is the parliament – and we have already seen that in the senate, where they manipulated the vote to bring in a military-friendly chairperson. The military is well on its way to ensure complete control or as some refer to it nowadays – a soft coup where all other institutions are just for cosmetics.

Sheikh Hasina Complicit in Secret Detentions by Bangladesh Intelligence, Says Source

Interviews with a close political colleague of the prime minister are the first time that evidence has pointed towards the prime minister’s direct involvement. Under the current regime, there have been hundreds of secret detentions by law enforcement authorities, many involving the opposition.

London: Bangladesh’s prime minister signed off on secret detentions by the country’s intelligence services as part of a widening crackdown on the opposition, a close associate has claimed.

Sheikh Hasina is said to have given the country’s military intelligence agency Directorate General of Forces Intelligence, known as DGFI, “clearance” to illegally pick up two men linked with the opposition who were secretly detained for months.

The whereabouts of one of the men remains unknown, 20 months after he was detained.

Bangladesh has faced severe criticism from human rights organisations over its record of enforced disappearances.

Under the current administration, there have been hundreds of secret detentions by law enforcement authorities, many involving the political opposition, with dozens of victims turning up dead or never returning.

Early last year, the United Nations Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances, and other UN experts, called on “Bangladesh to act now to halt an increasing number of enforced disappearances in the country”.

At the end of 2017, the Bangladesh human rights organisation Odhikar had identified over 180 cases of disappearances in the previous two years of which the dead bodies of 28 had subsequently been found, and the whereabouts of over 25 people remain unknown.

The interviews with the associate, a close political colleague of Sheikh Hasina, are however the first time that evidence has pointed towards the prime minister’s direct involvement in secret detentions.

Bangladesh Law enforcement authorities and government officials have repeatedly denied the detentions. The associate spoke on condition that his identity would not be disclosed, fearing repercussions. The revelation comes as the prime minister’s son Sajeeb Wazed Joy wrote an article denying the government was involved in any disappearances.

In November 2017, The Wire revealed that the academic Mubashar Hasan was picked up and was being secretly detained by DGFI, after which the Bangladesh authorities blocked the website. Hasan was subsequently released after six weeks.

The political associate of the prime minister said that the disappearances of both Mir Ahmed Bin Quasem, a British-trained barrister who was picked up from his flat in Dhaka in front of his wife and children, and Hummam Quader Chowdhury, who was taken from his car as his mother watched, were “authorised by the prime minister” in August 2016 after DFGI approached Sheikh Hasina with a “concocted” story about a conspiracy between them against the government.

Hummam Quader Chowdhury and Mir Ahmed Bin Quasem. Credit: Facebook

Hummam Quader Chowdhury and Mir Ahmed Bin Quasem. Credit: Facebook

The men were picked up six weeks after militants linked to the Islamic State stormed on July 1, 2016, an upscale restaurant in the capital city of Dhaka killing 20 foreigners, an attack that followed a string of murders of atheist bloggers and others belonging to religious minorities.

The Awami League government was intent at that time in pinning responsibility for the attacks on the opposition parties.

“I think it could also have been the intelligence agencies trying to take credit with the prime minister. … They do some high profile things like that,” the associate said.

Bin Quasem, also known as Arman, is the son of a Jamaat-e-Islami leader who was subsequently executed for crimes committed during the country’s independence war. Chowdhury’s father was a prominent leader of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party and was also executed for 1971 war crimes.

Whilst Chowdhury was released onto the streets of Dhaka in April 2017 after disappearing for seven months, Bin Quasem remains missing.

Chowdhury and his family have refused to speak about his ordeal.

The prime minister’s close political associate said that Chowdhury was first detained in the custody of detective branch of the police, but that “after they picked up [Quasem], then both of them were handed to DGFI”.

Speaking specifically about Chowdhury, the associate said that “Without her clearance, they wouldn’t pick him up” and that “of course” Hasina knew that “[Chowdhury] was continuing to being detained.”.

“This whole thing happened in such a way that officially the government, you cannot pinpoint the government, the prime minister or anybody,” the prime minister’s political associate added.

Michael Polak, the UK lawyer acting for Mir Quasem said, “This is evidence that the prime minister had a direct hand in Arman’s fate and should she wished she could release him tomorrow.”

Tahera Tasneem, Quasem’s sister said, “Our entire family is shattered in grief and sorrow. We want him back as soon as possible.”

The political associate also suggested that a month before, Sheikh Hasina had known about the month long secret detention of Hasnat Karim, a British Bangladeshi, and of Canadian-Bangladeshi student Tahmid Hasib Khan who were suspected of being involved in the terror attack at the Holey Artisan Bakery café in July 2016. Both men, guests at the restaurant on the night of the attack, were subsequently formally arrested, and Karim has remained in prison since then, without charge.

No surprise

Analysts said that the associate’s claims about the prime minister’s involvement are not unexpected.

Mohammad Ashrafuzzaman, of the Bangladesh desk for the Asian Human Rights Commission, said: “I am not surprised at all that the Prime Minister is said to have authorised secret detentions and disappearances.” He said that cases they and their sister organisation the Asian Legal Resource Centre have investigated point towards the Sheikh Hasina “being directly involved in instructing the state agencies to disappear high profile people having political affiliation with the opposition”.

Charu Lata Hogg, Associate Fellow, Asia Program at Chatham House, added, “The spate of extra judicial executions and disappearances has persisted. These new allegations come as no surprise as state complicity in such rights abuses has long been documented by rights groups.”

Sheikh Hasina has not responded to repeated requests for comment on the allegations.

The political associate said that a number of different state agencies are involved in the dozens of people picked up and secretly detained including the paramilitary organisation, Rapid Action Battalion (RAB), the detective branch of the police, the counter-terrorism unit, the special branch and DGFI.

Bangladesh’s Rapid Action Battalion (RAB). Credit: Reuters

“The most active used to be RAB, then they felt that RAB was getting a very bad reputation, then they said ok let the DB do it. …Then DB started these so called encounters and shoots outs, things like that so what RAB was doing DB also started doing, they were also sanctioned to do it. So there was not much difference between the two of them.

“In the case of Humam and Mir Quasem’s son, unfortunately the initiator was DGFI. …That is a different kettle off fish completely.”

The Awami League came to power in 2009 after a landslide victory, but only remained in government after winning controversial elections boycotted by the main opposition parties the Bangladesh Nationalist Party and the Jamaat-e-Islami. New elections are due later this year. Commentators question whether it will be a free and fair contest.

David Bergman is a journalist who also runs who also runs the Bangladesh Politico blog. Follow him on Twitter @davidbangladesh.

Surge in Human Rights Abuse in J&K in 2017; Torture Remained Under-Reported: Report

A report on human rights in Jammu and Kashmir found that the “uprising of 2016”, contrary to government claims, carried forward into 2017.

A report on human rights in Jammu and Kashmir found that the “uprising of 2016”, contrary to government claims, carried forward into 2017.

The JKCCS observed that torture continued to be the “most ignored and under-reported subject in Jammu and Kashmir”. Credit: Reuters

The Jammu Kashmir Coalition of Civil Society (JKCCS) has, in its annual review of human rights in Jammu and Kashmir, stated that the state in 2017 “witnessed an upward surge in human rights abuses” in comparison to the previous year.

The JKCCS observed that torture continued to be the “most ignored and under-reported subject in Jammu and Kashmir” and that “denial of access to UN delegates or denying visas to human rights activists and journalists only illustrates that the government of India is scared of accurate information about widespread rights violations in Kashmir being disseminated”.

The organisation said that even though the Kashmir Valley was gripped in a mass uprising following Burhan Wani’s killing in July 2016, when it came to the graph of killings, “the year 2017 witnessed a total of 450 killings, which included civilians, militants and armed forces”.

Uprising of 2016 carried into 2017

The report finds that the “uprising of 2016”, contrary to government claims, carried forward into 2017 with widespread student protests witnessed in almost every district of the valley following armed forces’ assault on students in Pulwama Degree College in April. “Hundreds of students were injured in clashes with the armed forces and many were arrested. Schools and colleges of the Valley remained shut for many days and in some cases even for weeks during this cycle of protests,” the report read.

Also read: Anger in Kashmir Mounts Following Killing of Three Civilians at Encounter Sites

The report also mentioned how the student protests were preceded by unprecedented election day violence on April 9, when at least eight civilians were shot dead by armed forces personnel in Budgam and Ganderbal during the Srinagar by-election. Referring to the case of Farooq Ahmad Dar, it said, “on the day of the by-election in Srinagar constituency in April, a civilian was first tortured and then used as a human shield by an army major in Beerwah, after he had cast his vote, causing widespread condemnation and media coverage of the event.”

The annual report also stated that the use of pellet guns against civilian protestors, which had drawn widespread condemnation in 2016, continued unabated in Kashmir, with fresh cases of pellet injuries reported throughout the year. It also claimed that there were “a few incidents of enforced disappearances in Kupwara and Handwara districts of the valley”.

Encounter site civilian killings mount with ‘Operation All Out’

The JKCCS found that while the ‘Operation All Out’, launched by the army in June 2017, has so far resulted in the killing of 217 militants, the highest in the last eight years, the frequency of encounters has also resulted in “what has been termed ‘encounter-site civilian killings’ in which at least 19 civilians have been shot dead by armed forces personnel”.

On the issue of civilian killing, it said, the government probes ordered into the four cases in 2016 had not shown much progress. “In the high profile case of Tufail Matoo, who was shot dead in 2010, the government has refused to share the findings of the Koul Commission report with the public, least of all with those who participated in the formation of the report and gave testimonies to the one-man commission, which was constituted by Omar Abdullah government to probe the civilian killings of 2010 and assign responsibility for the killings.”

The JKCCS found that while the ‘Operation All Out’, launched by the army in June 2017, has so far resulted in the killing of 217 militants. Credit: Reuters

One thousand fifty-nine political activists and alleged stone-pelters booked under PSA

The report has also charged that “the much-abused practice of administrative detention in the form of Public Safety Act (PSA) continued to be used as a mechanism by the government to curtail and curb dissent”. In the last three years, it said, as many as 1059 PSA dossiers have been prepared against political activists and youths accused of stone-throwing.

The assault on media and freedom of expression also continued through the year, the report alleged, saying eight such cases were reported in the Valley, including the arrest of photojournalist Kamran Yousuf by National Investigating Agency (NIA) in September. Further, it said, internet and social media continue to remain easy targets of government’s assault on freedom of expression, with frequent bans and gag orders becoming a routine practice.

Also read: One Year After Burhan Wani’s Death, the End of Militancy Is Still Elusive

The JKCCS said that the government also issued an 18-page order in December directing its employees to not post ‘political content’ on their private social media pages, sending out a clear message that it was bent upon curtailing any discussion of the political and human rights situation in the Valley.

Over 2000 unmarked graves pose a question about the many ‘missing’

In October 2017, the report said, the State Human Rights Commission (SHRC) again urged the government to conduct investigations into the presence of 2080 unmarked and mass graves in twin district of Poonch and Rajouri in Jammu province. But, it said, the government refused to act on the recommendation.

The report also made a mention of the mass assault on Kashmiri prisoners at Tihar jail in New Delhi in November.

Flagging the issue of denial of access to international bodies to visit Kashmir for ascertaining human rights violations, the report said in March, the UN High Commissioner had reiterated his demand to visit Kashmir which was refused by India. “International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) team members and various other human rights activists and journalists have been repeatedly denied visas for visiting Kashmir. One such glaring case is of Edward Paul Comiti, a French journalist who visited Kashmir on a business visa but was arrested by the police and later discharged by the court. This denial of access to UN delegates or denying visas to human rights activists and journalists only illustrates that the Government of India is scared of accurate information about about widespread rights violations in Kashmir being disseminated,” the report said.

Braid chopping haunted state like mysterious ghosts did in 1990s

The report said that the 150-odd cases of braid and hair chopping reported in the Valley “created mass scare and confusion” leading to protests and clashes between civilians and government forces, in which one person lost his life and several others got injured.

It claimed, “There were incidents which indicated the involvement of the armed forces and/or covert intelligence agencies behind the braid chopping. Braid chopping incidents were a chilly reminder of the early 1990s when mysterious ghosts believed to haunt the civilian population during nights.” The report stated that when people were able to catch hold of the assailants (braid choppers), the army and police mysteriously appeared to rescue these persons.

We Shouldn’t Expect Released ‘Secret Detainees’ in Bangladesh to Talk About What Happened

Three men recently released have denied that they were in law enforcement custody. That’s not surprising, given the threats and intimidation involved.

Three men recently released have denied that they were in law enforcement custody. That’s not surprising, given the threats and intimidation involved.

Representative image of Bangladesh police. Credit: Reuters/Adnan Abidi

Representative image of Bangladesh police. Credit: Reuters/Adnan Abidi

Last week, academic Mubashar Hasan, allegedly held in secret detention by Bangladesh’s military intelligence agency for 44 days, was released blindfolded onto the streets of Dhaka. This followed the release a day earlier of journalist Utpal Das, also believed to have been in secret custody for over two months. In the same week, another disappeared man, Aminur Rahman, was also ‘released’, again apparently from secret detention, though this time he was brought to court and ordered back into state custody after police accused him of involvement in a bomb attack.

In short interviews with the media after their release, none of the three men have said that they were in law enforcement custody.

Hasan told journalists that on November 7, his Uber taxi was stopped and he was dragged into a white microbus. He was kept in a room with one window “which was always kept shut” and “the captors used to argue with each other whether they would kill me or not”. When Hasan was asked by reporters whether the captors spoke to him he said, “Yes they did…. It was for money.”

Das told reporters, “The room I was kept in had no bed, so I slept on the floor. The door was locked all the time, and food was delivered from under the door. … My abductors demanded money from me and slapped me around on a few occasions.”

Some people have suggested that the interviews show the men were simply kidnapped for ransom – and that the state was not involved in their detention. The home minister has gone so far as to praise police investigative action for getting the men released.

However, since 2010 when secret detentions and disappearances started in significant numbers, those lucky few who are released almost never speak publicly about their detention in state custody because they are threatened before being released. Having spent weeks or months in secret detention, not knowing whether they would be released alive, future threats to the detainees freedom and safety, as well as those to their families, are highly effective in keeping them mum.

Secret detention of a war crimes trial witness

The one exception to this silence was Sukhranjan Bali, a prosecution-turned-defence witness at the International Crimes Tribunal who was picked up by law enforcement officials from outside the court gates in November 2012. Speaking from an Indian jail a few months later, he said he was “abducted from the court premises in a police van and was taken to an office in Dhaka”, which he later thought belonged to the Detective Branch of the police because of words on a paper stamp which he saw on the desk.

“[The] people in the office were in police uniforms and the ones who abducted me were in civil clothes,” he said. “I was being asked the reason why I was supportive of Sayedee sahib [Delwar Hossain Sayeedi]. They said that I will be killed and Sayedee sahib will be hanged.” According to his statement, Bali remained in illegal detention in Dhaka for six weeks before being handed over to India’s Border Security Force near the end of December 2012, and was detained in different Indian jails since then where he was prosecuted and convicted for illegal entry.

The Bangladesh authorities have repeatedly denied any involvement in his abduction, secret detention and passing over to the Indian authorities – though eyewitnesses were present when it happened.

A cartoon on secret detentions in Bangladesh. Credit: credit Mehedi Haque/The New Age

A cartoon on secret detentions in Bangladesh. Credit: Mehedi Haque/The New Age

Testimony of secret detention

Whilst researching a recent report for Human Rights Watch on disappearances, I interviewed a number of men who were picked up and secretly detained, who spoke on the condition that their identity – as well as the location and time of their detention – would not be disclosed. This is because they remain extremely fearful for their own and their family’s safety.

One of the men was picked up, along with a number of other friends who remain disappeared, and put into a silver-coloured microbus. “I assumed that they were Detective Branch men as they were wearing civil dress, but at that time I was not scared as I was not a political person, and had no cases against me,” this secret detainee said.

When the friends were put into the car, they were handcuffed and hooded. “At that moment, I got scared,” he said. As the vehicle began its journey, the law enforcement officials began beating the men. ‘They were hitting [one friend] really hard. He was screaming loudly, and the men hit him for a long time. …. Whilst they were hitting the men, music on the radio was put on very high volume.”

After about an hour on the road, the vehicle stopped and they were taken into a building. “We had no idea where we were. … We were so scared and beaten up,” the friend said.

One by one they were taken into a room for questioning. “I was made to sit on a chair, and my legs and arms were strapped,” the released man said. “My hood was replaced with a blindfold.”

After their interrogation, the friends were taken to another room, which was like a cell. “My handcuffed hands were moved from behind my back to my front. My blindfold was kept on. I could have taken my blindfold off, but I was scared,” he said. “The room had bars, but they had a curtain covering them.”

Also read: Uncovering Extra-Judicial Killings in Punjab, and the Police Impunity That Followed

Initially, each of the men thought that they were alone, but after a few days of confinement they realised that they were all living in adjacent cells and so started talking to each other. “I came to know that [some of my friends] were beaten particularly badly and were barely conscious that first night.” The secret detainee said that the word ‘RAB’ – referring to the Rapid Action Battalion – had been written inside the cell.

The men were detained in this way for nearly two weeks when he was told out of the blue that he would be released the following day. “The next day, I was taken into a room,” one of the friends said. “There was a senior official who spoke very politely. He said, ‘If someone asks you where you have been, don’t tell them you were here. Don’t tell them what happened to you here. Tell them another story, that you were robbed’.”  The man remained blindfolded.

He was then put into a car and driven around for over an hour, after which he was pushed out of the vehicle and told to run. It was about 1:30 am at night.

Don’t expect public accounts

This man will never tell his story in public, as he remains both traumatised by the incident and deeply scared of the consequences of revealing what happened to him.

This is also the reason why we have not heard from Hasan and Das about what happened to them. It is of course also the reason why Salahuddin Ahmed, the Bangladesh Nationalist Party leader detained for six weeks in 2015 before (like Bali) being pushed over into the Indian border where he is now being prosecuted for illegal entry, and Humman Quader Chowdhury, released earlier this year after eight months apparently in secret detention, have both not spoken.

Looking at the lack of independence of the Bangladesh legal system, it is unlikely that those responsible for these secret detentions and disappearances – resulting in many being killed – will ever be brought to justice, and certainly not in the near future. Therefore, right now, those concerned about these disappearances should not expect the secret detainees to provide accounts of what really happened – as it will result in no benefit to them.

The focus should be on pressing the Bangladeshi government authorities to release those who were picked up, secretly detained and remain disappeared (not yet having been killed). Because, despite the release of Hasan, Das and Rahman in the last week, there remain 34 men whom human rights organisations claim were picked up in the last two years by state agencies and whose whereabouts are unknown.

David Bergman is a journalist who also runs the Bangladesh Politico and Bangladesh War Crimes blogs. Follow him on Twitter @davidbangladesh.

Recording of Bangladesh Paramilitary Officer Lifts Lid on Extra-Judicial Killings and Disappearances

“Everyone is not an expert on forced disappearances. We have to make sure no clue is left behind,” the Rapid Action Battalion officer has been quoted as saying.

“Everyone is not an expert on forced disappearances. We have to make sure no clue is left behind,” the Rapid Action Battalion officer has been quoted as saying.

Members of the Rapid Action Battalion (RAB), in their distinctive black attire, stand guard on a street in Dhaka. Credit: Reuters/Files

Members of the Rapid Action Battalion (RAB), in their distinctive black attire, stand guard on a street in Dhaka. Credit: Reuters/Files

Dhaka: A secret recording of a senior officer employed by Bangladesh’s paramilitary organisation, Rapid Action Battalion (RAB), has added pressure on the government to come clean on its use of enforced disappearances, torture and extra-judicial killings.

In the recording, obtained and authenticated by Swedish National Radio, which broadcast the story on Monday (April 3), the RAB officer talks about how the organisation routinely picks people up, kills them and disposes off their bodies.

Swedish foreign minister Margot Wallström condemned the practices. “There is only one thing to say about this: that it’s horrific and that it must stop and that Bangladesh must take responsibility for this.”

“We will act, in particular via the EU, but also through our bilateral contacts, to make it completely clear that this is not acceptable, and must stop immediately,” she said.

The report comes a week after the UN Human Rights Committee published a report criticising the Bangladesh government for its “reported high rate of extra-judicial killings by police officers, soldiers and Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) force members and the reported enforced disappearances, as well as the excessive use of force by State actors.”

The UN committee went onto say that, it “is further concerned by the lack of investigations and accountability of perpetrators, leaving families of victims without information and redress.”

Since the Awami League came to power in 2009, human rights organisation Odhikar has identified over 325 people who were picked up and secretly detained for various degrees of time, allegedly by one of the country’s law enforcement bodies, including the RAB. After weeks or months in unlawful detention, the men are then either ‘shown arrested’ or killed. Out of the more than 90 people secretly detained in 2016, 22 dead bodies have been found.

In relation to extra-judicial killings – which happened in even greater numbers under previous governments – since 2009, Odhikar reports nearly 1,300 deaths.

Earlier this month, Anisul Huq, the Bangladesh law minister, told the UN’s Human Rights Committee that, “With regard to allegations of ‘extra-judicial killings’, ‘enforced disappearances’ and ‘torture in custody’. I would like to stress that our government has taken meaningful actions to bring such incidents of human rights violations to a very low level.”

Other government representatives claim that all the extra-judicial killings are lawful and that state bodies are not involved in any of the alleged disappearances. “Those who died during the gunfights with police and other security forces as well as during police raids are criminals. Their deaths can’t be defined as extra-judicial killings,” Hasanul Haq Inu, the country’s information minister, recently said.

In the Swedish Radio recording, the unnamed senior RAB officer, who was unaware that his conversation was being taped, said that there were three aspects to an enforced disappearance: the capture, the killing and the disposal.

“Everyone is not an expert on forced disappearances,” the officer is reported by Swedish radio to have said. “We have to make sure no clue is left behind. No ID cards that slip-off. We have to wear gloves; we can’t leave footprints behind and have to wear covers on our shoes to prevent that. We can’t smoke during these operations.”

The officer talks about how some of the picked up men are tortured. According to Swedish Radio, the officer “describes a dark room with a lamp in the middle where an arrested man was stripped naked. They hung him in handcuffs, and tied bricks to his testicles. His testicles were almost ripped off by the weight, the officer says. The tortured man fell unconscious and the RAB officer says he did not know if the man was dead or alive.”

In the recordings obtained by the radio station, the RAB officer is said to have claimed that dead bodies of the men who are killed are disposed of by throwing them into a river with blocks of concrete attached to their bodies. He says the fate of the men is decided by “high ups”.

This description of the disposal matches what happened to seven men who were picked up and killed by the RAB in April 2014, in a dispute between local leaders of the governing Awami League belonging to the district of Naranganj, close to the country’s capital city of Dhaka. A few days later their bloated bodies floated to the surface of the Shitalakkya river where they had been dumped. In January this year, a court convicted 35 people of involvement in the murders, sentencing 26 of them, including three former RAB officers, to death.

No other recent disappearances – including those of 19 opposition activists picked up in the capital city of Dhaka over a two week period four months earlier – has resulted in similar investigation or prosecution.

The Swedish Radio recording of the RAB officer is the first time that a media organisation has managed to record a conversation in which a Bangladeshi law enforcement officer has admitted to their involvement in disappearances and extra-judicial killings.

RAB’s legal and media wing director, Commander Mufti Mahmud Khan, denied the allegations contained in the secret recording. He told Bangladesh’s national newspaper Prothom Alo  that “RAB do nothing going against legal provision. …Those who have been killed in RAB’s crossfire so far are armed notorious terrorists, robbers and militants. When drives are conducted to arrest them, they open fire on RAB. And RAB also open fires in self-defence,” he added. ‘Things are not as though only terrorists were killed in the RAB shooting; RAB officers and members were also killed and maimed.”

The Swedish public broadcaster is unwilling to provide any information on how it managed to undertake or obtain the recording of the conversation due to the ‘sensitivity’ of the matter and the need to protect their sources. In addition, at present, it is not willing to provide a transcript or copy of the recording.

David Bergman is a writer based in Bangladesh. He also runs the Bangladesh Politico and Bangladesh War Crimes blogs. Follow him on @davidbangladesh.

The Plight of Kashmir’s Half-Widows and Widows

Kashmir has 20,000 widows and half-widows; women whose husbands were killed either by militants, state security forces or in the crossfire.

Photos courtesy Sindhuja Parthasarathy.