Karachi: Vice chairman of VBMP said in a press release that the recommendations of UN working group are not being implemented for the release of Baloch disappeared.He said, “UN working group in a meeting with the families of Baloch disappeared said that we have presented recommendations to Pakistani officials regarding disappearances in Balochistan.” Mama Qadeer said that Pakistan has failed to implement the recommendations of UN working group.
The recommendations, which UN working group presented to Pakistani officials for the implementation regarding disappearances in Balochistan, are as follow:
1. As a preventive measure against enforced disappearance, any person deprived of liberty shall be held in an officially recognized place of detention and be brought promptly before a judicial authority.
2. The Commission of Inquiry should be reinforced. Its membership should be extended, so as to allow parallel hearings. Its staff and resources should be strengthened and the Commission should be given its own premises.
3. The courts and the Commission of Inquiry should use all powers they have to ensure compliance with their orders, including the request of sworn affidavits and writs of contempt of courts.
4. As a rule, the families should be heard in confidential meetings before the Commission of Inquiry, without the presence of representatives of law enforcement and intelligence agencies.
5. A new and autonomous crime of enforced disappearances should be included in the Criminal Code, following the definition given in the 2006 Convention or the protection of all persons against enforced disappearances, and with all the legal consequences flowing from this qualification.
6. Investigation against and punishment of perpetrators should be in accordance with the law, and with all the guarantees of a fair trial. Perpetrators should be punished with appropriate penalties, with the clear exclusion of the death penalty.
7. Investigations should be initiated whenever there are reasonable grounds to believe that an enforced disappearance has been committed, even if there has been no formal complaint.
8. Measures should be taken to ensure that, in case of human rights violations, suspected perpetrators, including army personnel, are suspended from any official duties during the investigation and are tried only by competent ordinary courts, and not by other special tribunal, in particular military courts.
9. Clear rules and dedicated institutions should be created in order to ensure the oversight and the accountability of law enforcement and intelligence agencies.
10. Appropriate training should be given to members of law enforcement and intelligence agencies in the field of human rights, with particular focus on enforced disappearances.
11. A comprehensive program for the protection of victims and witnesses should be set up, with a special attention to women as relatives of disappeared persons.
12. The State has to guarantee the safety of those who have met with the WGEID during this visit and to protect them against any form of reprisals, threats or intimidation.
13. A system of declaration of absence as a result of enforced disappearance should be issued in order to address the legal uncertainties created by the absence of the disappeared person.
14. Financial aid should be provided to the relatives of the disappeared persons, in particular women and children, in order to help to cope with the difficulties generated by the absence of the disappeared person. 15. A program of integral reparation should be set up for all victims of enforced disappearances, including not only compensation but also full rehabilitation, satisfaction, including restoration of dignity and reputation, and guarantees of non-repetition.
16. Ratify the Convention for the protection of all persons against enforced disappearances, and recognize the competence of the Committee to consider individual and inter-state complaints under article 31 and 32. 17. If requested by the Government of Pakistan, the United Nations and other international organizations should stand ready to provide technical assistance and consultative services, so as to implement the Working Group’s recommendations.
To conclude, a mother of a disappeared person has asked us to convey a message to all persons in charge of public affairs in Pakistan.
She asked: “If your child disappeared, what would you do?”
Vice chairman of VBMP said, “We would like to inform UN Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances (WGEID) Pakistan has not implemented the above recommendations. In fact the state security agencies and secret services have intensified their atrocities in Balochistan since the UN working group visited Balochistan.”
He said that after the WGEID’s visit 250 Baloch have been disappeared and 70 previously enforced-disappeared Baloch have been killed under-custody. Their bullet-ridden bodies have been dumped in different areas of Balochistan and Karachi. He said Pakistan doesn’t understand the language of diplomacy or recommendations. “If UN wants Pakistan to implement their recommendations they have to be strict and resolute and physically intervene to stop enforced-disappearances and Baloch genocide by Pakistan,” said Qadeer Baloch.
CourtesyBalochWarna.com
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