“Will anyone come? We have been waiting for so many days,” asked a Baloch mother, grasping my hand in hope of good news. Another mother, Zar Gul, whose son Saeed Ahmed was forcibly disappeared in 2013, joined in, holding my other hand and saying, “Maybe this time we’ll bring our sons home.”

These past fifty-plus days in Islamabad have been an emotional whirlwind for anyone visiting the Baloch families’ camp near the National Press Club in F‑6 sector. The women’s stories are so harrowing that they often collapse while recounting their ordeal — seeing their sons abducted by plainclothes men who broke into their homes; enduring ten years of agonizing waiting, searching for answers in courts and on the streets; holding fifteen years of hope that their brothers remain alive as they were when taken before their eyes.

The Baloch National Movement’s human rights department, Paank, reported that in the first half of 2025 alone, 785 cases of enforced disappearances and 121 extrajudicial killings were documented.

The Defence of Human Rights has documented 3,140 cases since 2006, with 1,362 victims still missing. In 2025, 32 new cases were reported.

Only the families enduring this cruel, collective, and relentless punishment truly understand what each second of the day feels like. Their cries seem to go unheard in the corridors of power just streets away — no government minister has visited the camp to date. This government’s apathy is so stark and the war on its citizens so brazen that even the fiction of engagement with these elderly women and young girls has been abandoned.

The callousness is further illustrated by the authorities’ refusal to allow the peaceful protesters to set up camp for shelter outside the Press Club. Much like they are caged in Balochistan, these women are now confined to a narrow road, surrounded by barriers and barbed wire — a chilling reminder of that treatment during the 2023 Baloch long march to Islamabad.

During the freezing winter of 2023, many of them were attacked with water cannons and sticks as they peacefully protested. Many, including young Mahzaib (niece of forcibly disappeared Rashid Hussain), were unlawfully arrested, detained, and loaded into buses to be forcibly sent back to Balochistan.

Although the Baloch Yekjehti Committee has made significant strides in advocating for human rights, its impact has been severely hampered by the detention of its leadership, most notably Dr. Mahrang Baloch, its founder and a globally recognized human rights activist.

Dr. Baloch has now been detained since March 22, following a peaceful sit-in protesting state violence.

Her imprisonment has deeply affected the community. Elderly mothers at the protest camp have shown me photographs of their sons and said, “Mahrang raised her voice for them. Now, we will raise our voice for Mahrang.”

Moreover, almost the entire leadership of the Committee is now behind bars. This includes Sebghetullah Shah Jee, Beebarg Baloch, Beebow Baloch, and Gulzadi Baloch.

The legal process surrounding these detentions reflects a persistent pattern of arbitrary and prolonged incarceration. The authorities have repeatedly invoked the colonial-era Maintenance of Public Order (MPO) law — originally enacted in 1960 — allowing detention without formal charges. Even when the judicial system convenes hearings, the prosecution repeatedly fails to present credible evidence, yet the detainees remain imprisoned.

These women and girls are not just here for their loved ones – they are here to demand the release of those brave leaders who carried the grief of the Baloch people on their shoulders. They remember the Long March with Dr. Mahrang to Islamabad in 2023.

Though the state succeeded in breaking the hope of many — as seen in the much smaller number who returned this year — even the stubborn hope held by these few women sends a powerful message to the people of Pakistan: no matter how heartless the state’s response, the path of peaceful resistance must not be abandoned.

Passersby often approach the camp and ask, “Why have they been sitting here so long? Has anyone from the government come to speak to them yet?” When told that no one has come despite more than a month of protest, through scorching heat and torrential downpour, they merely sigh and move on. But these women cannot move forward, as their lives remain forever suspended.

There is no doubt that enforced disappearances are Pakistan’s greatest crisis — the clearest indication of a total breakdown in rule of law in a society that tolerates this atrocity. Impunity is entrenched: not a single perpetrator has been identified or brought to justice.

Worse still, impunity has grown in recent months, especially since the 26th Constitutional Amendment. 

Baloch families have always faced significant challenges in registering cases for crimes committed against them. But following recent amendments, police have begun to outright refuse the registration of abduction First Information Reports (FIRs) — even when the Islamabad High Court is actively hearing a habeas corpus petition or has issued a court order.

Habeas corpus petitions, which were once heard promptly — often the same or next day — are now delayed due to frivolous administrative objections, even when hearings are scheduled. New judges at the Islamabad High Court have started to decline directing police to register abduction FIRs immediately, even in cases where previous court interventions had led to the recovery of missing persons, as in the Ahmad Farhad case.

The state has given its people nothing to hope for. Yet against all odds, these courageous mothers, sisters, daughters, and wives still find hope. They refuse to give up. Their loved ones may be missing, but they will not be forgotten. 

The state must remember: this pain cannot be erased, and the peaceful struggle against enforced disappearances cannot be ignored — doing so risks irreparable damage to the integrity of the federation.

Imaan Zainab Mazari-Hazir

The writer is an Islamabad-based lawyer and human rights activist.

The post In Islamabad, State’s Apathy on Full Display as Baloch Families Hold Protest Camp appeared first on Dissent Today.

“Take me instead of my brother, please. He can’t handle the torture. I will confess to whatever you want,” Zahid*, 32, desperately pleaded with the officials of the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) and members of a shady criminal extremist group at the FIA Cyber Crime Reporting Center in Rawalpindi. 

He has been incarcerated for over two years on blasphemy charges in Adiala Jail, Islamabad, despite the fact that he is legally entitled to be released on bail on statutory grounds. Prosecution witnesses often fail to show up at the trial, which has been prolonged for too long. 

Zahid is not alone. 

As of July 25, 2024, over 700 young Pakistanis are incarcerated across various jails in the country on allegations of blasphemy, according to the National Commission on Human Rights (NCHR). The provincial breakdown of these “blasphemy” arrests is as follows: 581 cases from Punjab, 120 from Sindh, 64 from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and two from Balochistan. 

The NCHR conducted an extensive investigation into these cases and highlighted a “troubling trend”: a sharp increase in the registration of blasphemy cases, the majority of which were initiated by the FIA’s cybercrime unit, often in collaboration with a private entity.

A report by the Punjab Police’s Special Branch explains the nature and operations of this “private entity,” which is operating in the manner of a business group for the purpose of hunting “blasphemers” and then extorting them. The report reveals the following:

1. There is a gang of suspicious individuals based in Islamabad and Rawalpindi who are trapping impressionable young people in blasphemy cases and subsequently referring these cases to the FIA.
2. This gang reportedly consists of a number of men and women, and is allegedly led by Sheraz Ahmed Farooqi, who poses as a member of the extremist group Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP).

3. A lawyer named Rao Abdur Raheem Advocate is also identified as a member of this gang.

4. Rao, Sheraz, and their associates have formed an organization called the Legal Commission on Blasphemy Pakistan.

5. This gang acts as the complainant in approximately 90% of the blasphemy cases reported to and registered by the FIA.

6. They have created various WhatsApp and Facebook groups on social media to lure in and trap youth. Once involved, these individuals are falsely implicated in blasphemy cases in collaboration with certain elements within the FIA, with the intent of extorting them.The number of people entrapped by this group is astounding, and the question is, what possible motive over 700 unconnected youth from different parts of the country could have to commit blasphemy using electronic devices? Some of these young individuals are chemical engineers, while others are laborers, and many come from extremely religious or conservative backgrounds.  

The NCHR report includes testimony from a lawyer who stated that he has been “ostracized by the legal community solely for accepting such cases.” 

The figures quoted are astounding, and the question is, what possible motive over 700 unconnected youth from different parts of the country could have to commit blasphemy using electronic devices? Some of these young individuals are chemical engineers, while others are laborers, and many come from extremely religious or conservative backgrounds. 

We have also heard from our clients that nearly all of our clients were lured to Islamabad and other locations by a woman under the false pretense of “friendship” or job opportunities. After arriving, they were trapped by this Blasphemy Business Group whose members seized their phones and planted incriminating content on them. There is a pronounced lack of forensic examination of devices, which is essential for securing objective evidence in such cases.

While over 700 victims are alive and facing trial, some have not been able to withstand the torture. One such victim was Nauman*, who died after enduring severe abuse, evident from the bruises and marks covering his body when it was washed.

A common factor in all these cases is that the mobile devices of the “accused “ individuals are retained by the Blasphemy Business Group and FIA officials before being sent for any technical or forensic analysis.

Interestingly, one of the primary architects of this criminal enterprise, Advocate Raheem, has been identified by the Special Branch of Punjab. He carries content related to his activities on his phone and seeks to share it with various individuals in an effort to gain support and funding for his “noble mission” of identifying blasphemers. 

I have learned that some senior politicians and affluent influencers have donated large sums of money to him, unaware that the true objective of the group is extortion for personal benefit.

To give readers an idea of the extent of injustice and insanity, it is important to refer to one of the cases we are working on: the case of Farhan*, a young man who is blind and has been charged with creating and disseminating blasphemous content (despite clear and indisputable medical evidence of his blindness). 

The case against Farhan is perhaps one of the clearest examples of a false blasphemy accusation being concocted for the purpose of extortion. The group demanded a payment of Rs. 14 lakh from Farhan’s family in exchange for the FIA’s declaration of his innocence. Like many others who have silently paid their way out of this troubling situation, Farhan’s family would have done so as well if only they could afford it. However, because they cannot, Farhan’s application for acquittal has been pending before a Rawalpindi court for quite some time now, despite the fact that no incriminating material has been recovered from him and the evidence of his blindness.

The gang has actively created an environment of fear and intimidation, with the sole objective of securing convictions that it publicizes to obtain greater funds. 

This means the courts are unable to operate in a safe environment where judges can dispense justice without fear or favor. An Islamabad court dealing with these cases placed several cases on the E-court facility, preventing accused persons from even hearing the proceedings against them, in complete violation of their rights under Article 10A of Pakistan’s Constitution.

The prosecution story against the blasphemy-accused individuals is truly unbelievable, yet the charade continues across courts, particularly in Rawalpindi and Islamabad. Moreover, we witnessed the court in Islamabad appeasing the group by writing 295C judgments in open court and seeking input from Advocate Raheem. The maxim “justice must not only be done but manifestly seen to be done” is not just dead but buried 10 feet underground.

How the Blasphemy Business Group fulfilled its rags-to-riches dream

Meanwhile, the reality is brazen: members of this group have significantly improved their standard of living since they began lodging these false cases in the FIA. According to the NCHR report, “Most of the accused individuals were from low socio-economic backgrounds with limited education,” and that “financial limitations hindered many accused individuals from accessing proper legal counsel.”

Several FIA officials have also profited from this exploitation, and the Blasphemy Business Group, in turn, has assisted many FIA officials (Grades 1-15) in securing regularization of their services, though the same officials were earlier contract employees.

Rao and the FIA officials are not alone—everyone in the group has realized their own rags-to-riches dreams in the name of religion, ensnaring innocent youth while enriching themselves. One member of the group, Raja Imran Khalil, is a lawyer involved in several cases in Rawalpindi and a complainant in a blasphemy case. 

From 2018 to 2020, he sold State Life Insurance policies. However, in January 2022, he was able to inaugurate a large, brand new office.

Despite the Special Branch Punjab’s findings that the sources of funding for this group are unknown, no one seems to question it.

Another member of the group is Ghazanfar Ali, who also appears in the Islamabad District Courts as an advocate. When Ghazanfar wishes to lodge an FIR with the FIA’s CCRC in Rawalpindi, he provides a Rawalpindi address for himself (as was done in FIR number. 85/2023). When he wishes to entrap people in Islamabad, he uses an Islamabad address as the complainant (as was done in FIR No. 138/2023). There is no scrutiny of anything submitted by the group to the FIA, which readily lodges FIRs and negotiates with families regarding the extortion amount.

The group continues to operate with impunity as the government turns a blind eye to the plight of hundreds of families across the country whose loved ones are languishing in jail for no reason other than their inability to pay the sums demanded of them. Officials in the FIA continue to partake in the racket because their fates and careers are now tied to the success of the group in court. Otherwise, this entire criminal enterprise would crumble, and the law would require that cases be lodged against members of the group and FIA officials involved in the scheme.

The most striking aspect is that several complainants in these FIRs admit, both in their applications to the FIA and in their testimonies before the courts, that they were members of the social media groups where blasphemous content was routinely shared. Yet, no one in the FIA—nor a single judge—dares to ask why these complainants remained in these blasphemous groups for so long, viewing incriminating content before they suddenly decided to report it.

Moreover, the FIA is quick to file complaint after complaint on their behalf. For example, FIR numbers 41/23, 212/23, 42/23, and 20/23 have all been lodged by the same complainant, Shehzad Khan, who is also a member of the Blasphemy Business Group, indicating that he is a resident of both Islamabad and Rawalpindi at the same time.

In the months that we have observed these cases, we have yet to see any legal arguments presented by members of the business group in a court of law, nor have we encountered any authentic evidence against the accused. Instead, we witness threats and intimidation masked as religious education from members of the gang, sending a clear message to the judges presiding over these cases: any decision to provide relief could have fatal consequences for the judge. This is not an empty threat, especially when we recall that Justice Arif Bhatti of the Lahore High Court was shot dead in his own chamber after acquitting 13-year-old Salamat Masih.

The real question remains: How can the government justify its silence on this glaring injustice and blatant abuse of the blasphemy law for the personal enrichment of a criminal group? How many more individuals will continue to be entrapped, extorted, tortured, and incarcerated for the sole purpose of enabling this gang to make a quick profit in the name of religion?

This madness and injustice has to stop, and members of this group need to be held accountable for their crimes. 

There has recently been a small glimmer of hope due to bail orders granted by the Sindh High Court in several cases. In an order dated December 11, 2024, concerning eight post-arrest bail applications, the Sindh High Court made the following observations:

1.  Several accused persons are not explicitly named in the FIRs.
2. There was no independent forensic examination conducted on the recovered material and devices.
3. The original source or creator of the content remains unidentified by the FIA, with reports suggesting that the source is “situated abroad in different countries.”

4. The reports submitted under Section 173 of the CRPC do not clearly indicate whether the data extracted from the mobile phones allegedly recovered from the applicants was edited by them or merely forwarded after being received from an unknown user, nor do they determine whether the purported blasphemous graphics are fake or genuine.

The Sindh High Court has raised important questions, but this has not come without consequences. As is typical of the business group, when outcomes do not favor them—specifically when courts uphold procedural and substantive safeguards mandated by law—they initiate a hateful and inflammatory campaign against lawyers and judges. This campaign includes issuing various press releases in which they label both judges and lawyers as blasphemers.

This is in line with their standard operating procedure throughout, where press releases have been issued after several hearings, categorizing the accused as a “blasphemer” without use of the word “alleged” and counsels for the accused as “lawyers of blasphemers.” After the recent Sindh High Court order, a campaign was launched demanding resignation of the judges. 

This criminal enterprise is not unknown to those in the corridors of power. Information on this business group’s operations has been conveyed to the highest levels of government, but they have expressed their inability to take action. The Blasphemy Business Group continues its reign of terror while some of the most hard working, enterprising and marginalized youth of this country suffer behind bars for something they never did. 

The tragedy is perhaps best encapsulated in a poem my paternal grandmother wrote during military dictator Zia ul Haq’s era, titled Aadhi gawahi (half testimony):

 تم حکمتِ دین کے پردے میں 

جائز کو ناجائز کرتے رہے 

کافر کو تو مسلم کر نا سکے 

مسلم کو کافر کرتے رہے

The Blasphemy Business Group is a direct byproduct of the state’s approach, which consistently permits the abuse of criminal law and religion to settle personal grievances. When individuals can file false blasphemy cases to resolve land disputes, it is no surprise that the Blasphemy Business Group believes it can exploit this system by submitting hundreds of fraudulent FIRs to the FIA for financial gain.

Today, hundreds of Pakistan’s hardworking youth are praying earnestly for someone to recognize this injustice and take action to stop it. Be their voice. Listen to their stories. Witness their families’ tears, and do not turn away simply because having this conversation is dangerous. 

These families deserve justice and an end to their suffering.

Imaan Zainab Mazari-Hazir

The writer is an Islamabad-based lawyer and human rights activist.

The post The Untold Plight of Over 700 Jailed Pakistanis Trapped in Blasphemy Cases appeared first on Dissent Today.

Despite the treatment he and his family members have endured from the state, Wazir chose to represent his people’s voice in Pakistan’s Parliament, even though the Pashtun Tahaffuz Movement (PTM), the civil rights movement with which he was affiliated at the time, opposes parliamentary politics. His presence in the Parliament meant that the way the state treated Wazir and the importance it attached to his voice and grievances could have gone a long way in healing decades of wounds inflicted on the people of his province by manufactured conflicts. It could also have helped build the trust of the people of Wazir’s constituency in the state institutions that are ostensibly made for the people, by the people. But the right to representation for the 150,000 voters of South Waziristan did not matter. The state decided to punish Wazir for exercising his right to freedom of expression. In doing so, it sent a clear message: that peaceful resistance against state oppression has no space. Worse still, it cemented the perception and grievance of the Pashtun people that Pakistan’s institutions, including its Parliament, have no real room for them or their voices.

When Wazir was arrested in December 2020, he was kept behind bars on around four different charges, despite being granted bail by the Supreme Court of Pakistan. He was eventually released two years and two months after his arrest. A few months after his release in February 2023, he was arrested once again in June of that year. He was released only to be re-arrested in a series of cases lodged against him from August to September 2023. While I had the great honor of being his co-accused in three of the cases lodged against him in Islamabad during that period, my gender and domicile made it difficult for our captors to continue my ordeal. However, Wazir continued to be arrested and re-arrested thereafter, facing charges in at least two other cases. Finally, when he was released, he had just a few months of freedom before being subjected to further detention—this time under the draconian Maintenance of Public Order (MPO), first issued in Rawalpindi and then in Gujrat. This cycle of new cases under the MPO began after he was arrested in August 2024 in connection with three different cases in Islamabad—accident, narcotics, and 7 ATA. The lack of outrage over Wazir’s prolonged incarceration reflects our national mindset, which believes that some lives are more worthy of respect and protection than others. This explains why Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) workers in urban areas are arrested while PTM workers convening for their National Jirga in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa are met with straight fire, killing four and injuring many others. Again, impunity reigns.

“It is irrelevant who is in government in Pakistan; so long as power is wielded from behind the scenes, there is no space for people like Ali Wazir. He has the wrong domicile, which allows the state to imprison him on trumped-up terror charges.”

There was a similar disconnect between Islamabad and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa when many of Wazir’s family members were targeted by the Taliban. Islamabad was calling for military operations and narrative-building to justify Rawalpindi’s displacement, murder, and humiliation of the Pashtun people. It was deemed to be in the “greater national interest” and the “need of the hour” to root out terrorism “once and for all.” How many “once and for all”s there have been is now long forgotten. The military has played (and continues to play) the “good Taliban/bad Taliban” game, yet there is zero accountability for public money spent on a series of military operations in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Wazir has consistently, without any concern for personal consequences, raised his voice against this daylight robbery, the plunder, and the general ease with which the state has dehumanized the Pashtun people.

It is irrelevant who is in government in Pakistan; so long as power is wielded from behind the scenes, there is no space for people like Wazir. He has the wrong domicile, which allows the state to imprison him on trumped-up terror charges or under the MPO. No court can intervene, and no media will provide him with coverage. When he was in jail during his time as parliamentarian, successive speakers of the National Assembly forgot the term “Production Order.” Similarly, no court seems able to grasp the simple reality—that Wazir is neither a criminal nor a terrorist, and he is being punished solely for choosing not to compromise on his principles in the struggle for a life of dignity for the Pashtun people. For a country where there is no political consensus on basic issues of civilian supremacy and the rule of law, it is truly astounding how all political players appear to agree that Wazir must be permanently incarcerated. The courts where Wazir is presented—regardless of their location in the country—also seem to share the unanimous view that sham proceedings must continue. In this situation, more than “judicial reforms,” it appears that Pakistan is in desperate need of the complete dismantling of all its racist and unjust institutions that treat the liberty and dignity of the Pashtun people as disposable.

Condemned if they make it to Parliament. Condemned if they steer clear of parliamentary politics. Condemned if they cry. Condemned if they scream. Perpetually condemned for no reason other than the fact that they can be, because when has mainstream Pakistan ever shown collective compassion for the persecuted from the “peripheries”?

Imaan Zainab Mazari-Hazir

The writer is an Islamabad-based lawyer and human rights activist.

The post Ex-Lawmaker Ali Wazir’s Continued Incarceration is Our Collective Failure appeared first on Dissent Today.

On May 15, at around 1 a.m., Kashmiri poet and journalist Ahmad Farhad was forcibly disappeared from his home in the Soan Gardens area of Islamabad. When the abductors returned to Farhad’s house to remove cameras and DVRs to cover up their crime, it became clear that intelligence agencies were behind this incident.

The state of Pakistan has made every effort to actively turn its people against it by forcibly disappearing them, extrajudicially killing them, and/or labeling them “terrorists” or “anti-state elements.” In doing so, the state has actively burdened Pakistan’s already overburdened criminal justice system with false and frivolous litigation against peaceful dissidents.

Who would want to abduct a poet? Do we need to ask that question in the state of Pakistan anymore? Unfortunately, it would appear so. Chief Justice Qazi Faez Isa, during proceedings of a case against enforced disappearances being live-streamed across the country, asked activist Amina Masood Janjua why the state or agencies would want to abduct her businessman husband, Masood Janjua, who was forcibly disappeared almost two decades ago.

This disconnect from reality was mercifully repaired by the Islamabad High Court’s adjudication of Ahmad Farhad’s case. The court made an unprecedented decision and summoned a sector commander of the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) over Farhad’s enforced disappearance, questioning the agency’s role in it. The real abductors were named so openly for the first time, and the poet was eventually recovered (although he is yet to be released).

When the abductors are put in the hot seat and that garners media attention, that is the only time people have returned to their homes.

However, the senseless and dangerous targeting of Kashmiri dissidents continues. On April 25, a plumber, Abdul Saboor, was forcibly abducted in broad daylight from Sohan Express Highway, Islamabad. The abductors were armed with the latest weapons and took Abdul Saboor away in a white Toyota Hiace with no number plate.

Saboor’s father, Muhammad Riaz, ran from pillar to post in search of his son. The Khanna Police lodged an FIR under Section 365 of the Penal Code after a delay of four days (which is a standard practice in cases of enforced disappearance and clearly indicates the powerful quarters involved in this practice).

State agencies first abduct citizens and then without accounting for the period of illegal detention, rope them into FIRs containing non-bailable offenses. This is process as punishment and abuse of law to suppress dissent.

After Riaz moved a habeas corpus petition before the Islamabad High Court on June 4, the government produced an FIR dated May 30, falsely implicating Saboor in a criminal case under the Anti-Terrorism Act and the Explosive Substances Act. No explanation was provided as to where Abdul Saboor was from April 25 to May 30, after known “unknown men” abducted him from the capital, in broad daylight.

This has also become a standard practice: rogue state agencies first abduct citizens and then without accounting for the period of illegal detention, rope them into FIRs containing non-bailable offenses. This is process as punishment and abuse of law to suppress and eliminate dissent.

Unfortunately, until the judiciary itself is able to recognize this practice in its jurisprudence and empower itself to nip this abuse of process/law in the bud, bails will be denied, as has been occurring in Ahmad Farhad’s case at the time of writing this article.

In the event that the state is unclear about the message it is giving to its citizens, let us explicitly say what message has been conveyed to us: no citizen should bother to reach out to the courts because by the time we make it to the courts, our loved ones will already have faced torture and illegal detention. The message being sent out is to exercise your lawful right of self-defense there and then against rogue agents of the state.

If this is the course of action the state wants peaceful citizens to adopt, then the only possible outcome is anarchy. It is high time for the powers that be to introspect and change their long-standing policy of enforced disappearance and abuse of criminal law to crush dissent.

In 70 years, this policy of oppression has only culminated in a sense of distrust among citizens against the state. This hatred will inevitably lead to more acts of violence. Instead of arresting and prosecuting actual terrorists, the state is too busy overburdening courts with frivolous litigation attempting to transform poets and plumbers into terrorists.

Imaan Zainab Mazari-Hazir

The writer is an Islamabad-based lawyer and human rights activist.

The post Pakistan’s Establishment Is Abducting Poets And Plumbers To Silence Dissent appeared first on Dissent Today.

Information on his fate and whereabouts finally came to the fore on 30 March 2022 – Hafeez had been falsely implicated in a fake terrorism FIR, for which he faced trial and was eventually acquitted. Who will account for his time spent in jail facing a bogus trial – we have yet to see.

After Hafeez’s disappearance, several other Baloch students were disappeared. These disappearances were repeatedly brought to the attention of the Islamabad High Court in the connected writ petitions pending before it on racial profiling and enforced disappearances of Baloch students. On 28 April 2022, some plainclothes men in a white Vigo were recorded on camera abducting Baloch student, Beebagr Imdad, from the campus of Punjab University, where he was visiting his cousin, Salim Baloch. Salim was not only an eyewitness to Beebagr’s disappearance, but also took the brave step of becoming the petitioner before the Lahore High Court in a writ seeking production of his cousin. Over a year later, on 4 July 2023, Salim himself has been forcibly disappeared from Turbat. 

Such is the life of Baloch students across the country. One student is released after an abduction but five more are abducted with no end in sight for this heinous practice. Feroz Baloch is one such student who was forcibly disappeared on 11 May 2022, while on his way to the library at Arid Agriculture University, Rawalpindi (where he is a student). There is no information on Feroz’s fate or whereabouts till date. 

In light of the increasing disappearances of Baloch students (and impunity for the same), the Islamabad High Court, vide order dated 28 April 2022, directed the establishment of a Commission to inquire into the grievances of Baloch students and thereafter, submit its recommendations in the form of a report before the Court. In February 2023, the Akhtar Mengal led Baloch Students Commission submitted its report before the Islamabad High Court. On page 21 of the Report (in paragraph 47), the Secretary, Ministry of Defence was questioned regarding the presence of Major Murtaza on the campus of QAU. The relevant excerpt is produced here, as it reflects the degree of impunity and complete refusal within the Armed Forces to acknowledge that their behavior amounts to sheer thuggery: “The Commission was apprised that the complaint regarding meeting of an army officer with Baloch students at the campus of QAU was examined in detail and it transpired that the officer, who hailed from Khuzdar, Balochistan, interacted with the students in his personal capacity without any orders from his institution.” 

One’s first impression reading this is the pressing question as to why no action has been taken against a serving military officer, who as per the Ministry of Defence’s own admission acted without orders? If the individual officers of the Armed Forces are so undisciplined that they arrive on university campuses to profile students belonging to a deprived province of their own accord, then God help Pakistan in a state of war.

Another important revelation in the report – particularly in the context of the suicide attack in Turbat by a woman belonging to the Baloch Liberation Army – is available on page 45 of the Commission Report (in paragraph 118). The excerpt provides: “Another person complained about the disappearances that occurred in his area, i.e. Tutak. He informed that in 2014, approximately 150-200 mutilated bodies were discovered from Tutak graves. He was afraid that some of the disappeared could be among those found dead in Tutak in 2014. It was plausible since the identity of the victims remained uncertain… He further said that the ordeal did not stop there as the security agencies again picked up sixteen people from his family, including sons, brothers and a seventy year old man and an eight year old child…”. 

It is pertinent to mention here that the female suicide bomber, Sumaiya Qalandarani belonged to Tutak, Balochistan. A commission had been formed some years prior to inquire into the Tutak mass graves – that report has not been made public till date. 

Commission after commission; case after case; inquiry after inquiry; false promise after false promise but the fate of Baloch youth has not changed – not even a little. The reason for this is fairly simple: the State of Pakistan continues to treat Balochistan as an occupied territory, rather than as part and parcel of the federation. Legitimate grievances of the Baloch people – relating to their right to life and dignity – have been neglected for decades while false promises of “development” have continuously been made as the State of Pakistan robs the Baloch people of their resources. What to speak of any development when it is impossible for the Baloch people to breathe or even exist on their own land, or anywhere else in the country. 

Commission after commission; case after case; inquiry after inquiry; false promise after false promise but the fate of Baloch youth has not changed – not even a little. The reason for this is fairly simple: the State of Pakistan continues to treat Balochistan as an occupied territory, rather than as part and parcel of the Federation.

The specific and consistent targeting of unarmed and peaceful Baloch youth – who have actively chosen the pen over the gun – will only exacerbate the conflict and increase recruits for separatist groups. It would appear, however, that this is exactly what the Pakistan Army wants. For the simple reason that for as long as the conflict in Balochistan is alive, the military’s unending demands for a greater share in the country’s limited resources will find justification. It would, in fact, appear that the only beneficiary of the conflict in Balochistan is the Pakistan Army itself. There is no other rational explanation for the senseless targeting of Baloch youth over the decades – which is continuing with complete impunity.

Those tasked with defending Pakistan against external aggression must ensure that their internal aggression against Pakistan’s own citizens does not become a catalyst for this country breaking apart once again. When you leave people with nothing to lose, can we really be surprised that those people are pushed to take up arms? Where mutilated corpses, mass graves and constant humiliation by security forces are a norm, what path is the State forcing the Baloch people to take?

Imaan Zainab Mazari-Hazir

The writer is an Islamabad-based lawyer and human rights activist.

The post Enforced Disappearances of Baloch Students and State’s Criminal Role appeared first on Dissent Today.

Further, the Committee notes that “the trial of civilians in military or special courts may raise serious problems as far as the equitable, impartial and independent administration of justice is concerned.” Accordingly, “trials of civilians by military or special courts should be exceptional, i.e. limited to cases where the State party can show that resorting to such trials is necessary and justified by objective and serious reasons, and where with regard to the specific class of individuals and offences at issue the regular civilian courts are unable to undertake the trials.” 

In Pakistan, court martial trials of civilians are opaque, biased and heavily dependent on the whims and wishes of military high command. There is no meaningful right of appeal; no free and unimpeded access of accused to counsel; no provision of record/documentation to counsel for the accused; and perhaps most concerning of all, military officers take on the role of judges, when they do not possess the requisite training or capacity to do so. Imagine the converse if your mind cannot process the nature or magnitude of the problem: judges being sent to defend our borders with a copy of the Constitution. If that is laughable, so is the idea that those tasked with defending Pakistan against external aggression, have the training or capacity to dispense justice. Different organs of the State/Government have differing responsibilities — for good reason.

Following the horrific cold-blooded murder of Pakistan’s children in the Army Public School (APS) terrorist attack, the nation was traumatized and that trauma resulted in poor decision-making (there were only a handful of people who chose principle over panic – the late Asma Jahangir included of course). If anything was Pakistan’s “9/11”, it was that absolutely tragic mass murder of this country’s children. Anyone who recalls the waves of terrorism that engulfed Pakistan, and the indiscriminate military operations ostensibly aimed at countering that terrorism, will remember that despite us ceding our civil liberties by allowing the 21^st Constitutional Amendment, we were not safe then and we are not safe now. In fact, even after our 9/11, we refused to course correct. Ehsanullah Ehsan – the man we were told made it necessary for us to surrender our civil liberties – roams free while a young man who stole a peacock from the Corps Commander House Lahore is languishing in prison. So in the eyes of the state, the value of the Corps Commander’s peacock far outweighs the value of human life – in fact a Pakistani child’s life.

In a June 2016 briefing paper by the International Commission of Jurists (ICJ), titled “Military Injustice in Pakistan,” it was observed that “Pakistani military courts are not independent and the proceedings before them fall far short of national and international fair trial standards.” It would appear that Law Minister Adam Namer Tarar was in a deep slumber from 2015 till date because there seems to be no other reasonable explanation for why he is actively misleading the public today with entirely false statements claiming that Pakistan’s military courts comply with international minimum protections for fair trial and due process. This is not only disingenuous but also in breach of the Minister’s oath, which places on him the obligation to “do right to all manner of people, according to Law, without fear or favour, affection or ill-will.” That “all manner of people” includes all of Pakistan’s citizens, irrespective of whether they are Baloch students, activists of the Pashtun Tahaffuz Movement (PTM) or even political workers of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf (PTI).

In Pakistan, court martial trials of civilians are biased and heavily dependent on the whims of military high command. There is no meaningful right of appeal, and most concerning of all, military officers take on the role of judges.

Such barefaced defense of the unjustifiable isn’t limited to the Law Minister. The Government machinery has gone into overdrive to defend military court trials of civilians, which they themselves will likely be the victims of a few years from now. One must remember to ask the Prime Minister’s Special Assistant Mr. Atta Tarar how he feels about the “three rights of appeal” in that eventuality. After all, in Pakistan, we only seem to care if and when we become victims of an injustice.

In a country where even the mildest of criticism of the military high command can result in trial by court martial, it is alarming that the entire civilian set up (that holds power as a trust for the people of Pakistan) is performing mental gymnastics to deal a final blow to any prospect of civilian supremacy or control. 

Action against May 9 rioters 

The acts that took place on 9 and 10 May are nothing more than offences triable under the Pakistan Penal Code – they neither require trials by anti-terrorism courts nor court martial trials. To suggest that acts of arson or attacks on public property – criminal offenses under the Penal Code – require civilians to be subjected to trials by military officers, who do not even have basic understanding of the law, is beyond absurd and dangerous.

One need only recall the enforced disappearance and secret trial of human rights defender, Idrees Khattak, resulting in his continued incarceration. In November 2019, Idrees Khattak was forcibly disappeared and there was no information available on his fate or whereabouts up until several months later. In June 2020, it was discovered that Idrees Khattak was in the custody of the agencies working under the Ministry of Defence, in connection with a case under the Official Secrets Act. What followed exactly, no one knows (due to the inherent non-transparency and secrecy that surrounds military courts which is not denied but in fact justified on grounds of “confidentiality” and “national security”). However, Idrees Khattak was tried and sentenced to fourteen years rigorous imprisonment. He is not the only civilian who has been subjected to biased and opaque court martial proceedings. In Pakistan, where all power rests with Rawalpindi (with zero accountability for exercise of that power), there can never be even the remotest possibility of fair trial of civilians by court martial.

Have civilian courts failed to serve justice?

There is no weight in the argument being deployed by the civilian face of the present martial law to justify court martial of civilians. However, so that the uninterrupted flow of disinformation can be countered, the same is addressed below. The main (and rather audacious) line of argument adopted by those who lectured us on giving “respect to the vote”, is that the ordinary courts have failed to dispense justice and so there is a need for military courts. 

First, this flawed argument presumes (incorrectly) that military courts ensure fair dispensation of justice. This is contrary to the facts, research, judicial record and our history. Second, these courts which are being looked down upon by the civilian leadership are the same ordinary courts that are flooded each time it rains, where lawyers, judges and litigants alike sit for hours on end, covered in dirt and sweat in a tiny court room, functioning within a system that is heavily overburdened as a result of both frivolous/fake cases by the State against its own citizens and a refusal by the very same State to allocate sufficient funds/resources for functioning of the judiciary. Further, these are the same courts that rely on effective and timely investigations to proceed. How effective will those investigations be when investigating officers carry out the same on their own personal expense (with no proper reimbursement) because each successive government refuses to treat them as public functionaries, deserving of dignity in their work? Where for several decades the bulk of this country’s resources have been misallocated towards defense and defense-related expenditures, and luxuries for the ruling elite, what court system can deliver justice in these circumstances? More importantly, is it even reasonable to have this expectation when the civil-military imbalance has resulted in complete disintegration of all civilian institutions? And finally, with constant interference in the judiciary, brazen flouting of court orders, and intimidation of judges, by the military establishment, are we really to expect that those who dismantled our civilian structure will adhere to fair trial and due process guarantees in a system run entirely on their whims and wishes?

When the ordinary criminal law punishes arson, rioting and attacks on public property, there is no cogent reason why these offenses should be tried in anti-terror courts or by court martial.

There is no dispute over the poor functioning of our ordinary courts, however, military courts are not – and can never be – a solution to the problem because they are in fact an illustration of the State’s skewed priorities that have caused the problem in the first place. It is truly baffling why the civilian government is insistent on defending what is glaringly unconstitutional. Is the desire to completely dismantle and punish the PTI really greater than the desire for civilian supremacy? And is that desire to dismantle still greater than the desire for self-preservation of civilians/politicians in the long run?

Amidst all the propaganda and miscalculated defense of military court trials of civilians, it is pertinent to remember that when the ordinary criminal law protects against, and punishes, arson, rioting and attacks on public property, there is no cogent reason why these offenses should be tried in anti-terror courts or by court martial. To do so is also contrary to law settled by the Supreme Court of Pakistan, and in contravention of Article 4 of the Constitution, as held in the Waris Ali Case (2017 SCMR 1572): “The phrase ‘to be treated in accordance with law’ includes that every citizen must be dealt with according to law applicable to him, subject of course to the facts and circumstances of the case. If any citizen is triable under the ordinary penal law of the land, then treating him harshly under special law, not clearly applicable to him, would be a violation of the command of the Constitution.” 

Unfortunately however, the theater of the absurd continues in Pakistan as the climate of fear is at an all-time high. Politicians scramble to snatch the polish out of each other’s hands while the boots reward such servility by momentarily lifting their weight off the polisher’s neck. Tomorrow, each one of the politicians knows that the might of the boot will once again endanger their very own existence, but the choice is pettiness and vengefulness over reason. The delight of watching their opponents suffer (like they suffered in the past) is too good an opportunity to miss. And so it goes on and on, but real power (and exercise of that power with impunity) remains with the military establishment. 

Imaan Zainab Mazari-Hazir

The writer is an Islamabad-based lawyer and human rights activist.

The post Trial By Firing Squad: Prosecuting Civilians in Military Courts is Unconstitutional appeared first on Dissent Today.

The Vote of No-Confidence last year was meant to be some big democratic win against this ridiculous hybrid regime that was inflicted upon us by the same generals to whom the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) kow-towed, and is continuing to kow-tow in their desperation for some semblance of power. Whatever this version of power is means nothing really when our biggest issues, including enforced disappearances and broader issues of resource capture and abuse of law to suppress thought and dissent, remain untouched. It would appear neither the establishment nor the political elite respect civil liberties. The tragedy is that even the celebrated ouster of Imran Khan (brought in by the generals), through a Constitutional and democratic process, in itself couldn’t have taken place without the establishment’s nod of approval. There is no neutrality. And there wont be any till politicians stop targeting each other to win favour with the military. What was wrong yesterday does not become right today because those who said the right things yesterday are in power — no one stands up for principles when they are in power.

I will perhaps believe claims of “neutrality” when things on ground actually change – when courts function independently, when trumped up cases are not registered against journalists, activists, politicians and others. At the very least, to show even a tiny glimmer of “neutrality,” MNA Ali Wazir could have been released — the same Ali Wazir without whose vote this government would not even be here today. But such is “neutrality” in Pakistan — we keep being told with a gun to our heads to accept this “neutrality.”

In the last few months alone, the number of Baloch students being picked up on a daily basis seems to have increased. When protestors in Gwadar came out onto the streets, there was an internet shutdown for ten days and hundreds were either illegally arrested or forcibly disappeared. When people in Gilgit-Baltistan came out in huge numbers, hardly any media reported the protest. Issues of the peripheries remain their issues — the Federation seems least bothered. It is not on the agenda to improve the situation of human rights — that is why once again we are seeing a resurgence of terrorism and the groundwork being laid for another round of giving up our civil liberties on the pretext of “national security.”

At the very least, to show even a tiny glimmer of “neutrality,” MNA Ali Wazir could have been released — the same Ali Wazir without whose vote this government would not even be here today.

The issue of people from the “peripheries” neither feature in mainstream political discourse nor in mainstream media. The racial profiling of Baloch students in Islamabad and Punjab resulted in the formation of the Akhtar Mengal-led Commission by the federal government on directions of the Islamabad High Court (IHC). We are hopeful its report will contain important recommendations as to resolving their grievances and recovering 69+ Baloch students whose list we provided to the Commission. Ultimately, it is the court’s responsibility to pass a judgment based on these recommendations, and provide legal redress of the grievances raised by these students. There is no information till date on a student, Feroz Baloch, disappeared on 11 May 2022, Sohail and Fassieh Baloch, Arif Hambal and Siraj Noor. Baloch students are being disappeared on an almost daily basis and there is no end in sight of this practice. They are harassed within campuses, outside campuses, at checkposts. We saw how Bebagr Imdad was dragged out of the Punjab University campus by Inter Services Intelligence (ISI) officials with the assistance of the security in charge of the university. There has been no accountability for this and similar illegal actions.

Activists and those who believe in democracy should challenge these rights violations, by sticking to their principles irrespective of who is at the receiving end of state persecution and violence. We must fight to protect those we disagree with. Perhaps most importantly right now, we should resist recurring attempts to further securitize/militarize this country. With the resurgence of terrorism, instead of voluntarily ceding our civil liberties and this country’s resources further, we must fight for answers on the failed security policies imposed on us by the military establishment.

Imaan Zainab Mazari-Hazir

The writer is an Islamabad-based lawyer and human rights activist.

The post Pakistan Army’s Claim Of ‘Neutrality’ Is A Lie. Here’s Why appeared first on Dissent Today.