12 May

His Excellency Syed Yousaf Raza Gilani

Prime Minister of Pakistan

Prime Minister House

Islamabad, Pakistan

Tel no: + 92 519213562

 

Dear Rt. Hon. Prime Minister Prime Minister Gilani,

We, the undersigned non-governmental organizations and people’s movements from Asia, strongly condemn the disappearance and brutal killing of Mr. Siddique Eido. Mr. Eido was a Pakistani journalist and an activist of the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) in Balochistan province. His body was found on 28 April 2011 in Ormara, Balochistan, together with the body of Mr. Yousaf Nazar, a member of a student organization. Both men were shot in the head and their bodies bore torture marks.

Mr. Eido and Mr. Nazar had been missing since 21 December 2010 after being abducted by men in state security forces uniform. According to HRCP, the vehicles used by the abductors were similar to those used by state security forces. At the time of their disappearance, four policemen accompanied Mr. Eido and Mr. Nazar. HRCP had also challenged Mr. Eido’s disappearance in the Supreme Court. Yet no action was taken to publicly identify or prosecute the abductors. 

We believe that Mr. Eido’s killing is linked to his work as a human rights defender highlighting incidents of enforced disappearances and other human rights violations. Mr. Eido is the second human rights defender associated with HRCP to be murdered in 2011, after Mr. Naeem Sabir, HRCP coordinator in Khuzdar district, was shot dead on 1 March 2011. These killings highlight the grave threats that human rights defenders face in Pakistan in general, and in Balochistan in particular. 

We believe that the alleged involvement of state agents in disappearances and extra-judicial killings of human rights defenders in Balochistan is part of a wider context of violence against the citizens of Pakistan.

We note with concern that the Government of Pakistan does not provide adequate security to the people, particularly those in Balochistan, and even fosters a culture of impunity with perpetrators of abuses rarely brought to justice. 

We call on the Government of Pakistan to demonstrate its commitment to preventing such brutal killings and to trace the large number of people reported missing. We recall that, as a State Party to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) and the Convention Against Torture (CAT), Pakistan has the obligation to ensure right to life, and to eradicate torture, respectively. 

We urge the Government of Pakistan to pay serious heed to the rights of human rights defenders under the UN Declaration on Human Rights Defenders. Article 12(2) of the Declaration outlines the obligation of the State that it must “take all necessary measures to ensure the protection by the competent  authorities of everyone, individually and in association with others, against any violence, threats, retaliation, de facto or de jure adverse discrimination, pressure or any other arbitrary action as a consequence of his or her legitimate exercise of the rights referred to in the present Declaration.” 

FORUM-ASIA, strongly urges the Government of Pakistan to:

1. Conduct a thorough and independent investigation into the disappearance and brutal killings of Mr. Siddique Eido and Mr. Yousaf Nazar;

2. Address the issue of impunity by investigating all cases of threats, disappearances and killings of  these activist and bringing the perpetrators to justice;

3. Ratify the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance;

4. Accept the longstanding request to visit from the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Human Rights Defenders;

5. Protect human rights defenders across Pakistan, in particular in Balochistan, and put an end to the  intimidation, torture and enforced disappearances so that they may freely and safely continue to report on human rights violations.

Yours Sincerely

 

 Yap Swee Seng

Executive Director

Asian Forum for Human Rights and Development (FORUM-ASIA)

 

Endorsed by:

Ain o Salish Kendra (ASK), Bangladesh

All India Network of NGOs and Individuals Working with NHRIs (AiNNI), India

Alternative ASEAN Network on Burma (Altsean Burma), Regional

Asia Pacific Forum on Women, Law and Development (APWLD), Regional

Asian Forum for Human Rights and Development (FORUM-ASIA), Regional 

Banglar Manabadhikar Suraksha Mancha (MASUM), India

Burma Partnership, Burma/Thailand

Cambodian Center for Human Rights (CCHR), Cambodia 

Cambodian Working Group for an ASEAN Human Rights Mechanism (CWG), Cambodia

Cambodian League for Promotion and Protection and Defence of Human Rights (LICADHO), Cambodia

Centre for Human Rights and Development (CHRD), Mongolia 

Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative (CHRI), Regional

Citizens’ Watch, Sri Lanka

Education and Research Association for Consumers (Era Consumer), Malaysia

Globe International, Mongolia

Human Rights Defenders Alert – India (HRDA), India

Human Rights Working Group (HRWG), Indonesia

Imparsial, the Indonesia Human Rights Monitor, Indonesia

Informal Sector Service, (INSEC), Nepal

International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran, International

International NGO Forum on Indonesian Development (INFID), Indonesia

Judicial System Monitoring Program (JSMP), Timor Leste

Korean House for International Solidarity (KHIS), Republic of Korea

Law and Society Trust (LST), Sri Lanka

Migrant Forum Asia (MFA), Regional

Migrant CARE, Indonesia

The Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders (OMCT-FIDH), International  Odhikar, Bangladesh

Pax Romana, International

People’s Watch (PW), India

People’s Vigilance Committee on Human Rights (PVCHR), India

Program Against Custodial Torture & Impunity (PACTI), India

Sisters in Islam (SIS), Malaysia

Suara Rakyat Malaysia (SUARAM), Malaysia

Sudhanthra, India

Task Force Detainees Philippines (TFDP), Philippines

Think Centre, Singapore

Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organisation (UNPO), Netherlands

Women's Rehabilitation Centre (WOREC), Nepal

Youth Action Nepal, Nepal

Ms. Hina Jilani, Pakistan

 

For inquiries, please contact:

Asian Forum for Human Rights and Development (FORUM-ASIA)

246 Times Square Building, 12th Floor, 12-01

Sukhumvit Road, Between Soi 12 & 14

Bangkok, Thailand

Tel. no. +66 2 653 2940 (Ext 402)

Fax no. +66 2 653 2942

E-mail: [email protected]/[email protected]

 

Copy furnished: 

Mr. Asif Ali Zardari

President of Pakistan 

President's Secretariat Islamabad PAKISTAN