West Balochistan: Calls for Protection
The Balochistan People’s Party has issued an appeal, calling on the UN High Commissioner for Refugees to offer protection to asylum seekers from Balochistan.
Below are extracts of an appeal published by the Balochistan People’s Party:
Mr. António Guterres
United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees
Headquarters,
August 2007
Dear Sir,
The rights of self-determination and non-ethnic discrimination have been recognized as basic human rights by the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UNDHR) in 1948. Every state including
Balochistan Peoples Party (BPP), in multiple public communiqués have disclosed the plans of the Iranian regime to execute more then 700 Baloch detainees in coming months. As anticipated, 7 of these detainees among them Saeed Kambarzahi a 17 year old teen-ager were recently executed allegedly due to their involvement in a fabricated accusation of “armed uprising” against the regime. Furthermore, hundreds of Baloch have been arrested and executed in the prisons in the
The Amnesty International has condemned these violations of the human rights in Balochistan and has appealed to international society to condemn them as well. However, it is well known that torture and forced confession and forced appearance on TV is widely used by Iranian regime.
In such a situation of harsh dictatorship, suppression, mass arrests and executions the lives of many of political activists, members and supporters of the opposing political parties will be endangered. In case of detention they will be subject to inhuman tortures, long sentences and even executions without trial. We are aware of several Balochs who have been arrested and executed because of their familial relationship with opponent political activists. It is obvious that in such a difficult condition many of political opponents will be forced to flee the country to neighbouring countries such as
The UNHCR has played a vital role in saving lives of many Iranian refugees including Balochs in the 1980s through providing protection in the host countries. We believe that UNHCR will also play a vital role in the new situation by granting Baloch asylum seekers refugee status. By doing so, UNHCR could protect forced repatriation of asylum seekers to
[…]
We appeal to the UNHCR especially in
Sincerely Yours,
Nasser Boladai,
Spokesperson for Balochistan Peoples Party
CC:
- UNHCR, Branch Office,
- UNHCR, sub-office,
- Amnesty International
- International Red Cross
- Human Rights Watch
- UNPO