BALOCH HUMAN RIGHTS COUNCIL ( CANADA )

see pictures from rally

Toronto, April 17, 2009 – Baloch Human Rights Council (Canada) held a protest rally in Toronto to express their shock and concern over the abduction, torture, and extra judicial killings of the three Baloch leaders, Ghulam Mohammad Baloch, Lala Munir, and Sher Mohammad Baloch by the Pakistani military intelligence agencies. The rally was attended by Baloch community of Toronto, World Sindhi Institute, Canadian Kashmiri Association, and Pakhtunkhwa Peace Forum.

The rally was addressed by Humaira Rahman of WSI, Javed Khan of Pakhtunkhwa Peace Forum, Mumtaz Khan of Canadian Kashmiri Association, and Zaffar Baloch of Baloch Human Rights Council ( Canada ). The speakers condemned the torture and cold-blooded murders of the three Baloch leaders by the Pakistani military intelligence agencies and demanded the killers to be brought to justice.

The speakers expressed their concern over the worsening human rights situation in Balochistan and appealed to the international community to take serious notice of the deepening political crisis in Balochistan.

They demanded an immediate halt to the ongoing military operation in Balochistan and the withdrawal of the 80,000 troops from the province. The rally asked for immediate release of the disappeared persons, political detainees, including the 141 Baloch women kidnapped by the Pakistani intelligence agencies.

The speakers demanded that the Baloch peoples' right and sovereignty over their lands and natural resources should be unconditionally accepted by the Pakistani government in accordance to UN charter of rights of nations, including the political and economic freedoms and the right to self determination.

Release: Apr 14, 2009
by the BALOCH HUMAN RIGHTS COUNCIL OF CANADA

The BHRC (Canada) the Toronto Chapter hereby declares peaceful procession against the brutal and barbaric killings of Baloch Leaders in Turbat, Balochistan.

Place: 200 Front Street West in front of CBC Building
Date: Friday April 17, 2009
Time: 4.00 All peace loving people, political activist, human rights defender are invited to join the cause.
For more info please call Imtiaz Baloch 416-841-7866

Note: On Sunday a Condolence meeting was held for Baloch Women organized by BHRC-Canada for Ghulam Mohammed, Sher Mohammad and Lala Muneer. Nader Baloch spoke on the occassion. A Dua'a was held at the end.

This press release was sent to Canadian Prime Minister Steven Harper , The Governor General Micheal Jean, all Canadian Parliamentarians and Senate.

BALOCH HUMAN RIGHTS COUNCIL ( CANADA )

Baloch Human Rights Council (Canada) strongly condemns the brutal and barbaric act of kidnapping, torture, and cold-blooded murder of three Baloch leaders by the Pakistani intelligence agencies on April 3, 2009. Baloch National Movement (BNM) Chairman Ghulam Mohammad Baloch, Central Executive Committee member (BNM) Lala Munir, and Sher Mohammad Baloch of the Baloch Republican Party (BRP) were found dead in the hills, 40 kilometers away from Turbat, capitol city of Makaran.

The three Baloch nationalist leaders were picked up by 12-14 masked, armed Pakistani Military Intelligence men from the chamber of the Advocate Kachkol Ali in Turbat and were taken to an undisclosed location where they were brutally tortured and shot in the head before dumping their bodies in the hills for scavengers. The bodies of the three leaders were carried by Pakistan Army helicopters from a secret location and dropped from the air. According to a report, the dead bodies were at least six days old, which indicates the fact that they were murdered the day of their forced disappearance.

It is notable that Mr. Ghulam Mohammad Baloch was also a member of the 10-member committee constituted to ascertain the identities of Balochistan's missing persons as well as to negotiate the release of UNHCR's Quetta director John Solecki. The timing of Mr. Baloch's murder by the state agencies, a day before John Solecki 's release, is indicative of Pakistan government's dubious character in undermining Mr. Solecki's secure release from captivity.

Both the UN and the US Embassy in Islamabad have strongly condemned the gruesome murders of the three Baloch leaders and have called for immediate investigation into their deaths. The UN, which expressed its sympathies to the families of the deceased, called on Pakistani authorities to ensure that the committee continues its important work. The US Embassy said the role by one of the three leaders killed, Ghulam Mohammad Baloch, in efforts to secure Mr. Solecki's release had been greatly appreciated. ‘We call on Pakistani authorities to thoroughly investigate these deaths and to bring those responsible to justice,' the embassy said.

Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) has blamed the authorities and has held them responsible for the torture and execution style murder of the three Baloch leaders. In a statement, HRCP called on the authorities for an investigation into the kidnapping, torture, and murder of the leaders; and to bring those responsible to justice.

BHRC calls on the Pakistani authorities to stop gross human rights violations , including forced disappearances, torture, and extra judicial killings of Baloch political activists and leaders in Balochistan. We demand the immediate release of all political detainees, and disappeared persons including 141 Baloch women, languishing in the Gestapo-like military intelligence torture cells.

BHRC calls on the Canadian Government, Legislative Assembly, political leaders , human rights organizations , judiciary and lawyers bodies, journalists, writers, and women rights organizations to help the Baloch people in their just struggle for peace, political and economic rights, democratic freedoms, and sovereignty over their land and natural resources in the light of the UN charter of rights.

Canada can play a positive humanitarian role in ending the conflict and violence in Balochistan by asserting diplomatic pressure on Pakistan . Balochistan's geopolitical status and its role in bringing peace in the region are significantly important for the Canadian forces stationed in Afghanistan . The secular and democratic Balochistan is the key to resolving violence and terrorism in the region perpetrated by religious extremists and their handlers, namely the Pakistani intelligence agencies responsible for the gross human rights violations against the Baloch people.

Baloch Human Rights Council (Canada) is affiliated with the London-based Baloch Human rights Council formed in August 2008 in London, UK. BHRC is a non-profit organization that strives for the political, economic, and cultural rights of the indigenous people of western Balochistan (in Iran ) and eastern Balochistan (in Pakistan).