Iran committing crimes against humanity by concealing fate of thousands of slaughtered political dissidents

By concealing the fate and whereabouts of thousands of political dissidents who were forcibly disappeared and secretly executed in prison 30 years ago, Iranian authorities are continuing to commit crimes against humanity, said Amnesty International in a damning report published today.

The report Blood-soaked secrets: Why Iran’s 1988 prison massacres are ongoing crimes against humanity calls on the UN to set up an independent investigation into the mass enforced disappearances and extrajudicial killings which have gone unpunished for three decades.

Pakistan: Campaign of hacking, spyware and surveillance targets human rights defenders

We uncovered an elaborate network of attackers who are using sophisticated and sinister methods to target human rights activists

Human rights defenders in Pakistan are under threat from a targeted campaign of digital attacks, which has seen social media accounts hacked and computers and mobile phones infected with spyware, a four-month investigation by Amnesty International reveals.

In a new report released today, Human Rights Under Surveillance: Digital Threats against Human Rights Defenders in Pakistan, Amnesty International reveals how attackers are using fake online identities and social media profiles to ensnare Pakistani human rights defenders online and mark them out for surveillance and cybercrime.

Balochistan #WalkForFreedom in South Korea Reaches UN in Seoul

Seoul, April 4, 2016: Baloch long march activists, headed by Naseer Baloch, arrived at the UN offices in Seoul, South Korea today.  In nine days they covered a distance of 463km, from Busan city, the southeastern tip of the Korean peninsula to Seoul, the capital and largest metropolis of South Korea.

The five-member team of Baloch activists started the long march under the banner, “Walk for Freedom” on March 27, 2016 with a protest rally in Busan city. It is worth mentioning here that ‘March 27’ is remembered in Baloch annals as a ‘black day’ when in 1948, the sovereign state of Balochistan was illegally occupied by Pakistan through a military invasion.

Bso-Azad delegation met with the representatives of Amnesty International

The spokesperson of Baloch Students Organization – Azad has said in a statement that a delegation of BSO-Azad has met with the representatives of Amnesty International in Europe. Delegation of BSO-Azad has informed them about the Pakistani brutalities and crimes in Balochistan. Thousands of Baloch have been abducted by the Pakistani forces and kept in secret torture cells including BSO-Azad’s Chariman Zahid Baloch and former Vice-Chairman Zakir Majeed Baloch; and custodial killings of Baloch political activists also continuing from long time without any pause.

A black hole for media in Balochistan

Journalists face major difficulties in reporting from Pakistan’s troubled southwestern province.

Karlos Zurutuza

London, United Kingdom – “It is, by far, Pakistan’s most hermetic province, even more than several among the tribal areas,” said Pau Miranda, a correspondent for Spain’s EFE news agency. “Being caught in Balochistan without permission almost means being automatically expelled from the country.”

Pakistan has failed to act on forced disappearances: AI

International watchdog says Pakistani security and intelligence forces are blamed for torture and killing of civilians, journalists, activists 

By Asif Mehmood

LONDON: The Amnesty International (AI) on Wednesday said Pakistan has failed to bring perpetrators of forced disappearance to justice as most of the victims were still missing.

On the launch of Amnesty International Report 2012 at the international headquarters, AI Secretary General Salil Shetty said in March, the Pakistani government established a new commission to probe forced disappearances but took six months to appoint former Supreme Court judge Justice Javed Iqbal to head it. A previous commission formed in March 2010 traced 220 of the several hundred missing people. Both commissions were criticised for failing to protect witnesses and for conducting inadequate investigations, especially in cases where security forces and intelligence agencies were implicated.

Balochistan: Time for a ceasefire and political settlement

Proposals for military de-escalation & a referendum on self-determination

 By Peter Tatchell, human rights campaigner

The case for a negotiated political settlement in Pakistani-annexed and occupied Balochistan is overwhelming. The Baloch people have a right to live without persecution and to decide their own destiny. History is on their side.

Much of what now constitutes Balochistan was a self-governing British Protectorate from 1876. The Baloch people secured their independence from Britain in 1947. The following year, they were invaded and incorporated into Pakistan. They did not vote for incorporation. Their consent was neither sought nor given.

Balochistan: Urgent Action As Detained Baloch Men Risk Death

Amnesty International – urgent appeal asking people to write to the Pakistani Government and their own countries diplomatic representatives to take concrete action to stop the increasing number of ‘kill & dump’ operations in Balochistan.

DETAINED BALOCH MEN RISK DEATH

The body of a Baloch student activist was found on 16 July, five months after he was taken into custody by the paramilitary Frontier Corps. Ten other Baloch men, detained at the same time, are in grave danger of the same fate.

Amnesty International says Balochistan atrocities continue to rise in Pakistan

Amnesty International Media Release, For Immediate Release, Wednesday, February 23, 2011

Contact: AIUSA media relations office, 202-509-8194

(Washington, D.C.) The Pakistan government must immediately provide accountability for the alarming number of killings and abductions in Balochistan attributed to government forces in recent months, Amnesty International said today.

First International Conference on enforced-disappearances in Balochistan held in Geneva

GENEVA: The International Voice for Baloch Missing Persons (IVFBMP) in collaboration of the International Humanist and Ethical Union organised a conference in Geneva against forced-disappearances in Balochistan. Delegates from the UK, USA, Canada, Norway and Spain participated. The conference was sponsored by Baloch leader Hyrbyair Marri, who could not travel to Geneva in person because the British authorities are holding his passport and and his preliminary application for asylum has been denied.

More Pictures of Conference