CrisisBalochistan | November 6, 2011
'Video Hints at Executions by Pakistanis' by Jane Perlez; Admission that video is authentic: 'New Video Appears to Show Abuse of Prisoners by Pakistani Soldiers'; Also see Balochistan being pushed towards rebellion: Asma

Screenshots from video footage of Pakistan military execution that invoked worldwide media and government condemnation

By Wendy Johnson

Trying to record extrajudicial killings in Balochistan is like running on a treadmill with a broken stop button--you get nowhere and you can't catch a break.

When I started to write this essay on November 4, I was aware of seven extrajudicial kill and dump murders that required logging in my database of Baloch missing. Within hours, four additional dump and kills and one death by beating were tweeted. The beating victim was female, Pazo Bibi--'collateral' damage in her brother's war, following a raid on the family home by the Pakistani military. On Saturday, the tortured and bullet-riddled body of journalist Javed Rind was discovered on a roadside.

So in the space of just four days, the tortured bodies of twelve non-combatant activist and non-activist Baloch had turned up on roadsides. None of these murders received international media attention, but the flurry of executions did cause one person on twitter, unfamiliar with Baloch history, to wonder: Were the victims involved in any criminal activity?

That question can be answered with a question: If any of these Baloch persons who were pulled out of vans, buses and schools and subsequently found on roadsides, were guilty of, or suspected of, committing a crime, under what international law is an agency allowed to disappear, torture and subsequently dump a person at a roadside (some are found with holes drilled into their skulls)? None that I know of. No, crimes--whether of a civil, federal or military nature--are supposed to be investigated and solved by an independent judiciary (and in some cases, military court)--in a transparent and systematic fashion. Those who are extra-judicially killed today in Pakistan are not criminals--they are soft targets--easy victims. These are people who are playing by the rules, trying to do what protesters in the West do when they have an issue with government: they write; they protest; they hold press conferences and lead rallies. Some have simply joined student organizations, too young yet to have risen through the ranks of organizers.

But make no mistake, there is a war going on in Balochistan and Baloch insurgents are blowing up pipelines (a LOT of them) and increasingly attacking Pakistan's military and Frontier Corps (the FC, generally believed to be the agency most responsible for the killing and dumping of citizens).

'Troubled' Balochistan, as it is described in so many articles, is not just a 'troubled' region--a 'troubled province' suffering a 'troubled year' as it moves through 'troubled waters' towards a 'troubled peace,' 'fomenting trouble' in the process. Balochistan is at war. Because the Pakistan government and its military/security/intelligence apparatus fail to effectively institute reforms that might create opportunity in Balochistan (in the same way the 1% in America fights to preserve the status quo), or to hold a referendum so the Baloch might determine how they wish to be governed, they can not quell the insurgency or reduce its popularity--so they attempt to cow the Baloch population into submission through the use of terror. This fifth insurgency against Pakistan has evolved from a demand for autonomy to a call for self-determination and independence. All Baloch are not united behind this war. Baloch political divisions have much to do with Pakistan's historical policy of divide and rule, as well as the role of provocateurs, Saudi-supported radicalization, death squads, poor educational opportunities, etc., but the insurgent groups enjoy much support. They want Pakistan to unoccupy 'occupied' Balochistan. They want a chance to govern themselves and they want freedom from Pakistan, characterized in an Atlantic Monthly article as 'The ally from hell.'

On November 4, 2011, the day the body of the 13th victim journalist Javed Rind was recovered, Balochistan Chief Minister Raisani stated 'a separate Balochistan is not practical.' This may be true in the eyes of Pakistan's officials and elites and Balochistan's Chief Minister, but life for many Baloch within Pakistan has not proved practical either.

Below is a tweeted photo of a home in Balochistan. The Chief Minister is fortunate enough to not live in such a home. And if fewer Baloch lived in such conditions, it is likely that Baloch insurgents would not have picked up arms after any of the earlier well-documented insurgencies, nor would they have won any public support. The Baloch are not some weirdly unreasonable people. Many simply want a chance to live in a progressively run state--not the one they were forced into, which is described by one author as 'A monster roaming the world.'

Present day Balochistan

So it is in this context that I ask my question: If Pakistan were to line up the Baloch and shoot, would their murders receive more attention?

The cynical answer would be yes--if it were documented on video.

The general lack of interest on the part of Western governments has to do with how the West perceives its own interests in the region--and certainly those have been aligned with Pakistan's. If it serves its objectives, America will overlook as much as it can get away with. In 2010, however, a videotaped execution appeared on youtube. It showed what appeared to be Pakistani army personnel lining up several youth and shooting them dead. Following New York Times coverage of the video, the West could no longer ignore reports of Pakistani military human rights abuses and the US threatened to cut off military support to Pakistan. Nevertheless, when Baloch show up dead, in much greater numbers than those depicted in the single execution video--there is little or no outcry except from the Baloch. A steady drip of death doesn't have the same visual impact as several people being brought down at once. It is also easier for authorities to spin stories when talking about isolated individuals. Still, human rights groups and some journalists are now finally beginning to cover Baloch accounts, as well as all extra-judicial disappearances in Pakistan, and Amnesty International has just released a powerful video and petition related to the disappearances, but this has come only after years of numerous and very public Baloch appeals for help and investigations. Regardless of the political position one ultimately takes regarding Balochistan in relation to Pakistan, the Baloch are part of the world's 99%. Citizens around the world should rally their governments to pressure Pakistan to release the disappeared, or give them their day in court. At the same time, military aid to Pakistan should be stopped until it ends its egregious human rights abuses.

Below is a photo of Samad Baloch, the Finance Secretary of a political party called the Baloch National Movement. This photo shows Samad as he was being led away by police in September 2011. His tortured body was recovered on November 3, 2011. Note the anguished expression on the face of the man holding his arm. That friend knows what happens to many Baloch who are taken away by Pakistan police and/or Pakistan's security forces. It may be that Samad was shot in front of a firing squad--we have no video of his death, but even if he was killed and tortured in solitude, doesn't his death deserve the same level of outrage and world condemnation that greeted the infamous execution video?

Abdul Samad Tagrani, abducted September 9, 2011, body recovered November 3, 2011

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Please watch Amnesty International's video and sign their petition. Help draw attention to the carnage in Balochistan so that world governments take note and work with human rights groups to stop this slow-motion genocide.

A list of victims whose bodies were recovered between November 2, 2011 and November 4, 2011:

1. Journalist Javed Rind, recoverd from Khuzdar district, Nov 4, 2011
2. Gohram Baloch s/o Khalid Baloch, ex-president of BRP Mand zone, body found in Turbat, Nov 3, 2011
3. Ayyam Baloch s/o Mohammad Umer, who was affiliated with BRSO (Baloch Republican Student Organization), body found in Turbat, Nov 3, 2011
4. Abdul Samad Tagrani s/o Raees Rind (BNM), dead body found from Gazki area of Khuzdar, Nov 3, 2011
5. Zubair Zahid Baloch (BSO-A), 16 years old, body found from Pasni, Nov 3, 2011
6. Faraz Naseem Baloch, body located in Windar, area near Hub, Nov 2, 2011
7. Umair Ali, body located in Windar, area near Hub, Nov 2, 2011
8. Mola Bux (Moula Baksh), body located near Kappar area of Pasni, Nov 2, 2011
9. Muhammad Naheem, body located in Garri Dakh area of Noshki, Nov 2, 2011
10. Mehboob Baloch, body located in Garri Dakh area of Noshki, Nov 2, 2011
11. unidentified person, body located on Sabzal Road, Quetta, Nov 2, 2011
12. unidentified person, body located in Zargat, Mastung, Nov 2, 2011
13. Pazo Bibi, female, beaten in military home invasion, later died, Nov 3, 2011