Pakistan bid to frame nationalists on terrorism charges?
London – 5 December 2007
Two exiled human rights activists from Pakistan-occupied Baluchistan (a former British Protectorate) were arrested in London on 4 December by the Metropolitan Police in an operation code-named Operation Super Sweep/Swift.
The arrested men are Faiz Mohammed Baluch and Nawabzada Hyrbiyar Marri (see more details below). They are believed to have been arrested on terrorism-related charges.
Human rights campaigner Peter Tatchell said:
“I know one of the detained men, Faiz Baluch, and have worked with him on campaigns against Pakistani human rights abuses in occupied Baluchistan. In our work together, he and other exiled Baluch activists have pursued entirely peaceful, lawful campaigns for the independence of their homeland.
“These arrests are likely to have been at the request of the Pakistan government, which has long been seeking the extradition of Baluch nationalists exiled in London. If these men are extradited they will never get a fair trial and they could face a death sentence.
“I urge the British government to not give in to pressure from the Pakistani dictator, President Musharraf. The extradition of these men would result in their arrest, torture, imprisonment and possible execution.
“The Pakistan authorities have repeatedly framed peaceful nationalists and human rights campaigners, both inside Baluchistan and abroad.
“Earlier this year, there was an attempt by Pakistan to secure the extradition from Britain of Mehran Baluch, the Baluch representative to the UN Human Rights Council. The charges against him were false.
Click here for the Guardian newspaper report on the case, 28 March 2007
“Mehran’s brother, Balach Marri, was recently murdered by the Pakistan army.
“These arrests look like another fit-up orchestrated by the Pakistan government to silence critics of Pakistan’s tyrannical, murderous oppression of the Baluch people.
The Pakistani authorities are secretly colluding with the Taliban to suppress Baluchistan (see details below),” said Mr Tatchell.
Concerning the two arrested men:
Faiz Mohammed Baluch was arrested and taken to an unknown location, probably Paddington Green police station.
Nawabzada Hyrbiyar Marri (known as Hyrbiyar) was taken by police from his home in Ealing, London W13, at around 5am on 4 December. Since his arrest, the police have taken over his property, evacuated his family from the property, and the entire area has been cordoned off. The mobile phones of his children have been confiscated.
According to unconfirmed information, he has been transferred to Paddington Green police station for interrogation.
For further information:
Current news on the Baluch freedom struggle: Baloch Voice and BalochWarna
Background briefing
Read this Guardian article about Pakistan’s occupation of Baluchistan:
Watch this internet TV interview with Mehran Baluch, the Baluch representative at the UN Human Rights Council:
Talking with Tatchell, Doughty Street TV
Baluchistan freedom struggle – Pakistan colludes with Taliban
By Peter Tatchell
Baluchistan was a former British Protectorate. It secured its independence in 1947. But less than a year later Pakistan invaded and annexed the newly-independent state of Baluchistan. The Baluch people have, however, never given up their struggle for freedom.
After six decades of occupation and bloody repression, Pakistan is once again escalating its war against the people of Baluchistan, detaining without trial thousands of Baluchs and executing hundreds more. Because Britain and the United States want Pakistan as an ally in the “war on terror” they are arming Pakistan and acquiescing with its suppression of the Baluch people.
Pakistan’s war against non-fundamentalist Baluchistan and its moderate nationalist forces is strengthening the position of the Taliban who have exploited the situation to establish bases in the region. From these bases they launch terror attacks against the Baluch people and seek to enforce the Talibanisation of Baluchistan. The Pakistani government colludes with the Taliban’s murderous campaign, on the grounds that it helps to crush the Baluch people and their struggle for independence.
Some of the Taliban leaders hide out in Baluchistan, from where they plan and launch their military operations to overthrow the democratically elected government of Afghanistan. Their campaign to usurp power in Kabul is taking place with the tacit collusion of key figures in the Pakistani government, military and intelligence services. The Pakistanis are allowing the Taliban to use Baluchistan as a base for their war against democracy and human rights.
The international community is looking the other way, allowing the Baluch people to be suppressed and ignoring their right to self-determination.