British government collusion with Pakistan war against Baluchistan.
Pakistani bid to frame nationalists and silence critics?
Westminster Magistrates’ Court – London – 11 December 2007
“The evidence of terrorism against the Baluchistan human rights campaigners Herbiyar Marri and Faiz Baluch is flimsy, circumstantial and flawed,” said human rights campaigner Peter Tatchell.
“These terror charges are likely to have been at the instigation of the Pakistan government, which has long sought to silence critics of its repressive occupation of Baluchistan.
“President Musharraf is pressing Britain for 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,” he said.
Mr Tatchell was commenting after attending Westminster Magistrate’s Court in London this morning, when the two Baluchistan freedom activists were remanded in custody on terrorism charges.
“I know both the detained men, “added Mr Tatchell.
“They are Baluchistan nationalists and human rights campaigners. We worked together to expose Pakistan’s persecution of the Baluch people. The defendants have never expressed to me any support or sympathy for terrorism. All our campaigns have been lawful and peaceful. I would be very surprised if either man was involved in any terror plot.
“Mr Marri is a former MP and government minister in the provincial assembly of Baluchistan during the 1990s. A member of one of the most distinguished and esteemed Baluch families, he is a rather unlikely terrorist.
“Britain and Pakistan have been in secret negotiations for a terrorist prisoner swap. The UK police want to extradite Rashid Rauf from Pakistan. They are keen to question him in connection with the 2006 plot to blow-up transatlantic airliners. In return, the Pakistani government is demanding to extradite from Britain several Baluch nationalists, in order to silence their highly effective campaign which has exposed Pakistan’s repression in Baluchistan. This repression includes detention without trial, torture, extra-judicial executions and the strafing of villages suspected of being sympathetic to the Baluch independence movement.
“Herbiyar Marri and Faiz Baluch are campaigning for a free and independent Baluchistan. Their homeland was a former British Protectorate. It secured independence in 1947. Less than a year later, Pakistan invaded and annexed the newly-independent nation. The Baluch people have, however, never given up their struggle to reassert their freedom.
“In court this morning, the prosecution claimed that Marri and Baluch had incited acts of terrorism but the prosecutor provided no evidence of who had been incited and how they were incited. None of the documents read out in court constituted an incitement to terrorism. Most were website press reports and news releases, many of which are available on dozens of media websites.
“The allegation that Mr Marri possessed a weapon that could be used for terrorist purposes has been questioned by a relative, who claims it was a self-defence spray device that Mr Marri had acquired because he feared violent attack by Pakistani government agents. His fears are real and credible, given the kidnapping and assassination of Baluch nationalists by the Pakistan authorities.
“The two defendants were arrested on 4 December in London on suspicion of the ‘commission, preparation or instigation of acts of terrorism,’ relating to alleged terror plots abroad, and were yesterday charged with inciting terrorist acts.
“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 probable execution.
“The Pakistan authorities have repeatedly arrested peaceful Baluch nationalists and human rights campaigners on trumped up charges.
“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.
See this Guardian newspaper report on the case, 28 March 2007:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/frontpage/story/0,,2044324,00.html
“Mehran’s brother, Balach Marri, was recently murdered by the Pakistan army.
“These arrests look like another stitch-up orchestrated by the Musharraf regime, which wants to crush those who speak out against Pakistan’s murderous oppression of the Baluch people,” said Mr Tatchell.
For further information:
Current news on the Baluch freedom struggle: www.balochvoice.com and www.balochwarna.org These are the websites that allegedly incite terrorism.
Background briefing
Read this Guardian article about Pakistan’s occupation of Baluchistan:
http://commentisfree.guardian.co.uk/peter_tatchell/2007/08/pakistan_celebrates_baluchista.html
Watch this internet TV interview with Mehran Baluch, the Baluch representative at the UN Human Rights Council:
http://doughty.gdbtv.com/player.php?h=6047f4ff19c2da48b68fed7e067a3a5f
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 to reassert their 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 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 movement for independence.
Some Taliban leaders and fighters have hidden 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 Pakistan authorities seem to be 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.