Letter of Solidarity Against Enforced Disappearances in Pakistan

To sign this letter of solidarity click here.

Note: Sammi Baloch, the General Secretary of the Voice for Baloch Missing Persons and the daughter of Dr Deen Mohammad Baloch, will mark 14 years since her father was forcibly disappeared by Pakistani security forces on 28 June 2023. Read her personal appeal for solidarity on this link.


To sign this letter of solidarity click here.

For questions on signatures and followup, please contact pakistansolidarity2020@gmail.com. Over 550 people have signed this petition. We are in the process of cleaning signatures and will update when we are able to do so. We accept signatures until end of 29 June, 2023.


#ReleaseDrDeenMohammad
#EndEnforcedDisappearances

ON THE 14TH ANNIVERSARY OF DR DEEN MOHAMMAD'S DISAPPEARANCE We sign this letter in solidarity with Sammi Baloch and her search for her father, Dr Deen Mohammad, who was forcibly disappeared in the middle of the night by Pakistan's paramilitary Frontier Corps. On 28 June 2023, Sammi will mark 14 years since her father was abducted from a hospital. While on night duty, he was brutally beaten, blind-folded, hand-cuffed, and thrown into a military vehicle to never be seen again.

Dr Deen Mohammad Baloch is one of thousands of people who have been forcibly disappeared in Pakistan over the last two decades by Pakistani security forces. Pakistan’s Baloch – a racialised ethnic group/marginalized nation within Pakistan – have come under attack by Pakistani security forces. These forces carry out a brutal policy of enforced disappearances, extrajudicial killings, and army operations, recently even picking up Baloch students from university campuses across the country. Other racialised ethnicities, marginalized nations, or persecuted groups within Pakistan have come under attack in similarly brutal ways: Pashtuns, Sindhis, Mohajirs, Shias as well as political dissidents, critical journalists, and human rights defenders. As a result, several movements against disappearances have emerged out of Pakistan, including the Voice for Baloch Missing Persons, Defence of Human Rights, the Pashtun Tahaffuz Movement, the Voice for Missing Persons of Sindh, Shia Missing Persons, and more. A recent military crackdown on the country’s main opposition party, the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf led by Imran Khan, is a sign that a violent military policy once reserved for frontier populations, critical dissidents, journalists, and others is now being deployed against those in the very center of power in Pakistan.

In Pakistan, the policy of enforced disappearances is a direct legacy of 9/11 policies, though it has earlier examples in Pakistani history. After George W. Bush asked then military ruler, Pervez Musharraf, to deliver suspect “terrorists'' to the United States to be whisked away to Bagram, Guantanamo, and other black sites, Musharraf implemented a two-decades long policy of extra-judicial kidnapping. It also reflects an older technique pursued by US-backed military juntas in for example in Argentina, Chile, and Guatemala aimed at destroying political alternatives. And, it is a technique that has been pursued in other parts of the region and the world. In South Asia, regimes in India, Sri Lanka, and Bangladesh have been behind brutal enforced disappearances, for example India in Kashmir. And further afield, enforced disappearances take place in the Philippines, Indonesia, China, Syria, Turkey and elsewhere.

Today, thousands remain missing, disappeared by Pakistan's security forces.

We demand that Dr Deen Mohammad Baloch and all others subject to enforced disappearances be immediately released. If they were killed while in custody, we demand that their bodies be returned to families, so they can be buried with dignity. We demand an immediate cessation to the policy of enforced disappearances and associated extrajudicial killings, torture, and raids on people’s homes. Finally, we demand accountability and justice for the atrocities committed.


To sign this letter of solidarity click here.


Signatories:

Organizational/Collective Signatories:

  1. Human Rights Commission of Pakistan

  2. Human Rights Council of Balochistan

  3. Defence of Human Rights

  4. Voice of Missing Persons of Sindh

  5. Aurat March Lahore

  6. Women Democratic Front

  7. Aurat March Islamabad

  8. Progressive Democratic Lawyers Forum

  9. Haqooq-e-Khalq Party

  10. Islamabad High Court Bar Association (IHCBA) through General Secretary Rizwan Shabbir Kayani

  11. Muslim Counterpublics Lab

  12. Global Prison Abolitionist Coalition

  13. InterReligious Task Force, USA

  14. AGITATE! Journal

  15. Jamhoor Collective

  16. Progressive Students Federation

  17. Awami Workers Party

  18. Pakistan Academics’ Collective


Individual Signatories:

  1. Tariq Ali, writer

  2. John McDonnell, MP, Labour Party

  3. Mohammed Hanif, writer

  4. Ammar Ali Jan, Haqooq-e-Khalq Party

  5. Ziauddin Yousafzai

  6. Ayesha Siddiqa

  7. Rabia Mehmood, journalist, researcher

  8. Farah Zia, Human Rights Commission of Pakistan

  9. Asad Jamal, lawyer

  10. Aishah Masood, Defence of Human Rights

  11. Sasui Lohar, Voice of Missing Persons of Sindh

  12. Sorat Lohar, Voice of Missing Persons of Sindh

  13. Suhi Joyo, Voice of Missing Persons of Sindh

  14. Hidayat Lohar, Voice of Missing Persons of Sindh

  15. Talia Khan Khattak

  16. Wrranga Loni, PTM and Waak (the Pashtun woman movement)

  17. Fazal Khan Advocate, President APS Forum & Pashtun Tahaffuz Movement

  18. Afrasiab Khattak, Human Rights Commission of Pakistan, National Democratic Movement (NDM)

  19. Mir Mohammad Ali Talpur, human rights activist

  20. Imaan Zainab Mazari-Hazir, lawyer 

  21. Mahvish Ahmad, London School of Economics

  22. Usama Khilji

  23. Kaiser Bengali

  24. Omid Shekari, Assistant Professor, University of Pittsburgh

  25. Majed Akhter, Kings College London

  26. Ozlem Goner, Associate Professor, City University of New York

  27. Chana Morgenstern, University of Cambridge

  28. Zoha Waseem, University of Warwick

  29. Mohamad Junaid, Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts

  30. Layli Uddin, Queen Mary University of London

  31. Swati Birla, State University of New York-New Paltz

  32. Zahra Khalid, Lecturer, Hunter College, City University of New York, United States

  33. Daanish Mustafa, King’s College London

  34. Jean Halley, the Graduate Center and College of Staten Island at the City University of New York

  35. Joya Misra, University of Massachusetts, Amherst

  36. Amna A. Akbar, The Ohio State University

  37. Amanda Minervini, Colorado College

  38. Lateef Johar Baloch, Human Rights Council of Balochistan

  39. Taj Baloch, Human Rights Council of Balochistan

  40. Hamzah Saif

  41. Shan Khan

  42. Jawziya Zaman

  43. Nazan Ustundag, Global Prison Abolitionist Coalition

  44. Haleema Hijazi

  45. Ali Usman Qasmi, Lahore University of Management Sciences

  46. Tariq Desai, PhD, University of Cambridge

  47. Nida Kirmani, Associate Professor, Lahore University of Management Sciences

  48. Maria Rashid, University College London

  49. Reem Khurshid, citizen

  50. Mubark Hassaballa

  51. Iftikhar Dadi

  52. Sher Ali Khan, Researcher

  53. Umair Javed, Lahore University of Management Sciences

  54. Yasser Munif, Emerson College

  55. Ramsha Ashraf, University of Kent & Women Democratic Front, Lahore

  56. Jalila Haider, Balochistan Bar Council

  57. Ragini

  58. Arsalan Samdani, Jamhoor

  59. Farzana Bari

  60. Sidra Kamran, Lewis & Clark College

  61. Abira Ashfaq, Visiting Faculty, Institute of Business Administration

  62. Kelly Gillespie, University of the Western Cape, South Africa

  63. Nida M. Esapzai

  64. Yael Navaro, University of Cambridge

  65. Naila Naz

  66. Farhad Mirza, journalist

  67. Areeba Fatima, Fact Focus, Women’s Democratic Front

  68. Carina Jahani, Professor, Uppsala University

  69. Shozab Raza, Yale University

  70. Amna Mawaz Khan, Women Democratic Front, Laal Hartaal, University of Heidelberg

  71. Anne Alexander, University of Cambridge

  72. Asher Gamedze, South Africa

  73. Koni Benson, University of the Western Cape, South Africa

  74. Mezna Qato, University of Cambridge

  75. Rabia Durrani, Women’s Democratic Front and Awami Workers Party

  76. Sonia Qadir, University of New South Wales

  77. Khushbakht S, Women’s Democratic Front

  78. Moniza Hina Kakar

  79. Mehmood Irfan, RMIT University

  80. Rafia Asim

  81. Ali Raza, Associate Professor, Lahore University of Management Sciences

  82. Haley Duschinski, Ohio University

  83. Tahira Sattar, Women’s Democratic Front

  84. Shaista Aziz Patel, University of California, San Diego

  85. Salman Sheikh

  86. Erum Haider, College of Wooster, Ohio

  87. Mubashir Rizvi, American University

  88. Yaw Freeman

  89. Adeem Suhail, Franklin and Marshall College

  90. Alia Amirali, political worker and researcher

  91. Shahana Rajani, Indus Valley School of Art and Architecture

  92. Nighat Khan, ASR resource centre

  93. Mohammad Jibran Nasir, Advocate High Court

  94. Taha Siddiqui, journalist in exile

  95. Hira Nabi

  96. Haider Ali Butt, Advocate High Court, Progressive Democratic Lawyers Forum, Vice president Haqook e Khalq Party

  97. Navtej Purewal, SOAS University of London

  98. Sarah Waheed

  99. Darakshan Raja, Muslims for Just Futures

  100. Sanna Ejaz, Founding/Core member Pashtun Tahafuz Movement (PTM)

  101. Arsalan Khan, Union College

  102. Nágomán Balóch, writer

  103. Rizwan Shabbir Kayani

  104. Haider Kaleem, Haqooq-e-Khalq Party

  105. Muneeba, Women’s Democratic Front

  106. Sarbjit Johal

  107. Thomas Blom Hansen, Stanford University

  108. Keval Bharadia, Revolutionary Reparations

  109. Sofia Karim, Turbine Bagh, London

  110. Naim Bro, Adolfo Ibáñez University

  111. Ali Özsagol

  112. Alpa Shah, Professor, London School of Economics

  113. Gwendolyn Kirk, Indiana University

  114. Sara Kazmi

  115. Zar Jan Naseer

  116. Ameem Lutfi, Lahore University of Management Sciences

  117. Sharika Thiranagama, Stanford University

  118. Faheem Baloch

  119. Salman, UMass Amherst

  120. Linda Pasch, University of Bonn, Germany

  121. Zaib un Nisa Aziz

  122. Maryam Kanwer, activist

  123. Somaiyah Hafeez, journalist

  124. Saadia Toor, City University of New York

  125. Mirza Saaib Beg

  126. Kobus Marais

  127. Maheen Pracha

  128. Priyanka, Women’s Democratic Front

  129. Sana Afraz, Women Democratic Front-Islamabad

  130. Philipp Zehmisch, South Asia Institute, Heidelberg University

  131. Chris Moffat, Queen Mary University of London

  132. Babar, Awami Workers Party

  133. Aiman, Women’s Democratic Front

  134. Umber Khairi

  135. Charles

  136. Azade Yari

  137. Elias Prox

  138. Greta S.

  139. Ahmed Baluch

  140. Sam Vanghault

  141. Chris Peterson

  142. Nina Farrokhi

  143. Saeeda Hameed, missing persons activist and daughter of Abdul Hameed

  144. Muskaan Mujahid, dawn.com sub-editor

  145. Hafeez Baloch, Awami Workers Party

  146. Somaiyah Hafeez, journalist

  147. Saleem Baloch, Baloch Student Action Committee

  148. Hatim Baloch, Coordinator of Paank

  149. Sudheer Wali Buledi, Baloch Student Organisation

  150. Rayhan Baloch, Baloch National Movement

  151. Bahad, Baloch Student Action Committee

  152. Sibth Ul Hassan Turi, Center for Conflicts Studies, Philipps Marburg university, Germany

  153. Abdul Shakoor, Awami National Party

  154. Fatima Shahzad, Progressive Students Federation

  155. Qazi Khizar, Human Rights Commission of Pakistan

  156. Salah ud Din, Vice president Young Engineers Association Balochistan

  157. Muhammad Salman Pashtoon, Pashtun Tahafuz Movement

  158. Muhammad Saleem, Educationist

  159. Riaz Naseer, Voice for Baloch Missing Persons

  160. Noroz Hayat, Human Rights Council of Balochistan

  161. Professor Shahjahan Wagarpal

  162. Salman, University of Toronto

  163. Rehmat Baloch, UMass Amherst

  164. Rania Humayune, Progressive Students Federation

  165. Meera Ghani, Amnesty International

  166. Abdul Malik, Human Rights Council of Balochistan

  167. Kamini Masood, Columbia University

  168. Fiza Shahzad, Student Of BZU Multan, column writer

  169. Abdul Malik, Human Rights Council of Balochistan

  170. Jaffer Mirza, King's College London

  171. Wajdan Iqbal, Progressive Student Federation - ISB-RWP

  172. Samar Abbas, Democratic Students Federation

  173. Abdullah Zahid, Journalist

  174. Azaad Ali, Progressive student federation

  175. Mohsin Mudassar, Progressive Students Federation

  176. Nasir Wazir, Pashtun Tahaffuz Movement, worker

  177. Aun Ahmed, Progressive Students Federation

  178. Siraj Ghulamani, Balochistan National Party

  179. Yameen, Progressive Students Federation

  180. Darvesh Khan, School For All

  181. Hassan Ejaz, University of Azad Jammu and Kashmir

  182. Hassan Javid, University of the Fraser Valley

  183. Kambar Baloch, Baloch National Movement

  184. Feroz Baloch, Former Vice Chairman of Baloch Students Action Committee

  185. Fazal Kareem, ARIF Agriculture University Raway

  186. Ahmer Azad, Pakistan Mazdoor Kissan Party

  187. Zain ul Abdin, Progressive Students Federation, Karachi Zone

  188. Muhammad Salman Khan, Awami National Party

  189. Jess Bier, Erasmus University Rotterdam

  190. Dostain Aslam, University of Turbat

  191. Hassan Dost, BNM Junior Joint Secretary

  192. Khalid Mehmood Raja, Pakistan Peoples Party

  193. Haleem Baloch, National Party (Balochistan)

  194. Tayeba Batool, University of Pennsylvania

  195. Qalandar Bux Menon, Naked Punch Review

  196. Maazah Muhammad Ali, Women’s Democratic Front

  197. Sarah Merchant, University of California Berkeley

  198. Asif Azim, Human Rights Council of Balochistan

  199. Shailja Sharma, DePaul University, Chicago

  200. Ajay Bhardwaj, Postfoc Fellow, SFU

  201. Moeed Ur Rehman, Progressive Students Federation

  202. Vinay Lal, University of California

  203. Abu Bakr Baloch, Baloch Raaj

  204. Shah Ameer Khan, University of Waterloo

  205. Anaïs Nony, University of Johannesburg

  206. Sameer, Human Rights Council of Balochistan

  207. Waleed Lal, Human Rights Council of Balochistan

  208. Jahangir Mandokhail, Pashtun Tahaffuz Movement