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Pakistani Army Rejects HRW Report On Disappearances In Baluchistan


A Pakistani security officer searches a car at a checkpoint in Pishin, Baluchistan, in July 2011.
A Pakistani security officer searches a car at a checkpoint in Pishin, Baluchistan, in July 2011.
Pakistani Army officials have rejected a Human Rights Watch (HRW) report on enforced disappearances in the southwestern province of Baluchistan, RFE/RL's Radio Mashaal reports.

New York-based HRW alleged in a report this week that Pakistani security agencies are involved in the disappearances and executions of Baluchi nationalists in Baluchistan, Pakistan's largest province.

But Major General Athar Abbas, Pakistan's army spokesman, rejected as one-sided the 132-page report, "We Can Torture, Kill or Keep You for Years: Enforced Disappearances by Pakistan Security Forces in Baluchistan."

"It is a one-sided report and we outrightly reject the conclusion drawn by this report," Abbas said.

Talking to RFE/RL, Abbas added that HRW representatives never approached Pakistani Army officials for their comments on the contents of the report.

Meanwhile, Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) Deputy Chairman Kamran Arif told RFE/RL that it contacted Frontier Corps officials in Baluchistan about the ongoing problem between nationalists and officials, but that no one would talk to his organization.

Abductions and summary executions of suspected Baluchi nationalists by Pakistani security agencies have reportedly fueled separatist sentiment.

According to the HRW report, disappearances of nationalists have been taking place in Baluchistan since 2006.
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