Baba Jan auf Kaution entlassen, Ameer Khan und Iftikhar Hussain weiterhin im Knast

aus einer ersten Erklärung von Baba Jan, mehr aktuelle Meldungen hier und hier, mehr zum Thema u.a. hier:

On his release from jail today, Baba Jan asked Comrade Abdul Jalal to convey the following message to all supporters:

1. He wishes to thank all those who have participated in the campaign to secure his release and that of his fellow detained comrades – whether someone signed a petition, wrote a letter, an article, organised or attended a demonstration, a sit-in or a teach-in.

2. We are all learning to campaign more effectively for common causes and this experience will help us in our struggles in the future.

Baba Jan’s supporters in Gilgit-Baltistan have organised a rally from Gilgit City to Aliabad in Hunza Valley, his native region. The rally starts at 12 noon from Col. Hassan Market, Gilgit City.

Update zu Baba Jan und Iftikhar Hussain

* Account of the Public Meeting in Naseerabad Hindi, Hunza valley (Free Baba Jan)

* Baba Jan and Iftikhar Hussain are now safely back in Jutial Jail (Free Baba Jan)

„Today’s news is that Baba Jan and Iftikhar Hussain are now safely back in Jutial Jail.

They were put under a lot of mental stress by the JIT and the ISI colonel and major who were interrogating them tried to pressurise them into joining one of the parties that work with the federation, like the PPP, PML-N or the MQM, and to stop raising issues of the rights of the people. When they asked Baba Jan what he thought of their suggestion, he told them that they should leave the territory as they no longer had any business there. At this, the officers became enraged and roughed them up a little.

Sami and Nasir talked to Baba Jan soon after he returned to jail and both Baba Jan and Iftikhar are in high spirits. They congratulate all the members of the campaign for their work and send “surkh salam” to all, especially the young members of the Progressive Youth Front and the National Students Federation.“

Baba Jan und Iftikhar Hussain verschleppt und vermutlich gefoltert

Offenbar haben Beamte des pakistanischen Geheimdienstes die beiden politischen Aktivisten Baba Jan und Iftikhar Hussain, die eigentlich seit Ende Juni auf Kaution entlassen werden sollten aus dem Knast von Gilgit (im von Pakistan besetzten Teil von Kaschmir) an einen unbekannten Ort verschleppt und vermutlich gefoltert, nachfolgend dokumentiert eine Meldung von der Soli-Seite Free Baba Jan, weitere Meldungen zum Thema auf dieser Webseite hier, hier und hier:

Gilgit rights activist being given the ‘third degree’

LAHORE, July 22: Baba Jan, a rights activist in Gilgit is allegedly being subjected to severe physical and mental torture by a joint investigation team for the last couple of days after he was implicated in a ‘criminal case’ registered against him under Anti Terrorism Act (ATA) on July 20 at the time when he was in jail. Rights activists and legal experts say the case was registered against Baba Jan after the court accepted his bail petition and ordered his release in another case registered against him in August last year while he was leading a protest procession taken out by those affected by Attabad lake against the government for not compensating them.

“Baba Jan and another rights activist, Iftikhar Hussain, were abducted from Gilgit jail on July 20 by a joint investigation team (JIT) and are being tortured and kept in illegal detention. He (Baba Jan) is a member of the Labour Party Pakistan’s federal committee. LPP Youth Secretary Iftikhar Hussain, Rashid Minhas, Amir Khan and Sher Khan have also been imprisoned in various jails in Gilgit since September 2011. They have been charged under the ATA despite the fact they have not committed any crime. They are being victimised for the support they rendered to Attabad lake victims, last year,” LPP spokesman Farooq Tariq told Dawn.

He said in August 2011, during a protest by the lake victims the police opened fire on peaceful demonstrators, killing a student, Afzal Beg. When his father went to recover his body, he too was shot and later died, he added. Instead of charging the officers responsible for these murders, the Gilgit-Baltistan administration got registered a false-case against more than 100 political activists, including Baba Jan. It is on these charges that he has been imprisoned for the past nine months, Mr Tariq said.

“The former premier (Yousuf Raza Gilani) repeatedly lied, stating that there are no political prisoners in Pakistan. At present there are 14 LPP workers languishing in prison cells in Faisalabad and Gilgit. The ATA is being used unjustly,” he deplored.

“Whether citizens protest against loadshedding, lawyers for democracy, workers for fair wages or natural disaster victims for compensation — as in the case of Attabad — the anti-terrorist law is immediately invoked to stifle their voices”.

Amanullah Kariapper, another LPP activist, said that on April 28, a dozen Rangers and police officials entered the Gilgit jail and severely tortured three inmates, including Baba Jan, and humiliated them by shaving their heads. The next day, the three were ‘kidnapped’ by the security forces, he said. The Rangers and police were committing such atrocities with total disdain for basic human rights, he added.

“Baba Jan, Iftikhar Hussain, Amir Ali, Ameer Khan and Rashid Minhas are all human rights defenders and have been illegally detained for nine months in total violation of their fundamental rights”, Kariapper said. He demanded an immediate end to what he called misuse of the ATA and release of Baba Jan.

Baba Jan’s lawyer advocate Muhammad Nafees Ahmad told this reporter on phone from Gilgit that though he and other members of the legal team had succeeded in getting Baba Jan and his companions released through court orders on July 20, the police again arrested him in another ‘false’ case under the ATA.

He said those affected by the Attabad disaster “actually launched the protest after the compensation cheques given to them by the government got bounced”.

He alleged Mr Jan and his comrades were being victimised politically by the PPP-led G-B government, police and sensitive agencies.

Muhammad Ayaz, the officer investigating the case against Baba Jan, said the case (No 64/2012) had been registered against Baba Jan and some others on July 20 under the ATA for instigating fellow prisoners against the state. He rejected reports about torture of Baba Jan or his comrades during the on-going investigation by the JIT.

“If we are involved in torture, Baba Jan’s legal team and heirs should immediately file a petition against us in the court,” he said, claiming that Gilgit police were not like the traditional police.

“We are investigating this case purely on merit and will release the accused persons if they are found innocent,” he added.

Die gute Nachricht des Tages: Baba Jan, Iftikhar Hussain, Amir Ali, Ameer Khan and Rashid Minhas werden auf Kaution entlassen werden

Die Hunza Five: fünf Aktivisten der Labour Party Pakistan (LPP) und der Progressive Youth Front (PYF) werden höchstwahrscheinlich morgen auf Kaution aus dem Knast entlassen werden. Die Hunza Five wurden Ende April wegen ihres Einsatzes für die Belange flutgeschädigter BewohnerInnen in der Region Baltistan-Gilgit im pakistanisch besetzten Teil Kaschmirs inhaftiert und gefoltert, mehr zur aktuellen Entwicklung des Falles auf ESSF und auf Free Baba Jan!.

Weitere Inhaftierungen von LPP-Mitgliedern in Hunza

Quelle: International Viewpoint, mehr zum Thema hier, hier und hier:

More arrests in Gilgit Baltistan

Crackdown on solidarity with Baba Jan and his comrades

Farooq Tariq

While protests in different cities of Pakistan is going on, we received a bad news from Hunza valley. Six activists of Labour Party led by comrade Nasir are arrested in Karim Abad, the main city of Hunza, while flyposting the posters for the release of Baba Jan.

This is going too far, comrades are arrested even for this very normal political activity.
Demonstrations for the release of Baba Jan and four other comrades and against the torture are held in Karachi, Lahore, Islamabad, Multan, Hyderabad and other cities today.
At Lahore, we gathered at Baghat Singh Shaheed Chouck to protest. I am writing this brief report from the demo place. This was the place where Baghat Singh and his friend were hanged by British Imperialism in 1931. We are demanding that this square should be named formally s Baghat Singh Chouck.
>Baba Jan is today’s Baghat Singh, like him, he is now busy in fighting for the rights of prisoners in Gilgit jail. He has been tortured for that. He has tried to bring religious harmony among Shia and Sunni prisoners.

For more information on the case of Baba Jan and his comrades see Urgent Appeal : Death threat to activists imprisoned in Pakistan.

Farooq Tariq is the national spokesperson of Labour Party Pakistan.

Solidarität mit Baba Jan, Iftikhar Hussain, Amir Ali, Ameer Khan und Rashid Minhas!

Die Human Rights Commission of Pakistan ruft dazu auf, die pakistanischen Autoritäten mittels Eingaben unter Druck zu setzen, um die Freiheit von fünf inhaftierten und gefolterten Mitgliedern der Labour Party Pakistan (LPP) und der Progressive Youth Front (PYF) in Gilgit im von Pakistan besetzten Teil von Kaschmir zu erreichen:

„Five political activists are being tortured in Gilgit jail, Gilgit-Baltistan, Pakistan. These political activists who were in jail for the last many months are facing very harsh treatment for protesting against the poor quality of food and delay in hearing of cases of prisoners at the jail. They have been incarcerated for protesting on behalf of the victims of forced displacement on account of the Attaabad landslide in January 2010.

On April 28, 2012 five political activists were visited by police and security agencies in jail and they were tortured on dubious charges of leading the protest in prison. One of the activists’ Baba Jan suffered two broken fingers and injuries to his head and other parts of his body. Despite the orders of the court Baba Jan and other victims have not been examined by doctor and not been hospitalized in violation of court orders.“

mehr zum Fall der fünf Genossen hier, eine Solidaritätsadresse von Wickramabahu Karunarathne von der NSSP gibt es hier.

Für das Leben und die Freiheit von Ebrahim Issapour, Sirvan Nejavi, Baba Jan, Iftikhar Hussain, Amir Ali, Ameer Khan und Rashid Minhas!

1.) Der iranische Staat plant, zwei weitere kurdische politische Gefangene zu ermorden, Julias Blog berichtet:

„Wie die Webseite “International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran” unter Berufung auf eine informierte örtliche Quelle mitteilt, wurden Ebrahim Issapour und Sirvan Nejavi wegen “Feindschaft gegen Gott” zum Tode verurteilt. Sie waren im Juli letzten Jahres verhaftet worden. Dem Bericht zufolge wurde gegen die beiden Urteile Berufung eingelegt, die Fälle sollen an den Obersten Gerichtshof gegangen sein.“

2.) Wie ESSF berichtet sind fünf Mitglieder der Labour Party Pakistan (LPP) und/oder der Progressive Youth Front (PYF) in Baltistan-Gilgit (im von Pakistan besetzten Teil von Kashmir) im Knast misshandelt worden:

„Since September 2011, Baba Jan – a Federal Committee member of the Labour Party Pakistan – and several other members of the LPP and the Progressive Youth Front (PYF) have been imprisoned for the support they gave to poor local residents who were demanding compensation after the devastating 2010 landslide and flood in the Hunza Valley, Gilgit-Baltistan.

April 28, 2012, the five detainees have been severely beaten in jail. According to the most recent news, three of them, Baba Jan, Iftikhar Hussain and Amir Ali received serious injuries. Baba Jan’s hand was fractured. The other two comrades, Ameer Khan and Rashid Minhas, received relatively fewer injuries. They were not allowed to receive any visit after this aggression.

Six days after the attack, the injured political detainees have been denied medical treatment – indeed, the jailers seems to have been given strict instructions in this regard.

The five detainees have been transferred to sub-jail Zulfiqarabad, Gilgit City, where hardened criminals are generally imprisoned. This is a source of acute concern as we fear that the state might seek to use these criminals to launch a second, possibly fatal, attack on the five comrades.

The Labour Party and the Progressive Youth Front have organised many rallies around the country to condemn the illegal detention of Baba Jan and his comrades – they are jailed under the anti-terrorist act!–, and subsequent torture, and to demand their immediate release.

The life of the five activists maybe in danger. It is of the utmost importance to widen the solidarity campaign to protect Baba Jan and his comrades, for them to be safe and to be released from custody immediately and unconditionally.

International solidarity initiatives have begun. We reproduce below letters of protests sent from Australia. They can inspire actions in other countries.

More information will be published as soon as possible on our website.

Pierre Rousset, Europe solidaire sans frontières (ESSF)“

Drei Lesehinweise zu Kaschmir und den Philippinen

* Kunal Chattopadhyay: The Identity of Kashmir in Contemporary History

* Rebolusyonaryong Partido ng Manggagawa – Mindanao (RPM-M): A New Revolutionary Hope amidst Challenges: The Second Congress of RPM-M and How It Became a Success

* Rebolusyonaryong Partido ng Manggagawa – Mindanao (RPM-M): 2nd RPA Military Conference and Politico-Military (POL-MIL) Training, Successful!

Vermischtes

1.) Neu bei ANNO: historische deutschsprachige Zeitungen aus der Bukowina der K.u.K.-Zeit

* Czernowitzer Allgemeine Zeitung (1904-1914, 1917-1918)
* Bukowiner Post (1893-1901)
* Bukowiner Rundschau (1883-1905)

2.) lesenswerte Texte zur „Burka-Frage“ auf Viewpoint Online:

* Sahar Saba (RAWA): Burka – The Afghan blues
* Pierre Rousset: ’Resist the ban but oppose the burka too’
* Bushra Khaliq (Women Workers Help Line): Deconstructing Burqa

„Burka we know is a tool to control women. But for Afghan woman, it is a sad reality that burka enables her to go out for education or work and offers a refuge from insults hurled by men on the streets. The blue shroud is paradoxically Afghan woman’s prison as well as an intangible liberator too. This is why out of 10 women, for example even in Kabul, one finds nine in burka. They don’t feel safe outside their homes without burkas. For activist women, particularly on the countryside and in small towns, burka has its own ‚importance‘. It was and is a tool of struggle. During Taliban’s time and even now, burka offers protection as women would carry books, cameras and other documents under their blue burkas. For us in Afghanistan, wearing or not wearing a burka is not as simple a debate as in the West. Though I personally hope and wish there soon is a chance for Afghan women to be free from this head to toe bag yet I also understand how much has to be done in the fields of education, security, culture and development before we can get rid of burka.“

3.) auch lesenswert: fussball von links – ballsport und kritik

4.) Zur Lage in Kaschmir:

* Communist Internationalist: Kashmir: Amidst gun battles between Indian state and the separatists half a million workers assert their class identity (LibCom)
* Stop Killing and Insulting the Protesting People of Kashmir (CPI/ML-Liberation)

5.) klassische Verschwörungstheorien von einem pfingstlerischen Pastor in Berlin (taz):

„Gareth Lowe hatte ein Mission. Eine religiöse: „Man kann kaum überschätzen, was es bedeutet, Deutschland für Jesus Christus zu gewinnen.“ Denn erstens seien zu wenig Deutsche evangelikale Christen, zweitens sei die Bundesrepublik Deutschland ein reicher, mächtiger und strategisch günstiger Ort, um Europa zu beeinflussen. Und schließlich kontrollierten drei Deutsche unsere Welt: Einstein, Freud (!) und Marx. Mit solchen Thesen haben Lowe, seine Frau Taryn und 15 weitere junge Leute von Südafrika aus Mitstreiter gesucht. Ihr Plan: eine Kirche in Berlin gründen.“

… ob Herr Lowe auch ein Fan des Strategic Level Spiritual Warfare ist?

6.) Der Urwald von Bialowieza/Polen ist in Gefahr

7.) Im aktuellen Weekly Worker: Jack Conrad – Royalist nationalism, opposition prophets, and the impact of exile and return

8.) Musik … Prost!

Vermischtes

1.) Aus einem Interview auf Revolution in South Asia mit Kishenji, Kommandeur der People’s Liberation Army und Politbrumitglied der CPI (Maoist) zur „Nationalen Frage“:

„Q: You support Kashmir’s right of self-determination?

A: We do. But only if it is a genuine struggle. If Kashmir wants independence, so be it. But that should cover the whole of Kashmir. We have no patience for religious radicalism. If the Taliban attacks India, we will be the first to fight them. But we cannot deny Kashmir’s aspirations for self-determination. That is a secular aspiration focused on Kashmiriyat, not a Taliban-style religious fanaticism.“

Gleichzeitig konnten PLA und CPI (Maoist) auch 2009 Geländegewinne verbuchen:

2.) Auch die BäuerInnenbewegung in Pakistan kann sich behaupten, Bushra Khaliq, Generalsekretärin von Women Workers Help Line berichtet auf International Viewpoint:

“ … From Lahore we 3 comrades, myself, Nazli and Maqsood attended this meeting and spoke on the occasion to register our continuous solidarity and support with the movement. The most important thing one can feel was the degree of determination on the faces of the tenants. They were as determined today to get their land rights as 10 years ago. The worst degree of state repression by Musharraf regime could not down their morale. The historic tenants’ movement started in year 2000 is now ten-year old. The decade of their long struggle is studded with matchless sacrifices, rigorous resistance and unwavering determination. It may be recalled that over one million tenants are struggling against Rangers and military (owners of farms) over the control of 68,000 acres of highly cultivable land which tenants have been tilling for the last 100 years.

The meeting was a clear manifestation that tenants are in no mood to disappear in the face of the state oppression. If we look at the social and political impacts of this movement these are significant in nature. The movement has helped generate new dynamics of gender power and political discourse. During the last 10 years, the movement has positively changed the gender relations in favor of women in a feudal dominated society. Women are now more empowered, out of boundary walls of the homes to play their due and important political role. Besides this a new layer of young tenants leadership has also emerged on the political scene and making local ruling elite to feel their strong presence. They are now major political actors in their local constituencies. …“

3.) Die GenossInnen der RSO erinnern daran, dass Joseph Frey (1889-1957) nicht nur eine herausragende Figur der ArbeiterInnenbewegung in Österreich im allgemeinen und des österreichischen Trotzkismus im besonderen sondern auch ein exquisieter Fussballer war:

„Weniger bekannt ist Freys Karriere als Fußballer in Spitzenteams der damaligen Zeit. Frey war bereits als Jugendlicher und junger Mann sport- und insbesondere fußballbegeistert. Nach dem Abschluss seines Studiums 1907 und seiner Übersiedlung nach Wien spielte er als „rechter Mittelläufer“ (so die damalige Bezeichnung) beim WAC. Die Fußballabteilung des „Wiener Athletiksport Club“ (WAC) war bereits 1897 ins Leben gerufen worden. Der WAC war aber nicht nur einer der ältesten Fußballvereine Wiens (und Österreichs), sondern auch einer der besten, der eine Reihe der damals bestehenden Bewerbe gewann.“

4.) Lesenswertes zum Skandal um die Robinsons in Nordirland findet mensch auf Splintered Sunrise, ansonsten ein wenig Musik von Keith Law zum Thema:

5.) Das Veranstaltungsprogramm 2010 der Willi-Bredel-Gesellschaft. Geschichtswerkstatt e.V. ist nun online