Vice chairperson of Voice For Baloch Missing Persons, Mama Qadeer, Baloch has expressed concerns over a decision of a Pakistani court declaring rights activist Rashid Hussain as a fugitive. “Rashid Hussain is under custody of Pakistani secretive agencies and we have evidence about it. Declaring him a fugitive has increased our concerns for his safety,” Mama Qadeer, while speaking to media, said in front of Karachi press club.
He said that Rashid Hussain s/o Deedar Hussain is a rights activist and was working in Dubai as a labourer. “Rashid was arrested illegally by authorities of United Arab Emirates (UAE), and kept in custody for six months,” he said.
He added: “Rashid Hussain’s custody was later given to Pakistani authorities, and there is documentary evidence available of this fact. Now the Pakistani state denies Rashid’s detention and an anti-terrorist court in Karachi has declared him a fugitive.”
Addressing the UAE authorities, the veteran rights activist, Mama Qadeer, said that if any ill befalls on Rashid Hussain then UAE authorities are also responsible. “We appeal the UAE authorities to play a role in securing release of Rashid Hussain from Pakistani secretive agencies,” he said.
He added that if UAE authorities fail to give a positive response then we have all the human and legal rights to approach international institutions regarding Rashid Hussain’s case.
The family of the missing Rashid Hussain has been campaigning for his safe return in Quetta and Karachi for two years now. Amnesty International also raised the issue of Mr Hussain’s disappearances and wrote a letter to the UAE, questioning his ‘illegal extradition.’
Hussain’s sister said in a recent interview that they’ve had filed a petition in the Sindh High Court for his recovery. The Court then sent a notice to the Ministry of Interior and the Foreign Office to express their stance on the issue, but to no avail – a majority of the notices were ‘ignored.’ The section officer of the ministry of interior in Islamabad told to the court that they have neither arrested Rashid Hussain nor is he in their confinement.