Lahore, December 27, 2013: The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) has strongly condemned the murder of its activist Ahmed Jan Baloch in Panjgur. The Commission has demanded the arrest of his killers and measures to make the work of human rights defenders less dangerous.

Ahmed Jan was shot and severely injured by armed men on a motorcycle in a market in Panjgur on December 23. He was taken to the city’s district headquarters hospital but after some time, in view of his serious condition, he was being moved to Karachi when he passed away. HRCP condoled with his family for their loss and the loss of the beleaguered community of human rights defenders in Balochistan.

It said that this was not the first murder of a human rights defender associated with HRCP in Balochistan and that such attacks and killings continued because of the impunity that the killers enjoyed. HRCP called upon the federal and the provincial governments to take serious notice of Ahmed’s murder in a targeted attack and called upon them to show through their actions a definite and serious commitment to providing a secure environment for human rights defenders. Bringing Ahmed’s killers to justice in a prompt manner could be the first step in that direction, HRCP added.

Zohra Yusuf

Chairperson