Bullet-riddled body of missing journalist found in Balochistan

Reporters Without Borders is outraged at the murder of Javed Naseer Rind, former deputy editor of the newspaper Daily Tawar, which is close to nationalist and pro-independence groups in Balochistan. His body was found two days ago in the Khuzdar district, south of the Baloch capital Quetta, three months after he disappeared. "We ask local and federal authorities to fully investigate get this crime, taking account of the fact that he was a journalist, and to bring the perpetrators to justice," the press freedom organization said. "The continuing high levels of violence in the region and the impunity enjoyed by criminals such as those who target the press, threaten to transform Balochistan into a lawless area. "We wish to reaffirm our support for Baloch media workers and we urge the profession as a whole to take action on behalf of journalists in the region. "We also appeal to nationalist movements that regularly threaten and attack media organizations to stop targeting them immediately." Rind’s body was found in Ghazgi Chowk in Khuzdar, 300 km south of Quetta in the southwest Pakistan. His bullet-riddled body showed signs of torture and had a message identifying him on it. He was abducted on 10 September close to his home near Karachi. Rind was a member of the Baloch National Movement and had had stopped working as a journalist three months earlier. At the beginning of this month, the bodies of seven other Baloch activists were found in the region, which last year had the highest number of murders in the country. The Khuzdar district continues to suffer clashes between security forces and armed Baloch groups. The reporters Ejaz Raisini, Faiz Muhammad Sasoli and Abdul Hameed Hayatan were killed in the same district on 27 June, 3 September and 18 November last year respectively, Muhammad Khan Sasoli, a correspondent for the television station Royal TV and the INP news agency, was gunned down on 14 December. Munir Ahmed Shakir, a reporter for the news agency Online, was shot dead by indentified gunmen shortly after he covered a demonstration by Baloch nationalists . The organization Baloch Armed Defence Army has publicly issued threats against any journalists covering the political activities and rallies of Baloch nationalist groups like it. Pakistan is the world’s deadliest country for media workers. This year eight journalists have been killed in the course of their work. The country is classified 151th out of 178 in the Reporters Without Borders press freedom index for 2010.