London (UK):
Sohail Abro, Chairman of the Jeay Sindh Freedom Movement (JSFM), has made a strong humanitarian appeal to the authorities of Estonia for the immediate release of JSFM activist Mr. Shah Nawaz Rasheed Rakhshani from detention and the granting of political asylum to protect his life and fundamental human rights.
In his statement, Sohail Abro said that Shah Nawaz Rasheed Rakhshani has been an active member and committed political worker of the Jeay Sindh Freedom Movement since August 2021 in Karachi Pakistan. He has been peacefully struggling for the rights, freedom, justice, and self-determination of the Sindhi nation through democratic and non-violent political activities from Pakistan.
Due to his political association with JSFM and his activism for Sindhi rights, Shah Nawaz Rasheed Rakhshani allegedly came under constant surveillance and harassment by Pakistani intelligence agencies. he was arrested on 2 November 2021 and later released. Again, on 2nd September 2022, he was forcibly disappeared from the Safroora area of Karachi by Pakistan state agencies.
Sohail Abro stated that enforced disappearances, illegal detentions, custodial torture, and extrajudicial actions against Sindhi and Baloch political activists have been repeatedly reported by human rights organizations and remain a serious concern in Pakistan. He said Shah Nawaz Rasheed Rakhshani continued his peaceful political activities despite grave threats to his safety, which further increased the risks to his life and liberty.
Shah Nawaz Rasheed Rakhshani faces a serious danger of arrest, torture, enforced disappearance, and even possible extrajudicial killing if he is deported back to Pakistan, Sohail Abro said. He was forced to flee the country in order to save his life and finally filed political asylum in Estonia.
The JSFM Chairman strongly endorsed the genuineness of Shah Nawaz Rasheed Rakhshani’s political background and asylum claim, urging Estonian authorities.
“We respectfully appeal to the Government of Estonia to immediately release Shah Nawaz Rasheed Rakhshani from detention and grant him political asylum in accordance with international human rights principles and refugee protection laws,” Sohail Abro stated. “Protecting his life, dignity, freedom, and basic human rights is a humanitarian responsibility of the international community.”
JSFM also called upon global human rights defenders, democratic institutions, and international organizations to closely monitor the case and support the protection of persecuted Sindhi political activists facing repression and enforced disappearances in Pakistan.
