For the second time in twelve months, Ehsan Ali and other leading activists from the Awami Action Committee (a local community defence organisation) in the impoverished Pakistan-administered region of Gilgit Baltistan have been arrested on false charges of ‘terrorism’ and ‘incitement to violence’. Their only ‘crime’ is organising peaceful protests on behalf of poor and working people. Ehsan Ali is gravely unwell, and is being denied medical attention. The authorities reportedly intend to let him die in captivity.

Ehsan Ali and the Awami Action Committee need YOUR help!

• SIGN this petition to show your support!
• For more information and regular updates, you can find the campaign’s website here.
• Send letters to Pakistan’s diplomatic missions demanding justice (a model can be found here).
• Pass this motion in your trade union/student union.
• You can also help us spread the campaign by following us on social media and sharing our posts as widely as possible: Instagram​, Facebook​, Twitter.

Ehsan Ali and the other leading activists of the Awami Action Committee have fought tirelessly on behalf of the workers and poor for over a decade, campaigning for democratic rights, for the maintenance of subsidies on essential goods like wheat flour and for the provision of basic health and education facilities for the people of the region.

They have also resisted the environmental destruction inflicted on the territory.

On Tuesday 10 March, Ehsan Ali, chairman of the Awami Action Committee Gilgit Baltistan (AAC), was arrested during a nighttime raid at his home.

Several other leaders of the AAC have also been arrested, including Nusrat Hussain, Mehboob Wali, Nafees Advocate and Mehar Ali.

The AAC leaders are all charged under the Anti-Terrorism Act, along with sections 153-A and 506 of the Pakistan Penal Code, which deal with the criminal offence of inciting violence.

What is the ‘justification’ for these outrageous charges?

On the one hand, the regime in Pakistan is carrying out a massive energy price hike and is preemptively trying to silence dissent. The hike is partly a result of the impact of the Iran War, which has thrown energy markets into disarray.

There have been major protests in Pakistan against this war, which have faced repression by the security forces, including in Gilgit-Baltistan, where over 20 people were killed by the authorities and many more injured.

Before his arrest, Ehsan Ali used his platform to oppose the killing of these protesters by the state authorities and tried to warn against provocations to incite sectarian tensions. He also visited the wounded in a hospital in Gilgit. 

It is clear that the charges of ‘terrorism’ against him are completely baseless.

On 8 March, leaders of the Awami Action Committee in Gilgit Baltistan, including Ehsan Ali, were invited to an iftar dinner, where they condemned the killings and discussed possible AAC protests around price hikes, the Land Reform Act and other issues affecting ordinary people.

This was the impetus for their arrest two days later.

Ehsan Ali and other leaders of AAC were presented in the anti-terrorism court in Gilgit on 18 March under very high security. Their physical remand in police custody was extended so the police can have more time for their bogus ‘investigation’.

Ehsan Ali, who is in his sixties, is being held in very bad conditions and his health has deteriorated. Despite orders of a judge on two separate occasions he was not transferred to hospital.

He eventually developed pneumonia and lost consciousness in the police station. Only then was he transferred to hospital for emergency treatment.

Ehsan Ali was brought to his delayed hearing on 26 March in an ambulance. The judge himself remarked in court that the police case is unjust and meeting at an iftar dinner is not even a simple crime, let alone terrorist activity.

It later emerged that, while Ehsan Ali was being held in custody, Amara Sattar, Sub-Divisional Police Officer (SDPO), rejected a court order demanding he be taken to hospital, stating:

“Leave it, there are orders from above (meaning military intelligence)... let him die.”

This outrageous admission demonstrates the urgency of our campaign, which is quite literally a matter of life or death. The judiciary and rule of law are evidently being manipulated, with the intention of allowing Ehsan Ali to perish in jail: simply for the ‘crime’ of campaigning for better conditions in poverty-stricken Gilgit Baltistan.

The international NGO Genocide Watch has also written a detailed and damning report on the oppression of Gilgit-Baltistan. The organisation uses a 10-point scale to assess the risk of genocide/mass violence. It considers Gilgit-Baltistan to be at Stage 3: Discrimination, Stage 5: Organisation, and Stage 8: Persecution. This is in recognition of the systematic political repression of the people of the region, the state violence inflicted upon them, and the forcible theft of their lands and property.

In the opinion of Genocide Watch, these conditions create a serious risk of mass violence. The report states:

“The arbitrary arrest of Ehsan Ali and other AAC-GB leaders follow longstanding state repression of political dissent using false legal charges of ‘terrorism’. (...) Pakistan has intensified state efforts to silence dissent during the Iran war (...) Hikes in government-controlled energy prices & rising concerns about Pakistan’s war with Afghanistan have heightened the government’s repression of opposition."

Please sign this petition and make your voice heard.

Free Ehsan Ali! Hands off the AAC!

#FreeEhsanAli #ReleaseEhsanAli #HandsOffTheAAC