Journalist subjected to enforced disappearance in Karachi

A reporter associated with the Urdu Daily Jang newspaper was taken into undeclared and illegal custody from his home in Karachi and his whereabouts are not made since early Saturday morning.

Journalist Matloob Husain Mousavi was taken away by around two dozen persons wearing masks who scaled the walls of the journalist’s home in Salman Farsi Society at around 4am, according to his elder brother, Minhaj Mosavi who is also a journalist.
Minhaj said that the masked men misbehaved with the family members and locked them in a room prior to taking away Matloob.
Quoting neighbours, Minhaj said that plain-clothed gunmen had arrived in a Toyota Vigo, a Toyota Prado and three police vehicles.
The brother said that Matloob had no affiliations with political or religious organisations. However, he added that his brother is “liberal, has progressive views and is a social activist as well.”
He demanded that if there is any allegation or case against him, he should be presented before the court, so that the “anxiety of the family can be reduced”.
The brother said that the family had submitted an application at the Al Falah police station to this effect, which was confirmed by DIG East Amir Farooqi. “They (the family) have given an application stating that there were policemen and plain-clothed people involved,” said DIG Farooqi. “We are verifying this with various police agencies,” added the senior officer.
Meanwhile, the Karachi Union of Journalists (KUJ) expressed concern over the disappearance of the journalist, condemning the incident in strong terms.
KUJ President Ashraf Khan along with General Secretary Ahmed Khan Malik and members of the working committee in a statement urged the government to take immediate notice of the incident.
They said that such cases of “enforced disappearances” have spread fear among the entire journalist community and that the government should put an end to such incidents.