Balochistan Sees Spike In Enforced Disappearances, Rights Groups Blame Pakistani Forces
Six men were forcibly disappeared in Balochistan, says Baloch National Movement. Protests erupt over activist Zeeshan Zaheer's killing as groups decry Pakistan's crackdown on rights defenders.
Quetta, July 3 (IANS) Six men were forcibly disappeared from multiple districts of Balochistan, adding to the series of enforced disappearances, which a Baloch human rights organisation on Tuesday said have been carried out by the Pakistani forces.
Paank, Baloch National Movement's Human Rights Department, highlighted that the incident occurred between July 1 and 2, amid a surge in enforced disappearances across Balochistan.
"On the night of Tuesday, Talal Baloch, son of Umid Ali, was taken from his residence in Ward No. 2, Pasni, Gwadar District. The following day, Safyan, son of Ghulam Rasool Sufi, was abducted from the Singani Sar area of Turbat," the rights body stated.
Paank revealed that in a separate incident on Tuesday, four more youths were detained and disappeared from the Khuda Bakhsh Chaat area in Tehsil Mand, Kech District.
They have been identified as Jasim, son of Yaqoob Baloch, Malik, son of Faiz Muhammad, Faisal, son of Bijar Baloch, and Raziq, son of Bijar Baloch.
The human rights organisation strongly condemned this ongoing wave of enforced disappearances, describing it as "a blatant violation of international human rights laws."
"These abductions further highlight the alarming trend of systematic targeting of Baloch youth," Paank mentioned.
Additionally, human rights activists from Balochistan on Wednesday held a protest rally in Panjgur district of Balochistan against the extrajudicial killing of Zeeshan Zaheer, a member of the human rights organisation, Baloch Yakjehti Committee (BYC).
"Zeeshan's father has been a victim of enforced disappearance since 2015. Instead of ensuring his father's safe return, the state returned Zeeshan's own body -- extrajudicially killed. We strongly reject the state's continued atrocities against the Baloch people. These are not isolated incidents, but part of a systematic campaign of Baloch genocide. We vow to expose the war crimes being committed in Balochistan," read a statement issued by the BYC.
Additionally, the BYC has also strongly condemned the ongoing attempts by Pakistan's military establishment to intimidate and suppress the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP).
The recent press release issued by HRCP painted a grim picture of the increasingly repressive environment in which human rights defenders are now forced to operate in Pakistan.
"The targeting of HRCP signifies a dangerous deepening of this authoritarian trajectory, whereby even those operating within the constitutional and legal frameworks are no longer safe from persecution. It is a stark warning that no space is sacred in Pakistan -- not the courtrooms, not the classrooms, and not even the human rights institutions," the BYC stated.
The human rights body called for the unconditional release of all detained human rights defenders, including BYC leadership, an end to enforced disappearances and extrajudicial killings all over Pakistan, including Balochistan, and the restoration of democratic rights across all regions.
(This report has been published as part of the auto-generated syndicate wire feed. Apart from the headline, no editing has been done in the copy by ABP Live.)
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