Author: Saba Baloch
Balochistan, Pakistan’s western province, connecting in its eastern border with Iran and south with Afghanistan, is the largest province of Pakistan and is well known for its vast wealth of natural recourses. Notwithstanding, the people in this region (Baloch) are as lucky. The Pakistani intelligence services are involved in voilating the human rights in Balochistan. The voilation occurs through disappearances, extra-judicial killing, rape and torture etc. Whoever raises such an issue against these injustices, they face the wrath of the state and its perpetrators. Engineers, doctors, teachers, students, journalists and people from all walks of life are taken to unknown places known as the torture cells of the state. The forces abduct people, keep them in unknown locations for saveral days, weeks, or at times for years as well. Later, some are released after severe torture and mistreatments, while the mutilated bodies of others are found.
In Balochistan, the enforced disappearances and discovery of mutilated bodies are a major problem. The armed forces are directly involved in it. By the forces and through intelligence, thousands of men, women, and children have been forcefully disappeared, raped and tortured and after that, their mutilated bodies have been thrown to different locations. In Balochistan, human rights voilation has become a norm. The state and its armed forces along with the intelligence have habitually trampled on the human rights violation of the Baloch people in the name of security and territorial integrity and the Balochs have never felt safe in here.
The innocent people are picked up during the military operations and then they are murdered and their dead bodies are thrown away. On contrary, the state version is that these victims were involved in militants groups, whereas, in reality they are just innocent and neutral residents of Balochistan holding its identity.
According to the Constitution of Pakistan 1973, every citizen of Pakistan is supposed to have freedom of speech, freedom of life and several other rights, while no such law is being followed by such factors and kill and dump policy is in its peak. A large number of Baloch political activists, students, journalist have gone missing in Balochistan by Intelligence services. Torture, killing of the innocents and the illegal detention of any person is against the International laws and is voilation of human rights. The services blame foriegn intelligence agencies for the extra judicial killing and disappearances. The State has taken a serious stand and blamed foriegn agencies that they are engaged in whipping up terrorism in this region.
Whereas, the security forces themselves are doing the embarrassing acts such as sexual abuse, torture, disappearances and extra judicial killing. Since 2005, Human Rights Organizations have recorded numerous serious human rights voilation by the security forces, including extra judicial execution, torture and enforced disappearances.
Enforced Disappearance In Balochistan In 2020:
Throughout the year 2020, the humanitarian situation in Balochistan remained grim like the previous years. Human rights violations such as acts of enforced disappearances, extrajudicial executions, forced displacement, torture, fake encounters, military operation and collective punishment continued in the pretext of national security. The police turned a blind eye to those incidents knowing the all powerful military was involved.
The human rights council of Balochistan received reports of enforced disappearance of 480 people, out of whom 32 were later released. A total of 177 people were killed.
Enforced Disappearance In Balochistan 2021:
At least 472 people were forcibly disappeared by military and its secret agencies ( MI, ISI). 80 were later released while whereabouts of 392 are still unknown. The abducted include 3 woman, 12 children (aged 7-15) and 38 students. 366 people were killed extrajudicially in Balochistan in the year 2021 in which 177 bodies were in beyond recognition state and could not be identified. 50 people were killed by frontier corps, 50 mutilated bodies were also recovered in 2021. 47 people were killed by Counter Terrorism Department in fake encounters, 21 out of 47 of whom were identified were all enforced disappeared persons and had been in the custody of military for months and years. CTD also framed several enforced disappared persons in fake cases.
Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of The Balochistan Post or any of its editors.