The long-standing protest camp in Quetta, organized by Voice for Baloch Missing Persons (VBMP), completed 5,853 days on Sunday. The camp, which continues to demand justice for victims of enforced disappearances in Balochistan, drew visits and expressions of solidarity from people belonging to various walks of life.
Speaking to visitors, VBMP Vice Chairman Mama Qadeer Baloch said that serious human rights violations continue to be reported daily from Balochistan. “Enforced disappearances and custodial killings have become routine actions of state institutions,” he said.
He specifically condemned the recent case of Salam s/o Haidar, a resident of Gwadar’s Gatti Dhor area, who was reportedly killed in custody on June 15, 2025, after being forcibly disappeared by security forces. According to Mama Qadeer, Salam’s body was later handed over to his family with instructions to bury him quietly without informing anybody. In other recent cases, he added, families have not even been allowed to receive the remains, with the bodies being transferred directly to Edhi Foundation for anonymous burial.
“This practice amounts to a double injustice – first the disappearance, then denying families the right to grieve and bury their loved ones with dignity,” he said.
Mama Qadeer criticized the alleged use of Edhi Foundation in what he called “efforts to erase evidence of state crimes.” He said the Foundation, known for its humanitarian work, should not become complicit in unmarked burials that violate the rights of victims’ families.
Despite being fully aware of the situation in Balochistan, he said, Edhi Foundation continues to accept unidentified bodies for burial without verifying whether they might belong to victims of enforced disappearance. “We have records of every disappeared person. The Foundation can coordinate with us to identify the deceased before any burial is carried out.”
He further emphasized that in today’s age, modern methods like DNA testing can be used to identify remains. “Yet, despite repeated requests from families, the state deliberately buries bodies in unmarked graves. These actions only deepen the wounds of a society already scarred by years of enforced disappearances,” Mama Qadeer added.