Family members of Asif Baloch, who they say was forcibly disappeared, along with relatives of other missing persons, human rights activists, lawyers and students, staged a protest outside the Quetta Press Club on Saturday, demanding his immediate and safe recovery and the recovery of other missing persons.
The protest was organised by the Voice for Baloch Missing Persons (VBMP). Protesters carried placards and banners bearing slogans against enforced disappearances.
VBMP Chairman Nasrullah Baloch, the sister of Asif Baloch, the brothers of Shahid Kurd and Noor Mohammad Kurd, the sister of Zaheer Baloch and other speakers addressed the demonstration.
The speakers said enforced disappearances were a grave violation of citizens’ fundamental human rights, adding that the disappearance of a person subjected not only the individual but also their entire family to continuous mental anguish, uncertainty and suffering.
They said the government had claimed earlier this year that the issue of enforced disappearances had been resolved since February and that, under the 2025 law concerning enforced disappearances, anyone taken into custody would be produced before a magistrate within 24 hours, held in a detention centre and allowed to meet their family.
However, the speakers said the situation on the ground contradicted those claims.
“People continue to be forcibly disappeared after being taken into custody in Balochistan, while many detainees are not being transferred to detention centres. At the same time, incidents involving the recovery of the bodies of forcibly disappeared persons are being reported on a daily basis,” the speakers said.
They urged the government to fulfil its commitments to end enforced disappearances, ensure the rule of law and immediately recover all forcibly disappeared persons.
The speakers said that if any individual was accused of committing a crime, they should be produced before a court of law and tried in accordance with due process. Otherwise, they said, they should be released immediately.
They also called for an end to enforced disappearances and the extrajudicial killings of missing Baloch persons, stressing that the fundamental human and constitutional rights of all citizens must be protected under all circumstances.