Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) and Turbat civil society have unanimously called for justice for Gohram Nadal, a young resident of Tump, who was allegedly abducted by the Pakistani forces in the middle of the night with three others and then killed in custody. The civil society members called on the authorities to thoroughly investigate the incident and also demanded the safe release of the remaining three detainees.
According to the details, civil society convener Gulzar Baloch and HRCP regional coordinator Professor Ghani Parvaaz called a press conference in Turbat Press Club on Thursday. Addressing the gathering, Parvaaz said that the Pakistani forces raided a house in the Tump area of Turbat at 4 a.m. on June 12th and “abducted” four individuals – Gohram s/o Nadal, Abdul Sattar s/o Illahi Baksh, Sohrab s/o Raheem Baksh and Abdullah s/o Master Hassan.
The forces tortured the detainees and one of them, Gohram, was beaten to death. On June 15, three days after the “abduction”, the forces called the family members of the deceased victim and told them to take possession of his dead body.
Parvaaz said that the family members refused to take the dead body in protest. Influential local people also called the family members and neighbours of Gohram, pressuring them to take the dead body, but they all unanimously refused to do so. Subsequently, the police forcibly handed them over the dead body, he said.
The speakers said in the press conference that “forcibly disappearing” an individual in the middle of the night and then torturing him to death a heinous crime – it goes not just against the constitution of Pakistan, but also against the UN human rights charter.
They said that per the constitution, the court must issue an arrest warrant for an individual which then gives the police and the levies the authority to apprehend that individual. The arrestee is then presented in court within 24 hours of the arrest. But the situation here is different – people are “abducted” in the middle of the night and then tortured to death in confinement, they said.
“Enforced disappearances and kill-and-dump must stop”, the speakers said.
The speakers further said that the Frontier Corps is meant to protect the border – but they have been stationed in civilian areas in Balochistan where they are infamous for their direct involvement in various human rights abuses. They said that the FC has over-exercised its authority in Balochistan, and the extrajudicial killing of Hayat Baloch and the sexual harassment of Ameer Murad are examples of this. They demanded that the government withdraw the FC from Balochistan and send it to its designated place – the border.
Civil society leader Gulzar Baloch termed Gohram’s death a “human rights tragedy” and said that he is concerned about the safety of the remaining three detainees. He demanded a thorough investigation of Gohram’s killing and the safe release of the three missing individuals.