Quetta, July 22 (IANS) At least four civilians were forcibly disappeared by Pakistani forces in Balochistan, a leading human rights organisation alleged on Wednesday
Paank, the Baloch National Movement's Human Rights Department, expressed grave concern over the enforced disappearance of four Baloch youths by Pakistani security forces in the Jiwani area of Gwadar district on Tuesday night.
Citing reports, the rights body said that Pakistani forces conducted a late-night raid, searched homes, and subjected women and children to physical abuse during the operation.
It added that the four young men — Mohsin, Yaqoob, Haseeb, and Sameer — were taken into custody and subsequently subjected to enforced disappearance.
“These actions constitute serious violations of international human rights law, including the rights to liberty, security of person, due process, and protection from enforced disappearance. Acts of violence against women and children during security operations are equally alarming and require urgent and independent investigation,” Paank stated.
The rights body called on the government of Pakistan to immediately disclose the whereabouts and legal status of the four disappeared youths, ensure they have access to their families and legal counsel, and conduct a prompt, independent, impartial, and transparent investigation into the incident.
Highlighting the atrocities against civilians in Balochistan, human rights body Baloch Yakjehti Committee (BYC) revealed that 27-year-old labourer Bada Bugti was extrajudicially killed by the Pakistani Army on July 16 in the Kad-Koocha area of Mastung district.
“His killing is a stark reminder that in Balochistan, no one is safe, not students, not political workers, and not even labourers travelling far from home in search of a living. That a resident of Dera Bugti was killed hundreds of kilometres away in Mastung speaks to the vast and unchecked reach of military operations across Balochistan, where Baloch lives are taken with complete impunity, and their deaths pass without investigation,” the BYC stated.
“Extrajudicial killings constitute a grave violation of the right to life guaranteed under the Constitution of Pakistan and international human rights law, including the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. Yet in Balochistan, such killings have become routine, with perpetrators shielded from accountability while grieving families are denied even the basic dignity of answers,” it added.
In yet another disturbing development, the bodies of seven people were recovered from various districts of Balochistan, with several found bearing multiple gunshot injuries, The Balochistan Post reported, citing local authorities.
In one such case, the bullet-riddled body of an unidentified man was recovered from the Niwan Nadi area in Panjgur district.
Authorities recovered the bodies of two unidentified people with multiple gunshot wounds in Surab. In Kalat, two bodies were found in the Rej area, while another had earlier been recovered from the Rodenjo region. Separately, the body of a young man was recovered from Bil Nagor in Buleda tehsil of Kech district.
Additionally, the body of an unidentified man was recovered from the Jungle Cross area in Mastung.
Balochistan continues to reel under relentless atrocities by the Pakistani forces, marked by enforced disappearances and extrajudicial killings of Baloch civilians at an unprecedented level.
--IANS
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