Quetta, Aug 20 (IANS) Several leading human rights organisations and activists on Thursday strongly condemned the enforced disappearance of two Baloch women and their minor children by Pakistani forces in Balochistan’s capital Quetta.

The victims were identified as 27-year-old Umaira Baloch, her eight-year-old daughter, Parisa; 28-year-old Najma Baloch and her 1.5-year-old son Zakir.

According to the rights bodies, the four were reportedly abducted from their homes in Gashkori Town of Quetta, allegedly by personnel of Pakistan’s Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD) and Frontier Corps (FC) on Wednesday. Since then, their whereabouts remain unknown.

Condemning the incident, the Baloch Women Forum (BWF) said, “The abduction of women and children is not merely a violation of individual rights; it represents a grave assault on the basic protections guaranteed by law. The disappearance of a 1.5-year-old child is particularly horrifying and exposes the extent to which the practice of enforced disappearance has been normalised in Balochistan, where even women and infants are not spared."

The forum said that taking minors outside any "transparent and lawful judicial process" constitutes a serious violation of their fundamental rights and the legal protections ensured to children.

“The continued targeting of Baloch women and children demonstrates a deeply entrenched system of impunity in which individuals can be taken away without warrants, accountability or judicial oversight. Such practices undermine the rule of law and create an atmosphere of fear in which entire families are exposed to arbitrary state action,” it noted.

Meanwhile, the Human Rights Council of Balochistan (HRCB) expressed grave concern over the incident, saying the arbitrary deprivation of liberty of minors, together with their alleged enforced disappearance, raises grave concerns under international human rights law and the Convention on the Rights of the Child.

HRCB called for the immediate disclosure of the whereabouts of Umaira, Najma, Parisa and Zakir, guarantees for their safety, and their immediate and unconditional release. It urged the Pakistani authorities to ensure that the families are informed of their whereabouts and all four are protected from any form of torture, ill-treatment or extrajudicial harm.

Alleging that Pakistani forces responsible for these abductions continued to operate with impunity across Balochistan, the Baloch Voice for Justice (BVJ) said, “The enforced disappearance of women and children demonstrates the complete absence of accountability and respect for the rule of law.”

Baloch Yakjehti Committee (BYC) leader Sabiha Baloch described the enforced disappearance of minors as a grave violation of human rights, saying it exposed the depth of Pakistani forces’ oppression of the people in Balochistan.

“What possible crime could an 8-year-old girl and a 1.5-year-old child have committed? Their only ‘crime’ is being Baloch. Parisa and Zakir have been forcibly disappeared along with Baloch women. The disappearance of children and women by state agencies is collective punishment in its most brutal form,” Sabiha posted on X.

“State secretive agencies operate with impunity, abducting civilians from their homes and denying families even the basic right to know where their loved ones are held,” she added.

--IANS

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