Quetta, Dec 20 (IANS) The wave of enforced disappearances at the hands of Pakistani forces across Balochistan does not seem to be pausing, as yet another case came to light on Saturday.
Noor Bakhsh was forcibly taken by Pakistan's Frontier Corps personnel on the night of December 17 from Turbat city in Kech district, according to Baloch Voice for Justice (BVJ), a human rights organisation.
The rights body alleged that Noor was detained without legal process, and his subsequent disappearance and the concealment of his whereabouts violate international human rights law, including the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR).
The BVJ called on the Pakistani authorities to immediately disclose his location and ensure his safety.
Highlighting the atrocities in Balochistan, the human rights organisation on Friday strongly criticised the enforced disappearance of two brothers, Meer Ashraf and Meer Shahid, on December 17 from their home in the Shadi Kour area of Pasni in Gwadar District, by Pakistani security forces.
"We demand their immediate and safe recovery. Human rights organisations must play an active and effective role in putting an end to the ongoing cycle of enforced disappearances in Balochistan," the BVJ stated.
Meanwhile, the Baloch Women Forum (BWF) expressed grave concern over the enforced disappearance of another Baloch woman, Hazira Baloch, from the Daro Hotel area in Hub Chowki in Balochistan at the hands of Pakistani forces.
"It is the fifth on record incident of the same nature where Baloch women have been dragged into the shameful practice of enforced disappearances. The trend is abruptly increasing, most likely under a state policy to strengthen it and expand it to every Baloch home in the context of women abduction," the BWF stated.
According to the women-led forum, the enforced disappearances of Baloch women started with that of Mahjabeen Baloch from Quetta's civil hospital on May 29. This was followed by Nasreena Baloch on November 22 from Hub Chowki, Farzana Zehri from Khuzdar on December 1, and Rahima Rahim from Dalbandin on December 9.
The latest case was of Hazira Baloch, who was forcibly disappeared from Hub Chowki on December 18.
The BWF warned that national silence over the incidents only strengthens Pakistan and its "notorious" institutions to escalate their anti-Baloch-women policies.
It urged the global community to intervene and hold the responsible government institutions accountable for their "heinous practices" in Balochistan, demanding the immediate release of Hazira Baloch and all the other illegally detained Baloch people.
--IANS
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