Quetta, Oct 15 (IANS) Several human rights organisations on Wednesday raised grave concerns after three Baloch civilians were forcibly disappeared by Pakistani forces in Balochistan.
The incident underscores the ongoing cycle of persecution amid an escalating wave of enforced disappearances across the province.
Paank, the Baloch National Movement’s Human Rights Department, mentioned that on September 30, Pakistan’s Frontier Corps (FC) personnel forcibly disappeared two residents from Zehri Bhapaw region of Khuzdar district in Balochistan.
The victims, identified as Haq Nawaz, aged 22, a driver, and Hidayatullah, aged 33, a farmer, were taken from their hometown, and their whereabouts remain unknown since the abduction.
Additionally, another Baloch civilian, Mohammad Ismail Zehri, a shopkeeper and resident of Kahn in the Zehri region, was taken into illegal custody by the Pakistani forces on October 12, and his whereabouts remain unknown.
“The practice of enforced disappearances is a severe violation of human rights and a crime under international law,” Paank stated.
Condemning the atrocities on Baloch civilians, another human rights body, Baloch Voice for Justice (BVJ), urged the Pakistani authorities to immediately reveal the fate and whereabouts of the missing men and ensure their safe and unconditional release.
It called for the urgent recovery of Haq Nawaz, Hidayatullah and Ismail Zehri, criticising the ongoing Pakistani repression and enforced disappearances in the Zehri region.
Earlier on Tuesday, the BVJ highlighted that on October 11, two students, Farhan aged 20, and Irfan aged 22, were forcibly disappeared by Pakistani security forces.
Farhan was taken from Kalm Chowk, while Irfan was abducted from another area within the Chitkan region in Panjgur district. The rights body noted that both students remain missing, with their families unaware of their fate or condition.
According to the BVJ, these disappearances are part of a disturbing and systematic pattern of targeting Baloch students, activists, and civilians under the guise of “state security”.
“The ongoing practice of enforced disappearances violates multiple provisions of international law, including the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance and Article 9 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights,” the rights body stated.
“Subjecting students to arbitrary detention and secret imprisonment is an attempt to silence educated Baloch youth and suppress voices demanding justice and equality. Such actions erode public trust, destroy families, and perpetuate fear across Balochistan,” it added.
–IANS
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