Karachi: The Baloch Human Rights Organisation took out a protest rally in Karachi on the International Day of Disappeared. The rally set off from Art Council Karachi and before marching from different streets in reach to Karachi Press Club where a demonstration was held. A large number of Baloch women, children and elderly joined the protest carrying placards, banners and pictures of enforced disappeared persons from Balochistan. Addressing the demonstration the BHRO leaders said that the issue of forced disappearances and extra judicially killing of Baloch activists was becoming complicated and turning into a tragedy because the abductions and extra judicial killings were continuously rising. They said over 14000 Baloch were illegally being held by Pakistani security forces. The abducted activists include Zakir Majeed senior vice chairman of BSO-Azad abducted on 8 June 2009 from Mastung, Dr Deen Mohammad Baloch abducted from his hospital in Ornach area of Khuzdar, Ghafoor Baloch, Iqbal Baloch, Ali Asghar Baloch, Banuk Zarina Marri, Hanifa Bugti and thousands of other Baloch including men, women and children were currently languishing in Pakistan’s security agencies secret dungeons. The Baloch Human Rights Organisation leaders said over 400 Baloch activists have been killed under-custody and their bodies dumped in different areas of Balochistan. The victims of kill and dump include Jalil Reki, Sangat Sana Baloch, Agha Abid Shah, Alyas Nazar, Kambar Chakar Baloch, Shafi Baloch, Comrade Qayum Baloch, Lala Hameed Baloch and several others. They said to misguide the International Community Pakistan has constituted some dummy Commissions which are under direct supervision of state’s security agencies. The members of state’s commissions have never visited the protest camp of the families of abducted Baloch outside Quetta Press Club. The families have been sitting on protest from past 888 days; they even held a protest on the holy day of Eid, the Muslim festival after the month of Ramadhan. The BHRO said, “In fact the state’s constituted commission has been rubbing salt to the injuries of the families of forced-disappeared Baloch by alleging that Baloch missing persons have either gone abroad or been released. The people that the commission says have been released, in reality they were killed and dumped; their tortured and bullet ridden bodies were found.” They BHRO while addressing the media said that during the hearing of cases in Supreme Court government ministers and police officials in their testimonies admitted that the FC and intelligence agencies of Pakistan were involved in abduction and extra-judicial killings in Balochistan. Video footage of people being arrested by FC was presented to the court. The Chief justice of Pakistan Supreme Court has admitted that whenever he asked the FC to produce three Baloch activists in Court, the next day their bullet-ridden bodies were found dumped. They said Baloch Human Rights activists, journalists and families of abducted or extra judicially killed Baloch activists were being harassed and threaten by Pakistan’s intelligence agencies to stop raising their voice against disappearances. “The media’s silence on this grave tragedy and accesses of security forces in Balochistan is encouraging the state force to continue their barbarism”, said BHRO leaders. The Baloch Human Rights activist further said that most of the victims of state barbarism were the educated lot of Balochistan including students, teachers, doctors, lawyers, intellectuals and other well-informed member of Baloch society. They said the educational institutes and hospitals in Balochistan have been transformed into military garrisons by the occupying forces. They said the state’s security forces consider themselves above the law and they believe they are not answerable to anyone. The BHRO said Balochistan’s situation was deteriorating rapidly because the state security forces were intensifying human rights violation but it is beyond their comprehension that the UN and Human Rights Organisations around the world were silent on such heinous crimes of the state. The BHRO urged the International Media to visit Balochistan, observe the on-going human rights violation and expose the Baloch genocide by Pakistan. They said the Baloch do not expect justice from Pakistan and its institutions because the state forces do not respect the International Human Rights laws. “We urge the claimant of Human Rights and all those countries that support Pakistan to pressurise Pakistan to respect Human Rights laws and stop violating the human rights of Baloch people. Any aid given to Pakistan must be conditioned to the improvement of human rights situation in Balochistan because the financial support that Pakistan gets from the world community is being used against Baloch nation.”
