Balochistan has become “The Black Hole” for the students, lawyers, doctors, human rights defenders, journalists and especially political activists who differ from the narrative of the government. All the organs of the state including media are under the control of security forces. The security establishment in the name of national security and counter-terrorism has suspended the fundamental human rights of the citizens, especially in Balochistan. This narrative of the state has developed an undeclared emergency domestically, precisely because of exercising the power of derogation in pretext to avoid to implement the fundamental rights which are enshrined in the Constitution of Pakistan and in the international instruments namely Universal Declaration of the Human Rights, International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) and International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR) which Pakistan is a signatory.
The gravity of human rights violations is in its alarming position. There are consistent patterns of gross and reliably attested violations of human rights and fundamental freedoms occurring in Balochistan. The security forces are involved in genocide, ethnic cleansing, crimes against humanity and war crimes in Balochistan.
In 2017, enforced disappearances, extrajudicial executions and brutal military operations were continued in all over Balochistan. From January to December, security forces carried out 516 military operations across Balochistan and Baloch Human Rights Organization (BHRO) has received 2114 enforced disappearance cases, abducted by military forces in raids and military operations from Balochistan and Sindh. 545 people were extrajudicially executed in which 129 people were killed by forces during military operations, 40 people were tortured and executed in the custody of forces. 92 mutilated bodies were also recovered from different areas of Balochistan. 234 people were also released in this year. Majority of them were abducted by forces during raids and operations and are released after few days of abduction.
Due to the weak judicial system and threats from forces, families of enforced disappeared persons didn’t file cases and in the majority of cases, police denied filing cases against security forces.
Mainstream media didn’t cover a single incident despite many protest demonstrations in Karachi and Quetta for the safe recovery of forcibly disappeared persons. In the last months of 2017, the press club refused to provide space to Baloch Human Rights Organization for conducting press conferences in press club of Karachi and Quetta.
Before going through the details of incidents of human rights violations, it is pertinent to mention that the statistics and details which BHRO has compiled are comprised of 20-25% of total incidents due to blockage of communication means and security risks which our activists are facing in Balochistan.
Baloch Human Rights Organization will soon publish its annual booklet with all the details of the incidents of human rights violations, committed by state forces in 2017. We are publishing some of these details with a request that national and international media and human rights organizations should visit Balochistan in order to understand the real situation and publish a neutral report so that the violations of human rights could be stopped which are occurring in Balochistan on daily basis.
In the month of January, during different operations, 455 people were abducted from all over Balochistan, in which 250 people were abducted from district Dera Bugti and Naseerabad only. 38 people were also extrajudicially executed. During the military operation in Dera Bugti, 18 people were killed by security forces which continued for 2 days from January 7 to January 9. On January 15, 2017, forces surrounded Alandoor, a village in District Kech and raided houses of Nasir, Abdul Karim and Muhammad Ali. Forces looted all the valuables of houses and burned down the house of Nasir. The forces also shot Asad s/o Muhammad Ali in cold blood. He was a peasant and worked on daily wages.
After killing him forces placed a gun beside his body and took his pictures.
On January 27, 2017, Frontier Corps raided Shaal Language Centre, an English teaching centre and abduct two teachers, Amjid s/o Basham and Barkat s/o Basham. Both are brothers and residents of Absar, district Kech. Their whereabouts are still unknown.
In the month of February, 200 people were forcefully disappeared, abducted by forces from different
areas of Balochistan, 42 people were killed in separate incidents.
On February 20, a mass grave was recovered from Dera Bugti in which remains of the bodies of 4 people found. The remains of the body of a woman were also recovered from the mass grave. All four
of them were abducted by forces before while the body was totally decomposed and were beyond recognition.
On the same day in another incident in Jhao, district Awaran, 4 mutilated bodies were recovered in which 2 were identified as Umer and Mussa. Both were resident of Jhao and were abducted by forces on January 19, 2017.
240 people were forcefully disappeared in the month of March 2017 while 28 people were extrajudicially executed. On March 6, 2017, forces conducted a heavy military operation in Murmasi, Tank Bandoki and other areas of Mashkay where forces burned down the houses of residents and abducted 16 women with them. They were released after 8 days of illegal detention. Forces also carried out military operations in Dasht where many people were abducted. Nazir Ghulam Rasool, a labour by profession and father of 10 months old infant’s dead body was found dumped in Dasht,
district Kech. He was abducted from his home during a military operation on February 28, 2017. A bullet-riddled body was also recovered on March 11 who is later identified as Qasim Hasil, a teacher by profession. He was abducted by forces from his home a day before on March 10, 2017. Security forces also forcefully evacuated Murad Jan and Kuch villages in district Awaran and in the meantime threatened residents of Hassan Goth to migrate. Thousands of people in Balochistan on the route of China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) are compelled to leave their settlements and migrate. The internally displaced persons are living miserable lives due to lack of rehabilitation program. Muhammad Noor s/o Shay Muhammad migrated from Kohado Jhao to Uthal, district Lasbela due to military operations of forces on daily basis. On March 26, forces abducted him from Uthal and on March 28, 2017, his mutilated body was recovered.
In the same way, in the month of April, 120 people were forcibly disappeared while 24 people were extrajudicially executed. The custodial killing of enforced disappeared persons has caused serious trauma to the families. Forces abduct them, detain them illegally for an unknown period of time, shot
them and claim that they were killed in an encounter. 6 mutilated bodies were recovered in the month of April and all of them were already in the custody of forces for years.
On April 27, 2017, 5 mutilated bodies of previously abducted person were recovered. they were identified as Baitullah, Asif, Sabir, Majid and Jasim. Baitullah Mehmood was abducted by forces on June 17, 2015, from Tump. He was affiliated with Baloch National Movement (BNM) and a teacher by profession. He remained disappeared until the Frontier Corps claimed that he was killed in an encounter.
Jasim Rahim was a shopkeeper and was resident of Gomazi. He was picked up forces from his shop in Tump
Asif Anwar Ali was 26 years old and a tailor by profession. He was abducted by plainclothes agents and rangers in a raid in the house he was staying in Gulshan-e-Mazdoor, Karachi. He was not presented in any court since then.
Sabir Ghulam Muhammad was abducted on November 16, 2016, from his hometown in Mand, district Kech.
Majid Abdul Majeed, a 20 years old labour was abducted on February 2nd from the industrial city of Balochistan, Hub Chowki. He is a resident of Lablan Mand, district Kech.
The people of Balochistan are facing multiple problems due to the apathy of government and silence of human rights organizations. 70% residents of Dasht, district Kech are compelled to leave their houses and migrated. In the month of May, forces have burned down many houses in Dasht Jan Muhammad Bazar and Sholeeg. Hundreds of residents were compelled to live under the open sky in extreme weather after demolishing their houses by forces. In the month of May, 87 people were forcefully disappeared while 66 people died, in which 26 people died in Mastung bomb blast, 21 people were killed by forces, 6 beyond recognition bodies were found and 13 people were killed in enmity and other unknown reasons.
In the Month of June, Baloch Human Rights Organization received 200 cases of enforced disappearances, abducted by security forces from different areas of Balochistan. 14 people are targeted and killed including 3 people from Hazara community. Other than these, 12 people were killed by security forces during an operation in Mastung. None of them was identified. Three mutilated bodies were also found. Collectively 37 people were killed in the month of June in Balochistan.
In the month of July, 96 people are forcefully disappeared, abducted by security forces during military operations. 56 people are extrajudicially executed in which 9 people were extra-judicially killed by forces, 22 people died in bomb blasts, target killing and in enmity, whereas, 5 beyond recognizable mutilated bodies were also recovered.
In Quetta, many people were arrested by forces in a massive military operation while their details were not published in media. In Balochistan, Frontier Corps, a Para-military force having police authorities abducts people and shift them to unknown detention centres where they are subjected to inhumane torture. Neither the enforced disappeared Baloch people are presented in the court nor they were charged and allow hiring lawyers to defend themselves.
On July 29, forces started a military operation in Kolwah and surround Kenichi village of Kolwah where they gathered all the residents of the village, set ablaze all the houses and abduct 4 political activists namely Sadiq Soben, Shakir Yar Muhammad his brother Hasil Yar Muhammad and Majeed Razai. Their bullet-riddled bodies were later handed over to local authorities.
In the month of August, forces abduct 138 people from all over Balochistan while 91 people were extrajudicially executed in Balochistan, instead of respecting human rights, indiscriminate operations of forces are extremely affecting women. Forces during operations are not only violating the dignity of houses, torturing women and children but due to indiscriminate firing, tragic incidents of casualties of women and children are increasing day by day. Even after many appeals and reports from human rights activists and organizations, the government is silent and not holding forces accountable for extrajudicial executions of women and children. Due to lack of attention and interest of Government, forces are committing such incidents repeatedly.
On August 16, military forces surrounded Shahrag, a village in district Harnai, accompanied by helicopters and blocked all the communication means. In helicopters shelling, 5 women and infants namely Minu Bibi, Jafar, Bibi Makhmal, Khat Khatoon and Bibi Bano died and 4 got injured. Minu Bibi was 5 days old infant. All of them belong to the family of Yar Mohamamd Chalghari. Other than these, 6 men also died. They were identified as Kalo, Limo, 3 sons of Washu, Dilwash s/o Washu, Afzal s/o Washu, Rahmdil s/o Washu and Bangul s/o Haji Banzu. Washu’s another son Sabzal was abducted by forces a year ago. Since then no one heard from him.
Shams Khatoon d/o Yousaf died in aerial bombardment of forces on a house in Keelkor, district Panjgur on August 17. Other than this, 2 women got injured in forces’ firing in Harnai, Balochistan.
On August 22, forces conducted 9 days long military operation in Jat, Kolwah, district Kech and surrounding areas. During the operation, forces looted all the valuables of houses, civilians were tortured while 2 people Ghani s/o Ali Bakhsh and Khalid Baloch were killed. Both were resident of Nokjo, Mashkay.
45 people were extrajudicially executed while 116 people were forcefully disappeared in September.
On September 3rd, four mutilated bodies were found in Harnai. Three of them were identified as Mistaag s/o Moldad, Johndo s/o Dostain and Bangar Marri. They were abducted by security forces from Shahrag during a military operation on July 24, 2017.
On September, 4 decomposed bodies were recovered from Balochistan. 2 were recovered from Dera Bugti while other 2 were recovered from Panjgur. Due to the apathy of government towards Balochistan and lack of medical facilities, the bodies were buried without collecting DNA for identification. On September 19, 2 mutilated bodies were recovered from Loop, District Dera Bugti. The bodies were later shifted to hospital for identification. However, the bodies being in unrecognizable conditions were buried in the local graveyard without collecting any DNA samples.
Humraz s/o Ishaq was abducted by forces from Siyah Gazzi, district Awaran on September 20. His mutilated dead body was found the next day. He was ill-treated and his body bears several signs of torture.
Sabzal s/o Sardo was abducted by security forces from Dandar Kolwah along with many other people on September 20. His bullet-riddled body was found on September, 29 while the whereabouts of other abductees are still unknown.
On September 26, 2 bodies were recovered from the mountainous area of Khudabadan, District Panjgur. The bodies were too old and totally decomposed to be recognized by face. These bodies were too buried in the local graveyard.
Abdullah s/o Shahdad and Amjid s/o Gwahram were arrested during a raid of security forces from Rodbun, District Kech. After few hours gunshots were heard and both were killed in cold blood. Abdullah was a driver in Bahrain and returned on September 15 to attend his brother’s marriage ceremony. He is the father of three kids.
Waleed s/o Wali Mohammad, Irshad s/o Mujeeb and Amir s/o Jalil were abducted by forces during a raid on their house in Rodbun, District Kech on September 25. All three of them were cousins. Within an hour of their abduction, they were shot and their bullet-riddled bodies were found under the Rodbun Bridge.
In the month of October, 149 people were forcefully disappeared, abducted by forces while 18 people were killed. On October 28, Intelligence agents and Sindh Rangers raided the house of Nawaz Atta Baloch, Information Secretary of Baloch Human Rights Organization in Karachi and abducted him. In a follow up raid, forces abduct 8 other students namely Abid s/o Ashraf, Farhad s/o Anwar, Sajjad s/o Yar Jan, Ulfat s/o Altaf, Aftab s/o Muhammad Younis, Rawat s/o Taj Muhammad, Muhammad Arif s/o Muhammad Younis, Ilyas s/o Faiz Muhammad. Aftab is 8 years old while Ulfat is 13 years old. Their whereabouts are still unknown. Even after several protest and demonstration from Baloch Human Rights Organization and appeal from their families, the forces neither produced them in any court nor are they providing any information about their safety and well-being.
In the month of November, forces abduct 116 people from different areas of Balochistan while 28 people were killed in which 5 unrecognizable mutilated bodies are also recovered.
In November, a total number of 9 students from Balochistan were abducted by forces from Balochistan and Karachi. On November 15, 2017, Sindh Rangers and secret agents of intelligence agencies abducted Baloch Student Organization-Azad’s General Secretary Sanaullah Baloch, 2 central committee member, Hassam and Naseer Ahmed and an activist of Baloch National Movement Rafique from Karachi. Their whereabouts are still unknown.
On November 20, 2017, another student from Balochistan, Sageer Ahmed s/o Ghulam Qadir was abducted by forces from Karachi University campus. Sageer Ahmed is a student of Political Science at Karachi University. According to the eyewitnesses, Sageer Ahmed was grabbed by plain clothed persons as soon he enters the VS Canteen after finishing his exam papers. He was thrown in a white Toyota Corolla car and took him away.
In the month of December, forces abducted 197 people in different military operations. 48 people were killed. On December 2, 2017, forces carried out a heavy military operation in Raghay, district Washuk and abducted more than 60 people, mostly women and children and shifted them to military barracks. 6 people died in the aerial bombardment in this operation. Due to blockage of communication means, the actual number of casualties is still unknown. On December 16 forces abduct 37 people from Dasht, district Kech and after few days 20 people were released while 17 are still in the custody of forces.
Due to the silence of international human rights institutions and international media, security forces are committing crimes against humanity with all impunity. Pakistan, being elected member of United Nation’s Human Rights Council, should be bound to fulfil its responsibilities and respect the human rights laws and human rights of the people of Balochistan.
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