25 persons were reported forcibly disappeared, in which 24 persons are still missing, by military in five out of the 32 districts of Balochistan amid the Pakistani security forces´ operations during the month of August this year. The targeted operations and enforced disappearances are continued with impunity and justice remains elusive even after the formation of the new Government in Pakistan, according to latest report by the Baloch Human Rights Organization (BHRO) and the Human Rights Council of Balochistan (HRCB).
One of the victims of enforced disappearances is Sadiq Molvi Mohammad Umer, who was whisked away on the morning of 26 August by security forces from Mashkay at his wedding ceremony. He was tortured and released by the afternoon. Before the nightfall of August 27, the army once again arrested him from his house in front of his family. No one has heard of him since then. His uncle Kamal Baloch, in a letter to various human rights organizations has pleaded for his safe release.
Sadiq Baloch is the brother of slain political activist Sajid Baloch, who was killed by security forces on 30 January 2016 in Mastung, Balochistan, along with Doctor Mannan Baloch, Secretary General of the Baloch National Movement (BNM).
Majid Baloch, another brother of Sadiq, was picked up by security forces on January 6, 2016 from Main Bazar Awaran and his mutilated body was handed over to the DHQ Hospital Awaran on April 19, 2016 along with the body of Adil Baloch, who was forcibly disappeared on February 27, 2016.
Earlier enforced disappearances and killings have thrown Sadiq’s family members in an endless nightmare. Their continuous requests about Sadiq´s whereabouts are met either with silence or further intimidation. They expressed fear of Sadiq facing a fate similar to his brother Majid who was tortured and killed in custody.
Nine persons were killed in different incidents during the month of August. They include two previously forcibly disappeared persons. Mohammad Bakhsh Kalmali was abducted by security forces in January 2015 and his mutilated body was found on 18 August 2018.
In another case, the mutilated body of Babo Mehrab was found dumped in Kulanch area of district Gwadar on 13 August. He was abducted by security forces 2 days earlier on 11 August.
The body of 60 years old Akbar Shah Abdullah was found in the Mastung area of Balochistan on 16 August. He had been missing for 35 days.
Two men were killed by security forces during a battle on 7 August. Balochistan Liberation Front (BLF), a militant group, claimed that they were affiliated with the organization and were killed during a battle.
Pendo Abdul Rahim was shot dead by militants in district Awaran. The BLF claimed responsibility for his killing. In another case, Ghaffar Selachi of district Sibi was shot dead by Baloch Liberation Army (BLA), another militant group on 3 August. Both BLA and BLF claimed that the victims were non-combatant informers working for the military and had facilitated in abduction and killing of their members.
On July 18, 2018, a mass grave containing 4 dead bodies was discovered in Darg-e-Dap Parom, district Panjgur. The mass grave was also mentioned in our July 2018 report. The bodies were hurriedly buried by the local administration without giving the families of the enforced disappeared persons a chance to identify their loved ones.
Some family members of enforced disappeared persons sat in protest in front of Frontier Corps camp in Panjgur demanding the identities of the bodies recovered from the mass grave. Among them were also parents of forcibly disappeared Khair Baksh who was abducted by forces on June 16, 2014 from his home in Parom . Their dilemma and all hopes of a safe return of their son came to an end on August 15 when they were called inside the Frontier Corps (FC) camp and informed by an officer that one of the bodies from the mass graves was of Khair Baksh.
As per the information from the FC received by Khair Baksh´s family, he was killed in detention and buried along with 3 others a few months ago. The other three bodies were yet to be identified.
