Balochistan: 33 killed, 30 disappeared in June

During June, thirty cases of enforced disappearance and thirty-three killings, including two incident of honor killing, and three cases of extrajudicial killing were reported in different parts of Balochistan, whereas, one dead body of a missing person was found.

Killings:

Overall, thirty-three people were reportedly killed in various areas of Balochistan in June, only twenty-five of them could be identified.

The region of Balochistan remains the most vulnerable area in terms of human rights violations and crimes against humanity. There is no Rule of Law that can justly hold criminals accountable and serve justice to the victims. Thousands have gone missing, tortured for months, years, even decades, and ultimately end up dead on road sides. Others released in critical condition.

Recently, on 07 June, the security forces called the family of 17-year-old boy, Amin son of Ahmad, who was picked up during a raid in Sebdan area of Dasht, district Kech, and forcibly disappeared him. His family was summoned to the army camp to collect his dead body and threatened to bury him secretly. He had succumbed to injuries sustained during inhuman torture in the custody.

In another incident, On 11 June, Arif Baloch, who was allegedly detained for  being a facilitator in the Chinese consulate attack of 2018 in Karachi, his dead body was handed over to his family in Quetta. According to the family, he was poisoned to death, while his body also bore marks of torture.

On 12 June, the tortured dead body of missing Yasin Bugti, son of Ghulam Nabi was found in district Chaman. He was a resident of Dera Bugti who had gone missing from Nashonas Colony of Bashir Chowk, Quetta on 16 January 2016.

On 26 June, the personnel of Frontier Corps (FC) opened fire and shot dead Noorullah son of Khaliq Dad, while arrested two others. The deceased was a resident of Chaman, who was transporting goods from Afghanistan to Pakistan. His body was handed over to the family.

15 people were killed in target killings, carried out mostly by unknown militants for unknown reasons, except the one–claimed by a Baloch separatist group, Baloch Liberation Army (BLA), where the militants gun down Ali Akbar Sanadi, head of a local death-squad group in district Khuzdar.

Eight members of BLA were killed during clashes between the group and the military forces.

Two people, a man and a woman were killed in the name of honor by their relatives in Naseerabad.

Moreover, two others lost their lives in firings, while two in a mine slide incident.

Enforced Disappearances:

During the month, paramilitary forces and intelligence agencies forcibly disappeared and abducted a total of thirty-nine people from different areas of Balochistan, including students, laborers, and people from other walks of life. Only seven of these abductees were released, while the whereabouts of the rest remain undisclosed, and three among these victims were unidentified.

On 01 June, personnel of (FC) raided Balor area of Kolwah district Kech, and abducted two residents, Ubaid son of Nazar, and a shepherd named Nambo. During the raid, a vicious behavior of the forces with women and children was also reported.

On 04 June, the security forces raided Musa Colony in Quetta, and abducted three persons identified as Shehzad son of Khuda Bakhsh, Atiq ur Rehman son of Bebaras Khan Sasoli, and Ahmed son of Badur Khan Pindarani.

On 07 June, the forces picked up Shaukat son of Haji Hazrat Bakhsh, an employee of a private bank from Lyari area of Karachi, and abducted him. He was a resident of Panjgur.

On 09 June, FC personnel along with local death squads whisked away six people from Awaran and Kech. Ghos Muhammad son of Gulsheer, Wali son of Allam Jan, and Kamesa son of Swali were abducted from Mashkay area of Awaran, while Azam son of Nabi Bakhsh, Nadir son of Rahim Bakhsh, and Muslim Hameed were taken away from Dasht area of Kech.

On 10 June, the intelligence agencies abducted Noor Bakhsh, a resident of Dasht from Raees Goth area of Karachi. He was working as a labor in UAE and had come home after two years of separation to visit his family.

The same day, forces abducted another person from a shop in the central bazaar of district Khuzdar. The abductee was identified as Saqib Zehri.

On 11 June, forces conducted a raid in Musa Colony of Quetta city, and abducted three residents, Dr. Mukhtar Ahmed, Tahir, and Ali Hassa.

On 12 June, two brothers Sharafat and Irshad sons of Mullah Awaz, were picked up by the security forces from their house in Shahukahn area of Panjgur. The residents of Panjgur staged a sit-in protest for the safe recovery of the two brothers by blocking the CPEC route. Irshad was later released, while Sharafat still remains missing.

On 14 June, Unidentified gunmen abducted the manager of Habibullah Coal Mine Company including three other employees from Quetta. The abductees were identified as Sher Bahadur, Waqas, and Nehar residents of Punjab, and Mehran from Mardan area of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

On 17 June, eight unknown militants on four motorcycles took away four laborers, Mewa Khan Jat, Deed Muhammad Bangulzai, Zahoor Ahmed, and Allah Wasaya Bangulzai from near a police station in Shahpur area of Chattar, Naseerabad, and abducted them.

On 27 June, an elderly man named Hamza son of Shikari, resident of Leas area of Bolan, was whisked away by the security forces from Machh Dagari Cross while he was on his way to Quetta.

The same day, the Counter Terrorism Department (CTD) claimed to have arrested a man named Abdul Basit son of Abdul Ghani with arms and explosives from Sui area of Dera Bugti. While he was abducted by the FC and secret agencies during a raid on house in Jewar Colony area of Quetta on 17 February. Prior this, the CTD has accused and detained hundreds of people in such fake charges of having connection with armed groups and then has killed and dumped their bullet-riddled bodies.

On 28 June, personnel of FC raided a house in Kardegaap area of Mastung and forcibly whisked away Sher Gul, son of Abdul Muttalib Sarprah and disappeared him.

On the other hand, a group of local death-squads in Mashkay, headed by Nazir, broke into the house of a man named Maldar Hakeem in Tank Kor area, and took away his sister-in-law.

Students:

Since decades,  Baloch students, teachers, and intellectuals have always been the top targets of the state, but during the past few years, a sudden increase has been witnessed in involuntary disappearances of Baloch students, not only in Balochistan, but all across Pakistan. But this time, instead of preserving silence in fear of losing their loved ones, the families chose to come out loud. The victims’ families organized peaceful protests and demonstrations and decided not to return until their demands are not met by the government despite these peaceful protests have always faced violence by the police.

In a recent incident, on 13 June, the families of two abducted students, Gamshad and Doda Baloch, along with other students and families of missing persons who sought to march towards the CM House in Karachi for the safe release of these students, were stopped by the police and severely beaten, humiliated, and then arrested. After several hours in the police custody, they were released. The two students, who were reportedly abducted by security forces from Chowrangi area of Karachi on 7 June, were also released a few hours after their families’ release. Both were third-semester students of the Philosophy department at Karachi University.

On 7 June, two others, Shahdad son of Doshambe, and Kaleemullah Noor were forcibly whisked away by the security forces and intelligence agencies from Karachi.  Shahdad was a student of Education Department at the Federal Urdu, while Kaleemullah was doing his master’s in sociology at Karachi University. However, both were later released.

On 10 June, another student, Hafeez Bashir son of Bashir Ahmed was forcibly disappeared by the security forces during a raid in Absar, Kech. He was also released after a few days of disappearance.

On 23 June, security forces abducted 17-year-old, Khalil son of Jalil, and 18-year-old Jihand son of Khalil from Gathi Dor area of ​​Gwadar. Khalil, was a student of Balochi Literature at Turbat University, while Jihand trade diesel on the border. There is still no clue about their fate and whereabouts.

Human Rights Council of Balochistan (Hakkpaan) is a non-profit and non-partisan human rights group based in Balochistan and Sweden. It collects reports from Balochistan, a region Pakistan government does not allow any media and HR group to visit and report. Human rights violations in Balochistan is not a new phenomenon, but it got its worst levels after the Military coup de tat of Pakistan in 1999. Thousands of Baloch have been reported missing, hundreds killed in fake encounters and so-called kill and dump policy of the military. HRCB collects the data from Balochistan itself, through its network of volunteers and supporters, organizes and reports them to the human rights mechanisms of the world.