Baloch Human Rights Organization’s activists during a press conference in Karachi Press Club said that Baloch Human Rights Organization’s Information Secretary, Nawaz Atta Baloch’s home was raided by rangers and plain clothed personnel and abducted him along with 8 other minors and his relatives from Gulistan-e-Johar Karachi last night. Women were severely tortured and injured. The abductees are Nawaz Atta s/o Atta Muhammad, Abid s/o Ashraf 17, Farhad s/o Anwar 17, Sajjad s/o Yar Jan 18, Ulfat s/o Altaf, Aftab s/o Muhammad Younis, Rawat s/o Taj Muhammad, Muhammad Arif s/o Muhammad Younis and Ilyas s/o Faiz Muhammad.
Nawaz Atta is a human rights activist and student of International Relations. Nawaz Baloch itself was active in the safe recovery of enforced disappeared persons but today he was abducted and among the enforced disappeared persons. Baloch Human Rights Organization is a non-political institution and is not involved in any political activity but it is sad to say that the space for human rights defenders is shrinking in Pakistan.
Nawaz Atta’s abduction and disappearance is not acceptable at all. We request to security forces to produce him in front of court if he has committed any crime and allow him to practice his right of defending himself instead of detaining him illegally to an unknown location. Along with Nawaz Atta, 4 other minors are also abducted which is a condemnable and non-humanitarian act. We demand recovery of all of them safely.
Baloch Human Rights Organization’s activists said that the aim of this press conference is to highlight this saddening incident and bring it to the knowledge of Government and human rights organizations and activists. We request to all human rights institutions, civil society’s organizations and all human loving people including Human Rights Commission of Pakistan, Asian Human Rights Commission to raise their voice against enforced disappearance of Nawaz Atta Baloch.
Baloch Human Rights Organization demanded to Sindh and Federal Government to release Nawaz Atta and other abductees immediately and said that if Nawaz Atta will not be released safely than we will consider all the means of protest including demonstrations in front of Sindh Assembly and Governor House.
