Pakistan: Rights activist stresses need to abolish policy of enforced disappearances, extrajudicial killings

Balochistan [Pakistan], September 1 (ANI): Baloch rights activist Mahrang Baloch asserted on Sunday, that negotiations and peace talks with Pakistan can only happen when the state abolishes the policy of ‘enforced disappearances.’

She had participated in a protest rally organised by the family of two Baloch journalists who allegedly disappeared, the Baloch Yakjehti Committee stated in a post.

Speaking at the rally, Mahrang Baloch stressed the need to abolish the policy of enforced disappearances and extrajudicial killings of oppressed people.

The protest rally also witnessed the participation of the families of other forcibly disappeared Baloch individuals, as per the Baloch Yakjehti Committee.

“Mahrang Baloch addressed the protest rally organized by the family members of the forcibly disappeared Asif and Rasheed Baloch on the sixth anniversary of their disappearance. Families of other forcibly disappeared Baloch individuals also participated,” the Baloch Yakjehti Committee stated in the post.

The rights activist categorically highlighted the worsening human rights catastrophe unfolding in Balochistan, where state authorities do not even allow Baloch people to peacefully protest the disappearances and extrajudicial killings of their loved ones.

“She stated that negotiations and peace talks will only be possible when the state immediately abolishes the policy of enforced disappearances and extrajudicial killings of oppressed peoples. Until then, claims of peacebuilding are merely a deception and a justification for more violence and bloodshed,” the post added.

Earlier, Mahrang Baloch shared the pictures of a woman holding the pictures of her brothers, whom she alleges were forcefully detained by the Pakistani forces and demanded justice. Mahrang Baloch also demanded the release of Asif and Rasheed, the two journalists who were forcibly disappeared.

In a separate post on X, Mahrang Baloch earlier urged human rights organisations to take notice of the enforced disappearance of Baloch poet Nadeem Bewas. She claimed that Bewas was forcibly disappeared from Nasirabad, Balochistan, on August 26, 2024.

The Baloch rights activist earlier this week appreciated the UN’s stand on the forced disappearances of Baloch members. The United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination issued its findings on Pakistan and called on the nation to take the necessary measures to investigate and prosecute reports of enforced disappearances, reported The Balochistan Post.

The committee called on Islamabad to investigate and prosecute reports of enforced disappearances involving politicians, public officials, human rights campaigners, and leaders of ethnic and ethnoreligious groups, the report added.

In Balochistan, the enforced disappearances of innocent Baloch individuals are a major issue in the area. Several Baloch activists, leaders, and human rights groups have criticized that these disappearances are a collective punishment. They claim that such action not only affects the person but also causes significant distress to their families.