Quetta, Oct 5 (IANS) : A leading Baloch students organisation has written to the international community, urging them to establish the whereabouts of student leader Shabbir Baloch, who was forcibly disappeared by Pakistani forces a decade ago, while drawing attention to the ongoing abuses in Balochistan.
In a letter addressed to the UN Human Rights Commission, the UN Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances (WGEID), and the global community, the Baloch Students Organisation (BSO)-Azad urged the international community to press the Pakistani authorities to ensure his safe release from “torture cells”, along with all other political prisoners and captives.
“Respected world, the Pakistani state has hit the Baloch nation with brutal repression and violence, killing hundreds of thousands of people, including children, elderly people, and women, regardless of their affiliation. The Pakistani Army has been carrying out numerous military operations and massacres, as the recent tragic incidents of Surab, Mastung, and Dasht demonstrate the brutality,” the letter mentioned.
“It has subjected hundreds of thousands of people to enforced disappearances, including students, teachers, professors, doctors, lawyers, journalists, intellectuals, political and human rights activists, and many more,” it added
Highlighting the enforced disappearance of Shabbir, a student leader and the former Information Secretary of the BSO Azad, the group said he was subjected to enforced disappearance on October 4, 2016 by Pakistani security forces from the Gwarkop area of Kech district in Balochistan, in front of his wife, Zareena Baloch.
Since then, it said, both his sister and his wife have been on the streets seeking the safe release of Shabbir, but they have no information about his whereabouts.
“It has been a decade since Shabbir Baloch’s enforced disappearance, but his family and friends endure the pain of his absence and have no traceable information about his whereabouts. Similarly, the organisation has also been on prime target of the colonial Pakistani state, our several leaders and workers including former Chairman Zahid Baloch, Vice Chairman Zakir Majeed Baloch, Joint Secretary Assad Baloch, and other have been victims of enforced disappearances,” the letter stated.
Marking the 10th anniversary of Shabbir’s disappearance, several leading human rights organisations called on Pakistani authorities to disclose his whereabouts.
Raising alarm over Shabbir’s continued disappearance, the Human Rights Council of Balochistan (HRCB) said, “Over the past decade, his family has pursued every available legal avenue, yet the authorities have failed to provide any information regarding his whereabouts. The state must disclose where he is and give his family the truth and justice they deserve.”
Furthermore, Paank, the human rights department of Baloch National Movement (BNM), urged the Pakistani authorities to disclose Shabbir’s whereabouts, ensure his safety, and uphold his fundamental rights, saying “his family has the right to truth, justice and accountability.”
