Balochistan Bar Council condemns lathi charge on protestors in Quetta
Jul 23, 2022
Islamabad [Pakistan], July 23 : The Balochistan Bar Council has condemned the lathi charge at the protesters who were peacefully protesting over the issue of enforced disappearances and the rise in fake encounters of missing Baloch persons in Quetta.
This rebuke comes in the backdrop of fake encounters in the Ziarat district of northern Balochistan. The relatives and friends of the killed missing person were protesting against this brutal act.
The police lathi-charged them to sabotage their protest and attacked even women and children. The Balochistan Bar Council said the forceful missing of Baloch youths is continuing in the province.
According to the bar council, if any person is found to be involved in any criminal activities then they should be produced in court. However, they are tortured and killed in fake encounters.
Earlier this week, several protesters and two female police officers were injured in the clash between the participants of the protest rally of the missing persons and the police in Quetta.
On Thursday, the relatives of the missing persons were protesting against the operation of the security forces in Ziarat in which nine people were killed.
The participants of the rally were walking from the press club to the Chief Minister's House, but the police stopped them from going to the red zone. Later, Police and protesters also clashed.
The police said the protestors were stopped for violating the ban on protest in the red zone. They added that two women police personnel were injured due to stone pelting by the protesters.
Against this backdrop, the protestors are demanding the formation of a judicial commission along with a transparent investigation into the incident.
Balochistan National Party has strongly condemned the killing of missing persons in Ziarat in a fake encounter in Quetta, injuring women and children. Rights groups say innocent Balochs are killed in fake encounters and their mutilated bodies are found in remote places.
An annual report of the Human Rights Council of Balochistan, which is an organisation that documents human rights violations in the province, has said that students remained the main target of these kidnappings both in Balochistan as well as in other provinces of Pakistan.