Pakistan ignores 9th day of protest for return of forcibly disappeared victims
Jun 25, 2024
Turbat [Pakistan], June 25 : The demonstration in Turbat, Balochistan, organised by families of forcibly disappeared individuals, entered its ninth consecutive day on Tuesday. Despite this, the administration continues to ignore the demonstrators' demands for the safe return of their loved ones, according to a statement by the Baloch Yajjehti Committee (BYC).
The BYC's statement accused the administration of deliberately harassing the Baloch community through genocidal acts.
It asserted, "The state's oppressive practices, aimed at physically harming the disappeared individuals and causing psychological distress to their families, are designed to destroy Baloch society--a crime and a violation of human rights."
"When individuals disappear and their families protest peacefully, they are left abandoned, hopeless, and in despair. This reality underscores the state's direct genocide against the Baloch people," the BYC statement added, criticizing the state's failure to address legitimate demands as a denial of its brutal practices.
The BYC labeled the situation in Balochistan as state-inflicted genocide and urged the international community to act. "Witnessing genocide and remaining silent amounts to approval of cruelty and barbarism against a nation. The world must not ignore such atrocities but condemn them unequivocally," the statement emphasised.
Prominent Baloch rights activist Mahrang Balcoh echoed similar concerns, stating, "Pakistan is intensifying its policy of Baloch genocide, including enforced disappearances. Recently, two cases of mutilated bodies of disappeared persons were reported in Panjgur and Soorab, Balochistan."
Baloch continued, "The Baloch people are protesting against this genocide. Today marks the 9th day of the Baloch Missing Persons family sit-in in Turbat. Extrajudicial killings have instilled fear among the victims' families, making Balochistan the worst region for human rights violations. I urge human rights organisations to raise their voices against these abuses and hold Pakistan accountable on the international stage."
