Sindhi Baloch Forum to hold protest in London against enforced disappearances
Aug 16, 2020
London [UK], Aug 16 : The Sindhi Baloch Forum (SBF) has announced to hold a protest demonstration outside the Houses of Parliament in London on August 30, marking the International Day of the Victims of Enforced Disappearances.
The announcement comes at a time when Sindh and Balochistan are witnessing a rapid increase in the forcible disappearances of Sindhi and Baloch dissidents by the Pakistani military and its paramilitaries.
In its statement, the SBF denounced the reparation mechanism of the state military establishment who attempted to abduct Hani Gul Baloch and Shazia Chandio in Karachi to disrupt the peaceful protest of the families of Sindhis and Baloch subjected to enforced disappearances.
"More than 50 political activists from different areas of Sindh were subjected to enforced disappearances whose whereabouts are not known. According to the Voice for Baloch Missing Persons, the cases of enforced disappearances in Balochistan are above 40,000 and mutilated bodies of many have been recovered in the last many years," read the statement.
The international community and the United Nations have so far failed to push the Pakistani state authorities to address the issue of enforced disappearances.
The families of the victims have lost faith in the Pakistani government and its state institutions. Parents of the victims have perished during these series of protests and the long wait for justice lasting for years.
"The SBF is compelled to convince the international community to resolve this prevalent humanitarian crisis in Sindh and Balochistan through its protest on the occasion of International Day of the Victims of Enforced Disappearances," the statement said.
The forum has appealed to everyone to participate in the protest to echo the demands of the families of victims of enforced disappearances for justice.
