Fake encounters, fake killings in Balochistan, Baloch activists protest in Netherlands
The Hague, Netherlands: Pakistan security forces conducting fake encounters in Pakistan’s Balochistan against which the Baloch National Movement, Netherlands Chapter organised a protest.
The protest was held in front of the International Court of Justice in The Hague.
During the demonstration, the protesters alo distributed a pamphlet detailing the “killings” of Baloch missing persons in Balochistan.
The ongoing international awareness campaign by Baloch National Movement (BNM) focused on “genocide” and “atrocities” by the Pakistani state in Balochistan.
The protest was held in response to the killings of abducted Baloch people, by Pakistani security forces in a fake encounter in Ziarat Balochistan.
The encounter was staged on July 15 in Balochistan where nine Balochs were killed by Pakistani security forces. Seven of the slain people were recognized as previously enforcedly disappeared who had been abducted by Pakistani law enforcement forces, according to the statement released by Baloch National Movement.
Giving more details about the ‘missing persons’, the statement further said that Shams Satakzai, Salim and Shahzad were abducted while, Jumma Khan, and Dr Mukhtlar Ahmed were forcibly disappeared in March 2022 and June 11 respectively by Pakistani security forces. And the sixth victim was Shah Baksh Mani.
“The families of those killed in Ziarat had reported the cases of their loved ones’ forced disappearances to human rights organizations, and they continued to advocate for their safe return in Balochistan’s streets as well as often run social media campaigns,” the statement added.
Last year, in August, the Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD) reported that 23 persons had been killed in three different events. Seven of them were also recognized as individuals who had previously been abducted and forcibly disappeared by the security forces.
The statement further noted that the Pakistani military personnel had abducted Khan Muhammad in 2019 as well as Jameel in March 2021, Shoaib in 2020, Ghani Baloch on October 20, 2017, Saddam Ismail on April 24, 2018, Sajid in 2018, and Abdul Ahad in January 2021.
Notably, Ghani Baloch and Saddam Ismael both belong to the Baloch National Movement.
“On April 24, 2018, Saddam son of Ismail, a resident of Koch, was abducted by Pakistani forces from Karachi’s Kafir district,” the statement said.
In Balochistan, where thousands of Baloch activists have been the victims of forced disappearances over the past 20 years, Pakistan is utilizing these harsh tactics to sweep the problem of enforced disappearances under the rug.
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.
