A human rights activist on Tuesday said that missing Baloch people are being executed in the custody of Pakistani security forces.
A statement was issued by Baloch human rights activist Mama Qadeeroch against the genocide of Baloch people which stated that the missing people are being killed in the custody of Pakistani security forces, local media reported.
With a spike in the number of enforced disappearances in Baluchistan in the past few months, there is not even a single family in the province whose member or a relative has not been forcibly disappeared, reported a Canada-based think tank, International Forum for Rights and Security (IFFRAS) earlier this month.
Enforced disappearances are used as a tool by Pakistani authorities to terrorize people who question the all-powerful army establishment of the country or seek individual or social rights.
The report suggests that it is a crime that is often used by the authorities to get rid of people that are considered a “nuisance” without any arrest warrant, charge or prosecution.
The forceful abductions are being carried out in Baluchistan since the early 2000s. Students are often the most targeted section of these abductions. The victims also include several political activists, journalists, teachers, doctors, poets, and lawyers.
The report added that tens of thousands of Baloch people have been kidnapped by the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) and Pakistani Army personnel in the last 20 years.
Several victims have been killed and dumped and it is believed that many of them are still confined in the Pakistani torture cells.
A majority of the students are kept in extra-judicial custody after they are picked up during raids on houses and hostels.
Several protests are being carried out frequently in Baluchistan to bring the practice into the light. The family members of the forcibly disappeared persons have formed an organisation called the Voice for Baloch Missing Persons (VBMP) to campaign against the disappearances.
A hunger strike that has continued for over 4,670 days was carried out by VBMP. The organization has claimed that the Pakistani authorities have been involved in this practice.
An annual report of the Human Rights Council of Baluchistan, 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 Baluchistan as well as in other provinces of Pakistan.