Three civilians, including woman, forcibly disappeared from Balochistan: Rights body

Quetta, Oct 7 (IANS) At least three Baloch civilians, including a woman, became the latest victims of enforced disappearances amid mass property destruction and gross human rights violations by the Pakistani Army in the Zehri region of Balochistan, the Baloch Women Forum (BWF) on Tuesday said.

The BWF highlighted that for the last couple of days, Zehri town of Khuzdar district in the province has been hit with a severe nature of human rights violations, including the enforced disappearance of a woman along with two others, identified as Safia Bibi, Asad Zehri, and Zahid Aziz, with concerns over further undisclosed disappearances.

Condemning the incident, the forum emphasised that Safia's illegal arrest and detention will result in further chaos. It added that such actions not only violate Baloch codes and traditions but also directly challenge the "Islamic provisions of wrongfully confining a woman in an unknown location".

"The town has been wholly disconnected from the external world, making it an information hole, while continuous bombardment, shelling, mass property destruction, killings and abductions, reportedly involving law enforcement agencies, have made the town a worldly hell for the indigenous people," read a statement issued by the BWF.

The forum demanded accountability and immediate suspension of Pakistan's institutional acts in distorting the peace of the town and asked for an immediate ceasefire.

"We have already raised our concerns regarding the anti-human rights campaign against the Baloch as a nation, particularly dragging the women into it. But the state authorities seem like playing cards with the world by tricking them about the ground issues in Balochistan; and doing the same with the indigenous people in Balochistan by denying their fundamental human rights," the BWF stated.

The forum questioned Safia's forced disappearance and demanded her unconditional recovery along with accountability for the culprits.

According to the BWF, the other losses included the mass destruction of the inhabitants' homes through direct bombardment, destruction of the ripen crops, shutdown of the communication system, suspension of the fundamental right to free movement and safety, forcing residents to remain confined within their homes.

"We believe such acts portray a military-centralised policy towards the Baloch, which we will never endorse, as a party, and resist. We demand the normalcy of the situations in Zehri, compensation for the losses of the belongings of the people in the state-imposed barbaric practices, and an end to every act in Zehri that hurts the rights of the people," the BWF stressed.

--IANS

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