Following the arrest of two students from Kech, Balochistan, last week, rights activists along with students have been protesting the repeated instances of enforced disappearances in the southwestern region of Pakistan.
On July 6, scores of students carried out a protest rally in Turbat demanding the whereabouts of Salim Baloch and Ikram Naeem who were picked up by the security forces from Kech two days ago. Soon after the protests, the police released Ikram Naeem, however, the whereabouts of the other student remain unknown.
Protest conducted at turbat kech for the safe recovery of Salim Baloch, Mairaj Aslam and other Baloch Students. Protestants chanted slogans demanding justice for Baloch and end this inhumane torture of Baloch Students.#ReleaseSalimBaloch #SaveBalochStudents pic.twitter.com/8FfJvZZsfF
— Baloch Students Turbat, Kech (@BST_kech) July 6, 2023
Pakistani authorities are required by law to disclose the whereabouts of those detained and bring them before a civilian court to rule on the legality of the detention.
“If Salim and Ikram continue to be detained, they must be charged with an internationally recognizable offense and tried before a civilian court, with their right to fair trial, without recourse to the death penalty, and due process being upheld,” Amnesty stated.
Salim Baloch had been working as a computer operator in the Municipal Corporation office in Turbat after completing his masters degree from Punjab University, Lahore. He is an active member of the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) in Turbat. After he was picked up, his family had expressed concern about his safety.
In a statement, the HRCP clarified that Salim Baloch had no prior links with any illegal or proscribed organization and demanded his immediate release.
A suicide attack in Turbat on June 26, in which one police officer was killed, has triggered a wave of mass arrests of Baloch students in the region.
The issue of enforced disappearances has been a major concern in Balochistan. Rights groups like the Voice for Baloch Missing Persons estimate that at least 5,000 people have been subjected to enforced disappearances in Balochistan in the last 20 years. Security forces often accept that the missing persons have been detained on suspicion of being militant Baloch fighters. Paank documented some 35 cases in June, with only 12 individuals returning home after enduring severe physical and psychological violence.
On Eid, June 28, students and families of missing Baloch persons held demonstrations across different cities to highlight their plight and the systematic harassment of Baloch students in the country.
The family of Deen Muhammad Baloch participated in one of the protest rallies from the Art Council to the Karachi Press Club. His daughter said that the family has been suffering for years not knowing the whereabouts of their kin.
The UN Working Group on Enforced and Involuntary Disappearances maintains that there were 1,144 cases of allegations of enforced disappearances in Pakistan between 1980 and 2019, with 731 people still missing.
