Quetta, May 15: Violence against civilians continues unabated across Balochistan. A prominent human rights organization reported on Thursday that a citizen was allegedly killed in an extrajudicial manner, while another individual was forcibly disappeared, with Pakistani security forces being held responsible.
The human rights department of the Baloch National Movement, known as ‘Pank’, revealed that the bullet-riddled body of Jan Muhammad was found on Wednesday in the Banok-e-Chadai area of Kech district. Jan Muhammad had been forcibly disappeared approximately four months prior.
According to reports, Jan Muhammad was abducted from his home in the Tumpp area of Kech on January 24, allegedly by a Pakistan-backed ‘death squad’.
On the same day, Pank reported that an 18-year-old student, Shahab Baloch, was forcibly taken from his home in Washuk district by Pakistan’s Frontier Corps.
On Wednesday, human rights activist and chief organizer of the Baloch Unity Committee, Mehrang Baloch, expressed serious concerns over the recent surge in enforced disappearances, extrajudicial killings, and staged press conferences in Balochistan.
In a statement posted on social media platform X, Mehrang stated, “The space for peaceful political expression and the voice for human rights is diminishing day by day, while those demanding justice are continuously silenced through fear and intimidation.”
The Baloch activist noted that new strategies, such as harassing the families of Baloch Unity Committee members, disappearing peaceful activists, and openly killing individuals, illustrate the deteriorating human rights situation in Balochistan.
She emphasized, “Peaceful movements are being criminalized, while those responsible operate without accountability. The state itself is fabricating narratives to suppress dissenting voices.”
Mehrang clarified, “We want to make it clear that the Baloch Unity Committee has always been peaceful, is peaceful, and will remain so. We will continue to raise our voices against atrocities, enforced disappearances, and human rights violations in Balochistan through peaceful means.”
She appealed to all human rights organizations and international bodies to pay serious attention to the situation in Balochistan and hold Pakistan accountable for targeting peaceful activists and the ongoing human rights crisis.
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