Is Another Baloch Civilian a Victim of Enforced Disappearance?

Quetta, July 23 (NationPress) In a troubling development, a Baloch civilian has been forcibly taken by Pakistan's Frontier Corps (FC) during a raid at his residence in the Kech district of Balochistan. This incident comes amid a persistent trend of enforced disappearances across the region, as reported by a prominent human rights organization.

The Baloch National Movement's Human Rights Department, known as Paank, disclosed that FC personnel conducted a raid on the home of Abdost Jogi during the early hours of Tuesday, apprehending him without a warrant or any legal grounds.

According to eyewitness accounts, Abdost Jogi was taken to an undisclosed location, leaving his family without any information about his whereabouts.

Paank emphasized that this incident contributes to the rising tally of enforced disappearances in Balochistan, where state forces continue to target civilians under the pretext of security operations.

The organization condemned the enforced disappearance of Jogi and held the Pakistani military accountable for this blatant violation of human rights. Such abductions directly contravene both domestic constitutional protections and international human rights standards.

Furthermore, the human rights group condemned the extrajudicial execution of Mazar Baloch, a resident of Awaran district, by the Pakistani army.

Detailing this horrific event, Paank stated that on July 21, Mazar was summoned by the Pakistani army to the Central Cantonment in Mashkai, Awaran district. After complying with the order, he was targeted and killed by an armed death squad operating under the direction of the Pakistani army in Khandri village.

"The killing of Mazar Baloch is a serious breach of human rights and illustrates a disturbing trend of state-sponsored violence in Balochistan. It is especially alarming that Mazar had previously faced enforced disappearance at the hands of Pakistani forces in 2015, only to be released in 2020. For five years, he was consistently summoned to various military camps, subjected to harassment, and coerced into compliance with military demands. Despite his repeated assertions of innocence, his life was brutally taken in a premeditated act of violence," Paank noted.

The human rights organization called for an immediate, independent, and transparent investigation into Mazar Baloch's death, demanding accountability for those responsible, including the Pakistani army and the death squads under its protection.

Paank urged the international community, including the United Nations, to address the escalating crisis of enforced disappearances and extrajudicial killings in Balochistan, asserting that these acts represent a systematic campaign of repression, amounting to war crimes that must be met with justice.