Did Pakistani Forces Conduct an Unlawful Raid on a Baloch Activist's Home?

Synopsis
Key Takeaways
- Pakistani forces raided the home of Baloch activist Sahiba Baloch without legal grounds.
- Sahiba's father has been missing for over three months.
- The raid is part of a broader pattern of repression against Baloch activists.
- There is a rising call for international intervention in Balochistan.
- Human rights organizations continue to document abuses in the region.
Quetta, July 17 (NationPress) Pakistani security personnel executed an illegitimate raid on the residence of a Baloch activist without any legal justification, as stated by Sammi Deen Baloch, a representative of the human rights organization, Baloch Yakjehti Committee (BYC).
Sammi reported that Pakistani officials forcibly entered the home of BYC activist Sahiba Baloch in Balochistan on Wednesday evening, further exacerbating the ongoing injustices faced by the Baloch community.
“State forces have once again opted for intimidation over justice,” she expressed in a post on X.
Sahiba's father has also been a victim of enforced disappearances at the hands of Pakistani authorities.
In a post on X, Sahiba recounted her experience, saying, “Today, at approximately 7:00 p.m., members of Pakistan's Federal Constabulary (FC) stormed our home in the village without any notice or legal grounds. My father has been forcibly disappeared for over three months — his only 'crime' being that he is my father, and my 'crime' is speaking out against human rights violations. During the raid, my family was subjected to harassment and threats.”
Sahiba labeled the raid as a “part of a calculated strategy of collective punishment, intended to instill fear and silence those who dare to voice their concerns.”
“As we pursue a path of peaceful resistance, we face enforced disappearances, defamation, and intimidation. One by one, our voices are being silenced, and the state aims to label us as 'terrorists.' Every child in Balochistan hopes to see peace in their homeland. To rob us of this struggle is to rob us of hope, and that is something we will never allow,” the post continued.
Sahiba called on the international community and human rights organizations to amplify their voices and use their platforms to help halt the violence.
She further urged the global community to demand the immediate release of her father and associates, and to ensure that Pakistan adheres to its international human rights obligations.
In another violent incident against a Baloch civilian, the Baloch National Movement's Human Rights Department reported another case of the 'kill and dump' policy employed by the Pakistani state.
It stated that on the night of July 13, Ghulam Jan, the son of Bejjar Baloch, was abducted from his home in the Awaran district of Balochistan by a state-backed death squad led by the Pakistan Army.
Hours later, Ghulam's lifeless body was discovered, riddled with bullets, in the Kuli area of the province, marking the fifth extrajudicial killing in the Kolwah region of Awaran within a month.
Paank vehemently condemned “this brutal act and holds the Pakistani military and its proxy death squads accountable for the ongoing war crimes and systematic violence in Balochistan.”
Numerous human rights organizations in Balochistan have repeatedly highlighted the oppression by Pakistani forces in the region, including violent raids on the homes of Baloch leaders and civilians, unlawful arrests, enforced disappearances, the 'kill and dump' policy, detention under the Maintenance of Public Order Ordinance, and the filing of fabricated police cases.