Karachi, Oct 9 : Baloch Students Organization – Azad held a protest rally in Karachi against the unlawful arrest and enforced disappearance of Shabir Ahmed Baloch, Secretary Information, BSO-Azad. A large number of Baloch students and activists took part in the peaceful rally that gathered in front of the Karachi Arts Council and marched up to Karachi Press Club, carrying banners and portraits of the enforced disappeared student leader from Awaran, Balochistan. A similar protest rally was held in front of Quetta Press Club. Human rights activists, Chairman of Voice for Baloch Missing Persons (VBMP) Nasrullah Baloch, Vice Chairman Mama Qadeer Baloch and a number of students and members of civil society participated the demonstration. The protester were holding banners and placards highlighting the unlawful arrest and disappearance of Shabir Baloch and murder of Hasil Baloch aka Qazi on 4th and 5th October respectively.
Shabir Ahmed Baloch, 24, was illegally abducted by Pakistani security forces from Gwarkop, district Turbat, Balochistan on October 4, 2016. During the raid on the residents, dozens of inhabitants were taken away by the Pakistani forces and illegally detained at unknown locations.
Shabir Ahmed, a resident of Awaran, Balochistan has been in the forefront of campaigns against the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) in Balochistan and the handing over the seaport of Gwadar to China for military buildup in the area. As the Secretary Information of BSO-Azad, Shabir Ahmed played a pivotal role in informing the human rights bodies and the international community about the Pakistani state atrocities; enforced disappearances, extra-judicial killings and crimes against humanity committed against civilians in Balochistan.
On October 5, 2016, a day after the illegal abduction of Shabir Ahmed, Pakistani state forces attacked the town of Kolwah, district Kech in Makran and arrested several civilians who were taken away to undisclosed locations. The soldiers torched homes after beating up the residents and dragged them into the streets. According to eyewitnesses and families, the zonal leader of BSO-Azad, Hasil aka Qazi s/o Arz Mohammed was arrested from his residence during the raid and shot dead in execution style on the street.
Pakistani state forces are committing gross human rights violations and crimes of aggression against helpless civilians in Balochistan with impunity. Since 2003, more than 20,000 Baloch civilians, political activists, journalists, doctors, teachers and students have been enforced disappeared, and a large number of the victims were brutally tortured, executed and dumped in the fields or buried in mass graves.
BSO-Azad Karachi rally and Quetta demonstration appealed to the UN, European Parliament, human rights bodies and democratic nations of the world to break their silence and stop the Pakistan army’s genocidal policies against civilians in Balochistan.
The protestors demanded safe recovery and release of their leader, Shabir Ahmed from the illegal custody of the Pakistani security forces. His life is in grave danger as he is being subjected to extreme brutal torture and no court of law in Pakistan has the authority to save him.
Baluch Sarmachar 