Lawyers, Activists Raise Red Flags On Disappearance Of Baloch Women In Pakistan | World News

Rights groups, activists, lawyers and student organizations have expressed concern over the increasing cases of enforced disappearances of Baloch women, warning that the cases reported in recent months indicate a troubling phase in the human rights crisis in Pakistan’s Balochistan.

The Baloch Students Organization (BSO Azad) described the increasing incidents of enforced disappearances of Baloch women by Pakistani institutions as the “most brutal form of Baloch genocide” and added that the silence of international human rights groups was “extremely worrying”, The Balochistan Post reported.

In his statement, BSO Azad said that violation of Baloch traditions, sexual violence against women and forced abduction of women “as a form of collective punishment” are unacceptable.

The organization emphasized that women were subjected to torture, fabricated accusations and public humiliation through lawsuits filed in the media, while elderly and sick women were thrown into “torture cells”. The group described the disappearance of Baloch women as a deliberate effort to intimidate people, silence activists and suppress resistance.

He warned that Pakistan wants to normalize abuses against Baloch women to avoid scrutiny and called on international institutions to hold the state accountable and called on the people of Balochistan to adopt strong resistance to ensure women can live a “safe and dignified life free from oppression and violence”. The Makran High Court Bar Association described what it called the “kidnap-style arrests” of Baloch women as the “worst atrocity in history” and warned that Balochistan was going through the “most sensitive phase in its history”.

The Bar Association stated that after years of primarily targeting young men, women also began to disappear, and described this situation as a violation of human rights and a violation of the Constitution. Sammi Deen Baloch, leader of the Baloch Yakjehti Committee (BYC), said new cases of enforced disappearance have been reported where women were taken from their homes “in front of their families, without any arrest warrant and without any charge”, adding that “things that were once unimaginable have now become normalised”.

Baloch stated that the enforced disappearances of underage girls, pregnant women and young mothers show that “no one is safe anymore from state violence.” He stated that cases of enforced disappearance show a systematic way of terrorizing society, silencing dissidents and punishing families.

He urged people to raise their voices and support efforts demanding the safe recovery of Baloch women. The Human Rights Council of Balochistan (HRCB) has expressed concern over what it describes as increasing cases of enforced disappearances of Baloch women.

In a statement, the HRCB said the cases of enforced disappearances showed a “dangerous expansion” of a practice already normalized by years of disappearances and extrajudicial killings of Baloch men.

The group stated that the actions violated Pakistan’s constitution and the country’s obligations under international human rights agreements and demanded the rescue of all disappeared women and an end to enforced disappearances. On Tuesday, several Baloch families staged a protest against the enforced disappearance of four members of the same family by Pakistani forces in Kech district.

According to BYC, two female and two male victims, identified as Fareed Ijaz, Mujahid Dilwash, Hani Dilwash and Hair-Nisa Wahid, were forcibly disappeared by Pakistani institutions. The human rights organization stated that their families took to the streets of Keç’s Tejaban village to demand the safe return of their loved ones.

BYC wrote on