Baloch activists protest in Germany, allege worsening human rights abuses in Balochistan
Berlin, July 7 (IANS) The Baloch National Movement (BNM) staged a protest in Germany’s Bremen, highlighting the worsening human rights situation in Balochistan and the alleged atrocities committed by the Pakistani authorities.
Addressing the gathering, the speakers said that the Pakistani authorities are subjecting the people of Balochistan to large-scale collective punishment. They said that enforced disappearances and custodial killings have become routine, while accusing the authorities of demolishing homes and forcing people into displacement.
“They further stated that the uncertainty created by enforced disappearances develops into deep psychological trauma. It is no longer only the issue of the disappeared individual but becomes the suffering of entire families. Mothers wait daily for any news, fathers live under severe mental stress and helplessness, while children grow up in fear and emotional instability. Life does not remain normal, and even routine daily activities become difficult,” the BNM stated.
“The speakers further emphasised that, based solely on an individual’s political activities or affiliations, their family members are subjected not only to psychological, financial, and social harm but, in some cases, are also killed to intensify pressure and spread fear within Baloch society. Families of the disappeared are often forced into silence; nevertheless, they continue to receive bodies of their loved ones, killed in custody by the Pakistan Army,” it added.
The BNM further alleged that the Pakistan army has been carrying out continuous raids on homes in Panwan village and its surrounding areas of Balochistan’s Gwadar district over the past two days, demolishing several houses and subjecting over 60 individuals to enforced disappearance.
It claimed that five victims of enforced disappearance were killed in custody, and their bodies were subsequently dumped.
“This situation reflects the overall state of Balochistan, which has been turned into a media black hole. News from Balochistan rarely reaches the international press, allowing the Pakistani state to violate human rights with absolute impunity,” the BNM stated.
Over the last few years, the BNM said, Panwan has repeatedly come under attack by the Pakistan Army, with numerous young men forcibly disappeared from the area, missing for years.
“The Army’s smuggling interests along the coast are a major driver of these actions. While the state frames these actions as a response to the Baloch liberation movement, that is only one dimension; it primarily serves as a convenient pretext for the Pakistan Army,” it noted.
The BNM said that the Pakistan Army’s attacks in Gwadar’s coastal belt are not merely aimed at countering Baloch insurgent groups but are intended to tighten control over the “lucrative international smuggling route.”
“Historically, the Pakistan Army used these exact tactics to depopulate villages along the CPEC (China-Pakistan Economic Corridor) route: conducting continuous raids, enforcing disappearances, burning homes, and even committing sexual violence against women. As a result, residents of dozens of Baloch villages were forced to flee,” it stated.
The BNM appealed to neighbouring countries, the international community, and human rights organisations to recognise the gravity of the deteriorating situation in the province and play their role in halting the “genocide of the Baloch nation.”
–IANS
scor/rs