Baloch Voice Association in Geneva protest against Enforced Disappearance in Pakistan's Balochistan

Baloch Voice Association in Geneva, Switzerland organized exhibitions, conferences and seminars to protest against thousands of cases of enforced disappearances in Pakistan's Balochistan region.

The three-day program on enforced disappearances organised by BVA elicited overwhelming responses from media and members of the public. Media houses such as France 24, UN media and local media all covered the events.

Eminent speakers deliberated on the topic. The sum and substance of the discussions in the conference were that known cases of enforced disappearances in 2021, which are backed by evidence, was 1156 in Pakistan.

It had tripled in 2021. Of these 266 were women, 28 children were under 13. On account of pressure, both international and domestic, 344 were released. Those released were not necessarily those detained in 2021 but include those who have been in detention for a long time. Significantly, 162 dead bodies were also released.

According to the Human Rights Council of Balochistan, only during the month of December 2021, more than 63 people were abducted and are missing while 37 were killed.

According to the Commission of Inquiry on Enforced Disappearances, an entity established by the Pakistani government, 8122 cases of enforced disappearances have been registered officially. Most of them are still unresolved.

Independent local and international human rights organizations put the numbers much higher. 20,000 have reportedly been abducted only from Balochistan, out of which more than 3000 have turned up dead as bullet-riddled dead bodies, bearing signs of extreme torture.

Human rights group Amnesty International has called for Pakistani authorities to end the use of enforced disappearances as a tool of state policy, as it releases a new briefing documenting the effect of such illegal abductions on the families of those who go missing.

Earlier, in January 2014 a mass grave was discovered in the Tootak area of Khuzdar. 167 bodies were recovered from the site. Human rights organisations believed the bodies belonged to previously abducted individuals who were killed and dumped however the recovered bodies were later buried by authorities without any DNA testing.

Pakistan's establishment has been long criticized over its practice of enforced disappearances and extrajudicial killings by International bodies and local human rights organisations that dare to speak out on the issue.

Before being elected as Prime Minister, Imran Khan had admitted in multiple TV interviews the involvement of Pakistan's intelligence agencies in enforced disappearances and extrajudicial killings and vowed to resign if he was unable to put an end to the practice, holding those involved responsible.

Families of the abducted victims have long been protesting for the safe recovery of their loved ones in the provincial capital Quetta, and their protest camp has now completed more than 4608 days.

The organizers of the campaign have long been engaged in efforts to highlight the worsening human rights situation in Balochistan at international platforms, organising events around Europe and in the United States, focusing on advocacy activities in the European Parliament, the US parliamentary houses, and the United Nations.

( With inputs from ANI )