No Sign of Pakistan Missing Baloch

"Last month, three people from Pakistan’s Balochistan province went missing and were later found dead in a port. "

Last month, three people from Pakistan’s Balochistan province went missing and were later found dead in a port.

And it’s not an isolated case – more than 2,000 Baloch are reported missing or killed since 2005.

Balochistan is Pakistan’s largest province, rich in minerals, yet most of the population remains poor.

A group made up of relatives of the abducted and murdered Balochs set up a protest camp more than 1100 days ago.

Four people sit under a shelter on the main road – two of them are young boys.  They hold up two fingers, representing a ‘V for victory’.

Inside the camp there are many photos of Baloch who have gone missing.

Zahid Ali Bugti is in charge of the camp, which was set up to demand an end to the extra judicial killings.  One of his nephews has been missing for two years.

“My whole nation is missing and we’re here to have a sit in protest. We have been sitting here for more than 1,000 days. We’re protesting the missing persons abducted by the Pakistan intelligence agencies. They have killed 600 people so far and 16,000 people have gone missing.”

But according to the government, only a few hundred Baloch have disappeared, and many of the others have migrated to other countries.

Balochistan is the largest province and the second major supplier of natural gas in Pakistan.  But for years, the province has been plagued by violence.

Armed separatist groups regularly attack Pakistani military outposts and sabotage gas and oil pipelines.  The Baloch are demanding independence, and this has made them a target for kidnapping and killing by the intelligence agencies.

Baloch nationalist Dr Abdul Hakim Lehri is a political activist who advocates for an independent Balochistan.

“There is no insurgency in Balochistan, but it’s a 64-year struggle for freedom and an independent state. The army has declared war on us and the Baloch are fighting in self-defence. We are not terrorists but a resistance movement and it is impossible for the government to stop such a movement. They abduct our people and kill them only to create fear among our people, but they are wrong.”  

Saeed Sarbazi is a Baloch journalist.

He has been supporting the relatives of missing persons in the camp and encouraging them to report their stories to the media to publicise what is happening.

“They don’t have tolerance. Instead of going to court, instead of arresting people without evidence, they’re picking up people, arrest them and killed them. If these people have any links to any militant groups, Pakistani intelligent agencies should go to court.”

But last year, he became a target himself – and was picked up by Pakistani intelligent agents.

“They blind-folded me and kept me in a locked jail. They asked questions and they kept me for four days. They tortured and forced me standing all the time. I told them that I don’t have any links with any terrorist or militant groups working in Balochistan. I’m just a journalist. I used to help missing persons’ families who come and sit in the camp.”

He was realeased after a month.

Many other Balochs share similar stories... but are too afraid to speak out.

Abdul Hayee is from the Pakistan Human Rights Commission.

“They don’t dare to talk or tell the truth about the experiences they’ve been through after they’re released. They’ve been badly tortured by the intelligence agencies. And people will be killed if they come and give their statements to us. Some of those people that recorded their statements have been found dead.”

According to the Voice of Baloch Missing Persons, more than 2,000 Baloch have been missing or been killed since 2005. Yet there is very little coverage of what is happening in the local media.

Sadeeq Baloch is a senior journalist for the daily “Azadi”. He has been covering the Baloch national movement for the last four decades. Three of his colleagues have been killed in last two years.

“The coverage of missing persons in the media is zero. The media only reports when the dead body of a missing person is found. But who kidnapped them... where they kept the missing persons... and how they treated them, is completely missing in the report. There’s a complete black out on the coverage of missing people in Balochistan.”

The Balochistan issue has been heavily criticized by rights groups. One of the founders of Human Rights Commission of Pakistan Asma Jahangir has long expressed grave concerns over the extra-judicial missing Baloch people.

“Major political parties in Pakistan know the problem and want to solve them. But I’m absolutely sure that the Army has the final say in the case of Balochistan and they’re the one who make decision. I request all senior politicians to unite and work for solution of this problem.”

The newly elected government has raised hopes of a more democratic Pakistan... but in Balochistan people continued to go missing.

Zahid Ali Bugti, the camp leader, says that they will stay here for as long as it takes...

“We want to show the international community how helpless we are because the local media won’t cover our story. We want freedom and we’re being killed because we want our sovereignty and freedom.”

• Pakistan missing persons
• missing and killed Baloch people
• Mudassar Shah
• Shadi Khan Saif
• eng