Government Criticized For Not Recovering “Disappeared People”

The Baloch Hal News

QUETTA, July 2: A number of families of missing Baloch persons on Friday staged a sit-in in front of the Balochistan High Court (BHC) and held a demonstration outside Quetta press Club against the government, alleging that it had failed to fulfill its promise of recovering their missing relatives.

The rally, which was attended by over 20 families, was organised by the Voice for Baloch Missing Persons (VBMP), led by its Chairman Naserullah Baloch.

VBMP is working to raise the issue of forced disappearances in Balochistan and draw the attention of national and international humanitarian organizations towards it.

Protesters carrying portraits and posters of their missing relatives chanted slogans against the government and called upon national and international human rights organisations to take notice of the growing number of missing Baloch people.

They alleged Supreme Court and Balochistan High Court were not taking any action on the petitions of missing persons due to which they are losing trust and confidence in the judiciary.

Owing to sit-in, Hali Road in front of High Court remained blocked for about two hours, causing a traffic jam and inconvenience to general public. Later on, the protestors moved towards Quetta Press Club and where they staged a demonstration and dispersed peacefully.

Talking to The Baloch Hal, VBMP Chairman Nasrullah Baloch said the demonstration was meant to remind the government that the judiciary was not taking practical steps on the petitions of missing persons.  He said that Chief Justice of Supreme Court of Pakistan Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry had taken practical steps in cases of missing persons before he was deposed by former president Pervez Musharraf but now he was not paying due attention in this connection. “Baloch children, male and female are up in arms and protesting throughout the country, but all institutions in this so-called government are silent”, he added.

He demanded of the Chief Justice of Supreme Court for taking up this issue seriously and summoned all military generals in charge of intelligence agencies and other concerned officials involved in forced disappearance of Baloch people.

Chairman VBMP said that they held hunger strike camps in Balochistan and other parts of the country, including Islamabad and Karachi to divert the attention of people toward this issue and added that families of missing persons were not satisfied at all with the role of government, judiciary and political parties in solving the issue of missing persons.

“We are not satisfied with the present role of judiciary about missing persons and that if situation remained as it is, the family members of all missing persons would withdraw their all cases from Balochistan High Court and Supreme Court as protest”, he warned.

He demanded of the United Nations and other humanitarian organizations for exerting pressure on Pakistan government so that missing persons who were languishing in torture cells could be recovered.