Quetta, July 9 (IANS) Several human rights organisations have condemned the abduction of Baloch student Saeed Ubaidullah, a resident of Panjgur district in Balochistan, by Pakistani security personnel from the Islamabad Toll Plaza amid an ongoing wave of enforced disappearance in the province.
“Saeed Ubaidullah, a student of BS Defence and Strategic Studies (DSS) 5th semester at Quaid-e-Azam University and a resident of Panjgur, was abducted by security personnel from the Islamabad Toll Plaza. His disappearance is part of a disturbing pattern of enforced disappearances,” read a statement issued by Paank, Baloch National Movement’s Human Rights Department on Wednesday.
Another rights body, Baloch Voice for Justice, also slammed the “enforced disappearance” of Saeed Ubaidullah, stating that “Baloch students are not safe even in Islamabad and this is a grave human rights violation.”
Additionally, Paank had earlier highlighted that a student, Babul Rehmat, son of Rehmat Baloch, resident of Gwadar in Balochistan, was illegally detained on July 6 and forcibly disappeared from the seaview area of Balochistan by Pakistani security forces.
Furthermore, the rights body also strongly condemned the continued unlawful detention of human rights activist and Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) member Abdullah Baloch, who remains in Gadani Jail after a peaceful protest in Hub district in Balochistan.
He was arrested alongside four women during a silent walk against the killing of Baloch human rights activist Zeeshan Zaheer. Paank demanded his immediate release and an end to the harassment of human rights defenders in Balochistan.
Meanwhile, the HRCP expressed concern over the arrest of several civil society activists in Balochistan in connection with their work.
“These include HRCP member Abdullah Baloch, who was arrested in Hub, and Gulzar Dost, who was arrested in Turbat. We urge the authorities to release them unconditionally and remind the state that it must uphold people’s constitutional right to freedom of peaceful assembly,” the HRCP stated.
Various human rights organisations of Balochistan have time and again highlighted the repression by Pakistani forces in the province, which includes violent raids on the homes of Baloch leaders and civilians, unlawful arrests, enforced disappearances, the ‘kill and dump’ policy, detention under the Maintenance of Public Order Ordinance, and the filing of fabricated police cases.
–IANS
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