Wave of enforced disappearances in Balochistan intensifies as families demand answers

Balochistan [Pakistan] October 18 (ANI): Families of missing persons continued their sit-in outside the Quetta Press Club, demanding the safe return of their relatives amid persistent allegations of enforced disappearances in Balochistan.
The Voice for Baloch Missing Persons (VBMP) also announced that a government commission had formally registered another disappearance case, as reported by The Balochistan Post.
According to The Balochistan Post, the VBMP protest camp marked its 6,390th consecutive day, with the father and brother of Kamran Khan joining demonstrators seeking information about his whereabouts.
Kamran was allegedly detained by Pakistani security forces from Killi Kashmirabad on Qambrani Road in Quetta on April 1 and subsequently taken to an undisclosed location.
His family says his continued disappearance has caused severe psychological distress. VBMP chairman Nasrullah Baloch said the Commission of Inquiry on Enforced Disappearances had registered Kamran's case, assigned it a reference number and issued notices to relevant institutions.
He expressed hope that the proceedings would facilitate Kamran's safe recovery. Another family also renewed its appeal for justice. Khan Muhammad, father of Muhammad Riaz Satakzai, visited the protest camp, seeking information about his son, who was allegedly forcibly disappeared from the Frontier Corps checkpoint at Daghari Cross on May 6.
Khan Muhammad said police and senior officials had recorded his statements on the commission's instructions, but the family had received no explanation for the alleged detention or information about his son's whereabouts.
Nasrullah urged the authorities to recover Kamran, Riaz and other missing persons. He said anyone accused of a crime should be presented before a court and dealt with according to the law, rather than being kept beyond the reach of legal safeguards, as highlighted by The Balochistan Post.
He also called for an end to enforced disappearances and extrajudicial killings in Balochistan, practices that have fuelled longstanding concerns over accountability and human rights in Pakistan, as reported by The Balochistan Post. (ANI)