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The Baloch, a dispersed ethnic community across Pakistan, Iran, and Afghanistan, have been targeted, and subjected to enforced disappearances, and extrajudicial killings for decades. The world has been outraged by the intelligence of mass graves, torture chambers, and targeted killings, but nothing has been done to prevent these recurring atrocities. This campaign of targeting has now extended beyond South Asia, with Baloch activists now threatened and assassinated in Western countries, including Canada.
Mass Graves: Unearthing a Tragic Reality
The discovery of mass graves in Pakistan’s Balochistan province was a shock to human rights activists. In recent years, there have been a series of reports that speak of sites where hundreds of missing persons are buried, the majority of whom were Baloch activists or suspected sympathizers.
#Balochistan | NewsX Ground Report from 2015 when we showed you the mass graves of balochis, a proof of Pakistan army’s torture.#BalochistanMassGraves #FreeBalochistan #ISI #PakistanArmyAtrocities pic.twitter.com/ndrQbDojA2
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Human rights activists claim that the mass graves are the product of state-backed operations to silence the Baloch protests. Pakistan security forces are suspected of coordinating enforced disappearances, where the victims are abducted, tortured, and often murdered in extrajudicial operations. Families are forced to search for their loved ones, with very little hope for justice or closure.
Torture and Enforced Disappearances: A Reign of Fear
Survivors who have escaped such atrocities provide horrific testimonies of torture at underground detention centers. Testimonies from abducted victims report that they were forced to endure brutal beatings, electrocution, and mental torture. The majority of the detainees are never seen again, while others are returned to their families in corpses with signs of excessive torture.
More than 20,000 Baloch citizens have been disappeared at gunpoint in the last two decades, human rights organizations claimed. The government has refuted any involvement, blaming the abductions on militant groups or criminal groups. Intelligence reports and eyewitnesses point to a systematic campaign of terror against the Baloch.
Assassinations Reach Canadian Soil
The terror campaign against the Baloch is no longer limited to Pakistan. One of the most frightening trends is the targeting of exiled bloggers and activists in the Western world, including Canada, which is one of the newest theatres of operations.
In 2020, senior Baloch activist and former BSO chairperson Karima Baloch was found dead in Toronto. Karima had been a strong critic of the brutal quelling by the Pakistani army of the Baloch activists. Though the death was ruled non-criminal by the Canadian authorities, human rights activists and Baloch activists are of the opinion that there had to have been foul play considering the history of state-sponsored assassinations of dissident activists abroad.
Likewise, other Baloch activists have also emerged with stories of receiving threats, being trailed, and efforts at intimidation just like what occurs in Pakistan. This is raising serious questions about foreign interference and the extent of repressive regimes beyond their territories.
ALSO READ: Balochistan’s Struggle For Independence: Why Pakistan’s Largest Province Wants Freedom
