A letter from Khalil Baloch to International Media and Human Rights organizations.
Since the beginning of January 2015, the Pakistani army along with its intelligence agencies has launched an unending series of house-to-house search operations in Dera Bugti, Mashkay, Awaran and Makkuran areas of Balochistan. In the name of search operations, the Pakistani forces have committed war crimes such as killing innocent non-combatants, abducting civilians and razing entire villages. They have been committing all the crimes that can be categorized as genocide under the international law.
They have raided hundreds of villages since January 2015, and burnt or razed to grounds more than 1000 houses. The forces have also committed theft of properties such as precious metals in these houses.
The three-month-long operations have resulted in forced migration of 25,000 of Baloch civilians in these areas. An estimated15,000 Baloch have been internally displaced in Geshkore, Awaran and nearby villages. Another 10,000 people have been displaced by forcible evacuation of people by the Pakistan army and its agencies in Heroonk, Shapuk and Dasht areas of Kech, Turbat. It is possible that figures related to IDPs are much higher than the estimated ones.
During these operations, Pakistan has accelerated the genocide of the Baloch people. The forces have abducted more than 3,000 Baloch. It is worth mentioning that more than 22,000 Baloch are missing after being picked up by the Pakistani forces. Often, dead bodies of such missing persons appear in desolated areas across Balochistan. They are tortured in detention centers and then killed. International human rights bodies have termed this phenomenon as Pakistan’s “kill-and-dump” policy.
On second day of 2015 , Army went on rampage killing a 10 years old child Shereen, 50 years old woman Sameena and four others in Sunnedi area of Mashkay.
To cite a recent example of kill and dump, the Pakistani army asked Dr Sana Ulla Baloch, a respected individual in his hometown, to visit the Army camp for some “routine interrogation”. For the fear of brutal retribution if he didn’t obliged, Dr. Sana visited the Army camp. After two days, his dead body with marks of torture was found dumped. In another case, the Army also killed Khud Baksh Rakhshani, a teacher and well respected person, in the same way. While he was teaching in School, Kashif Ahmed, Colonel in Pakistan army, called and asked him to appear in Gishkor Camp for interrogation. After appearing in the camp, he arrested and later was extrajudicially killed in a brutal way.
As it’s known, there is a complete media blackout in Balochistan. The local and international media is not allowed to give coverage to the Balochistan conflict and the human rights abuses in the region. Often local journalist are tortured and killed for highlighting human rights violations in Balochistan. Similarly, international media personnel and human rights organization have been denied access to Balochistan.
Therefore, a grave humanitarian crisis is emerging in Balochistan. I request all the concerned international media personnel and human rights organizations to visit Balochistan to investigate and report the ongoing humanitarian crisis created by the brutal use of force by Pakistani security establishment in Balochistan.
Khalil Baloch
Chairman Baloch National Movement
Balochistan
Balochistan
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