Baloch people disappeared
Pakistani Baloch families carry photographs of their missing community members as they arrive in Lahore on 12 February 
2014. The minority group marched from Quetta to Karachi in remembrance of relatives who have disappeared, allegedly at
 the hands of Pakistan's security services.
Baloch activists are urging rights groups and the international community to pay
attention to the situation of people living in the Balochistan province, western Pakistan.
According to some members of the Baloch Republican Party (BRP) – a democratic
and secular organisation that aims to repel Pakistani occupation and regain sovereignty
 in Balochistan –Balcoh people are persecuted, abducted and systematically killed by
Pakistani security agencies and the Pakistani Army.
Ashraf Sherjan, president of the BRP Germany Chapter, has warned that Balochs are
 haunted by what he calls "Pakistani kill-and-dump-policy intelligence agencies and
armed forces."
Speaking to IBTimes UK, he said: "Since Balochistan was forcefully occupied by
Pakistan, Baloch people have been living as guests of death.
"It has never been considered, even outside Pakistan, that Balochistan belongs to
the Baloch people who are now haunted. Baloch leaders are being deliberately
assassinated by the occupying state of Pakistan for demanding rights to their own
land."
Sherjan then cited the case of Baloch leader Shaheed Nawab Akbar Bugti, who
was attacked and killed along with his tribesmen in 2006.
Balochistan history
Balochistan, a large area bordering with Afghanistan to the north and Iran and the Arabian Sea to the south, is inhabited mainly by Baloch, Pashtuns and Brahuis, and smaller communities and tribes such as Iranian Baloch, Hazaras, Marri and Bugti.
Balochistan was invaded by Britain in 1839. As a result of the invasion hundreds of people, along with the then Baloch ruler Mir Mehrab Khan, died.
Balochistan was then divided into three parts: Northern Balochistan and Western Balochistan were given to Persia and Afghanistan respectively, and Eastern Balochistan was under British rule until 1947.
After the British left, Balochistan was annexed to Pakistan. According to some, the then ruler Khan of Kalat was forced to sign accession documents despite a previous document recognising the independence of the Baloch people which had been signed by the British, Balochistan and the upcoming Pakistan administration.
Since then, separatist groups demanding independence have engaged in armed struggles with the Pakistani government.
During an armed struggle erupted in 2004, Balochistan's leader Nawab Akbar Bugti was killed by the Pakistani government, which accused him of being a warlord and using the Balochistan Liberation Army as a facade to run his own militia.
His murder prompted unrest in the area with thousands of students from
Balochistan University and other locals rioting, sparking fears that the then
Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf would be targeted with attacks in retaliation.
"It would take days to mention the names of the thousands of Baloch political
activists, leaders and students who were killed," Sherjan said.
Black month
Baloch activists refer to March as a "black month" for Balochistan history as in
 two separate occasions during the month, Balochistan was first invaded and
then bombarded.
"On 27 March 1948 Pakistan invaded Balochistan and coerced the Baloch ruler to
 sign a so-called 'accession treaty' after the Baloch Parliament had rejected the
offer to join Pakistan on the basis of shared religion," Sherjan said.
"On 17 March 2005, Pakistani paramilitary forces bombarded the entire city of
Dera Bugti. More than 70 people, the majority of whom were women and children,
were killed and nearly 200 were injured."


Balochistan rebels Pakistan government
Members of Pakistani Marri Baloch tribe, who are accused of being responsible for attacks on paramilitary forces and
 laying land mines on roads to resist government efforts of exploring oil and gas and building roads in the tribal area, 
demand the right of self determination and control over natural resources as they accuse Islamabad of 56 years-long 
oppression and exploitation of their population

People abducted and killed
In 2011, Human Rights Watch released a report documenting rights abuses
committed by the Pakistani government against people in Balochistan.
The group urged Pakistan to end "widespread disappearances of suspected
militants and activists by the military, intelligence agencies, and the paramilitary
Frontier Corps in the south-western province of Balochistan".
The report detailed 45 alleged cases of enforced disappearances – the majority
occurred in 2009 and 2010 – and warned that some of the people who were
abducted were also executed.
According to Sherjan, the policy of abducting and killing Baloch people still
continues today.
"Many bodies have been found with amputated limbs in various areas across
Balochistan and in Karachi. This inhumane practice continues to date and families
of enforced-disappeared Balochs report that more than 20,000 Balochs have
disappeared since current Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf took power in
1999," he said.


Balochistan human rights
Baloch activist and president of the BRP Germany Chapter Ashraf Sherjan during a protest to shed light on human rights abuses in Balochistan

"In January 2014 three 
Tootak area of Khuzdar 
district in Balochistan. 
The graves contained 
at least 169 bodies. 
Only three of the persons
 have been identified as 
previously abducted 
persons who were 
picked up from their 
homes by Pakistani 
paramilitary forces.
"The rest of the bodies 
could not be identified 
because they were 
mutilated beyond recognition. The military quickly cut off all access to 
the graves and took control of the remaining bodies so no further forensic 
identification work was possible."
Sherjan also urged the Norway government and the international community 
to shed light on the fate of Ehsan Arjemandi, a Norway national allegedly 
abducted in 2009, while he was on his way to Karachi from Balochistan.
"He has not been heard from or seen in public since then. The Pakistani
 intelligence service, the ISI, is believed to be responsible for the abduction.
 I urge the human rights organisation including the European Union and United
Nations to take notice of Balochistan's situation and play their moral role in
ending human rights violations before it's too late."


Balochistan human rights
A girl from the Bugti tribe stands in front of her traditional family home in the village of Habibrai, Balochistan 
on 28 January 2006. Villagers there said that Pakistani forces had shelled the community