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Baloch student leader Shabbir Baloch has remained missing since October 2016, prompting renewed calls for answers from rights groups. (Images: X)
Quetta: A Baloch student organisation has renewed its appeal to the international community over the disappearance of student leader Shabbir Baloch, urging global bodies to press Pakistani authorities to disclose his whereabouts nearly a decade after he was allegedly taken into custody. The Baloch Students Organisation (BSO)-Azad made the appeal in a letter addressed to the UN Human Rights Council, the UN Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances (WGEID) and the wider international community.
According to BSO-Azad, Shabbir Baloch, a former information secretary of the organisation was allegedly forcibly disappeared on October 4, 2016, from the Gwarkop area of Kech district in Balochistan. The organisation said he was allegedly taken by Pakistani security forces in front of his wife Zareena Baloch. BSO-Azad said that since his disappearance, Shabbir’s family has continued to seek information about his whereabouts and called for his safe release.
The group also urged international organisations to press Pakistani authorities for the release of political prisoners and other individuals it says remain in detention.
The organisation said Shabbir’s wife and sister have continued campaigning for information about him since his disappearance. BSO-Azad said the family has spent years seeking answers, but has not received verifiable information about his whereabouts. The group described the prolonged uncertainty as a continuing ordeal for Shabbir’s relatives and called for international pressure to establish what happened to him.
The 10th anniversary of Shabbir’s disappearance has also prompted fresh appeals from human rights organisations. The Human Rights Council of Balochistan said Shabbir’s family had pursued available legal avenues, but alleged that authorities had failed to provide information about his whereabouts.
The organisation called for his location to be disclosed and for his family to receive what it described as truth and justice. Paank, the human rights department of the Baloch National Movement also urged Pakistani authorities to disclose Shabbir’s whereabouts, ensure his safety and uphold his fundamental rights.
In its appeal, BSO-Azad linked Shabbir’s case to what it described as a wider pattern of enforced disappearances in Balochistan. The organisation alleged that students, teachers, academics, doctors, lawyers, journalists, intellectuals and political and human rights activists have been among those who have disappeared. It also highlighted the cases of other BSO-Azad members and leaders whom it said had previously been subjected to enforced disappearance. The organisation urged international institutions to take greater notice of the situation in Balochistan and press Pakistan to address allegations of human rights violations.
The renewed appeal comes amid continuing concerns raised by Baloch rights groups over alleged enforced disappearances and restrictions on political activity in the region. BSO-Azad has called on the international community to intervene in Shabbir’s case and seek concrete information from Pakistani authorities.
For his family and supporters, the disappearance remains unresolved after nearly 10 years with calls continuing for information about his whereabouts, his safety and accountability for what happened to him.
