BYC in Balochistan condemns enforced disappearances and shutdown of internet services in the region
Balochistan: The Balochistan Yakjehti Committee (BYC) has denounced the region’s growing number of enforced disappearances and internet connection outages as measures by the government to stifle criticism of human rights abuses.
The BYC said in a post on X that “Internet services have been shut down to curb the reporting of such incidents, while cases of forced disappearances are increasing rapidly.” Since a large portion of Balochistan already lacks internet and mobile data connections, the shutdown of data services in key areas seems to be an effort to hide information about human rights abuses committed by Balochistani state officials.
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https://x.com/BalochYakjehtiC/status/1857417909380825544
In Balochistan, 127 instances of enforced disappearances were documented in the last month alone. Activists, students, and regular people are among the victims; they are all supposedly singled out because they are thought to disagree with government ideas. Because authorities have failed to recognize the prisoners’ location or provide any legal redress, the victims’ families are still in a state of despair.
The BYC gave information on a number of victims who were kidnapped in October, including Muhammad Hassan from Kalan, Talal and Amir Baloch from Dasht Kech, Ahmed Ali Bugti from Dera Bugti, and Tahir Ali from Hoshab.
In more recent cases, Norouz, a Panjgur native and the son of Muhammad Islam, was taken by force from Hub Chowki. Notably, Norouz has already experienced two forcible disappearances.
The military also kidnapped Muhammad Hassan, son of Munshi Abdullah, and Nusratullah, son of Sardar Liaquat. Assa’s son Munir was also taken by force from the seaside city of Gwadar.
The BYC also called on the world to pay more attention to Balochistan’s deteriorating condition. “We urge organizations and human rights defenders to act decisively against such heinous atrocities. Genocide and serious human rights abuses are being inflicted on the Baloch people. In Balochistan, it is difficult to identify a family or home that has not been impacted by governmental repression,” the statement said.
