Pakistani forces raid Baloch activist's home, threaten family members

Quetta, July 17 Pakistani security forces carried out an "unlawful raid" on the home of a Baloch activist "without any legal grounds," according to Sammi Deen Baloch, a member of the human rights body, Baloch Yakjehti Committee (BYC).

Sammi said that the Pakistani officials barged into BYC activist Sahiba Baloch's home in Balochistan on Wednesday evening, adding to the ongoing atrocities committed by the security forces against the Baloch people.

"State forces once again chose intimidation over justice," she said in a post on X.

Sahiba's father is also a victim of forcible disappearances in the region at the hands of the Pakistani forces.

Taking to X on Wednesday, Sahiba shared her ordeal, stating, "Today, around 7:00 p.m., personnel from Pakistan's Federal Constabulary (FC) raided our home in the village without any prior notice or legal justification. My father already been forcibly disappeared for over three months -- his only "crime" being father, and my crime is to speak against human rights violations. During the raid, my family members were harassed and threatened"

Sahiba called the raid a "part of a calculated pattern of collective punishment, aimed at instilling fear and silence among those who dare to speak out."

"Today, as we choose the path of peaceful resistance, we are targeted through enforced disappearances, defamation, and intimidation. One by one, our voices are being silenced, and the state seeks to erase us by labelling us 'terrorists." Every child in Balochistan is raised with the hope that one day, they will see peace on their own land. To steal this struggle is to steal that hope, and that is something we will never allow," the post added.

Sahiba appealed to the international community and human rights organisations to raise their voices and use their platforms to help stop the violence.

She further urged the international community to demand the immediate release of her father and colleagues, and ensure that Pakistan complies with its international human rights obligations.

In another act of violence against a Baloch civilian, Paank, Baloch National Movement's Human Rights Department mentioned another case of the 'kill and dump' policy of the Pakistani state.

It mentioned that on the night of July 13, Ghulam Jan, son of Bejjar Baloch, was abducted from his home in Awaran district of Balochistan by a state-backed death squad under the command of the Pakistan Army.

It further stated that hours later, Ghulam's bullet-ridden body was found dumped in the Kuli area of the province, marking the fifth extrajudicial killing in the Kolwah region of Awaran within a month.

Paank strongly condemned "this brutal act and holds the Pakistani military and its proxy death squads responsible for the ongoing war crimes and systematic violence in Balochistan."

Various human rights organisations of Balochistan have time and again highlighted the repression by Pakistani forces in the province, which includes violent raids on the homes of Baloch leaders and civilians, unlawful arrests, enforced disappearances, the 'kill and dump' policy, detention under the Maintenance of Public Order Ordinance, and the filing of fabricated police cases.

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