Quetta, Aug 31 (IANS) As the world marked the International Day of the Victims of Enforced Disappearances, several Baloch human rights organisations and activists remembered those forcibly disappeared from their homes, streets and communities across Balochistan by Pakistani forces, while expressing solidarity with families enduring years of uncertainty about the fate of their loved ones.
They urged the United Nations and the wider international community to take meaningful and effective action to help secure the release of thousands of forcibly disappeared Baloch people, including children, women, young people and the elderly.
The International Day of the Victims of Enforced Disappearances is observed every year on August 30, a UN-designated day established in 2011 to raise global awareness of this grave human rights violation and to honor the victims and their families.
Marking the occasion, Human Rights Council of Balochistan (HRCB) said that from January 2016 to July 2026, it had documented 9,130 cases of enforced disappearance across Balochistan.
“This is only a fraction of the actual figure, as many areas remain under strict security force control, making countless cases difficult to document. Behind every number is a mother waiting for her son, a child waiting for a parent, a wife waiting for her husband, and a family living every day with uncertainty,” the HRCB noted.
The Baloch Students Organisation (BSO)-Azad accused Pakistani forces of carrying out “illegal actions” against the people in Balochistan, saying enforced disappearances remain one of the most prominent forms of these abuses.
Alleging that the state has now normalised the practice through various forms and policies ,it called on the international community and human rights organisations to take immediate action and hold the Pakistani authorities accountable for these “severe crimes”.
“In this half year of 2026, more than 800 Baloch students, political activists, teachers, doctors, labourers, shopkeepers and other civilians have become victim of enforced disappearances by Pakistani military and intelligence services. The victims include women, girls, minor children, elderly people and youth. Aging from eight years to sixty years old people, while a reported case of 1.5 years old minor child named Zakir from Mastung is also included,” the BSO posted on X.
Meanwhile, Baloch Yakjehti Committee (BYC) leader Sabiha Baloch said that while the day is observed worldwide to remember those who have been forcibly disappeared, for the Baloch people, enforced disappearance is not an issue to be remembered once a year but a daily reality.
Taking to her social media platform X, Sabiha said, “Every day, Baloch families live with the fear that another loved one may be taken away and disappeared. Mothers wait for their sons. Children wait for their fathers. Families wait for answers that may never come. For Balochistan, every day is a day of enforced disappearances. The world must not remain silent while families continue to wait between hope and unbearable pain.”
Marking the day, the Baloch Voice for Justice (BVJ) urged the international community to uphold its responsibility to protect human rights, press accountability from Pakistani authorities, while supporting efforts to end the practice of enforced disappearance across Balochistan.
–IANS
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