Atrocities against Baloch people highlighted at UNHCR

Geneva [Switzerland], March 19 (ANI): Munir Mengal, a Baloch political and human rights activist, on Saturday (Local Time) highlighted the atrocities against the Baloch people at United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) and urged the UN Council to immediately steps take steps to address the situation in Balochistan.
Addressing the UNHRC, Mengal said, "I stand before you to draw your attention to the ongoing human rights violation against the Baloch people in Pakistan. The Baloch people have been subjected to a range of abuses including disappearances, extradition killings, torture and forced displacements."
"These abuses have been carried out with impunity and the perpetrators have not been held accountable. The situation has reached a critical level. Baloch students were abducted from university campuses and Baloch women were taken from their homes. These gross violations of human rights are cause for serious concern and the UN must take immediate action to address them," he added.
Baloch human rights activists further stated that the organisation has received data from Voice for Baloch, an organisation working to highlight cases of missing persons in the region, as well as NGOs in Balochistan that are waging a struggle against enforced disciplines.
Mengal mentioned the annual report of 2022 by the NGO which revealed that 787 people became victims of enforced discipline including 101 women, 63 children under 13 years old, 31 mutilated dead bodies of missing people recovered and only 96 people were released and returned home.
"The family members of the victims, under the banner of Voice For Baloch missing Person, are continuously protesting at Quetta, Karachi and at Islamabad from last more than 5000 days continuously," Mengal said.
"In light of these grave human rights violations, I urge the UN Council to immediately steps take steps to address the situation in Balochistan. The appointment of a special reporter to investigate these abuses and take recommendations for redress and accountability is critical. Moreover, we must call upon the Pakistani government to put an end to these human rights violations and hold those responsible accountable," he added.
On March 15, a delegation of the Baloch Human Rights Council submitted two separate petitions addressed to the UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk calling for the UN's intervention in the worsening human rights situation in Balochistan.
Baloch Human Rights Council called for the formation of a UN investigation mission to investigate extrajudicial killings and mass enforced disappearances of Baloch political and social activists in Pakistan. In the memorandum, the Baloch Human Rights Council highlighted the human rights situation in Balochistan.
"In the face of heinous crimes committed by the Pakistani security forces in Balochistan, UN intervention is imperative. Establishing a UN investigative mission to probe extrajudicial killings and mass disappearances of the Baloch political and social activists would be a step forward," Baloch Human Rights Council said in the petition addressed to UN Chief.
It further said, "This action will pave the way for bringing to justice the culprits of heinous crimes against humanity in Balochistan by initiating cases against them in the international court of justice in The Hague."
In the petition, the Baloch Human Rights Council said, "Enforced disappearances, unlawful custody, dumping of mutilated bodies and inhuman torture of the Baloch political activists are part of the strategy to crush the Baloch national aspirations."
According to Baloch Human Rights Council (BHRC), 367 persons went missing, and 79 bodies of extrajudicially killed missing persons were identified from January 2022 to December 2022. Furthermore, the recovered bodies of another 58 were unrecognisable. (ANI)