The human rights situation in Balochistan is witnessing an unprecedented decline as the state agencies of Pakistan are on a rampage, alleged the Baloch political activists and human rights activists while interacting with media at Geneva Press Club.

The conference organized by 'Baloch Voice Association' was addressed by Professor Naela Qadri Baloch, Mama Qadeer Baloch and other human rights activists who highlighted the issue of arbitrary detentions, enforced disappearances and killings of political and human rights activists in Pakistan.

Naela Qadri Baloch, who is heading the Baloch Womens' Forum, said that Pakistan has been exploiting all the resources of Balochistan and later using it as dump yard, not caring for the lives of its citizens.

She said "Many times Pakistan has proved that they just need the land of Balochistan. They need our gold. They need our oil, they need our minerals, they need our deep sea ports to sell them to China, and they need our land for their proxy nuclear tests. They did Chinese nuclear tests on the soil of Balochistan; they exploded five nuclear bombs on the soil of Balochistan. There was no rain, there was drought and 90 per cent of wildlife died in Balochistan."

Ever Since Pakistan has signed the multi-billion dollar China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) deal with China, the number of atrocities has grown rapidly.

Naela added, "Who has given them the right to sell Balochistan to China. If we stood up against them and said that Balochistan was an occupied territory and Pakistan doesn't have any right to sell Gwadar port or any port of Balochistan for any mega project or any CPEC kind of destructive projects. What happened? I myself am a testimony. I got beaten up. A university professor got beaten up by the idiots of Pakistan army. I was jailed too. I was detained in the middle of the night at 1'o clock without any warrants, without any paperwork and was taken to cantonment police station."

Her husband was abducted by state agencies for a mere dare of trying to make a film on the prevailing human rights situation.

The 'Voice for Missing Baloch Persons' (VBMP) says that Pakistan has killed more than a 100,000 innocent Balochs ever since it forcefully occupied the territory.

VBMP vice president Mama Qadeer Baloch, who has come to Geneva to attend the 39th Session of UN Human Rights Council said, "Since 1948, when Pakistan occupied Balochistan, Pakistan has been killing people and throwing dead bodies. They used to bury dead bodies in mountains, desserts and sometimes they would throw the bodies on the streets as well. If we collect all the data then more than 100,000 Baloch people have been killed since then and their bodies have been thrown."

Qadeer told media that he has a documented data of more than 45,000 people who have been abducted or killed by the Army and other security forces of Pakistan.

Baseer Naveed, a human rights activist based in Hong Kong said, "In Pakistan, one can say very easily that there is no rule of law. Of course, there is a parliament system existing, there is an independent judiciary and other institutions are also claiming that they are independent and are working democratically but the military is the supreme body and has all the power. It is controlling the whole country. How can a man disappear in the presence of a parliament system and judiciary? This is a complete failure of law. There is no rule of law. The country has proved itself that it has no criminal justice system. Even judges are saying that the system has failed because military doesn't want any institution's inference."

The conference was moderated by Munir Mengal, the head of Baloch Voice Association and attended by Sardar Shaukat Ali Kashmiri, Fazal Rehaman Afridi and Randi Hagen Spydevold, a Norwegian lawyer and legal representative of Ehsan Arjemandi, a Baloch activist missing in Pakistan.

Earlier, the European Organisation for Pakistani Minorities, which has been working extensively for rights of the oppressed, highlighted the issue of enforced disappearances in Balochistan during the ongoing 39th Session of the UN Human Rights Council.

They also put banners in front of the United Nations office in Geneva with pictures of some of the missing political activists on them, which are reflective of an increasingly grim human right situation in Pakistan.

The organisation has sought UN support into the issue and asked for a fact-finding team to visit Pakistan and help the victims, who are allegedly lodged in secret detention centers.

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