Jan 16, 2014

Balochistan: Tortured Body Of Enforcedly Disappeared Child Recovered


Picture@Chris & Lara Pawluk

The body of a 10-year-old child, who went missing on 7 January 2014 from the main bazaar in Balochistan’s Turbat district, has been found bearing marks of torture. Over the course of 2013 alone, hundreds of Baloch were reportedly abducted, extra-judicially killed and dumped.

Below is an article published by The Express Tribune:

The tortured and bullet-riddled body of a 10-year-old has been found in Turbat district of Balochistan on Sunday [12 January 2014]. Chakar Baloch, a student in the third grade, went missing on January 7 [2014] from main Turbat bazaar, according to local police.

“He was tortured before he was shot in the head and chest,” said an official at the Kech District Headquarters Hospital, adding that the boy was not sexually assaulted. “He was shot four times at point blank range.” A levies official said a shepherd spotted the body near the Kech Kor River and informed the police.

“The victim’s elder brother is said to be a campaigner for the Baloch movement,” sources said.

Khuda Dost, Chakkar’s father, had survived an attack in Panjgur while Chakar’s relative Sanaullah, 16, abducted from his hometown Panjgur remains missing. Khuda Dost left Panjgur due to the increasing number of cases of enforced disappearances in the area.

A Baloch Student Organisation Azad spokesperson condemned the incident and accused security agencies of the incident. Security agencies have denied charges of involvement in any illegal detention or dumping of bodies.

According to an Asian Human Rights Commission report hundreds of Baloch men were abducted, extra-judicially killed and dumped in 2013. “The people of Pakistan have a constitutional right to protection from the state, a right which has so far been denied to them.”

The report added that Pakistan must immediately ratify the UN Convention against Enforced Disappearances.